Advanced Training: September 2012

"I appreciate the patience you have had with me. I know I am not nearly as strong as these other guys, but believe me when I say it, I try to give it all I can at all times. I want to prove to myself I can push myself to my limits with these athletes and then beyond and you're helping me do just that. I want to kill it the rest of the way. I know you do everything you can to get the best out of us and I will do just that in return."

This is the email I received from James Uske.

He's 5' 5" and 150 lbs.

He does not play any competitive sport.

And he's tough as hell.

It's not easy for "normal" people to hang with our college athletes. These guys are super strong and partially insane.

James did not back down for a minute.

In 3 short months, he made HUGE gains:

Bench Press: 35lbs (195 to 230)
Deadlift: 15lbs (245 to 260)
Pull-Ups: 12 reps (12 to 24)

He also put on 5lbs while losing almost 2% body fat.

To me, this is what Advanced Training is all about.

It's about having the courage to train with guys who are way stronger than you.

It's about committing yourself to become better than what you already are.

It's about pushing yourself way beyond your "potential".

This is why I coach....

Now... I want you all to do 3 things.

1. Go back to the beginning of this post and read James' email again. I bet the parts I underlined will mean much more than they did the first time you read them.

2. Watch the video of James performing Gorilla-Ups below. They look easy but they are brutal.

3. Get yourself to a gym and see if you can do them with the same form for the same number of reps. (Good luck).

Every trainer will tell you how great his program is, how many athletes he's trained, and how many different types of training tools he has like ropes, chains, tires, and kettlebells.

Unfortunately, most trainers are not very good and they never really help their athletes get results.

Having said that, how can I prove to YOU how effective our training program is?
How could I make YOU believe you would be wasting your time going somewhere or doing anything else.

I guess the "Proof is in the Pudding."

Below are examples of the gains our athletes made over our 3 month summer training session.

Please note, almost every person is a seasoned athlete with a minimum of five years training experience.

For those of you that don't know, it is much harder to get improvements from seasoned athletes than it is from young teenagers, whose strength gains double simply because they are alive.

Anything with a "*" indicates that it set a new Advanced Training Record.

BENCH PRESS: 4 Biggest Gains