Baseball players undoubtedly need tons of core strength. But what does “core strength” even mean? The term has been bastardized to the point that Fred DiMenna, my grad school professor and former WNBF pro bodybuilder, would say “I don’t know what a ‘core’ is” when people would ask him about core training. Most people think …
Stack.com: 3 Worst Core Exercises for Baseball (and What to Do Instead) Read More »
My high school baseball coach was one of the most influential people in my young life. Coach Degre was a junior high health teacher and fireman, yet still found time to coach our team. And he didn’t just coach. He lived and breathed baseball. He’d literally do anything to help us get better, whether that …
Stack.com: How Watching World Cup Soccer Can Make You a Better Athlete Read More »
“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” Winston Churchill I’ve done my fair share of bashing the supplement industry on this blog (here, here and here), and I’m not done. There’s too much lying and deception out there. We gotta take the power back. …
Stack.com – 4 Muscle-Building Supplements That Don’t Work Read More »
I can be a little on the stubborn side. If you’re an athlete, a lifter or a coach, you should be a bit stubborn. You have to stick to your guns if you want to be successful. Carve out a system of beliefs and charge full steam ahead. That’s how you get shit done. Like Jim …
Stack.com – How Many Sets and Reps Should You Really Do? Read More »
I work with a lot of clients who spend 8-10 hours a day at a desk or in the car. Needless to say, most of them don’t have perfect posture. Whether it’s low back pain, an inability to reach overhead or an unattractive forward head position, we spend a lot of time working to fix …
Stack.com – 4 Exercises to Fix Bad Posture and Help You Move Better Read More »
I love dinosaurs. When I was little, my favorite toys were my plastic T-Rex and Triceratops. My second favorite movie of all time is Jurassic Park (a close second to Jaws. I have a soft spot for Spielberg films about prehistoric predators). Little did I know that my childhood obsessions would carry over into my …
Stack.com – 7 Reasons Why Your Bench Press is Weak Read More »
Superstition is as much a part of baseball as bats and bases. Spitting sunflower seeds, leaping over the foul line and not washing your lucky jock… none of these things make you a better baseball player, but good luck telling someone on a 10-game hitting streak to ditch the silly antics lest their fortune runs …
Getting strong and athletic is pretty simple: lift, sprint and jump. You can sprinkle in some other stuff from time to time, but if you focus most of your efforts on these three things, you’re on the right track. The jumping part is probably the simplest of them all, too. Box jumps are a straight-forward, …
Stack.com – 3 Box Jump Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Vertical Jump Read More »
Imagine NBA teams drafting players based on their dunk contest routines. Or MLB teams choosing hitters based on the Home Run Derby. Well, the NFL Combine, the most beloved test in all of sports, isn’t too far off. It’s crazy how many traditions go unchallenged in sports. No one stops to think if something makes …
I’ve been incredibly lucky the past few months to be able to volunteer with the strength and conditioning staff at Brown University. Not only do I get to learn from and rub elbows with some of the best and brightest coaches around, but I get exposed to well over 100 athletes in just a few …
Stack.com – Master the Hip Hinge, Exercise’s Most Important Motion Read More »
