ATS Blog

Moving!?

2012-07-12T11:56:00.001-07:00

Hey guys be sure to check out my new location over on CJappenzeller.com. I along with everything pertaining to the ATS movement will be posted over there.

Don't be shy, head on over brotha!

Stop Being Glass

2012-07-09T06:55:00.002-07:00

Yeah, I said it.
You're glass, you break too easy. Or you've convinced yourself that you break easy.

You might have convinced yourself that you need some time "off" or some time away from the iron.

You my friend, are just making excuses. You're not hurt, be honest with yourself, you're just being f*cking lazy. Plain and simple. Get your ass off the couch and into the gym today and do what you know needs to be done in order to get you closer to your goals. Stop being GLASS.

Are you glass, or are you just a little tougher than that? You decide.

An Apology

2012-07-07T07:41:00.001-07:00

Part of being strong and creating the life you want for yourself is taking responsibility for your actions.

Today I have to apologize to my readers, I've been absent from the blog for about a week and it's unacceptable.

I could give a laundry list of excuses but instead I'll just take responsibility for my actions, my bad.

In other news you can now join the ATS e-mail list to receive daily e-mails from me. Just click on the big ol' button up top.

Until next time ATS

Be FREE

2012-07-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

Get Consistent

2012-06-30T05:48:00.001-07:00

A lot of people are not seeing the success they want; in and outside the gym because of their lack of consistency and discipline. Listen if you have goals then you need to breathe for them, literally dedicate every ounce of your time and energy toward reaching them, if you don't want to dedicate that much of yourself to them then you don't really want it. Be consistent, be disciplined, and do what you need to do. This goes for training, nutrition, and life. Until next time.

Smitty from diesel crew posted a legit picture that pertains directly too this post so here it is, but first you can check Smitty out at dieselstrength.com

Give until it HURTS!

2012-06-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

In today's society not enough people are willing to GIVE. Everyone loves to receive but giving is a completely different animal. If you want success and a life and legacy that is remembered PLEASE GIVE. It doesn't have to be monetary, in fact if you can don't give money to people, instead give your knowledge, expertise, and time. Check out this video showing some college guys giving, just to give...

Bill Heads- Training for the "Average" Guy

2012-06-21T11:04:00.004-07:00

Who is Bill Heads? Bill Heads is the average guy. He's looking to get lean, mean, jacked, cut and strong. If you can relate with Bill Heads and your baffled as to how you should train watch this video and leave any questions you may have in the comment section below:

Dream Chaser

2012-06-19T11:33:00.001-07:00

You've had a day to mull it over, where do you stand? Are you a dream chaser or a dream catcher? Are you satisfied or are you always hungry? I want to hear from YOU! Drop a comment in the box below and let me know your thoughts and feelings on the topic. Until next time...

Dream Chasing vs Dream Catching

2012-06-18T06:01:00.002-07:00

Get TOUGH!

2012-06-15T19:02:00.001-07:00

This post is purely inspired by a group of young hungry warriors I witnessed in action tonight. What was this group? A 16 year old summer baseball team I have the pleasure of coaching. They were faced with adversity today. They trudged into the 5th inning of a 7 inning contest down 4-0 and they had only had one baserunner throughout the contest. Did they rollover and pack it in? F*CK NO! They got seriously TOUGH and went to work chipping away at the opposing pitcher who had been shutting them down from jump street.

EVERYONE can learn something from this team tonight, how to get TOUGH. When faced with adversity, too many of us crumble and begin to make excuses.

Instead, we must face the situation head on, take accountability for our previous actions and trail blaze the path to a successful outcome.

If your making excuses and dodging you weaknesses in the gym, GET TOUGH.
If you making excuses and dodging uncomfortable situations in life GET TOUGH.

Bottom line, grab life by the balls and get tough, do not let any form of adversity slow you down or derail you on your journey to success and fulfillment.

Until next time, Get Addicted to Success!

Time

2012-06-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

Time, it's the only thing you'll never get back, so DON'T WASTE IT!

Contrast Training & Mental Toughness

2012-06-12T16:55:00.001-07:00

For those of you who don't know, it poured all day here in South Jersey, and unfortunately for me today was a dynamic effort lower body day. On such a day I would usually take my plyo boxes outside and do a jump variation because I have no room inside my "facility"...at this point you see where this is going. I had to make due with the shit conditions and get shit done because I cannot take a single day off my path to greatness.

So, 30 yard prowler push to 30 yard sprints it was. And this was no easy task. But I mustered up the mental toughness to get through every last sprint and got CLOSER to my dream today.

You must develop this same mindset. Let nothing stand in between you and your dream. Make due and always improve. Get mentally tough or hang it the **** up. It's up to you. Get ADDICTED TO SUCCESS.

Goal Setting

2012-06-12T12:47:00.003-07:00

To get to where you want to be in life and sport, you have to know where you're going. MEANING you have to set goals for yourself day in and day out, once you reach these goals, set new ones and continue to progress. Goal setting is one of the most overlooked aspects of personal development, don't fall victim to laziness and stagnation. One surefire way to keep you working hard is setting concrete GOALS!

Don't Ask Whats Wrong With it

2012-06-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

To many people are asking the wrong questions with regards to the actions they're taking on a daily basis. They want to know what's wrong with partying? What's wrong with drinking? What's wrong with smoking? INSTEAD of asking these questions, ask yourself what's right with what I'm doing? Is what I'm doing right now helping me on my path to success? If it's not don't do it. Period, end of story.

T-Shirts!

2012-06-09T18:48:00.000-07:00


ATS Tees are in! Athletes will have the opportunity to EARN one of these bad boys coming SOON.

The POWER of Bodyweight

2012-06-07T12:29:00.002-07:00

Today I cranked a strictly (for the most part) body weight workout. This shit was KILLER. I was inspired to do this by my buddy The Fitt Rebel, Check him out Here. If you're ignoring body weight movements because you feel you're too advanced, think again and dive a little deeper into body weight progressions. My suggestion? Use body weight movements as supplemental movements to your heavy lifts and watch your strength, core strength, and body awareness fly through the roof.

Baseball Beasts

2012-06-07T09:39:00.002-07:00

WOW! Had a crazy day yesterday, but the highlight of it was definitely the group that rolled up to train at 2:30PM, right after they got out of school. These kids were hungry, focused, and ready to get STRONG. There was a little bit of chatter, a lot of hard work, and luckily no yacking. Check out a quick clip of them.....

Explosive Training For Athletes

2012-06-05T08:58:00.001-07:00

There is one explosive exercise that should be incorporated into every athletes training program. What is this mysterious explosive movement you ask? The simple Box Jump. Box Jumping is beneficial for athletes for several reasons, including but not limited too: Building explosive power throughout the lower body, building range of motion in the hips, creating a new sense of body awareness, and teaching the important art of absorbing shock forces by landing low. SO, if you're an athlete AND you're not jumping....get jumping.

All of your jump training does not have to be maximal effort (Meaning jumping as high as you can), although jumping as high as you can is awesome and makes you look like a beast. Check out one of Zach Even-Esh's (Owner of the Underground Strength Gym in Edison, NJ) athletes hit a CRAZY BEAST Jump...

Want to learn more about jumping and explosive power? Drop a comment in the box below!
Interested in Zach Even-Esh and his gym? Check him out HERE

You're Just Making Excuses

2012-06-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing a lot of grumbling lately from athletes who simply don't want to work hard, but also don't want to admit it. "I've got no money, I've got no gym, and/or I've got no equipment." LISTEN, if you want to get better, if your hungry for success and to be the best don't let these lame ass excuses cross your lips. You CAN get better with nothing more than the great outdoors and your bodyweight. So its up to you, are you making lame ass excuses or are you putting in WORK?

Have questions regarding outdoor/bodyweight training? Drop them in the comment box below and I'll get right back to you. Later.

A Sense Of Urgency

2012-06-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

Having a sense of urgency in your life can be one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox, don't pass on the opportunity to develop it:

Dreams

2012-05-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

Mashup 4

2012-05-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

Check out #TeamATS doing whatever is necessary to reach our dreams.

Make me Faster! (Pt.1)

2012-05-19T06:29:00.004-07:00

“Make me faster!”

“Make my kid faster!”

“Shouldn’t we be running with a parachute?”

“Shouldn’t we be using an agility ladder?”

These are the some questions and demands that strength coaches are faced with on an everyday basis. Unfortunately, the vast majority of individuals placing these requests do not understand the best way to actually increase running speed. For some reason, unbeknownst to me gizmos and gadgets to improve running speed (i.e. parachutes, agility ladders, etc.) have been perpetuated to the public by various companies as essential tools for speed improvement, when in reality they have little to no positive affect on an adolescent athlete. Let’s talk about how we can really get faster…

The first and foremost issue that has to be addressed especially in adolescent athletes is running form. Now stay with me here, I’m no expert in this field so I won’t try and act like one, but if an individual has wasted movement in his running form or energy leaks chances are they will not be as fast as they can be. Plain, simple, and straightforward; make sure the form is correct.

Next we have to look at mobility issues within the athlete, again no expert here but an individual must have adequate mobility in order to maintain sound running posture. If that mobility is there then we are in good shape.

Finally, here are the two ways to increase the running speed of an athlete: to increase their stride frequency, or how often their feet hit the ground throughout a sprint, or to increase their stride length. Increasing stride frequency after an athlete passes his pre-pubescent stage is nearly impossible. As a matter of fact Joe DeFranco said somewhere (Joe D is the best in the industry and I read his stuff on an everyday basis so I totally forget where he said this) “98% of athletes cannot increase their stride frequency after puberty” (Defranco). So then we are left with increasing stride length.

Insane stride length!

To increase stride length one must simply make an athlete stronger. Wait a second; did I just say something groundbreaking? The best way to make an athlete faster is to make him stronger? Quiet simply, yes. Increasing the amount of force an athlete can place on the ground through his feet is the only way to increase the length at which his stride is propelled. Therefore the best way to make an athlete faster is, in fact to make him STRONGER.

Stay tuned for part 2 of “Make Me Faster” where I’ll discuss ways to increase strength and explosive power throughout the Lower Body.

BOOM! Get Addicted to Success!

Resources:

defrancostraining.com

Throwing in The Towel

2012-05-15T07:42:00.002-07:00

Along your path to success and greatness, you will without a doubt face a force that seems immovable. A thing, person, or situation that just cannot be avoided or tackled head on. You'll feel stuck, hopeless, and above all else defeated. At THIS moment, you will define yourself; all the work you've done, all the hours of sleep you gave up, and every waking moment working toward your goal could be wasted. It could all have been for nothing. IF YOU choose to make it such. Instead, fight with every fiber of your being to destroy any obstacle and continue on your path. Its all up to YOU: are you a quitter OR are you a fighter?

You Can't Always Push

2012-05-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

In my experience, the average gym goer and athlete with no guidance push too much. No, I don't mean they push themselves mentally and physically, I mean they physically do too many pushing movement patterns in the gym. Stick with me here, pushing movements include but are not limited too: bench press (any implements, any degree), push-ups, overhead presses, and many more. Why are these movements overloaded by the average Joe? Because these build the muscles you can SEE. In most cases, individuals love to see themselves getting bigger and stronger and because of this desire they lag behind on the muscles that are not easily seen in the mirror. To remain healthy and at top performance your program must be balanced to include pushing AND pulling movements, and for most of you because you've overloaded pushing movements since the early days of your training you may have to more pulling now in order to catch up. Just a quick thought to keep in mind when designing your program.
Examples of pulling movements you can implement: Recline rows (on any implement), pull-ups (all grips and variations), Bent over rows, dumbbell rows, T-Bar Rows, Rope climbing, Recline rope climbing, hand over hand rope pulls, and MILLIONS more variations and exercises.