About the Author:

Nick Nilsson, also known as the “Mad Scientist of Exercise,” has been training and innovating unique and powerful new exercises and training techniques for more than 18 years. He’s published 9 books on weight training, including his most recent – “The Best Chest Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of”

Visit his site now to learn more about how this book can take your chest development and pressing strength to a whole new level AND grab your FREE sample chest exercises!
=>http://www.hulsestrength.com/recommends/BigChest

Strongman Competition Elliott Hulse 10.09

I HATE losing… I hate losing so much that once failure has reared it’s ugly face, I don’t even acknowledge it.

I simply pretend like it’s not even there! –

“Just keep it moving, act like it never happened.”

This is a resourceful approach when I’ve done crazy shit like blowing money on a bet or getting my ass kicked when wrestling my my little brother (who is a martial arts instructor and Jujitsu Jui Jit Zu guy).

But when it comes to losing in one of the 4 most important things in my personal development model.

I’ve discovered that FACING the failure is much more benefitial to my spiritual and emotional growth than simply ignoring it.

So, here I am (video below) getting my butt whooped in a Heavy Weight strongman show last month.

Most would argue that taking 3rd place in a show where most of the competitors outweighed me by about 60 pounds is pretty good.

But “pretty good” has NEVER been my goal.

Winning at all costs… that’s how I like to play!

If you’re as COMMITTED To winning at all costs, like I am… then you’ll need to get your hands on the right tools for constructing a super strong physique.

Take a good look at Gridiron Strongman! — Click Here

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

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:

How To Make Atlas Stones video

I made this video to teach you How To Make Atlas Stones for Strongman Training. — Enjoy!

Click here ==> to learn more about Atlas Stone Training for Strongman, Sports or Fitness – HERE.

Click here ==> to buy the BEST Stone Molds (Slater Stone Molds) – HERE

Click here ==> to learn more about “The Gym Stone” – HERE

5 Keys To Increaseing Your Vertical Jump

With basketball and volleyball right around the corner many athletes are looking to increase their vertical. Many factors lead to top end verticals; flexibility, proper training, proper jump training, jump technique and enough rest is needed to optimally increase the vertical. What we’re going to do is give you the 5 keys or exercises that we use at Athletic Edge that have helped a dozen d1 volleyball players reach their top verticals in camp this year. Over the summer we get a group of volleyball players that have to attain certain goals most of which have to do with jumping and conditioning. We are going to give some of our keys that have helped them reach their personal bests this year. These are in no specific order and should always be done with a certified sports performance coach to ensure proper technique and coaching ques.

1. Flexibility- Flexibility is key in any program for strength and conditioning. This is because the hip flexors are so important for explosion upward. If we are tight in the hips it is very hard to explode through what is called triple extension (ankles, knees and hip alignment). This triple extension is the power behind the vertical. So we need to be properly warmed up using some various methods: foam rolling, active warm up, muscle activation and cns activation. These four concepts will help improve your vertical immensely.

2. Depth jump landing to depth jumps- learning how to properly land is also key to understanding how to jump. To work on depth jump landing simply stand on a box and step down and land. Making sure your feet are shoulder width and you’re in an athletic position. This is important because volleyball and basketball players all use repetitive jumping and making sure you can land and jump again with the same power is important. We must always learn to land before we learn to jump. Depth jumps are simple and one of the most important exercises to do because of the quick response the body needs and how the cns reacts to this type of training. You start off the same on the box, step down, and then jump up as quickly as possible. This is very intensive on the cns and has been used for many years as a training method to increase verts. To make this even more challenging put some hurdles in front of the box and do depth jumps that way.

3. Resisted jumps- there are many ways to do resisted jumping and some of them are; the Vertimax, resisted cords and vests. These are the basis of resisted methods we use at Athletic Edge. The Vertimax is by far one of the best pieces of equipment you can get. It is one of the few if not only piece that resists the athlete from the waist down. This is important again because of the cns intensive training and triple extension. This resistance makes the body work extremely hard to overcome the interia the weight is putting the body through. Repeated use of resistant training gives the body muscle memory thus increasing the vertical.

4. Strength training specifically squats and posterior chain- squatting, whatever type it may be (back squats, front squats, box squats, safety squats and sumo squats) are one of the best things to do for increasing power in the lower body. Depending on your training history and age you can do anything from bodyweight squatting to heavy band squatting the point is you’re squatting. The muscles used to squat are the same muscles used to jump and explode upward. Again we are talking about overcoming inertia and driving the hips, butt and torso upward. The posterior chain, which is the glutes and the hamstrings, are very important not only in jumping but also acl prevention. This is especially true in women as there is a 5x more likely hood that acl tears will happen compared to men. This is due to poor activation of the posterior chain. Some exercises we do are: bridge series, RDL’s and SL RDL’s.

5. Single Leg training- While duel leg training like squatting and jumping are extremely important we must realize one leg is always stronger than the other. Single leg training (SL) is important to do because we need the most power out of each leg possible. Training in this fashion ensures proper acceleration and power when doing 2 legged jumping. Some exercises we do are lunge walks; rear leg elevated squats, pistol squats and SL RDL’s. These exercises are extremely vital to the athlete and give the athlete not only strength but most importantly power through the whole lower body. These types of exercises also help with prevention of ACL problems as many females suffer from over compensation. We also incorporate SL work into all keys of warm up including SL jump roping, agility ladder drills, mini SL jumps forward and lateral and over objects. We also incorporate SL jumps to double leg landing and Double leg jumps to SL landings.

These 5 keys are very important to incorporate into your training. Remember to always warm up properly and consult with a certified strength and conditioning coach to ensure proper program design and conditioning. Here at Athletic Edge Sports Performance, inc. we make sure that all of our athletes are doing some sort of these 5 keys to jumping. Remember there are many variations we use because of how many different age groups we have. If you have any questions or need descriptions of exercise don’t hesitate to ask. We also do offer on line training now at the Edge in speed, agility, strength training and jump training. Again don’t hesitate to ask. We hope this helps and gives description to how important these 5 keys are to increasing your vertical but also helping secure your ACL.

Coach Brad is a certified strength and conditioning coach under the CSCS with a degree in Exercise Science and owner of Athletic Edge Sports Performance, Inc.

He has been training all types of athletes for 7 years including many division 1 baseball, football, volleyball and basketball players. Coach Brad also deals a lot with youth athletes and athletes coming off of injury. Coach Troy is also CSCS certified and has a degree in Physical Education. He has been in the field for 15 years training athletes from grammar school to professional.

Contact Coach Brad or Troy at 773-610-FAST (3278) or email at llmb@prodigy.net check out the website at www.athleticedgesports.net and stay tuned for prevention of ACL and Jump Training videos.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

By the way… if you’re a dedicated athlete with a desire to excel at your sport, would you like more tips on how to jump higher?

<== Check out The Jump Manual **Click Here**

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!

Master Your Hormones To Build Muscle & Burn Fat

Below is another awesome article written by Jeff Anderson “The Muscle Nerd”.
In the next few moments Jeff will reveal:

* How you can tap into the ab-shredding workouts that will carve out your body like
a “300″ movie extra

* How increasing your growth hormone will help you burn body fat at breakneck speed…
for washboard abs that will turn heads at the beach (or at the coliseum)!

* What you can do AFTER your workout that will help you jack up your anabolic juices
for a fat melting, muscle building conquest!

How To Master The Mother Of All Hormones To Build Muscle And Burn Fat!
By The Muscle Nerd, Jeff Anderson
Author of Optimum Anaboics

The epic war movie “300” jacked up the occupancy rates of every gym across the country as all of us guys dreamed of owning a set of washboard abs (and swords) like the warriors from the film.

Hell, I practically have to snap my fingers in front of my wife’s face to break her out of her trance every time the movie trailer played on our TV!  It’s hard to compet with ripped and shredded ancient soldiers!

But there’s some sort of irony that this movie about a Spartan king who leads his army of 300 soldiers into battle against the invading Persian army, shows the defenders as being so big and buff.

You see, the Spartans were Greek and the Greeks are credited with the origin of the word “hormone” (from their word “horman”, meaning “to stir up or excite”), the very thing that they worked so hard to master to become such great athletes and warriors.

So as my own tribute to this killer movie, this article is dedicated to these formidable warriors who have inspired men everywhere to chisel out a “Spartan-like” physique able to fend off attackers anywhere.  (Now leave our wives alone!)

Yes…this article is about naturally mastering your body’s growth hormone (GH) levels for more muscle and more fat burning!

In fact, if your goal is to lose fat and build muscle, it’s absolutely critical to pay close attention to your efforts to maximize your production of this powerful chemical in your body.

Released from your pituitary gland, growth hormone production peaks around puberty, and then slowly fades away as we age and plays a key role in the maintenance of muscle, bone mass and the balance of body fat.

This chemical is so powerful that even WITHOUT following an exercise program and healthy diet, it can build muscle and burn fat!

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that a small group of elderly men (aged between 61 and 81) who were given injected GH treatment showed an increase in both muscle and bone mass…AND reduced body fat at the same time.

Now, injected GH therapy does have its down sides so you can put down the phone…your doctor isn’t going to give you a prescription.

Joint and muscle pain can eventually occur from artificial stimulation and once you stop taking it, all benefits go bye-bye.

However, if done correctly, research has shown that naturally stimulating growth hormone can pay off with big dividends in a short period of time.

In fact, one university study from Denmark found that a 9-week program designed to naturally stimulate GH release resulted in strength gains 300% over normal increases!

Adding to that, men following the program increase arm strength by a whopping 37% compared with only 9% by the “control group” who only followed a “non-GH-stimulation” program.

And remember…these GH increases were activated not by injected hormone, but by completely natural means.

Now you can see why my program “Optimum Anabolics” (www.optimumanabolics.com) has a primary focus of stimulating natural anabolic hormone output within the body…and why it has proven so effective at building muscle and burning off fat for thousands of men.

Hormone-focused training WORKS!

So to help you get started at mastering your own growth hormone factory, here are some of the key elements you need to apply to your workouts:

Natural Growth Hormone And YOUR Training Program

Exercise intensity is key when it comes to activating a GH response in your body.  You want your workouts to be rather fast and furious, keeping total workout time no greater than 60 minutes.  After that, you start to see a rapid decline in hormone response in the body.

You have a lot of work to do in just 60 minutes so in order to maximize your time in the gym, stick to “supersets” for your exercises and keep your rest periods to a minimum (about 60-90 seconds between sets).  A superset involves going straight from exercise 1 to exercise 2 without resting or with minimal rest in between. Once you’ve completed both exercises, you will take a short break (remember…”short” means just 60-90 seconds!) and go back to exercise 1 again to hit the next superset.

Keep your repetition count high (around 8-12 repetitions per set).  This will help activate a lactic acid response in your muscles and lactic acid in turn activates the release of growth hormone.  You’re going for the “burn” in this program!

Be sure to pause and squeeze your targeted muscle at the peak contraction point (for bicep curls as an example, this would be in the “up” position).

This will really activate the lactic acid response as well as make sure you’re hitting deep into your muscle fibers.

Once you’re done with your workout, save about 5 minutes at the end for “sprint training”…

Researchers from Loughborough University have shown that a group of athletes who conducted a short series of 30-second sprints reached growth hormone levels 25 TIMES their resting levels approximately 30 minutes after training.

You’re not going to want to miss out on THOSE kinds of results!

So at the end of your workout, do three to six 30-second sprints on your gym’s track or on the road to finish off the day and set yourself up for peak GH output.

Follow this program and YOU will soon be shopping shirtless for a shield and armor at the local blacksmith!  (And stay away from my wife!)

Learn more about how to MAXIMIZE your anablic potential naturally.
==> http://www.hulsestrength.com/recommends/Optimum_Anabolics

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