- Napoleon Hill

We have all heard the following expressions, “Play until the final whistle blows”, “As long as there is time on the clock, we haven’t lost”, “Play all 27 outs”, “Play all 60 minutes”, “It’s not over until it’s over”, etc.  Most people misconstrue these statements as relating to time, they do not.  All relate to the fact that no matter how badly you are losing, you only lose once you have accepted the loss in your mind.  If you never quit, then you never lose.  Once you quit, it is over, all the talent and ability in the world is not enough to overcome that.  Quitting is a choice that you make in your MIND.  Achievement is no different.  It is in your mind that you achieve your goals before you achieve them in reality.  Everyone who has ever won any major Championship has pictured themselves winning it before it actually occurred.  That all sounds nice, but what does it have to do with you?  What does it have to do with you getting into great shape, getting more muscle, getting stronger?  EVERYTHING!!!

Last week, I was doing heavy squats and on the first set I was struggling.  It started creeping into my mind that maybe the weight was too heavy and I should take a little off or maybe I should do fewer reps.  As a survival mechanism, your body is always trying to protect you so, it is natural to think about backing off when you are about to accomplish a very heavy lift.  You have to fight through that natural instinct in order to succeed.  As I stood there resting between sets, I said to myself, “WTF are you doing, you can lift this weight, explode out of the bottom, YOU’VE GOT THIS!!!”  Then, I closed my eyes and pictured myself doing the squat successfully.  The next set with the same weight felt EASY!!!  Not only that, but 3 sets later, on my last set, I did 40 LBS heavier than I did the first set!!!  Was I stronger than I was during the first set?  Did I take some magic supplement?  NO and NO!!!  I used mental imagery or visualization and self-talk to propel my success. 

Let’s do a simple exercise on mental imagery…however you direct your mind is what you are going to think about, positive or negative and whatever you say, you will think about.  Try this:  DO NOT THINK ABOUT PINK ELEPHANTS!!!  I bet you just had a picture of a pink elephant in your mind, LOL!!!  So, our mind will think about whatever we feed it.  Hence, if you want to be successful, think of success.  If you want to be in great shape, have 6 pack abs or be a MASSIVE FREAK then, think about that image and it will drive you towards achieving that goal.  As the great Earl Nightingale said in The Strangest Secret, “We become what we think about.”  The mind always moves you toward your current dominant thought.  Research shows that self-talk and visualization works. 

Stop thinking about me!!!

Self-talk refers to statements individuals address to themselves for specific purposes, such as increasing motivation or enhancing skill execution (1).  Tod et al. (2) found that “…healthy, active individuals may enhance the display of muscular power via the use of instructional and motivational self-talk… self-talk may lead to an increase in muscular power by alterations in movement kinematics. The use of self-talk may contribute to improved performance in sports requiring power-based skills.”  Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (3) found that motivational self-talk led to improved distance in the water polo throw.  Self-talk is promoted as a way to enhance sport and exercise performance (4).  As you can see, giving yourself verbal cues, whether instructional or motivational, does correlate to success. 

Research proves that mental imagery is an effective tool as well.  Silbernagel et al. (5) found “Athletes who used imagery more often were more confident.  There was also a positive relationship between imagery use and imagery effectiveness and confidence in the weight room. Thus, it seems as though imagery is a source of confidence in the weight room, just as it is a source of confidence in sports and other domains.”  Woolfolk et al. (6) used positive and negative imagery with the task of putting a golf ball and the results were significant.  “In the positive imagery group, subjects imagined the ball going into the cup, while subjects using negative imagery visualized the ball narrowly missing the cup. Subjects in the control group putted without instructions. On each of 6 consecutive days a 10-putt trial was conducted for each subject.  Post hoc analyses showed significant differences among all groups, with positive imagery producing the most improvement, the control condition producing less, and negative imagery resulting in performance deterioration.”  Some of the most successful athletes and some of the most memorable performances have been the result of using positive mental imagery.

Arnold Schwarzenegger – 7-time Mr. Olympia

Look at Arnold “chiseling” his mountainous arms

Arnold’s entire Bodybuilding career was the result of his use of mental imagery.  He imagined moving to America and becoming a Champion Bodybuilder ever since he was a little boy.  A great example of Arnold’s use of mental imagery was with his biceps, one of his most impressive physical attributes.  He said, “I was constantly playing tricks on my mind. This is why I began to think of my biceps as mountains, instead of flesh and blood. Thinking of my biceps as mountains made my arms grow faster and bigger than if I’d seen them only as muscles.  When you think of biceps as merely muscles, you subconsciously have a limit in your mind, which for biceps is something in the area of 20″ or 21″. When you limit yourself to that measurement, it is very hard to get to that level and, needless to say, impossible to get past it. But when you think about mountains, there is no limit to biceps growth, and therefore you have a chance of going beyond normal mental barriers.”  Arnold went on to say, “Whether it’s muscle or money, you have to make it with your mind.” That is such an incredibly powerful and true statement!!!

Billy Mills – 1964 Gold Medalist 10,000 meter run

View this video to see one of the most improbable victories in Olympic history:

Billy Mills was the first American to ever win Gold in the 10,000 meter run and no American has won the event since.  The favorite in the 1964 Olympics for the 10,000 meter run was Ron Clarke of Australia who held the World Record.  Mills’ time in the preliminaries was a full minute slower than Clarke.  Mills, a believer in visualization or “imagery,” did not permit a negative thought to enter his head as he worked toward the biggest race of his life.  Mills said, “The subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between reality or imagination.”  He elaborated, “You focus for 4 years, dozens of times a day, visualizing, reliving the moment the way you want it to be and then you win.  That one fleeting moment, you know, you’re the very best in the world.”  What an incredible story, visualizing his victory day in day out for four years and when given the one opportunity to run the biggest race of his life, he achieved in reality what he had envisioned in his mind hundreds of times before.

Jack Nicklaus – won a record 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour

Jack Nicklaus winning his final major, the 1986 Masters.

Jack Nicklaus, “The Golden Bear”, is the most prolific golfer in PGA history amassing an incredible 18 major championships over the span of 24 years.  It is no surprise that one of the greatest golfers ever used the power of mental imagery to forge his success.  In his words, “I never hit a shot even in practice without having a sharp in-focus picture of it in my head. It’s like a color movie. First, I “see” the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I “see” the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there’s a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality only at the end of this short private Hollywood spectacular do I select a club and step up to the ball.”  What an incredible of vivid use of mental imagery!!!

Michael Jordan – 6-time NBA Champion & One of the Greatest Basketball Players Ever

Growing up, I had the privilege of seeing Michael Jordan play.  I say privilege because he was one of a few players who could single-handedly take over an entire game.  He had the ability to overcome double teams with ease and still score 50 or 60 plus points.  When asked about athletic skills versus mental skills, Michael Jordan said, “The mental part is the hardest part, and I think that’s the part that separates the good players from the great players.”  In terms of mental imagery, Jordan said, “I visualized where I wanted to be, what kind of player I wanted to become. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there.”   Yet another legend who used mental imagery!!!

As we saw above, mental imagery or visualization is a technique employed by some of the most successful athletes of all time.  While we may not have the same physical gifts that they had, any of us can employ the technique of visualization to achieve tremendous success in our physique, business and in life.  As with anything in life, visualization takes practice and what works for one person may not work for another so, find out what works for you and go with it.  You can call upon these images of success whenever you need them and the more you use mental imagery, the more confident and successful you will become.  Focus your mental images on achieving success rather than avoiding failure, only focus on positive thoughts and close your eyes and repeat a message to yourself until the image becomes very vivid and clear.  See yourself achieving your goals, getting the physique you desire and living the life that you deserve.  Do this continuously and one day, you won’t need to close your eyes anymore because those dreams will become a reality!!! 

 Did you enjoy this post? Buy me a cup of coffee

References:

1) Hardy, J. Speaking clearly: a critical review of the self-talk literature.  Psychol Sport Exerc 7: 81–97, 2006.

2) Tod, DA, Thatcher, R, McGuigan, M, and Thatcher, J. Effects of instructional and motivational self-talk on the vertical jump. J Strength Cond Res 23(1): 196–202, 2009

3) Hatzigeorgiadis, A, Theodorakis, Y, and Zourbanos, N. Self-talk in the swimming pool: the effects of self-talk on thought content and performance on water-polo tasks. J Appl Sport Psychol 16: 138–150, 2004.

4) Zinsser, N, Bunker, L, and Williams, JM. Cognitive techniques for building confidence and enhancing performance. In: Applied Sport Psychology: Personal Growth to Peak Performance. J.M. Williams, ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2006. pp. 349–381

5) Silbernagel, M.S., S.E. Short, and L.C. Ross-Stewart. Athletes’ use of exercise imagery during weight training. J. Strength Cond. Res. 21(4):1077–1081. 2007

6) Robert L. Woolfolk, Mark W. Parrish and Shane M. Murphy. The effects of positive and negative imagery on motor skill performance. Cognitive Therapy and Research . Volume 9, Number 3, 1985, pgs. 335-341

9) “I don’t walk away from things that I think are unfinished.”

’8) “I just use my muscles as a conversation piece, like someone walking a cheetah down 42nd Street.”

7) “What we face may look insurmountable. But I learned something from all those years of training and competing. I learned something from all those sets and reps when I didn’t think I could lift another ounce of weight. What I learned is that we are always stronger than we know.”

6) “I knew I was a winner back in the late sixties. I knew I was destined for great things. People will say that kind of thinking is totally immodest. I agree. Modesty is not a word that applies to me in any way – I hope it never will.”

5) “It would make me sick to miss a workout … I knew I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I didn’t do it.”

4) “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

3) “For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.”

2) “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

1) “The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.”

Did you enjoy this post? Buy me a cup of coffee

The sign of success or failure?

When I first started working right after college, I got a job on Wall Street.  The massive buildings, the hustle and bustle, I really thought that I had made it.  What I made in money was far surpassed by what I gained in knowledge of human behavior.  Within the first few weeks of working 7 days and 100 or more hours each week, my mentor grabbed me and pulled me into a conference room.  I had not slept more than 4 hours over the course of the past 10 days and I was exhausted.  Fortunately, he was here to offer me some words of wisdom and I will never forget what he told me as long as I live… “Do you want to know how to make it here?”, he said.  “Of course!”, I responded happily.  He said, “Work hard, keep your head down and keep your mouth shut and hopefully, you will make it through the downturns.”  This was the verbal equivalent of kicking me in the groin and asking me “what’s wrong?” as I roll back and forth on the ground.  While Knute Rockne and Vince Lombardi were busy rolling over in their graves at the complete and total lack of motivation those words provided, I sat there staring into my cup of coffee completely mystified.  I worked my ass off in school to try to get the toughest job I could get so I could be successful and this is what I got?  Lesson #1:  Success is a journey NOT a destination.

Rockne & Lombardi knew the secret of success

Whenever I think about what my mentor said, it is more reminiscent of how to survive being held hostage rather than advice on becoming successful.  Did Arnold ever say to anyone, “Lift weights, eat well and hopefully if you hang around long enough you will win a bodybuilding competition.”  HELL NO!!!   THIS is Arnold: “For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.”  If Arnold had been in the conference room, he would have flipped the table over after hearing what my mentor had said!!!  Arnold had a WINNER mentality, but that is not enough…he also SURROUNDED himself with the best.  Think about it, everyone that Arnold trained with finished at the top of the Mr. Olympia competition and they were all World Class Bodybuilders.  In fact, Arnold’s training partner Franco Columbu won 2 Mr. Olympia titles and finished in the top 5 overall when he and Arnold competed together.  So, the easiest way to stop being a failure and start being a winner is to SURROUND YOURSELF WITH WINNERS!!!

Arnold & Franco surrounded themselves with success!

If you want to become good at basketball, don’t play against little kids and dunk on an 8 foot rim.  Play against guys who are bigger, better and tougher and your level of play will increase.   The same goes for lifting, don’t train with people who are below you, train with those who you want to emulate.  When you want to lose weight and all of your friends are out of shape, you are going to find yourself at fast food joints and you will have to deal with getting hassled when you choose to eat a salad or pass on dessert.  Who needs that?  Yet, if you want to lose weight and you hang out with people who are in good shape and whom you want to be like, you will find yourself eating better.  No matter whether it is sports, fitness, diet, or anything else, if you surround yourself with those who are more accomplished than you, you will reap the benefits of their experience and you will catapult ahead of your peers and achieve tremendous success much faster than you would alone.  This is one of the easiest things you can do to better yourself in any area of life, yet so few people do it. 

So, this all sounds great, but where do I go from here?  Well, what is your goal and who has achieved what you want to achieve?  Once you determine the answers to those 2 questions, seek out the people who you want to be like and read everything that they write and learn as much as you possibly can from them.  The most important thing is to ask questions and LISTEN.  I read everything I can get my hands on related to success, fitness, entrepreneurship and I seek out those who know more than me and ask them questions.  The vast majority of people love talking about themselves so, it is not hard to get them to tell you about their favorite subject.  Go ahead, surround yourself with successful people, learn from them, reap the rewards and become a winner!!!  BE UNSTOPPABLE!!!

Did you enjoy this post? Buy me a cup of coffee

The most common mistake which I see is people who do Bodybuilding routines though their goal is fat loss.  Not only that, but they will do Bodybuilding routines with a set / rep scheme that is more indicative of a Strength routine.  At the gym, I often see skinny guys trying to lift as much weight as they possibly can while doing a single joint exercise such as bicep curls or triceps kickbacks.  My goal is Hypertrophy so, these same skinny morons will look over me and the weight that I am lifting and they will smile thinking, “Ha, I am stronger than that guy; look at that weight he is using!!!”  While there is merit to lifting heavy weights in order to gain muscle, that only follows if you are ensuring progressive resistance, increasing the weight each workout and doing enough repetitions to induce sufficient stress to the muscle that it responds to the stress by repairing and growing in order to handle greater stress.  So, what is the SECRET to getting the PERFECT body???  First you must define your goal (i.e. what is “perfect” to you) and then, you must map out a plan to achieve that goal.  I am going to assume that the vast majority of people reading this have one of three goals: 1) Gain Muscle 2) Get Stronger 3) Lose Fat.

Who do you want to look like?

The variables that we are going to work with are reps, weight and rest.  

Gain Muscle

This happens to be my goal and it can be achieved with varying rep ranges, but the ideal rep range for hypertrophy is 6-12 reps using a weight which is 67-85% of your One-Rep Max (1RM)⁽¹⁾.  When I first started training, I had the good fortune of having a family member who was a Bodybuilder back in the 80’s and he gave me a super simple routine which was very successful for me.  3 sets of 8-12 reps, 3 exercises per session, Monday through Friday (Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders, Arms).  I did that routine for 12 months and went from 178LBS to 228LBS!!!  Truth be told, some of that was adipose tissue, but I gained a great deal of muscle and saw tremendous gains in strength and size.  His recommendation was simple: “Go to failure every set and once you fail at 12 reps, increase the weight and start again at 8 reps and continue the process.”  For someone starting out, I would focus on Multi-joint exercises (i.e. Deadlift, Bench Press, Back Squat, etc.) and then work in single-joint exercises (e.g. Biceps curls, Triceps kickbacks, Seated Leg Raises, etc.) to increase work performed later on.  Multi-joint exercises induce a greater hormonal response and allow you to perform greater work capacity in less time.  As a quick example, a Deadlift set of 225LBS for 10 reps is 2,250 LBS of total work whereas Biceps Concentration Curls with a 40LB Dumbbell for 10 reps for each arm is 800 LBS of total work.  The Deadlift results in nearly 3 times more work performed and has an impact on many different muscle groups, not just the arms.  Here is the routine and some examples of exercises which I did as a beginner with the goal of gaining muscle:

Get Stronger

A lot of times people confuse gaining muscle and getting stronger.  While a Strength-focused routine will also get you more muscular and a Hypertrophy-focused routine will also get you stronger, to optimize each goal individually requires a different set/rep scheme.  The ideal rep range for Strength is less than 6 reps using a weight which is >85% of your One-Rep Max (1RM)⁽¹⁾.  The prime example of someone focused exclusively on getting stronger is a Powerlifter.  In competition, a Powerlifter will perform the Bench Press, Barbell Back Squat and Deadlift and the sum total of the 3 highest weights lifted is their total for the competition.  The goal of a Powerlifter is to continually increase their PR (personal record) in each of the 3 lifts (Bench, Squat and Deadlift).  As I mentioned earlier, you will gain muscle with a Strength routine, but there are many examples of incredibly strong people who are not all that big and in many cases, guys want to be the Strongest in a particular weight class so they will want to become stronger without getting bigger.  Personally, I find Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Routine to be incredibly effective if your goal is to Get Stronger.  I used the 5/3/1 Routine and it is very simple and effective.  I increased my PR’s in the Bench, Squat and Deadlift and don’t know of anyone who has not had success with this routine. 

The premise of 5/3/1 is this:

1) Basic multi-joint lifts – The routine is built around 4 core lifts, the bench press, back squat, deadlift, and standing barbell press.

2) Start light – starting light allows for more room to progress going forward.

3) Progress slowly – it takes time to make significant progress and by starting light and progressing slowly you will make greater gains in the long run. 

4) Break personal records – the program allows you to break PR’s throughout the course of a year.  This is more geared towards rep records and not one rep max.  If you go from lifting 300LBS for 6 reps to 300LBS for 10 reps, you are stronger.

In 5/3/1, you train three or four days a week with each workout centered around one of the 4 core lifts (bench, squat, deadlift or press).  The percentages below are multiplied by 90% of your 1RM, each training cycle lasts four weeks, the fourth week is a de-load week and the following are the set-rep goals for each major lift:

Then you start the next cycle, using slightly heavier weights on the core lifts and you continue to get Stronger and progress forward, simple yet effective.  Let’s use a simple example with the Shoulder Press.  If your 1RM is 110LBS then 90% of that is about 100LBS.  That is the number which the percentages will be multiplied by throughout:

At the end of Week 4, you increase each of the weights in the table and continue to progress forward.  Follow this process with each of the 4 lifts (e.g.  Monday = Deadlift, Tuesday = Bench, Thursday = Squat, Friday = Shoulder Press)

Lose Fat

In order to lose fat, you need to maximize the amount of work done in a small amount of time.  The surest way to accomplish that is to decrease the rest periods between sets.  In order to burn fat, you need to cause your body to require so much energy that ATP and glycogen are completely used up and then fat stores are targeted.  Incomplete recovery, as a result of little rest, will ensure that you utilize fat stores for energy because you generate EPOC.  EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) is an increased rate of oxygen intake after performing very demanding or strenuous activity (e.g. tabata protocol, interval training or complexes) to erase the oxygen debt and return the body back to where it was at rest before the exercise was performed.  EPOC increases the body’s demand for fuel so, fat stores are broken down and released into the blood, hence, EPOC = fat loss.

My current routine is geared towards fat loss; it is a metabolic routine which focuses on compound movements with only 45 seconds of rest between sets.  The weights that you use will come down, but by the end of the workout, you WILL be CRUSHED!!!

To optimize the achievement of any one of these three goals, you need to make sure that you get enough sleep.  My best results, regardless of my goal, have occurred when I have gotten plenty of sound restful sleep (7-9 hours).  Follow my advice and Muscular, Strong or Lean will one day describe YOU!!!

Did you enjoy this post? Buy me a cup of coffee

References:

1)      Baechle, Thomas R and Earle, Roger W. “Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning” 3rd Edition. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. 2008. Pgs. 401-408.

 
Looking at the top 5:  Average Height = 6 ft 1 in, Average Weight = 190 lbs, Average Drive = 308.9 yds.  I think that it is safe to say that none of the above have ever been mistaken for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno or Mr. Olympia AND I doubt anyone has ever asked any of them how much they can bench, squat or deadlift.  The point I am making here is that these are not the biggest and strongest guys so, you wouldn’t suspect that they can crush a 300 yard drive.  So, what’s their secret?

Arnold is Bigger & Stronger, but JB Holmes drives it longer!!!

Whereas most other sports require you to move back and forth or side to side, golf requires that you twist.  Hence, most sports operate in the Sagittal plane (forwards & backwards) and Frontal plane (up, down and side to side), but Golf operates in the Transverse plane (rotational)

While Core Strength and Flexibility are important for golf, Strength and Flexibility in the Transverse Plane is the SECRET to hitting the long ball!!!  The only problem is, most sports and most lifts are of the push / pull variety.  The “core barbell lifts” (bench, squat and deadlift) don’t lend themselves to any rotation whatsoever.  What other sports are similar in movement to golf?  Football? Nope…Baseball? Kinda, but not really…Basketball? Nope…I GOT IT!!!  THROWING EVENTS IN TRACK AND FIELD!!!  The Hammer, Discus and Shotput all involve movement in the Transverse plane and require more strength and explosive power than golf.  While it is a very niche area of training, I am fortunate to be friends with a Strength Coach who is an expert on training for the throwing events, Matt Ellis of Primal Athlete Training Center in Cranston, Rhode Island.  Matt was a thrower in High School and College and his primary focus at Primal ATC is training throwers.  Matt and I are HTKA Brothers and he is a guy who eats, sleeps and breathes the throwing events.

I reached out to Matt to pick his brain on training in the transverse plane and instead of just answering my questions over the phone or via e-mail, Matt was cool enough to put together a great video which includes advice and exercises for Building Strength and Flexibility in the Transverse Plane.  Golfers and Throwers are both trying to produce power and torque through the transverse plane.  To crush a long drive or be a good thrower, you need to produce a lot of rotational torque through the body and the hips.  The goal for a thrower or a golfer is to keep their feet stationary and turn their hips and shoulders as far as possible to generate the most torque.  So, while it is important to be strong in the hips, core, lower back and glutes, you MUST be flexible as well.  It is not just about the mid-section being strong; it also has to be super flexible to generate a massive amount of rotational torque and power.

Watch Matt Ellis show us 3 exercises to improve strength and flexibility in the transverse plane:

1) Seesaw press with Kettlebells
Grab two kettlebells (one in each hand) in the rack position.  Since our goal is to move a small implement as quickly as possible (golf club, shotput, etc.), we are focusing on using lighter weights so we can generate explosive power.  With your feet a little more narrow than shoulder width, rotate your upper body while pressing one kettlebell overhead and keeping the kettlebell on the non-rotating side in the rack position.  Finish looking behind yourself with the line of your shoulders at a 90 degree angle to the line of your feet.  Rotate back to facing forward while bringing the kettlebell back to the rack position and do the same movement going the other way.  Perform exercise as one fluid motion rotating left and right.

2) Side Snatch with a Kettlebell
Get into position to perform a kettlebell snatch with the kettlebell between your feet, back flat and knees bent.  Start out with the Kettlebell on the inside of one leg (e.g. INSIDE LEFT FOOT), grab it with the hand of the opposite side (e.g. RIGHT HAND), load the hips and drive your feet into the floor using your legs and upper body to explosively lift the Kettlebell overhead to the opposite side (e.g. RIGHT SIDE ABOVE SHOULDER) with arm at full extension.  For example, the Kettlebell would be on the inside of your left foot, you would reach across and down, grab it with your right hand and perform a snatch to the right side.

3) Russian Twists with a Thick Rope through a Kettlebell
 Matt learned this exercise from World Class Hammer Thrower Koji Murofushi of Japan.  Loop a thick rope (2-3 inch diameter) through a Kettlebell, put feet and hips on a flat bench, with elbows tucked in tight to the body, use core and upper body to lift the thick rope and Kettlebell up off the ground and over your body to the other side and bring it down without having it touch the floor.  Continue motion side to side in a rhythmic fashion.  This exercise forces our feet to stay on the bench and it is forcing our upper body to twist.  As long as we keep the elbows by the ribs, we can turn properly and increase flexibility through the hips and the mid-section while increasing strength.  We are not working on moving a heavy weight slowly; we are working on moving a medium-sized weight as fast as possible.  This increases the strength in our core AND our flexibility.  This will carry over to the golf course and the shotput circle.

To learn more about Matt Ellis and his unique methods for training Discus, Shotput and Hammer Throwers, visit Primal Athlete Training Center here: http://www.primalatc.com/

Did you enjoy this post? Buy me a cup of coffee