Big Balls`

Well the feedback from the previous post has been just as I intended it. I've heard back from a few good men and women that took the call to action and kicked ass last friday after seeing the video.

One guy got it all the way from India.

Here's a link to his blog post over on Kettlebellplantet.

I really love hearing about it when you get it right. I hope we always have something beneficial to offer.

In the meantime, lets talk about gaining some muscle mass.

My buddy Curd Hos of Neo-Genixx.com and current Ontario Bench press champion stopped by the gym today. He was delivering an order of supplements to me and while we were standing at the counter shootin' the shit, he called out a couple young bucks that were on the bench press.

He told them about a rep scheme that helps add muscle mass, strength endurance and helps you bench more weight for more reps.
Take a weight you can just get 10 good reps with, now try and hit 30 reps in as few sets as possible. If it takes you 7-8 sets and you're down to singles at the end, so be it. But whatever it takes this weekl, is the goal to beat for next week. Example, it takes you 7 sets to hit 30 reps with 225, then next week do whatever it takes to do it in 6 sets.

The young guy on the bench didn't take Curd seriously at first and continued with his usual bullshit routine. Curd then asked him if he would be willing to do the protocol if Curd jumped on the bench and pressed 4 plates (405) without a warm-up. Of course the young lads wanted to see this, and I think they were doubting. Curd took off his watch and smacked 2 reps with 405 without even swinging his arms around for a stretch. Needless to say the young guys did the 30 reps protocol.

Bob's your uncle!

Horn Blowin'

Yesterday, while eating one of my 7 meals, I was reading the elitefts Q&A. I came across a post by Joe Defranco that was titled, "Need a reason to train today?"

Of course it was a pump up video compiled of highlights of the training that goes on at his facility. Some of the noteables; Mike Guadango's 54" box jump, The Spoon running a 4.16 40yd dash, Deon Anderson, being Deon Anderson and most recently Brian Cushing's doing a really high seated box jump(with a weighted vest on).

It was a pretty damn good compilation. It definately gets the job done. I was pumped after watching it.

Check it out. Watch closely right around the 19 second mark. (This part is my personal favourite)


So obviously I was feeling pretty good about myself, having made the cut on a montage as good as this one. I immediately emailed Joe, and thanked him for including me in the Dirty Jerzy Highlight reel. I also told him that I would promptly be kicking ass in the gym, as the video is intended.

Here's a portion of his Reply;

You don't have to thank me...you definitely DESERVE to be in that reel
amongst the best athletes/performances in the gym!! All the athletes
here were like, "who the fuck is that dude doing the trap bar
deadlift?!" HAHA!!


It sure made my day. And hopefully the vid will inspire you to kick some ass, today and all weekend.

More 150 Action

Hopefully I'm not burning your interest in this blog to the ground with my recent batch of video posts.

I honestly don't know what the fuck is wrong with me, but I have not an ounce, of creative or even productive thought lately.

I've got 2 things on my mind all the time. (of course besides doing a good job of running my business)

1) Getting Sarah ready to win the nationals at the end of the month
2) Getting myself ready for the soon to start strongman season. AND SMASHING EVERYTHING IN MY PATH LIKE A RABID SASQUATCH! (I'm notorious for getting my mind so into a competition that all other aspects of my life suffer. Luckily it's only been my creative thought process so far.)

So here's a couple more vids. (Like logs on the fire)

150 DB rows for 20 reps


Sarah Squatting 345

And if you really are getting bored of these vids, quit being such a nancy and send my a vid of you doing something cool. Of course you'll be the only one interested in watching it.

Mayhem Mondays

I don't know about you but I thought this weekend was pretty awesome for outdoor training. We got outdoors for a couple of events on Saturday and then on Sunday I thought about pushing the prowler. It never happened because I ended up sleeping off some kind of stomach flu for most of the day.

I'm still getting a few vids from strong MF's that want to get famous here on SAS, but not nearly as many as I expected. Doesn't anyone have a camera? Or are you all just a bunch of weak little girls?

I'm going to get you started with a recent vid of my own. Nothing too exciting in the performance dept. but I was demonstrating that even with smashed and mangled fingers, one can still move some iron.



And here's Kapowski giving the brand new 150's a ride.


What did you do on the weekend?

Respect Yourself

Think about this for a second and see if it sounds like you.

Somebody says something really ignorant about you, but you let it slide because the confrontation isn't worth it.

You get screwed over by the phone company but you let it slide, because the few bucks you lose every month aren't worth the hassle.

I'm guilty.

I've been that guy. I rollover because it's not worth the hassle.

Why? I don't know. I would never do this in the gym. I would never skip a squat day because its not worth the hassle. I would never quit on set of rows because I didn't want to deal with the discomfort.

I've recently decided that if I have what it takes to step over any obstacle in the gym, why the hell should I not step over any obstacle otherwise.

I'm calling the phone company back and telling them the can stick it up their ass.
I'm placing a formal complaint about the poor service I get from the postal courier.
And if you talk smack on me, get ready to hear about, immediately.

Oh yeah and I'm gonna smash some fucking weights in the gym on Thursday night too.

The Max Effort Method

I just got a copy of Jim Wendler's Max Effort Book. So I guess this will be literature review.

This book, much like his III book, is pretty simple and to the point. It has a lot of the stuff that you think you know inside and out, until you read it again. If you are a fan of Wendler humour, you will enjoy this book as it is full of it. It reads as if he was sitting in the room and telling you how it is.

It covers all the basics in regards to a "Westside" template. (and he even explains why not everyone should be running around claiming to train "westside" or just throwing the name out there for improved street cred.

One of the things that I like most about the way he explains the exercises is that he straight up tells you the ones he likes and why he likes them (or why most people like them), but doesn't take a shit on the ones he doesn't like. It's biased, but somewhat not biased. (if that makes any sense at all)

Bottom line is, it's a good read, loaded with good info, and simple enough for the rest of us. I'll be honest, Super Training is WAY over my head. I've got a copy, and it's really good for a one board press. (although I've recently put it in the bathroom at home to try and read a few more sections)

I'm gonna get off topic now and touch on a subject that needs mention. If you come up to me and start blabbering on about neuromuscular this and rigormortis fasciata that, I tune you the fuck out. I'm not University educated. Is it important to know all the fancy words and flow charts and graphs and skeleton diagrams? Not so far. Everything I've learned has been from books (that I could understand), seminars, and trying shit out in the gym myself over the last 15 years. Knowing all the big, book learnin' words may impress some people, but it just confuses the hell out of 99% of the people you will ever work with in the training business. Lucky for me, I have a good buddy who knows all the book learnin' words and flow charts and diagrams, but he also knows how to lift a barbell and work hard in the gym. So when I get stuck, guess who I call on?

Anyways, if you want a good book to help pass the time you spend in the crapper, as well as further your skills and knowledge in the game of getting stronger, buy the book.

Stone Loading

On Saturdays I train strongman events in a garage. And I always get some of the best training sessions ever in that garage. It's dirty, the music is loud, the place is full of primitive strength tools. It's a place where great strength is built and tested.

One of the mainstays of saturday garage training is Stone Loading. My training group is lucky enough to have atlas stones. Atlas stones are the concrete spheres you may have seen on TV while watching Worlds Strongest Man.
We have a set of atlas stones that ranges from 188lbs to 385lbs. We load them to platforms ranging in height from 51" to 72".

Loading 265lbs stone to 72" at Canada's Strongest Man 2008

Stone loading is very taxing on many different parts of the body. It tests your arm and grip, upper back, lower back, legs, hips, abs and most importantly your mental toughness. I have never loaded stones and not been sore all over. (and I'm not talking about the scrapes on my chest and arms) This past Saturday was no exception. I had a really hard time getting out of bed on sunday.

Here's what I did: (After log press and farmers walk)
320lb stone to 54" X2
320lb stone to 54"X3
320lb stone to 54"X3
320lb stone to 54"X3
320lb stone shouldered to 56" + 350lb stone to 51"
320lb stone shouldered to 56" + 350lb stone to 54"
350lb stone to 54"

I did try to shoulder the 320 one last time but I was out of steam. I got a bit frustrated with myself for missing lifts near the end of the sets, but it wasn't until I wrote out my training log that I noticed the large volume of heavy stones I did.



This is one of my training partners, Peter Wagner, he is the owner of the garage I train at. He is also one hell of a stone loader. Peter is almost 50 years old. What's your excuse?

Head Games

I've been wanting to touch on how important I feel the "mental aspect" to success in strength gains.
It's a pretty broad topic so to keep this from becoming 7 volumes long, lets focus on desire and mental toughness.

Developing a successful attitude in the gym is paramount to improving your strength, fitness level, appearance, just about everything. If you're walking into a gym, at least you had enough motivation to get off the couch. But is there enough drive there to do more than take up space at the gym? You must believe that your efforts will lead to achieving your goals.

I cannot explain exactly what drives me. It's somewhere between pride and greed. I always demand more from myself and I always want to be better than the next guy. This attitude or desire to constantly be better is the driving force behind many succesful training sessions.

I see many different levels of drive or desire everyday. I work with people who have so much drive that they wear themselves out. I also work with people that seem like they are one notch above suicide. Obviously the ones with massive desire for change in their appearanc or strength levels get the best results and they get them as quickly as possible.

Once you've developed the desire to work hard, you need the mental toughness to ride through the storm of hard training. My favourite example of mental toughness is from an unlikely source. 30-50 year old women that want to get their 20 year old body back. I've got clients that bust ass through some very challenging training sessions week in and week out and never complain, and never give up. Have you ever seen a guy at the gym load up a bar and do a set of squats to 20 reps or above? There are thousands of great examples of mental toughness, the key is to be one of those examples.

No summary here kids. Just get your brain in gear and don't be a wanker at the gym today. Train till the sweat is dripping and your muscles are burning.

More Goods from the Mentorship

It was a good trip okay. I've still got lots to share.

The training and business end was most important, but I also went down there with a goal for myself in mind. I wanted to break the "washed up meatheads" (Not highschool or college athlete) Trap Bar Deadlift record.

I figured it would be pretty cool to get my name on the Defranco's Record Board. Hell, it's the board that inspired us to start record boards at our gyms.

So did I get on it? You're goddamn right I did! I beat the old record by 150lbs!

"Right there, above Zach Even Esh" and yes I pull a stupid face when I'm excited

Not be outdone by her ol'man, Sarah took a stab at the ladies Trap Bar Deadlift record too.
And hell yeah, she beat the old record by 90lbs.

"Look mom, I made it on the big board" (and with room to spare)

Alright, enough horn blowing and back patting. You already knew we were pretty awesome to begin with. (HAHA) We believe in walking the walk.

I'm really happy for Sarah this weekend and not because of the deadlift record, but because of the confidence she has developed as a strength coach. She knows her shit when it comes to training. It would be impossible for her to not know a lot. It's all we talk about, it's all we read, it's what we do. The mentorship and hanging out with Joe and 4 other great coaches from around the world has brought it out in her mind that she doesn't need to take shit from regular schmoes that walk into our gyms and look down there nose at her as trainer because she is a female.
The way I look at is that we should never blow off the opportunity to learn from everyone we come across. And Sarah is no exception. She has a lot to offer when it comes to training. And in addition to knowing it, she's also stronger pound for pound than about 90% of the men that train in our gyms. SO THERE!

I'm really getting geared up for the summer program again. I can't wait until hockey season is over and our guys get back. I love working with them and seeing them progress and get better.
I can't wait to dust off the prowlers and sleds. And I've also got a few new tools to get everyone stronger and faster this summer.

I actually got a call yesterday for an appointment to start working with a teenage girl that plays competitive hockey and fastball. We're ready and fully loaded to bring any athlete closer to their goals. You don't have to wait until the snow melts to get started. In season, pre-season, off-season, we're ready for it.

What does your wife do in her spare time?

Layin' the Smack Down

I was reading a Q&A Question on Elite yesterday, and the answer was way over my head, but something caught my attention and had me worried I was missing the boat when conditioning our hockey players in the summer.

So, since the answer was way over my head I sent it off the Coach Foley to translate it for me.

After he translated and explained a few things, everything made good sense and I was relieved to know I was using proper programing with our hockey players. (Not that I needed any other proof than the fact that our guys kick ass in training camp)

I'm sure glad to have the kind of resources that I do. Thanks Jordan.

Tomorow morining I'll be packing up and heading south to not so sunny Wykoff New Jersey.

My wife and I will be 2 of the first 6 people to take part in the Defranco's Mentorship Program. We will be spending the weekend shadowing Joe and his staff while they run work-outs for their NFL combine athletes, some college guys and also some high school athletes. We are going to learn all the ins and outs of how Defranco's Training systems is run as a business.

I hope to bring back as much info and experience as possible to help our summer athlete program flourish. We had great success with all the guys we worked with this summer (using the WSSB template) and I am anticipating even more top level athletes in 2009.

The Strong Ones (Part 2)

So in part 1 we've identified the why's and the what-nots (yes, I think I just made that up now) of finding and surrounding yourself with strong/good training partners.

So how does on go about getting on board with the people they aspire to be like?

I don't think there is one single answer to a question like this. There could be many different ways to aproach it and I'll share with you how I've gone about it myself.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is what do you have to offer these people. You can't always expect to get, get, get, and never contribute back. (See the "Piss Pucks in Party Town Post" Nov. 18th 2008)

The fastest and often the easiest way to get help from people is with money. Plain and simple. I've spent almost $4000.00 on attending training seminars alone (before travel and lodging) in the last 3 years. This gaurantees you are going to get your questions answered. I know of one top strength coach that even hired another top strength coach for a 1 hour session at the going rate just so he could ask questions and pick the brain about coaching athletes. (I just got an idea for a future rant here.)

Another method is to become the "plate monkey" of the guys you want to train with. This is the most entry level aproach. You have nothing to offer but your sweat and effort. Start by showing up at the same time they train. Chat it up with them when its appropriate and offer to load plates and spot. This sounds kinda shitty but you can learn a tonne just by being a spotter. You get to observe from mere inches away. You get to here all the cues and learn the lingo. You are also doing the lifters a big favour because you can never have enough plate monkeys and spotters.

Once you've developed some status as a guy in know, you can also trade info with people. You may be a really good warm-up or stretching guy but need to get better at benching. Find the best benchers through association and offer to help them with their mobility in exchange for some bench coaching.

The list could go on and on, but the bottom line is, you have to have something to offer. Even if it's just a good attitude and the fact that you show up on time all the time, ready to kick ass in the weight room. You don't have to be bull ass strong to get into the club, but you have to be dedicated and ready to give. Many times I would pick a weaker athlete with a good attitude over the guy who is naturally strong but has a poor work ethic. The good attitude will take you much farther.

Okay kids, talk amongst yourselves.

A Huge Congratu-Fucking-Lations To UF Team Member SHANE CHURCH for his WIN at the Montreal CPO powerlifting meet. I'll have to confirm his numbers but he did Squat 7 bills (700lbs) and won the 242lbs open division. This is not an unusual thing for an Ultimate Fitness athlete to WIN, as we always train with the attitude that winning is everything and second place is only defeat. Nice work buddy! I won't tell how much prep he did for this meet though. (NONE, greasy greasy bastard. Just signed up and won.)

X-Mass, Come and Gone

Well I'm back in the office for the first time in a while. It's almost great to be back. We live our lives so dependant on our daily/weekly routine that after a while the holidays make me nervous. Things just don't seem right and I get worried that I may fall of the horse for good.

Despite being on vacation I am definately NOT one to skip training. I did pass on some cardio sessions but they didn't make or break me. I did have some really great training sessions and some not so great. I missed my goal of a 700lb deadlift. On Dec 30th 2008 we trained lower body and deads were the main course. I was having a poor work up, pitching forward over the bar off the floor. My lifts went as follows;
315X5
405X5
495X2 (only wanted to do a single here but the first rep was so pitched forward I decided to take a second)
585X1 (also pretty pitched)
675Xmiss (I dumped forward off the floor but it still came up well but near the top my legs and hips were locked before I got my shoulders back so the lock-out was not there. I keep asking myself if I should've hitched it up, but it doesn't matter now. )

So the goal was missed.

Is there anything gained from the whole ordeal?

You're damn right there is. I aimed high, worked hard, and had great confidence going in. I got a little hasty and didn't give the proper respect to the work-up weights and fucked things up. I've learned another lesson that can only be learned by missing weight and that was to treat the work-up like a meet lift, everytime. My sloppy work-up may or may not have been the deciding factor but it won't be in question ever again.

How did your year end go?

Did you meet the call to action?

Lets hear about it.

Happy 2009.

Staying on track

Do you remember the call to action post I put up a while back?

Okay big shot, are you staying on track?

Are you working your ass off to make it happen?

I just wanted to remind you that its only about 12 days until the end of 2008.

The time has come to put your money where your mouth was/is.


Here's a glimpse of what I've been up to. I'm pulling out all the stops to meet my call to action.

600X3 reps

Keep me posted on your progress.

I want to know that you are kicking ass and taking names.

We are just setting ourselves up for success in 2009

GOOD MORNING!

Holy Shit my back hurts this morning. And yeah it's mostly because we did Good Mornings (GM's) last night.

Now don't panic, it hurts in a good way. It really is funny how when most people get the slightest bit of discomfort in their backs they panic and start preparing for back surgery. For God's sake people, the back has many muscles just like the rest of our bodies and when you work them, they get stiff. Plain and simple. Getting my boots on this morning was tricky but I'm starting to loosen up.

We did our GM's with my Buffalo Bar. I don't have it up for sale on my website yet but I do sell them too. It's really nice to not have that bar sliding off the neck and tearing up your hard earned traps. No that's not a bar code tattoo on my neck (they are ghey anyways), it's the pattern left by the centre knurl of a straight bar.
With the buffalo bar you can hit horrendous depth (pretty much kissing your own pecker) and the bar doesn't move. The blast you get in the hams and calves is much more noticeable than when using a standard bar.

And for the proper technique.... Well I used to be a real form nazi and my girlish weights reflected that. But Shit-Show pointed out one night that the only rules with GM's is to put a bar on your back, bend over and stand back up again. So we loosened up and slammed a little more weight on the bar.

I still like to get down deep and check my hygiene below the belt, but I push that bar up anyway I can get it to move.

Long live Good Mornings.

Note: This is a Giant Rackable Camber Bar, not a Buffalo Bar
But I like how deep the Jersey Jackal takes this rep. Nice!

Cardboard as my kindling

So yeah the blogging took a shitslide for a few days. I'm sure you can relate to this.
I'm not going to make an excuse, nor am I going to apoligize.

The more important question is, are you satisfied with what you achieved in 2008?

Did you move forward?

Did you break PR's?

Did you gain the mass you wanted?

Did you lose the fat you wanted to lose?

If you answered yes to most of the questions, good for you. I'd love to have you comment on the success.

If you answered no, do you know why you missed the mark?
Did you honestly cover all the bases and try your hardest?

I want this to be your wake up call for 2009. (Yeah it's early, but if you fail to plan, you plan to fail)

Write a list of goals for the year. Then break them down into smaller monthly goals.

Don't just sit there and say, oh yeah that's a great idea, and then keep surfing for some porn. Get off your ass and grab a paper and pencil and start writing it down. Post it on the fridge and get to work.

I want to light a fire under your ass for 2009 and I'm not going to use cardboard as my kindling.

If you need help, my door is always open.

Ultimate Boot Camps

I can't remeber if I've posted about this yet but here it is anyways.

We run a bootcamp group fitness program at both of our gyms.

It's attended by mostly women that are trying to lose weight and look better. We do have a few guys that attend, but the don't make it out on a regular basis.

If I had a dime for every time guys walk into my gyms and make comments to me about how they "don't want to be too big" I would be blogging for free full time.

So my answer to those guys is BOOTCAMP.

To all the guys that just want to look good with their shirt off, want to be in great shape for hockey, want to lose a few pounds off the old gutzito, my answer is BOOTCAMP.

If you think you are too rugged for BOOTCAMP, just ask Kapow about the pace and the type of training. (Kapow is a 6'2" 220lb youngblood that trains with me and he's pretty goddamn strong for a 16 year old) He started shadowing me while intstucting bootcamps so he can become an instructor himself. So on his first night, I made him participate in about 50% of the drills. He was soaked in sweat and the rest of the group left him in the dust on a more than a few exercises.

Even if you are training purely to be strong or to get huge, bootcamp can still keep your work capacity up, help you stay lean, and improve your mobility.

What I'm trying to get out there, is that bootcamp can and will kick your ass, no matter how awesome you think you are. And most importantly, it will make you better and leaner.

Check out the details HERE or the UltimateFatlossbootcamp blog

I also wanted to let everyone know about my recent interview on http://www.criticalbench.com/

here's a direct link to the interview http://www.criticalbench.com/Paul_Vaillancourt.htm

Let me know what you think!

From Parts Unknown.

Today I’ve got a very solid interview from a coach who is going to be a regular contributor on the Serious About Strength Blog.

I don’t think this interview needs much introduction as it pretty much starts at the basic level, peaks with some great training insight and then finishes on a basic note.
All I need to tell you, is that if I have a question about my training cycle or feel stumped by any particular problem, I usually enlist the help of this guy.

Here it is:

PV-For the record, please state your name:

JF-Jordan Foley

PV-Tell us a bit about your athletic background and what sports you played growing up:

JF-Growing up I played just about every sport. Once I got into Junior High and High School I focused on hockey, rugby, track and field and soccer. I continued to play Varsity Rugby in University and in some Men's leagues.

PV-So a pretty typical sports career. How did you get involved in lifting weights and strength sports?

JF-I began messing around with weights in grade 8 and used to do a high rep circuit of every exercise in the small weight room at my school. My brother and I went there occasionally in the evenings when my dad would go back to do work (he was the principal). This was very sporadic but I enjoyed it. In grade 10, I got a little more serious but not a lot smarter. I used to lift about 5 times per week at lunchtime and the 'plan' was something like this.

Monday - Bench - pyramid style, lat pulldown - pyramid style. Did about 8 sets of each.

Tuesday - Squats - pyramid style, hamstring curls and sit-ups

Wednesday - Same as Monday, sometimes did close grip

Thursday - Same as Tuesday

Friday - Biceps, we did a giant circuit or 4-5 exercises for 3 sets. We did about 10-15 reps per set.

We based this on the advice or our phed teacher who was a beast and used to lift with us, different routine though. It wasn't great but it could have been worse. In grades 11-13 I started lifting more seriously but it was way too high volume and was based on body part splits. I got most of this crap from magazines. Looking back, again, it was bad but could have been worse. I still hit the big exercises and built a good base for later in life.

When I got to university I started to really read up on training and talked to anyone who I thought knew something about lifting. I started really designing my own plans and things really took off. I did this to help my performance in rugby. I attribute a huge part of my rugby success to becoming bigger, stronger and faster.

In the summer before my last university rugby season, I competed in 2 beginner strongman shows and I had a lot of fun. When I was done my rugby career I knew I needed to compete in something to keep me sane and goal oriented so I decided to choose strongman as my new sport of choice.

PV- That’s really impressive that you had a plan in grade 8. Most guys in there 20’s still don’t have a plan. Is it obvious that this is my first time taking an interview?

JF-Not really because you have obviously plagiarized most of these questions.

PV-Plagiarized is such a hard term, I prefer, “Recycled”. We’re hopefully going to have you as a regular contributor on this blog and no doubt you’ll bring some much needed book learning expertise about training.

Why don’t you tell us about your education background in physical and performance training?

JF-My formal background is a Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies, a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education (minus one non-credit component, long story), a Bachelor of Education in the Junior/Intermediate Division with Health and Physical Education as my major and I am also a CSCS (NSCA). That being said, all of that didn't teach me a whole lot about training. It taught me some basics about the human body and helped me sort through the bullshit that I often read. It taught me to be sceptical and to think critically. If you cannot do that then I think you are useless in pretty much any field or industry. You will never come up with something unique or useful.

Aside from my formal education, I read about 5 books per month. Usually 2 are training related and 3 are success or motivation oriented. I like to read about success and successful people so that I can find out what the common links are and then duplicate them. In addition to reading books, I read everything on elitefts.com, marunde-muscle.com, t-nation.com, ericcressey.com and defrancostraining.com. I read anything I can find from anyone I consider worthwhile and this is where the internet is great. Some of my favourite authors are Mike Boyle, Date Tate, Louie Simmons, Jim Wendler, James Smith, Buddy Morris, Joe Defranco, Mark McLaughlin, Landon Evans, Bill Hartman, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove and many more. I'm sure I forgot a ton of guys but if you read everything on the net from those guys then you will be in a decent situation.

PV- Now that we have the formal stuff out of the way, tell us what your personal training philosophies are:

JF-For team sport athletes: Get strong head to toe. Leave no stone unturned as far as strength. I think that trying to be super specific will not help you for a variety of reasons, which go beyond the scope of this question but I do believe in training the same muscles and similar movements. If I get my athletes strong on a variety of squatting, deadlifting, single leg, pressing, pulling and twisting movements then there is a high likelihood that when they find themselves in an awkward position that they will be strong enough to perform in this position as well as protect themselves from injury. It is also very important for athletes to be mobile and fast. The key with this is to only do what you have time for and what your athletes will realistically do. You can gather all this info from the Parisi Warm-up video and sprint info from Charlie Francis. I will leave you on your own to study that and if you have any questions that I may be able to help with, let me know. It is all actually a lot simpler than some coaches make it seem.
For individual athletes: The proper integration of your strength work, your technique work, your energy systems work and your sport practices are crucial. Attention can be paid to volumes and intensities of all of these since your training is mainly dictated on what YOU need. If you coach individual sport athletes and you do not account for this then you are doing your athletes a huge disservice.

For strength athletes: Work the main movements hard. Squats, Deads, Presses and Pulls. I think about 80% of your results will come from the proper use of these exercises on a regular basis. Also do not forget to train specifically for your sport. You MUST train the lifts that you compete in. I know this can sometimes be difficult for strongmen and I can understand that. If this is the case for you, do what you can, GET STRONGER. If you get stronger, every event gets easier, period. I will use an analogy to relay this: Let’s say you are helping a buddy move and you’re carrying a massive box that weighs like 40lbs. Some people would have trouble carrying this and say “it’s not heavy, it’s just awkward.” That’s bullshit, it is heavy for them given the shape and size of the box. It is a weird shape or not optimal for lifting or carrying, much the same as many of our events. But if I were carrying that box I don’t give a fuck how big or weird it is, it’s 40lbs and it will not be hard to carry because I am strong enough to handle it no matter the size or shape. I’m not saying my event proficiency is amazing, because it’s not. But there have been several times in my training cycles where I have done no event training but simply got stronger on everything and I went and smashed events the first session that I couldn’t do in the past while I was regularly practising those events. One last thing for strength athletes, don’t be a fucking slob. Do some conditioning and it will help your health, recovery and performance.

PV-What is your competitive background in strength sports, and what are your most valued achievements?

JF-I’ve competed in strongman since 2005, but 2006 was my first real ‘competitive’ year.
My most valued achievement was getting 10th place at my first OSM in 2006. It was my first really heavy show and I was shitbait going into it. I only weighed 220lbs and was just looking to make the finals. That show had guys like Travis Lyndon, Joe Montgomery, Jose Plante, Peter Galer, Dallas Hogan, etc in it and I thought I was going to die. I was so happy to pull out a 10th place. A close second to that was getting 3rd at the 105kg Nationals that year.

To be honest, I really haven’t done much since then that has satisfied me but I did get 6th at OSM 2007, won Kingston’s Strongest Man 2006, 2nd at New Liskeard this year, 2nd at the Bavarian Strongman Competition this year as well.

PV- I always say that being unsatisfied is the only way to improve. What type of training methods are you currently using?

JF-I currently use a modified WSBB split. I have been using a form of this for about 2.5 years now for strongman and for about 2-3 years prior to that I was using the principles when I was training for rugby.

I do keep it pretty basic though. I focus on slow and sustained progress. Never miss lifts and listen to your body and mind. On that note, I am currently using Wendler’s 5-3-1 to bring up my incline press and it’s working great. Easy progressions that allow you to have off days are the key when you have a job and a life, you never know when you are going to peak from week to week. That is unless you intentionally do it and your life is moulded around it but realistically not many of us can do that for every training cycle.

PV-What are your opinions on recovery, rehab and prehab?

JF-This is like brushing your teeth….we all know that we should do it but people tend to blow it off. Then they only notice the neglect when the shit hits the fan and they either have cavities or can hardly reach depth in the squat.

PV- Great Shit analogy Rick!

JF-I think that recovery is paramount in training. You can only train as well as you recover and one is useless without the other. You need to be sure to address all aspects of it, which I feel are: nutrition, rest (time between workouts), sleep and stress. For those of us who work for a living, we need to also use a deload week every 3-6 weeks. I say this because I notice that when I am busy with my job or school, I have to pay particular attention to recovery and require a deload week but when I am on holidays and sleeping and eating plenty I can go full out for weeks and weeks.

Rehab and prehab serve and important role as well but you need to be sure to not get carried away. The purpose of rehab and prehab is to either help you return to training/competing in your desired activities or to help you continue to train/compete in your desired activities. What I mean by this is that if you have an injury you may have to alter your training in a big way but once that injury is healed you may only require a little bit of prehab to prevent the injury from returning and killing your training.

For strength athletes and most athletes in general you would be wise to focus on shoulder stability, thoracic mobility, lumbar stability, hip mobility and soft tissue quality. If you address these things a few times per week you will instantly feel better and your training will be able to continue without setbacks. Some great resources for this information are Eric Cressey, Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson.

PV-Tell us a bit about the school you are working for and the position you hold there?

JF-Currently I work at an all boys independent high school. I work in residence with the boys, I teach a few sections of learning strategies and supply teach. In addition to this I coach football, hockey and rugby. We are currently renovating our weight room and once that is complete I will be designing and implementing strength and conditioning programs for our students and staff. It is our hope that in the future that this can be a fulltime position where the coach would also help teach physical and health education units in performance enhancement and physical fitness.

PV-So when you are working with these young (and presumeably weak as shit) athletes, where do you start and what are your staples in terms of exercise selection?

JF-Wow, this is complicated question but I’ll try and give you some of my ideas.
I usually lay out a simple program that focuses on squats, single leg exercises, press, rows, chin-ups and lots of lowback and ab work. The key to being able to do this is being there to coach them through it. If I see something that is not working out I will either modify it on the spot or take it out and come back to it later. I like to hit the focus lifts with lower reps but not necessarily a high load. This gives them an opportunity to lift “heavier” weights while still maintaining good form. It is also possible to accumulate a high(er) volume by simply using more sets than using high reps sets that inevitably end up being of poorer quality.

I consider that to be the ‘art’ of strength coaching, recognizing when something is not working and fixing it. It’s easy to make a program on paper but when you see a flaw in form or execution what do you do and why do you do it? That’s the key right there. For instance if a kid’s form is off on the squats, what is it? Is it lack of strength, mobility, practice, focus….???? Once you figure that out, what are you going to do to fix it?

PV- I couldn’t agree with you more about how training programs on paper are not the same in the weight room. It takes a few hundred hours in the gym to be able to identify these things both as a coach and as a lifter.I know you are a “go to” guy in the strongman and strength training community (as I’ve used your knowledge and resources myself), what would you say is the biggest mistake most guys are making when trying to get cock strong?

JF-I think most guys are using tunnel vision and only focusing on what they are good at. If something is not making you better at what you do (strongman, powerlifting, a particular sport) or helping you get closer to your goals then STOP IT. Don’t waste your time on things that have no purpose. Of course there are some exceptions to this rule but it is the most common thing that I see that is holding guys back.

PV-What are some of the most common questions you get asked by your peers and training partners?

JF-I would say the most common question is “why do you do such and such?” it’s always about the why and sometimes about the how. I have a specific reason for everything that I do personally and for everything that I recommend to others. A lot of people have difficulty seeing why I do some of the things that I do but it always serves a specific purpose. This is a great question for people to ask because it means that they are concerned with what they are doing which is crucial for continued progress.

Another very common question revolves around exercise intensity. I usually don’t use percentages to progress my weights and also rarely prescribe them. I often spend a lot of time explaining to people what a ‘heavy triple’ or a ‘near max’ is. While I often get this question, the usual answer is that this is something that needs to be figured out on your own with the guidance of someone who has already figured it out. You need to know what ‘feeling’ produces the desired result and similarly, what ‘feeling’ produces the undesired result.

PV-If you could assemble a panel of experts who you feel are the best of the best in terms of knowledge and experience in the strength and performance world, who would be on that panel? (lets say top 6 brains in the world)

JF-Charlie Francis, Buddy Morris, Mark McLaughlin, Mike Boyle, Eric Cressey and James Smith.
There are plenty of others as well but at this moment, this is my list for both my personal and coaching needs.

PV-Now that we have them all assembled, what would be your 3 most important questions for the group?

JF-Some of these questions are actually groupings but it’s my answer so I’ll do whatever I want!

1) How can we build and maintain maximum strength by using sub-maximal weights?

2) How can we monitor/modify volume and intensities without the use of an OmegaWave system? What sort of auto regulation schemes do you use?

3) How do you monitor/modify many athletes in a team setting? Who is responsible for the recording of workouts? What systems do you use to chart individual and team progress?

PV-Who are your favourite training partners and why?

JF-When I first started training Strongman with Joe Montgomery and Thom Lamb I really took off so those guys would have to be my favourites. From there I have trained with a bunch of really good ones: Dain Wallis, Dave van den Heuvel, Cody Kennedy, Sean O’Donnell, Brandon Watt, Dave Shorrock, Adam Ross and Dave Brown. Coincidentally, all of those guys are really good friends of mine as well. I think this has really helped me because we communicate well with each other to figure out what each of us needs to progress.

The bottom line is this, training partners don’t need to be experts or anything like that, they need to be committed to progress and be reliable to show up and help the whole group get better. They also need to be honest with each other about what is needed and what should be discarded.

PV- So true, just reliable and committed to getting better. But Dain Wayliss???? C’mon how hard up for a partner does a guy have to be?

What does the future hold for Jordan Foley? What do you hope to achieve and contribute in the next year?

JF-I wish I knew. Right now my career is my focus and I am trying desperately to land a fulltime physical education teaching position or a job as a strength coach. This is very tough to do in Ontario and anywhere in Canada for that matter. This means that I might even end up overseas teaching next year or anywhere at all. It is very important for me to love what I do all day every day and for me this means I MUST be either teaching physical education or strength coaching. I will also be looking for strength coach jobs and in the next few years this might mean that I go back to school for a masters degree and to gain some more intercollegiate experience as well.
As far as my lifting goes, I plan to continue to bring up my strength and also focus on my event proficiency by hitting events at least every 2 weekends. If all goes to plan and my job/job search doesn’t screw my training too much I hope to go top 5 this year at OSM.

PV-Final Question, If you were a character on the Trailer Park Boys, who would you be?

JF-Toughest one for the end eh……but I have thought about this carefully and one really sticks out above all else….GREEN BASTARD.

PV-Thanks Coach Foley for the great interview and I look forward to your goal oriented training methods and highly analytical input here on the Serious about Strength Blog.(and of course your “angry coach” style attitude that I’m sure the readers of this blog will enjoy)

(I was very suprised Coach Foley never listed "Chuck Berry" as one of the experts he'd pick for the ultimate round table discussion. Who knew?)

Getting a little Crazy on Sunday

So what could possibly be crazy on a Sunday? Maybe this -21 degree weather. (Not really it's December, what the hell did you expect?)

I'll tell you.

It was a kettle bell crazy press.

We just bought a couple of sets of little kettle bells to try out in our boot camps, and I got the great idea to try out some crazy presses with them.

This is simple to set up. Quad up a mini band and loop it through the handle of the kettle bell, and then hook the other end of the band around the end of the barbell. Make sure they are even on both ends of the bar and get to work.

If I could offer one bit of caution though. If you've never done a crazy press before, start out with a VERY LIGHT weight. We started with an empty bar and a pair of 12kg kettle bells and it felt like I was trying to bench press a water bed. It was all over the place.

We noticed 2 big benefits while (and after) doing this exercise. The first was that it really challenged you to stay tight....everywhere. I was more alert to squeezing the bench with my shoulders, pinching my ass cheeks and driving my feet into the floor with 95lbs of bar weight and 90lbs Kettle Bells than I've ever felt with 300 in my hands. The second was the crazy blasting our chest and shoulders got.

These were my sets:
bar +24kg of KB X 15 reps
bar +40kg of KB X 15 reps
95lbs + 40kg of KB X 18 reps
95lbs + 40kg of KB X 17 reps

I look forward to trying this out with my swiss bar, for an added element of instability and shoulder work.


Here's Shotgun pumping out one of his last sets, looking less like his arms were still drunk from Saturday night. (And Shane, I know you're watching this, so check out your feet move after rep 2. Fix that shit!)
Yes he wears his oly shoes for everything. I was able to talk him out of using them to push the prowler.

The Breaking Point

How close do you come to the breaking point before you realize what's happening and take a step back? Take a deep breath and let shit slide a little?

I'm proud of being my own boss. I live to be busy on projects that I'm interested and excited about. But sometimes I overload the platter. (I've always liked the quote, "bite off more than you can chew, and chew it.)

Today I'm taking that step back. I'm throwing my hands up and not giving a fuck. (Even though it only "World's Greatest Wednesday" and not "Who Gives a Fuck Friday")

So if I told you I was going to do something for you, or get something for you, or whatever, it's going to be a little late. Deal with it.

Oh and by the way, my training for World's is going well. (Trying to be positive here)
I still don't know exact details of the comp, but I'm looking forward to it.

Please don't ask me when we are moving into the new Renfrew location because I have no idea.

Have great Day!

I'm in on Defranco's First Mentorship program in January
Look out for us to be kicking even more ass with the athletes this summer.

NC Double WOW!

I took a drive (A long damn drive) to Schenectady NY this past Saturday. My wife and I went to watch one of the athletes from our summer elite program, Jason Walters, play hockey. He plays for Union College. They have a Division I hockey team in the ECAC division. The game was impressive. Very fast, not chippy at all and squeezed into an intimate 2200 seat facility. It was great to finally see Jason play as we have worked with him for the past 2 summers and we know he's going to take his hockey career to next level. Oh yeah, they beat providence 4-2.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast we got a tour of the rink and the campus. The campus was nice, packed with history and great buildings, but the rink is the defiantely the centre piece.(In my opinion)

Messa Rink @ Union College

The dressing room had an NHL feel to it. Each player had a stall with all the equipment hung up on hardwood shelves. The floor was wide open with a huge "U" inlayed in the rubber matting. Across from the equipment stalls was a tiled bathroom shower area that looked like something from the newest YMCA or maybe even biggger. Around the corner on the way out to the players bench and ice was a wall of hockey sticks. And if you continued down the hall instead of heading out to the ice area the room opened up again (this is the impressive part) to host 2 power racks with platforms, 10 spinning bikes, a GHR and a Reverse hyper. Sweet set up
Jason was proud to add that his prowler was also kept in the dressing room gym area, thus making it the complete set up for any athlete or powerlifter. (not that any powerlifter will ever touch those bars and bumpers)

So, they have a crazy good set up right in the dressing room. But that's only in the dressing room. Downstairs underneath the ice surface, was a 2000sq foot room that looked kinda like a physio facility. It had 4 or 5 massage tables, ice baths, hot tubs, rehab equipment, electro stim machines, you name it, they had it. Just a sick set-up.

Across the hall from the physio room was the full weight room that is only used by the men's and women's hockey teams.

(pause for a deep breath)

It was about 4000sq feet. It had another row of spinning bikes, a bunch of jump boxes, a good stash of kettlebells, 5 double racks, 2 deadlift platforms, a full set of color coded bumpers for each rack and platform, another GHR, a crazy looking reverse hyper machine (that I took a shit on because it wasn't the west-side style) that was a cable and stack set up that somewhat resembled a lying leg curl (I was very un-impressed that they had this contraption, but at least they had a real one in the dressing room), a couple of pulldown cable stations and bunch of benches and DB's.

They've got 5 of these bad boys

This post has gotten way out of hand. Bottom line is the Div I NCAA schools have all the good shit, when it comes to training and sports facilities. It was very mind blowing.

I also carried 370 per hand farmer's walk handles on Saturday morning before heading out.