In part two of Mike’s interview with Craig Marker at Breaking Muscle, Mike shares that designing fighter’s training based on the length of rounds is important, but it is not the only way to train. “In fact, if we can build the other energy systems, we will make the conditions of the fight seem even easier.” Conditioning … Read More
Sports Performance
Conditioning for Fighting: Energy Systems 101
I had the pleasure of talking with Craig Marker at Breaking Muscle a few weeks ago. Last week, Craig posted the article with my interview in it. I’d love for you to check it out if you are interested in learning more about how I eval fighters (and athletes) as well as how I program the … Read More
Why Athletes Need to SLOW DOWN
Bigger, faster, stronger… the goals of almost every competitive athlete. Although I don’t see the “MOBILE, EFFICIENT, CONDITIONED” t-shirts selling too well I’d argue that most athletes should be spending more time learning how to slow down! What do I mean by slow down? Athletes spend a whole lot of time trying to develop their … Read More
Rethinking Your Warm-up on Deadlift, Squat and Bench day
You likely have a standard warm-up that you do before each workout. (You do warm-up, right?) After you leave the locker room your pre-workout routine probably looks something like this: You do some sort of bouncy tip-toe walk on your way to the foam roller (because that seems like the more athletic and loose thing … Read More
It’s Not You, It’s Me
There comes a time in your life where you’ll need to let go of a particular sport or exercise that you love dearly. For many of you, this type of training may be even part of your identity. For example, maybe you identify yourself as a runner, a powerlifter, a crossfitter…whatever! Here are a few examples I see often. Scenario … Read More
Handstand Tutorial a la Cirque du Soleil
A lot of people train at Skill of Strength. Every day we see business professionals, teachers, personal trainers and strength coaches, MMA fighters, retirees, moms and high school athletes. We like to consider everyone who walks through the door at Skill of Strength an athlete. Keep in mind each athlete is talented in his or her own way. Today, let’s … Read More
Putting Power Back Into Power Cleans
The power clean is one of the most common exercises used by athletes and coaches in an attempt to build explosiveness. In sports performance facilities and high school weight rooms athletes are often asked to perform this exercise. If you’re a collegiate athlete, it’s likely your coach recently gave you a workout book with designated … Read More
Three Tips to Get in Shape This Summer
Oh the start of summer… High school students everywhere have been dreaming about everything they want to do over the next couple of months. On the list may be things like building an energy-efficient tree fort, striving to get a tank top tan, learning to surf and eating at Chipotle as much as possible. Joking aside, the summer … Read More
How Young is too Young to Train?
Often times parents of young athletes come to us asking if their young athlete is too young to begin resistance training or participate in a sports performance training program at Skill of Strength. Who can blame them? Everyone’s heard the old rumor that weight lifting stunts kid’s growth, right? Obviously, parents don’t want to mess with that! Now, … Read More
Get a Stronger Deadlift
Over the last few years I’ve spent a ton of time writing programs for athletes who play various sports. I’ve worked with high school and collegiate athletes, professional fighters and some incredibly strong people at my gym, Skill of Strength. Twice a year we host an event called the tactical strength challenge or TSC. I love preparing … Read More