Evolution of A Strength Coach

You already know that I am a Strength & Conditioning Coach with my own warehouse gym, Strength Camp, in St. Petersburg Florida.

What you probably don’t know is exactly what or how I was inspired to start my own strength and conditioning, warehouse gym business.

Below are a few crazy and old-ass videos that outline the my evolution as a strength coach and gym business owner.

Here is the video time line:

September 2006: I saw this crazy YouTube video with a bunch of wild dudes training out doors using odd object and sleds:

In January 2007 (appx. 4 months later): I decided to create a training program for men and athletes at my local park using much of what I saw in that video.  Here is the result:

In June 2007 (5 months later): I saw this video made by the same crazy bald headed dude.  He had moved his business from the park into a warehouse.  Hmmm?, I though… good idea!

In September (4 months later) - I opened my own warehouse gym too.

Today - Myself and the crazy, out doors training, ware house gym dude that I saw on YouTube are now great buddies and business partners.  Zach Even Esh has decided to teach what he has learned about opening a training business with very little resources to other coaches aspiring to do what we did.

Zach and I decided to team up on his Underground Strength Coach Mentorship… so NOW I will be holding USC Courses for aspiring Strength Coaches / Business owners at my warehouse gym in St. Petersburg Florida.

We’d love to have you join us

Lean more about out December 5th USC Mentorship in Florida here:

=> http://zacheven-esh.com/Elliott.php

Power Building & Resistance Cardio

This article is written as an introduction to my Lean Hybrid Muscle training system for those who may not be familiar with it.  The following includes information about a foundation principle to the LHM system. Learn more here => http://www.leanhybridmuscle.com/build-muscle.html

Power Building & Resistance Cardio: The Killer Combo!

by Elliott Hulse CSCS (Co-Author Lean Hybrid Muscle)

It never ceases to amaze me how many people have fallen victim to the lie of “isolated results.” Essentially, the idea that fitness, success and life results are created in a vacuum… completely detached and isolated incidences.

For example, many women call me inquiring about fitness training and assert their desire to “lose belly fat” or “get leaner arms”. What they fail to realize is that fat loss, muscle building and all fitness results are the expression of a SYSTEMIC change in their bodies… not just the manipulation of a single muscle or energy system.

As one of my favorite authors Dan John, would say… “The body is one piece.”

We evolve as a whole. All systems… muscular, nervous, cardiovascular and hormonal work synergistically to move us in the direction that’s most consistent with our behaviors. Even when we aim to isolate systems, we unexpectedly receive the benefits of advancement in others.

For example, you decide to quit smoking so that you can breathe better. After several months of not smoking you notice an improvement in your cardiovascular abilities, but you ALSO recognize that your skin looks better and your hair has stopped falling out! This is exactly how our body works… we are “one piece”.
Whatever we do, affects everything.

If we agree that the human body / mind is a single unit, then why do we still approach our exercise and training programs in a segmented fashion? Wouldn’t it make more sense to work WITH our bodies and prepare for the advancement of ALL strength and fitness qualities at the same time?

When we follow a “holistic” or hybrid approach to our training we effortlessly move in the direction of our greatest muscle building, fat loss and athletic performance potentials without resistance from nature. We are moving with the river, instead of against it. This leads to faster, longer lasting results… minus the typical anxiety and frustration.

Two of my favorite integrated or hybrid approaches fat loss and muscle building are “Power-building” and “Resistance cardio”. These hybrid training systems enhance your body’s ability to naturally build muscle and burn fat at the same time. They are effective means for increasing strength, muscle mass, cardiovascular health, fat loss and systemic vitality.

The first hybrid approach is “Power Building”. This is where a fitness seeker or athlete combines strength producing exercises and the variables consistent with it (heavy weights and low volume) with muscle building exercises and the parameters associated with it (moderate weights and high volume) in the same workout.

An example of a Power Building workout would include a heavy full body exercise like barbell squats for multiple sets to train the nervous system followed by a moderate intensity exercise for higher reps like dumbbell step-ups to develop muscle mass. This is a great way to improve functional strength and build attractive muscle at the same time.

With regards to conventional cardio training, most individuals limit themselves to the single dimension of jogging or cycling. This type of training is good… but what may be even better would be to combine the efforts of the cardiovascular system with the muscular system. Thereby creating a hybrid experience within the body and to produce the results of more muscle mass while burning fat.

Resistance Cardio can be performed in several manners, but amongst my favorite are the use of pulling sleds and kettle bells. Pulling sleds offer a low impact, moderate intensity form of cardio training that has the capacity to build muscle and strength in the legs and core while increasing the heart rate offering a fat burning response.

I also really enjoy kettle bell training as it offers a functional (and fun) alternative to jogging. Kettle bells also elicit a muscle building response which leads to a leaner, HARDER physique that with the use of jogging alone.

When we follow a “holistic” or hybrid approach to our training we effortlessly move in the direction of our greatest muscle building, fat loss and athletic performance potentials with ease. Hybrid muscle training is highly effective, functional and fun. If believe as I do, that the body (and our lives) are an expression integrated systems and subsystems AND you love the fat loss and muscle building benefits of challenging workouts… then I invite you to consider Lean Hybrid Muscle training!

First Steps

Hey we’ve all got to start somewhere… right?

Like when I first started Strength Camp, most all of my training equipment was either found in the trash or I made it.

=> How To Make Your Own Gym Equipment

Well, yesterday was a BIG day for my family…

As you know, I have 3 daughters… the youngest, Simone is only 14 months old.

She still drools all over her chin, crawls and, mommy nurses her.

But last night as soon as I walked through the door after leaving my gym… she came RUNNING up to me with the biggest smile ever!

Check out her very first steps:

Tampa Strongman Training Gym

I can remember like it was yesterday being a fresh college graduate with dreams of stardom and grandeur. I had just gotten my CSCS and thought that I would have every athlete beating down my door to be able to train with me. So I picked up and moved from Gainesville down to Tampa to take a position with the University of South Florida as an intern in the strength & conditioning. This was the “break” I was looking for.

In order to make ends meet I got a job as a Personal Trainer at the Lifestyle Family Fitness. Everything was going as planned….so I thought!

A month into the “internship” all I learned was that much of the College Strength & Conditioning business was flooded with cronyism instead of knowledge. I was a glorified janitor that got to babysit athletes that had NO desire to get better. To top things off, the hard work I put into my clients at Lifestyle yielded more of a return for them than myself. I was discouraged, frustrated and an overall shell of the person that was so enthusiastic months before. I was on the verge of giving up on my dream when I found out about 2 individuals that would ultimately change my whole perspective on what was possible.

I remember googling “Tampa Strongman”. What I found was a website run by Strength Camp owner and professional strongman Elliott Hulse. The first article I read of his hit me like a Mack truck!

Much like Joe Defranco and Zach Even-Esh did with there warehouse gyms in New Jersey, Elliott accomplished with his Strength Camp in Florida. He was able to create a competitive, results oriented environment that ANY and EVERY serious athlete would travel hours (literally) to train at. And like Zach Even-Esh before him, he was kind enough to “pay it forward”, to help others realize the dream that he had realized by creating a blue print for those that had the stones to stick it to the corporate gym structure and go out on their own!

So with a rebirth of vigor and a fresh new idea, I vowed to create Tampa’s first, best, and ONLY warehouse gym that people from all over would recognize and dream about training at! I didn’t want to cut any corners, so I wanted to get the best in Powerlifting, Olympic Lifting and Strongman equipment in order to create strong, explosive, and scary athletes! For my Powerlifting gear, I went to THE AUTHORITY in Powerlifting, EliteFTS.com.

I focused on the basics, because lets face it, the basics are what build the foundation for a winning athlete. I loaded up on Texas Power Bars (without a doubt the most versatile, best constructed bars made) specialty bars, bands, chains, glute-ham raise, reverse hyper and of course, what should be the center piece of every serious gym, two Collegiate Power Racks (NO CURLS IN THE RACK!!!).

For strongman equipment, I took a different route. While purchasing my powerlifting equipment, I learned quickly that when you want the best, you have to PAY for the best. Not so for strongman equipment! This is where Elliott had a huge influence, literally saving me thousands of dollars!

You see, I had always believed in the power of implementing Strongman exercises into an athletes training program, however always trained with others implements. It never crossed my mind that with a little leg work, any and all of the strongman implements that help build rock solid athletes, could be so simple to attain. Want a tire? They are free! How about a keg? Raid an unsuspecting fraternity house when they are too banged up to remember their name (or go to a local bar and pay the deposit on an empty shell). Sandbag? Use your brain on this one! You get the idea!

However the most important nugget of info I received was to find a good welder. This will save you time and money and is invaluable in the unfortunate circumstance that any of your equipment is damaged. So after taking the advice of Elliott, I managed to put together a healthy stable of Strongman equipment for next to nothing!

Now, with the gym in place, and my dream realized, the real work begins! I can honestly say without the inspiration and guidance of Elliott, I would be in a dead end, 9-5 job, complaining about having a case of the Monday’s and being that much closer to being the guy on youtube famous for stapling a TPS report to his Bosses forehead.

Take it from me…NOBODY deserves that life! So if I could offer anything in closing, I would tell you not to give up on what you love. With hard work and guidance, it is there for the taking!

Chandler Marchman is the owner of Elite SC Gym in Tampa Florida.  http://www.goelitesc.com/
Located at => 606 S. Tampania Ave. Tampa, FL 33609

Open your own Warehouse Gym just like Chandler, learn how with my FREE CD => http://www.WarehouseGymBusiness.com

How To Correct Deadlift Exercise Form

If you’re a Strength Camp Member or have been reading my website for some time, you know that I love dead lifts… not only for their strength and power building capacity but also for their ability to correct common muscular imbalances when performed correctly.

This video teaches an effective exercise that will strengthen the scapular adductors and mid back muscles while stretching the upper traps, pec minor and biceps.  Thus correcting the “thoracic kyphosis” posture (rounding of the shoulders) present in many young weaklings

If you enjoyed this video please subscribe to my YouTube Channel as I will be updating the channel regularly with footage that may not be posted on my blog.

Go here => http://www.youtube.com/strengthcamp and click the yellow SUBSCRIBE button in order to recieve exclusive my YouTube updates.  Thanks!

Warehouse Gym Business Interrogations

“Elliott, Tell Me…. How Exactly Do I Open My Own Warehouse Gym”

Since the release of my new “Warehouse Gym Business Plan” last week, I have been flooded with questions from personal trainers and coaches who want to know exactly how I went about opening my warehouse gym.  I just wanted to let you know that I really have enjoyed reading them and I intend to answer all of your questions.

But, I have to warn you…

The truth is that I am NOT a business or marketing expert… in fact, I kinda suck at that stuff.  My only admission is that I am a good “CopyCat” — I have read, studied and mimicked what other succesful gym owners have done and added my own spin on it.

You may think that I am somewhat “successful” as a business owner or somthing — but I started out as just a regular run-of-the-mill personal trainer who was sick of getting ripped off by the mega-sized Health Clubs in my city.

Today, I am literally living the life I have always dreamed off… father to beautiful children, working in my own business and a HOT wife

The reason why I created The Warehouse Gym Business Plan is simply because no one else has… I figured that I would leave all of the personal trainer business and marketing stuff to the experts.  But it just seems like they have only been focusing on teaching trainers how to run those Jumping Jack and Jogging “Boot Camps”.  Nothing has been offered for folks like us who wanna own a Warehouse Gym and train people we really enjoy surrounding ourselves with.

Well any way, like I said it has been my intention to answer all of your questions but since it would take me too long to get back to you I had chosen to do a few select interviews and recorded them for your listening pleasure!

Learn more about how to Open Your Own Successful Warehouse Gym below:

Warehouse Gym Interrogation #1

 

Right Click Here To Download

Warehouse Gym Interrogation #2

 

Right Click Here To Download

How To Open A Warehouse Gym part 1

This article is a follow up to my Strength Camp Business & Marketing post and an introduction to:

==>  http://www.WarehouseGymBusiness.com <==

When I was 4 years old living in Long Island with my parents, my mother’s brother had run into some hard times.  My uncle had just gone through a tough divorce at the age or only 23.  My parents, also very young at the time, were blessed to have a large enough home with a spare bedroom for my uncle to stay.  In exchange for allowing him to stay at their home, my parents asked that  my uncle if he would babysit me while they were at work.

Uncle Elroy was about 5′7 and 145 pounds of pure muscle, tendons and strength.  He and I would wake up after my parents had gone to work and watch “Channel 5 Kung Fu” (if you grew up in New York City in the 80’s, you’ll know what I’m talking about) with breakfast.  Afterwords Uncle Elroy, who was a black belt in Northern Shoulin Kung Fu, an I would go down into the dark and dusty basement and as he called it, “Train”.

He taught me how to climb ropes, do push ups, sit ups and chin ups when most kids my age were still pissing the bed.  The basement had no training equipment, only a few wooden boxes, concrete blocks and the house’s structure pillers that rose out of the ground where my uncle would beat his shins and forearms against in order to “toughen his skin”.

These are my very first memories of  Training.  As I made my way through high school my love for training continued to evolve along with the additions to our “basement gym”.  My father bought a power rack and about 600 pounds of plates where my little brother and I could continue our training and develop our young physiques.  By now my uncle had “gotten back on his feet” and began working again, as a personal trainer in a “warehouse gym” located in Jersey City, over 100 miles from our home in Long Island.  He would frequently visit us and continued to teach my brother and I how to Train with only the minimal equipment that we had.

See this now ==> http://www.WarehouseGymBusiness.com

After college, where I continued to Train in my basement as preparation for playing football, I decided to study Exercise Physiology in graduate school so as to increase my knowledge in my area of passion… Training.  But it wasn’t very long before I realized that what was taught in university labs and classrooms had very little to do with Training and much more to padding the egos of professors and administrators.  They received great pleasure by complicating and bastardizing the simple yet ancient art of bodily exercise.  Most of what they taught me was based on an aerobic model of fitness , which had become popular in The United States in the late 70’s - early 80’s,  and had very little practical application for the athlete or those Training for strength, vitality and vigor.

After dealing with deep inner turmoil and frustration I had decided that my best option was to quit grad school and join the workforce… as a Personal Trainer, just like my uncle.  A personal trainer is one who instructs on the proper use of exercise and is knowledgeable in the application of fitness modalities.  They typically work for a “Health Club”, where they solicit the business of often lazy, slothful, yet well-to-do individuals who believe that by hiring a fitness instructor that somehow, probably by osmosis, they too will develop physical strength and the aesthetics associated with it.

More times than none, these “clients” would show up late to appointments, having just filled their fat guts with sausage sandwiches from Jack In The Box, and would insist that I “take it easy on them”, since they had one-to-many cocktails the night before.  What is even worse, is that these so-called health clubs are designed to cater to the degenerate behavior displayed by it’s patrons.  In fact, there was NOTHING healthy about the health club… it was just another modality for shallow people to continue adding to the daily delusion that they call “life”.

Having already quit graduate school based on the pretense of the administrators and professors, I was reluctant to retire from the health club and confused about where I would offer my services as a Strength Coach.  In great agony about my future I had called upon my uncle, the man who helped raise me and sparked my passion for Training several decades earlier.  He reminded me of our battles and success with Training in the dark and dirty basement of my parents home.  He made it very clear to me that, like the old Shoulin Monks, we only need very basic Training materials as well as a positive and energetic environment to develop our and our students physical capacities.

This is where the seed of my very first “Warehouse Gym Business” had been burried.  STAY TUNED FOR PART II where you’ll watch as this seed begins to germinate, take root and beceome Strength Camp.

Learn how you can escape the clutches of the Fake Fitness Facade and rebel with your very own Warehouse Gym Business!

See this now ==> http://www.WarehouseGymBusiness.com

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READ PART 2 Here ==> http://www.hulsestrength.com/open-warehouse-gym-part-2/.html

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Practice Post

Strongman Log Clean & Pressing

It never ceases to amaze me how many sports and strength coaches think that they need to teach their athletes the incredibly technical skill of The Olympic Clean & Press! These well meaning coaches sometimes forget that exercises like the Clean & Jerk as well as The Snatch are OLYMPIC EVENTS!! — The men and women who receive the greatest benefit from executing these movements have generally spent several years, sometimes decades learning how to perfect their skills. Also, I have discovered that in order for our training programs to be effective, they have got to be FUN.  No 16 year old football player, who is full of “piss and vinegar” is going to want to stall his strength efforts in order to “learn” how to execute a lift.  He wants to “hit it hard… NOW”, and within the bounds of safety, it is our responsibility to let him go for it! This is why I love Strongman Training so much.  The movements we use are very functional, based on “Primal Movement Patterns”, create incredible strength and explosive capacity AND it fun to do. Among several substitutions for Olympic Lifting movements like the clean and press is The Strongman Log Clean & Press. This movement requires very little skill but a SH*T LOAD of Attitude!  Also, it puts such an immense demand on the bone and muscle tissue that it literally forces the body to release a flood of testosterone and other naturally produced anabolic hormones directly into your blood stream. Below is a video of me doing Log Clean & Presses with over 300 lbs.  I move lots of weight with this movement, granted that I am a Professional Strongman ;). If you see me lifting like this and are thinking to yourself, “there is NO WAY that my that my young, skinny punks will EVER clean and press like that” — please rest assured that my athletes use about 1/4 of the weight displayed here and are usually performing sets of 5 reps.

One of the problems with Strongman Training and exercises like the Log Clean & Press is getting your hands on the equipment. Well, fret no more! — Below is a description of what I have discovered to be the Strongest and most Rugged Strongman Training Log ever constructed. Check it out.

Click Here To Order Now ==> The Strongman Pressing Log

PS - If you order The Strongman Log by clicking the link or the images above before the end of this weekend, I will send you a FREE digital copy of my Gridiron Strongman Training System as well as 1 free month on our new Strength Camp Member’s Only website accessable only by our Strength Camp DVD Members… but, we’ll let you in for a few weeks — Just send me your receipt via e-mail and I’ll hook you up!

Click Here To Order Now ==> The Strongman Pressing Log

Strongman Competition Results

Gratitude & Humility — these are the two virtues that I have been practicing as of late.

Perpetual thanks to YOU my readers, my family, friends and fans.

And a humble bow to God, as it is He that animates my movements and performs HIS work through me.

Here are the results of yesterdays “Strongman Show Of Champions” — enjoy the video!

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