Varsity House Gym

SUMMER FOOTBALL TRAINING 2016 In this episode Coach Joe shares the mic with his partner in crime Coach Dan Goodman to discuss their upcoming summer football training program.  Something they and team VH have become synonymous for creating one of the most badass summer training programs in the country.  Athletes from all over the Tri-State area and beyond come to test the physical abilities each week at Varsity House.  Coach Joe will lay out their pan for making 2016 their best training program yet.  If you’re a coach or athlete who’s training for football you won’t want to miss this VALUE packed episode!  Start: Core Values:  Hard work, Commitment, Consistency.  Coach Joe and Coach Dan explain how your “core values” set the stage for a badass summer training program.  You must live the code and preach it home every day. Basic Key Areas of Focus for this Year.  Here Coach Joe and Coach Dan discuss the key areas they want to focus on tis year.  As always their program is ever evolving and improving year to year.  Although Strength, Speed and Explosive Power are always at the top of the list that goes without saying.  Coach Joe believes it’s the little details that make their program uniquely great.  For personal stretch session to mobility workshops and nutrition seminars TeamVH is all about over delivery.  Key Areas 2016: Posterior Chain – The most important group of muscles for football speed and power Shoulder Mobility & Injury Proofing – The shoulder girdle takes a pounding for any football player so it’s really important to address any preexisting injuries and work to prevent one form occurring. Eccentric / Isometric Single Leg Strength – This is a hugely overlooked aspect of most college S&C programs and plays a great role in the ability to change direction and prevent Knee/Hip injuries. Neck/Grip/Traps – A strong neck and traps help prevent head injuries and reduce the incident of concussion. Hip Mobility – Most football athletes are big and tight.  If you want to play better, you need to move better. Aerobic Conditioning – Another largely overlooked aspect of football training. One’s aerobic capacity determines their ability to recover between plays and or during training.  Nutrition – Each athlete must be given a full nutrition packet and hand in their food logs throughout the summer. HOW TO CREATE AN AWESOME SUMMER TRAINING PLAN Exercise Selection: Choose the exercises you want to make sure are the biggest part of your program and best represent the key areas you want to cover. Posterior Chain - Box Squat, RDLs, BB Glute Bridge, Banded GMs, Rev Hyper. Shoulder Mobility – SHL DLC, 30/30 Holds, Rear Delt Fly’s, Band Pull Aparts, Horizontal Rows, Thoracic Mobility Drills. Eccentric/Isometric SL – Pause Bulgarian Split Squat, Pause lateral lunges. Neck – Farmer Carry/Holds, Shrugs, 4-way partner Neck, Iso Neck Holds. Hip Mobility – Hip Series, Depth Squats, Bar Under/Overs, ROM Lunges. Aerobic Conditioning – Tempo Runs, Row/Ski Repeats, Sled Pulling, jump rope.     Basic Layout: Depending on the number of days you can train depends on the structure of the plan.   The more days you have to train the more you can separate aspects of training and get more detailed.  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Jailhouse Friday Max Effort Upper Hip Extension Accessory Upper Aerobic Locomotive Sprints & Jumps Speed Strength Posterior Chain Neck / Grip / Core Max Effort Lower SL Strength Posterior Chain “Gun Show”   Sprints & Jumps Agilities Speed Strength Posterior Chain Neck / Grip / Core OH Work Volume Upper Accessory Upper Neck / Grip / Core Strongman & Friday Finisher   Running Plan:  The running plan should coincide with the lifting plan.  Since the most important aspect of football is running around the filed this should be of utmost importance. Construct your lifting plan first.  As you progress through the summer and the volume of lifting decreases conversely the volume of running should increase.  Our program starts off the first 4-weeks with basic strength development as the key focus as most college athletes are not “up to speed” with their strength training.  Our secondary focus is a return to consistent running. Here the running focus is on technique and starting speed.  Low volumes of short intense 5-10y sprints and form drills Jailhouse Fridays:  Each training week needs a great finisher and reminder of why training should be the athletes favorite part of the football experience other than playing the game.  We like to create a TEAM atmosphere on Fridays and have athlete compete against each other as well as hit their favorite “Meat Head” body parts.  First we give them a serious “Beach Pump” then we crush them with some fun strongman circuits and conditioning.  Conclusion: The key to the success of your summer football plan is consistency.  Not only form the athletes but the coach.  Make sure you are well planned, prepared and ready to go!  Practice extreme ownership in everything that happens in your gym and the athletes will respect you.  Above all have fun, after all we are just working out! 

In this episode Coach Joe takes some time to answer a few questions that viewers have sent in on nutrition, supplements, weight loss and more...

Be sure to check out our short documentary from last years combine class HERE In this episode Coach Joe Riggio discusses how to prepare an athlete for combines, pro-days and team workouts. Our philosophy is to develop the most explosive athlete possible with the best bodyweight to strength ratio for their position. The show notes include example training templates and additional information to help you prepare for the big day. SHOW NOTES

In the episode Coach Joe explains the importance of managing volume over time as well as the use of special assistance exercises to improve performance. Managing Volume – Over time as an athlete progresses it seems only natural that their work capacity for training stimulus would also increase. Therefore, an increase in training volume is necessary for them to continue to make positive results. We manage the need for increased volume two ways. One by the total poundage lifted in a given workout. Example if an athlete does 10x3 Bench at 100lbs that equals 3000lbs of total weight lifted. If your add up all the accessory work over a specific training period the overall training volume must increase. However, you cannot just keep adding volume to the “Big Lifts” as that would eventually lead to injury. You can use special exercises designed to bring up weak areas that won’t beat up your body and will improve strength and work capacity for specific movements/lifts/sport activities. Special Assistance Work – Special assistance work makes up about 80% of the training at Varsity House. Only 20% of the total training volume come from traditional Bench/Squat/Deadlifts/OH Press as max lifts. These exercises low risk of injury and are designed to improve specific strength. These exercises can be volumized over weeks, months, or even years to an incredibly high volume with very little chance of neuromuscular fatigue. Upper Body Special Assistance Exercises Push Up Variations – Push Ups are about as old school as it gets. They have been around for thousands of years, are still one of the most effective ways to improve pressing strength. Start off with something simple like 50 per day then work your way up. We routinely have athletes who perform as many as 250 per day for weeks at a time. This will greatly improve you overall work capacity and translate to a bigger bench in no time. In one 8-week span I did over 48,000 pushups and did not bench at all. At the end of that 8-week span I hit a 225MR bench PR of 32reps. Proof that you can maintain a high level of strength for a very simple exercise. Work them in as part of your warm up or cool down or just simple do set throughout the day. Horizontal Row – If you want a big bench or any lift for that matter you need a strong back. However, doing tons of pull ups and heavy rows can wreck your elbows and shoulders. Performing the horizontal row will not only improve strength but can be micro-loaded slowly and consistently over time without beating you up. Improve these the same way. Start with a few sets per day as part of your warm up. Then increase over a period of time. I like to perform 5-sets of 20m push up and 5-sets of 20 horizontal pulls as my go to upper body warm up several times per week. This get my joints ready for a heavy bench session but also activates my back muscles for stabilizing as well. Banded Muscle Up – This is a TRUE special exercise specific to performing muscle ups. Do every day until you build the strength to do them or as a way to de-load you joint from doing too many! Banded Triceps/Biceps work – Eccentric loading increases tendon and ligamental strength. If you want to lift big weight you need to train the soft tissue to be strong as well. Perform band push downs and curls as a way to prevent elbow injuries and strength the triceps for all pressing movements. We regularly perform as many as 250 of each of these several times per week. Lower Body Special Assistance Exercises Reverse Hyper – The reverse hyper should be on the top of everyone’s lift for improving their squat and deadlift. It’s the king of the glute/lower back exercises and it also acts to traction the spine to prevent injury. You simply cannot perform this enough. We routinely perform 100reps of this exercise 3-6x/week. Weight depends on the strength of the athlete and how long they have been performing this lift. Start with a light weight and perform 3x/week and work your way up to some real weight. You can do a total number of reps or go for time. Banded Leg Curls – This is another “MUST HAVE” exercise as these will never cause an injury and will greatly increase the strength in your posterior chain. Perform them laying on a bench or sitting up on a box. Again we like around 100reps 3-6x/week. We will perform these along with reverse hyper all the time. Banded Good Mornings – The good morning for a lot of people is a tough exercise. Hard on the lower back and tough to master so people toss it. This variation you can do all the time without the risk of injury. We do them either on the wall or standing. The wall version hit the thoracic spine really well and the standing version hit the lower back hamstring more. Perform both exercises regularly as a finisher to a lower body day or as warm up/cool down. We like them on our off-days as another volume exercise for the posterior chain. Specific Special Assistance Exercises Bosu Banded Pull Over Sit Up – This is an oldie but a goodie. I have been doing these for years but recently brought them back out of the tool box as I was looking for way to improve my specific strength for the SkiErg. Perform this exercise every day until your abs are blown UP! Suspended GHR Hyper Row – Here again I was looking for a special exercise to improve specific strength for rowing. Since rowing is mostly lower back, hamstrings and lats this makes for a great translation. Perform this exercise several times per week to improve muscular insurance for rowing. Rules – There are none! Pick a few special exercises and work the hell out of them for a month. Stick with the ones that you feel give you the most benefit and rotate them regularly. Make it your mission to perform at least 1 special assistance exercise for one of your weak or needed areas every day. Either add more reps over the weeks or add some weight, but remember these should be loaded slowly as muscular failure is not the goal. You don’t want your volume work to take away from your regular training so take it easy! Get to LIFTN’ Coach Joe Strong www.varsityhousegym.com

In this episode coach Joe talks about getting paid in the private sector as a strength & conditioning coach. Along with former intern now head strength coach at Varsity House Mike Capriglione and newest addition to TeamVH Adam Menner, Coach Joe discusses the necessary tools needs to get hired in the field. The team talks about their experiences and what it takes to land a top flight job, make the more of your internship and continue to develop yourself as a strength coach. www.varsityhousegym.com

For those of you who follow me online or know me at all, it is no secret that my biggest passion other than training is food!  I love buying it, cooking it, and of course eating it.  It’s the most important factor in your overall fitness.  On average, I eat four meals per day plus snacks, all homemade.  That way I am always in charge of quantity and the quality of the foods I eat! SHOW NOTES

As a challenge, both mentally and physically, at Varsity House we challenged fellow gym,"Gym Jones: to a team half marathon (over 21,000 meters) on the Concept2 SkiErg... check it out!

“OVER USED AND UNDER TRAINED.” THE PROBLEMS OF YEAR ROUND SPECIALIZATION, AND THE DEATH OF YOUTH SPORTS IN AMERICA. FULL SHOW NOTES

In this episode Coach Joe goes over the basics of flexibility. What it is, why you need it, and how it influences your performance. SHOW NOTES

In this episode of The Beef Lab Podcast, Coach Joe with the help on NFL Prospect Mike Reilly demonstrated several drills that can be utilized inside the gym to help develop speed, power and quickness. www.varsityhousegym.com

Every week we get people calling the gym looking for “speed classes”.  We always say we have no “speed classes” only performance enhancement programs.  Then they say… “Well he/she just needs to get faster.”  Then I say… “Why is he/she slow?”  SILENCE… Truth is most people have no idea what encompasses speed, or what it takes to develop a faster more explosive athlete.  I can’t tell you how many totally BS misconceptions I hear every week about developing speed.  Many from other sport coaches and trainers!  Just recently a client of ours whose sons we have trained for years comes to me and says…” I spoke to a bunch of speed guys and they said sprinters should not squat or lift heavy.” From that he thought his younger son, the sprinter, should run CROSS COUNTRY as a way to improve his sprinting!  I said…ARE YOU F&*%^NG CRAZY!!!  Does Usain Bolt run 10 miles per day to become the fastest man on the planet!  Does Mariusz Pudzianowski do step aerobics to become a five time World’s Strongest Man!  NO WAY!  They sprint hard and lift heavy! Let me break down the TRUTH about speed! When I teach muscle physiology and motor control to my students at the local State University I always like to do a presentation on speed and strength development as many of them are athletes themselves and majoring in various forms of Exercise Science/Physical Education.  I like to break speed down in two categories: Innate ability and Learned Skills.  Each Category has several components. FULL SHOW NOTES Article: Speed 101

Sport Nutrition W/Nutritionist Simone Leta  - Basic background of Simone and Myself with reference to youth nutrition.  - Biggest Misconceptions  - Other Problems. FULL SHOW NOTES AT:www.varsityhousegym.com

In this episode Coach Joe will lay out all the truths and myths about training female athletes.  Coach Joe has worked with some of the top female athlete in the country and knows what it takes to develop their abilities.  Coach Joe discusses his basic training template and a variety of considerations needed when training female athletes.  This is a must see episode for those who train or coach your female athletes. For Full Show Notes visit:www.varsityhousegym.com

In this episode Coach Joe discusses the importance of recovery training, GPP, and building an aerobic base for athletes. Coach Joe will discuss various recovery strategies and why he believes it’s the missing link to many performance programs. He will also discuss GPP and the development of a big aerobic base as a means for not only improving recovery but for adding strength, power, and muscular endurance Coach Joe will lay out a plan of attack for working these recovery strategies into your current training routines. Lastly Coach Joe will discuss considerations for adding aerobic capacity to any athlete without sacrificing strength and power! For full show notes visit: www.varsityhousegym.com

In this episode Coach Joe will explain the process of creating a brand the breads success. Learn how to create a culture in your gym that empowers your employees and turns your clients into raving fans. Learn the branding secrets that helped Varsity House increase their membership to over 500 active members who do 90% of the marketing and sales for you! Coach Joe will layout his recipe for branding and business success. This is a must see episode for any young STRENGTH ENTREPRENEUR getting into the field, or thinking about starting their own gym. Special Guest: Dan Goodman Co-Owner and Business Partner of Varsity House Gym. Coach Dan shares his insight and experiences on helping to create a world class brand. Find the full show notes HERE www.varsityhousegym.com

In this episode Coach Joe discusses how to continue to make GAINZ during the season. The In-Season training program at Varsity House has had huge success over the last 10-years and many athletes will continue to PR during that time! Coach Joe will give a detailed account of how to set up his in-season training program. He will explain some of the necessary changes and considerations to volume and intensity that need to be made for the in-season athlete. Coach Joe will also layout his TOP 5 MISTAKES that you might be making with your In-Season training program!

In this Episode Coach Joe breaks down A.S Prilepin’s famous chart of percentages. A.S Prilepin is widely considered to be one of the greatest Olympic Weightlifting coaches who ever lived. He was also a remarkable sport scientist who meta-analyized the training direries of thousands of lifters to formulate his chart of percentages. This chart is no considered THE blueprint for using a variety of percentages to develop athletic ability. Coach Joe discusses how to use the cart for various types of training and how he applies its principles to his athletes. He will show you an easy to use approach to managing your training using percentages to develop strength, power, and endurance. Optimize your training and give Prilepin’s chart a try! DOWNLOAD FULL SHOW NOTES HERE

VARSITY HOUSE GYM In this episode Coach Joe discusses why gaining MASS always the topic of discussion for any athlete or general fitness client. Let’s face it everyone wants to be big and jacked!!! Coach Joe will lay out an in-depth plan for gaining slabs of meat while still maintaining your cardio, explosive power, and mobility. Remember there is no sense in being big without a big engine to power you! TOPICS: - The #JoeScience rules for gaining MASS. - Lift Heavy Ass Shit! - Up Your Volume - Time Under Tension - Feel The Burn – Acidity- EAT! - What are the best exercises for gaining MASS?- Choose your core lifts. - Get Bang for your Buck with exercises that work a lot of meat! - Compound Lifts - Bench / Squat / Dead / OH Press Variations / Bent-Over-Row / Pull Ups - What are the best set/rep/rest schemes for gaining MASS? - You need to push weight and get a serious burn. - Generally weights are in the 60-80% Range. - 10x10, 10x8, 10x6- 10-1, 1-10, 10-1-10- Max Rep / Timed Rep Outs - Drop Sets - Clusters - Continuously increase the volume of your accessory work Ex. DB Rows 4set/5set/6sets…- Work volume into your warm up. Ex. 100 Push Ups before every workout - Shorten Your rest periods   Conclusion: Thanks for listening I really hoped you enjoyed our show and learned a lot in the process. You can get the full details, downloads, and training templates by clicking on the show notes on our blog at www.varsityhousegym.com and remember you are only limited by the limitations you place on yourself!