Hocevar Performance

1. First of I would like to congratulate a couple of Hocevar Performance athletes. Armin Basic won the state dicuss meet with a throw of just under 176 feet and then finished second in the shotput with 57.8 feet, both were PR’s!

Matt Fields (Charlotte Stone Crabs) had a great couple of games, hitting 3 home runs and having 7 RBI against Clearwater this past week. He is among the top 3 in the league in HR’s and RBI. Watch out for Matt as he is one of the most powerful hitters in the game!

2. I go through a bunch of books, manuals and dvd’s related to training and I thought I would start reviewing some of the good one’s I watch (yes, unfortunately I go through some crap as well). I just got done watching Robert Dos Remedios CHAOS Sport Speed Training and I have to say its really good. It gives the rational behind the training in a lecture format and shows tons of examples. If you play or coach basketball, football or any other sport that requires speed and agility and is unpredictable, then this DVD will definitely help you improve performance.

I have also just ordered Nick Tumminello’s Strength Training for Fat Loss and Conditioning as it was highly recommended by people I trust and considering I follow Nick’s work,I know there will be some great info. I will give you a review when I watch it.

3. I know I’m gonna bring this up a thousand times but its incredible how athletes disregard the importance of nutrition when it comes to strength and performance training. Sometimes the best way to learn is the hard way, which means coming in for a session and get completely smoked because you ate like shit! After that it is easier to sit down and talk about nutrition. If you want to excel and be the best athlete that you can be you better focus on nutrition and recovery just as much as on the training.

I am thinking about making it mandatory for everyone to get the Precision Nutrition System and studying it before you are able to come and train at the warehouse.

4. As you may know I’m a fan of Strongman lifts and we end up doing medleys or incorporating certain exercises into our training. Not only does it produce some crazy results but it also build mental toughness and camraderie among the athletes. I’m real psyched up to get some new strongman equiment as I will be ordering the farmers walk handles and log press in the coming weeks as well as getting a new (well not really because it’s used) 600 lb tire.

Strongman training will, well….make you strong

It can also make you feel a little “different” at times…

5. Joe Defranco has been a big influence on me when it comes to training and he was a one of the strength coaches that put warehouse training facilities on the map. Joe’s athlete strongman competitions are legendary and they have been reserved only for Joe’s athletes…..until now. Presenting 2009 World’s Strongest Athlete Competition. If you really think that you are the man and you got some cohonas then make your way down to New Jersey and see what you are made off! I’m gonna sit down with a couple of my high school guys and talk to them about going……. I’ll keep you posted.

6. SInce last week I have had a few basketball athletes starting to make their way through the doors of Hocevar Performance to start their off season training (one of the from as far away as Slovenia). One issue that basketball players face is low back pain (especially tall players with long spines) which makes regular squatting and deadlifting an issue and not the best fit. This doesn’t mean we can’t tran the legs hard though as we will use the trap bar deadlift and weighted single leg squats of the box (this deloads the spine and keeps it in neutral but stll works the relative strength in the lower body).

It even gets a little steamy at the end…

7. This past week I did an interview with www.CriticalBench.com where we talked about everything from my training philosophy and mentors to my thoughts on training MMA fighters, stay posted for the interview.

8. On a more personal note, I have started to look at some lofts and townhomes as my wife and I are looking to buy our first home. Its definitely exciting but it can be also be stressful if you’re as picky as I am. I have actually found something I might like and am going to drive down and look at it sometime this week. Maybe it’s the one, but not before I drop the price on that sucka. I know Eric Cressey was asking about tips when buying a car so I’m gonna ask you to give me any helpful tips to buying real estate (especially dropping the crap off the price). I’m all ears…