Garage Blog

Acknowledge that athletes in MMA, in the UFC, or are combat athletes, fighting barefoot will occur. With that in mind, a lot of training needs to be done ......

We want to first go over what exactly are training splits and what a training split even means so that we can give the means to implement the best training splits....

Old dudes got spunk. They also got bigger brains than the young dudes from years of experience. Being old is just a reason to keep training, ke...

  How to Start the Snatch: Pull...

Explosiveness is probably the most desired quality to have by athletes. Being explosive means you can be quicker and faster, jump higher, throw fur...

One thing I’m very happy about is how well our post-collegiate throws group gelled this year. It’s nice to have a group of like-minded individuals who aren’t just like-minded in terms of training. We can all come together and have a good time without even thinking about our training. That is absolutely huge, and I don’t think any of us discounts that. It’s always good to be in an environment you can feel comfortable in, and when we can all drive 11 hours from PA to Michigan and not hate each other by the end, that’s a pretty good sign. I guess the overarching lesson here is be mindful of who you train with. If you start training with someone but you don’t quite work together very well, things probably aren’t going to get any easier. A lack of chemistry can lead to distractions and that’s not helpful for anyone. Training partners are very helpful to have, but not at the expense of your sanity!

When going up for a big lift, or even a heavy squat in training, all that should be running through your mind is making that attempt. A lot of times I find myself questioning a lift right before I attempt it. It either goes good or it goes bad. If I only told myself I could do it, then it would be done. Visualization doesn’t just happen right before a lift, it has to be done on a daily basis. Before you go to bed, lay there and visualize where you want to see yourself for 10 minutes. Only good thoughts should be running through your head. Visualize yourself being a champion and achieving all the goals you have set for yourself. This is only one small step in mental focus.

I'm sure most who read this won't be aware, but my season closed out in a pretty painful way. I went into the last weekend of qualifying for USATF Outdoor Nationals sitting 19th on the submitted entries list, with 18 men competing in the eventual field. My teammate, Ryan Njegovan, and I had one last meet on our schedule to try to qualify. We traveled to Hightstown, NJ, feeling good technically and coming off of a good week of practice. Personally, I felt like I was set up very well to get the PR I needed to move myself into a definitive qualifying spot (I was 42cm out based on marks). 

So, you’re just finishing up your spring season and you need to figure out how to prepare for the upcoming football season. You are coming off a big peak and are feeling fatigued, and are looking at about 10 weeks of summer before 2-a-days start up again. Here’s a quick 2-week focus guide on how to best prepare yourself to smash your opponents in the fall!