12/5/13 Training Session Highlight Video

Here are a few excerpts from my last Mountain Athlete conditioning session:

If that looks like fun to you, contact me to start your training program today!

Guest Article for Daybreak Carve

Recently I was asked to write similar articles for a few different media outlets describing my top 3 (or 5) pre-season training exercise choices.  The idea was to give a tip that if the reader applied it to their training, would ensure they’d be appropriately prepared for the upcoming winter season.  I gave the premise some real thought and consideration, but came up with a little different answer from what was originally requested.  Coincidentally, Ale from DaybreakCarve.com liked the theme and asked if I'd write more about the topic.

Is This the "Magic" Exercise?

Give the Gift of Starting a Lifetime of Fitness

The gift giving Holiday’s are right around the corner and I’ve got a great special for the "new-to-lifting" member of your crew.  Click here to check out my Personal Training Services page.

If you need something for a more experienced training partner of yours, I will create a unique offer for their specific gifting needs, just email me to get the ball rolling.

Quality Coaching Right From the Start

These promotions won’t be around too long so don’t miss out!

Acclimation

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary website defines Acclimation as:

           “the process or result of acclimating; 

             especially: physiological adjustment 

             by an organism to environmental change”

Ask any experienced snowboarder/skier and they’ll report that they get to ‘enjoy’ an acclimation period during the first portion of the snow season.  Boots are tight, legs get sore, lungs are burning.  Even if they’ve participated in quality off-snow training it still takes time to adjust to the demands of their specific sport, especially after not participating in it for quite a while (assume there’s no jetting off to Chile, Hood or NZ for summer snow time). 

Backcountry Clinic = Not a Good Day to "Bonk"

Pre-Season Training Session

Check out these excerpts from a recent Mountain Athlete training session at the Colorado Kettlebell Club:

Snow is coming soon…are you ready?

Product Reviews and Recommendations

Periodically I will post product reviews and recommendations.  Understand that the reason I’m sharing the information is that I actually use and have benefitted from the highlighted item/shop.  These companies do not pay me, nor am I under any contractual agreement to advertise for them.  These are my own experiences and opinions.  My thought is that you can have an improved training and/or on-snow experience by utilizing the products/services I discuss.

Pre-Season Conditioning

How’s your pre-season conditioning going?  I just finished up the second wave (8-day cycle) of the first round of my pre-season conditioning (PSC) phase and feel really good.  I enjoy the extra work that’s involved this time of year:  increased frequency of Plyometrics, Balance Work, Olympic Lifts and even the Metabolic/Conditioning aspects are fun too.

I can tell from recent Twitter/Facebook video posts that a lot of other athletes around the globe are in PSC mode as well.  To be totally prepared for the snow season one needs to be at peak levels in strength, endurance, speed, power, balance, agility/coordination and mental focus, especially for competition settings.  If you’re not addressing all these needs in your PSC program you need a new program and maybe a new coach. 

20-Minute Squats

Over the past several weeks I’ve been working with a supplement company (Generation UCAN) to finalize a partnership and subsequent affiliation.  I started using their pre-workout nutrition about a month before the 2013 USASA Nationals and have experienced great results.  I had hoped to make the announcement in my next (this) blog post, but all the final details and webpage stuff (where you can purchase at a discount, etc.) aren’t quite dialed in yet.  In the mean time enjoy this 20-minute squat article and keep an eye out for the upcoming supplement news.

Make Every Training Session a Success

I’ve never had a training session where I’ve failed.  Seriously.  And I’m going to demonstrate how you can do the same.  It all starts with a willingness to do some Extra Work (E.W.) to be stronger for your next gym effort.

I know that opening statement sounds a little exaggerated, but it’s true.   Understand I don’t mean to say that I’ve never missed a lift, or that I always hit my numbers.  It simply means that I didn’t leave the gym on those days without doing Extra Work to make sure I wouldn’t miss the next time. 

Smart E.W. Can Be the Difference Between A Made or a Missed Lift the Next Time in the Gym

The Way You Train is Not "Insane" Part #3

Be sure to read Parts #1 and #2

Quite a few facilities make the claim of ‘top-level’ fitness, ‘hard-core’ training, and the like.  While some gyms/trainers actually do provide these services, they rarely are out banging the gong, announcing to the world about their ‘ultra-elite’ status.  Mostly because they’re too busy in the gym actually training, doing work and achieving results to care about an image.  These results-based gyms are good places to train.  The facility where I train my athletes is such a place.

Peak Performance Personal Training

The Colorado Kettlebell Club

The Way You Train is Not "Insane" Part #2

Be sure to read Part 1

There are some after-exercise reactions that seem to have achieved band-wagon status. What I mean is that people see real intense efforts from high-level or truly dedicated athletes and try to copy their mannerisms thinking that they will then be a ‘part-of’ or their ‘acting’ will validate their effort even though no real maximum capacity effort was made. 

The Way You Train is Not "Insane" Part 1

I’ve noticed a recent trend in the training industry concerning ‘self-guided’ training plans, fitness facility image promotion and participants ‘reaction’ to said programs.  There are innumerable home DVD’s claiming to be the most radical exercise experience ever, while many facilities boast that their systems, and only their programs/methods, provide for some self-proclaimed elite level status of fitness or performance.  Neither of which in reality may be true.

Is This Kind of Training 'Crazy' Enough?

If You Want to Improve Your Speed + Agility You Need to Get Stronger First

There are several vital qualities a Cross Athlete (Ski and Boardercross) must possess to consistently be a top performer from race to race.  Strength, balance, endurance, power, quickness/agility, technical skills and mental focus are a few of the more obvious.  Becoming faster and quicker over features on the racecourse is a common result that athletes I train want to gain from their off-season gym work.

PHOTO VAST:: vastaction.com

These athletes at first are a little surprised when I prescribe a steady diet of weight training for strength and size before we come close to doing anything that even remotely resembles traditional speed/agility-style training.

2013 USASA Nationals Review #3 - Finals

Be sure to read Part #1 and Part #2

Race Day morning was clear and calm with relatively warm temperatures.  We got to the staging area super early and were able to secure a good spot for tuning and to stash our gear. The Copper Course was in great condition and super fast to start the day.  Inspections and practice runs went well.  We continued with the ‘Progression’ theme and built up speed from run to run.  Ale and I both felt good and were ready to rock time trials.

Staging Area at the Top of the Copper Course

2013 USASA Nationals Review #2

Be sure to read Part #1

Practice Days #2 and #3 began the same way, course inspection followed by a few start section laps to get loose and in the groove.  On Day #2 we focused on two of the more challenging areas of the course for most of the day to make sure we had the right line and were confident with these features.  The next to last berm and finish section were where we put in the most effort.  The berm was really rutted out and had a washboard-like surface.  You also had a ton of speed hitting this right to left bank which went right into a table, then drop, then left to right bank into a table which gave you even more speed headed into the final section.

Awesome Waxing Set-up at the Condo

2013 USASA Nationals Review #1

Copper Mountain was once again host for USASA Nationals.  As in previous years, we arrived early to take advantage of the extra SBX Practice Days and to try and better acclimate to the altitude.  In fact, I had been living in Breckenridge for a month prior to Nationals, coaching in the Ski& Ride School and had adapted fairly well to the high alpine environment.  Ale showed up a few days in advance and put in some gym time in an effort to acclimate to the altitude too.  We were both excited to get some quality practice runs in on a full-length course.

2013 USASA SBX Racing Year-end Review #4

Be sure to read Part #1, Part #2 and Part #3

We used the final practice and race day at Holiday Valley as a ‘mock’ Nationals.  Most of the video is from the practice day.  The start section on practice day was not quite groomed out and shaped for race conditions, which created some interesting features to handle right out of the gate.  The rest of the course was in good shape and would give us a solid warm-up for the Copper course.

2013 USASA SBX Racing Year-end Review #3

Be sure to read Part #1 and Part #2

Practice…practice…practice; we finally had time and decent conditions to put in some real solid on-snow training.  There was one race day left at Holiday Valley and then the next event would be Nationals out at Copper Mountain, CO.  The idea was to focus on a few technical riding skills that needed improvement and use the upcoming New York races as a ‘mock’ Nationals.  Even though everyone was excited to gear up for Nationals and do as much racing practice as possible, it was important to maintain some level of balance and keep up with the gym training too.

Coach Jb With Some TGU Action

2013 USASA SBX Racing Year-end Review #2

Be sure to read Part #1

The next competition was in our home region, the Appalachian Series, with Wisp Resort in Maryland hosting the 2 re-scheduled races (postponed earlier in the season due to bad conditions/weather).  Besides steady improvement with technical riding, our other main goal for the event was to qualify for Nationals.  If each athlete could win gold in both races they’d get an automatic bid for Nationals by being the Series Champion.

Gray Was a Big Raffle Winner Too

2013 USASA SBX Racing Year-end Review #1

If you can believe it, this winter had a worse start than last season: lots of rain and not-so-cold temps well into mid-December.  Though disappointing, especially after a big snow at the end of October, it did provide for an extended pre-season conditioning portion to the workout schedule.  So at least our bodies were in great shape at the start of the season.

Boards Ready to Go Fast!

One Reason Why Your New Year's Fitness Resolution Isn't Working

Lots of people make the same New Year’s Resolution year, after year, after year.  They say that they’d like to “get in shape” or “lose some extra pounds” or “tone up a bit”.  Do any of those sound familiar to you?  Sadly the majority of resolution makers never achieve their goals.

I’m sure you recognize these people.  They’re the ones filling up cardio rooms in gyms all across America the first 2 to 3 weeks of January.  If you’re in a warmer climate, you’ll see tons of joggers appear during the same time frame.  These crowds of new gym members (or runners) usually disappear by Groundhog Day, though sometimes there’s a resurgence right before beach season too.

What’s wrong?  Why aren’t they transforming their bodies into stronger/leaner versions of what they had before?