Dave Zabriskie is a former NJ State Champ and A D1 National Champ from Iowa State. Now, a member of the LVAC (Lehigh Valley Athletic Club) Dave is prepping for the 2016 Olympics.
After a tough training session Dave was kind enough to chat with our athletes in Manasquan about what it takes to become a champion.
The ONE thing I missed on this video is when Dave mentions that he NEVER won 1 match his freshman year in high school minus the forfeit.
He went on to become 3 time all state and his senior year, a state champ.
This is HOW he achieved his success and how ALL our athletes can and should start thinking AND living to become champions themselves
What Are The BIG 3 Mistakes Parents Make When Choosing
A Strength Coach For Their Child?
Lehigh Wrestlers Training In 100 Degree Plus Temps, Mid Summer With A 140 Mile Round Trip! THAT Is Commitment!
Through the many years of working with athletes and seeing the explosion of strength coaches around the country I have noticed some common themes that seem to confuse parents and ultimately hurt their child’s success.
As a parent myself, the phrase “time goes too fast” is severely underrated and the window of opportunity that athletes have to achieve success is small.
These common mistakes that parents make have happened (and continues to happen) at all levels of sports, from youth, to high school to the collegiate level.
Pay attention to these critical mistakes and avoid them to give your child the best opportunity to maximize his / her success.
1) What is The Coach’s Track Record for Success?
Before you commit to signing your child up for training with a Coach, or perhaps there is a Coach at the high school your child goes to, you want to find out what this Coach’s track record for success is.
Many Coaches get hired in schools or in facilities because not so much in part due to their knowledge, but often times out of convenience. As a former public school teacher I have seen some dangerous stuff happening inside high school weight rooms that were run by the sports coach or the math teacher.
Yes, it’s great to bring a teacher or coach in who works in the schools but what’s best for the kids is a safe program, one that has been proven to be effective with a Coach who has a track record of building stronger, faster and more powerful athletes.
As a Coach and Parent, I would ask myself why these kids weren’t getting the training they deserved? People told me I “cared too much”.
I had no clue there was such a thing as caring too much. I don’t see any other way to work with athletes.
Other times I noticed schools hiring a former college athlete to run the weight room, assuming that college sports experience is the same as being a highly qualified performance coach.
The mistake here is assuming that a high level athlete is also a high level coach.
Many high level athletes are NOT high level coaches. Being a competitive athlete and a successful coach requires different levels of experience and knowledge.
Some successful athletes who become coaches don’t understand how a less gifted athlete needs to work physically or mentally to get to that next level. They’ve never been in those shoes.
I have seen Olympic Gold medalists with absolutely NO knowledge of strength & conditioning as well as national champs who could not command attention and run a great practice.
Ask the Coach for his track record of success and then ask yourself the next question:
1) Does your Coach have a long term, proven track record for creating success working with athletes?
2) Are you choosing a Coach based on them being closer to home, conveniently located in the school and / or cheaper priced?
Not all, but many high school strength & conditioning coaches fill the position because a favor is being handed to them OR they work in the school district and it’s cheaper to pay them a little extra to open the doors to the weight room.
In experienced coaches have a tendency to place every single athlete on a cookie cutter program, never addressing individual weak areas, injuries, knowledge of building a solid foundation or remotely knowing anything about safety and technique.
There is a reason a Coach is cheap, just like there is a reason cars, clothing and certain restaurants are cheap.
Excellence is rarely conveniently found around the corner and cheaper.
Excellence takes work and your child deserves excellence.
A powerful strength & conditioning program will address your child’s individual level of overall fitness & physical preparedness, the program will address weak areas, imbalances, injuries and most of all, the program will address your child’s level of mental / emotional readiness.
When you see athletes training at The Underground Strength Gym you’ll notice that they are all on a different program, each program tailored to that athlete’s specific sport, his / her weak areas and emotional needs. Training an athletes goes FAR beyond getting faster, more explosive and stronger.
As a parent myself, I don’t look for the cheapest coaches and what is 5 minutes away, I look for the best for my kids.
Above, Anthony Rosamilia used to be 88 lbs, today he weighs 145 lbs! Nutrition was a KEY role in his success.
When you become a new athlete at The Underground Strength Gym your parents receive a welcome packet with nutrition guidelines to improve your success while training here.
The nutrition guidelines increase your energy level, increase your strength and lean muscle gain, improve recovery and overall speed your progress.
It is up to you to follow through and take action. Be self motivated and follow these simply yet highly effective guidelines.
Here is a great video of a seminar that The Guru did at The Underground Strength Gym in Edison last year. Take notes and take ACTION.
There are CRITICAL points being made here regarding:
Final Thoughts for Underground Strength Gym Home Boys:
– Eat as recommended in this video and our welcome packet. You should have printed this out and should re-read it on a regular basis. Learn it, Live it, LOVE it.
– Perform extra workouts on your own using bodyweight exercises. Or, use the gym to your advantage. We offer you ALL UNLIMITED use of The Underground Strength Gym in BOTH Edison and Manasquan. Show up!
Below are a few videos to borrow from for Bodyweight Training on your own!
Parents & Athletes: ANY questions on extra training or nutrition, ask me or one of the Coaches and we’ll help you get dialed in!
Also, BIG favor. If you have friends in the Manasquan / Jersey Shore area that are committed athletes AND have supportive parents, please have them e mail me for details on The Manasquan Underground Strength Gym location.
We wanna pack the place in with hard workers, just like Edison!
“Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together.”
– E. Nightingale –
Above, The Gnarly Back of Andrew DuPoux, Underground Trained Since His Senior Year In College On The Gridiron and STILL Training With Us!
Train For LIFE!
Several years ago, this was a Friday afternoon Underground Wrecking Crew training with intensity while some Coaches flew in from around the country to see how we roll!
Look how HEAVY they are training, how aggressive they attacked the workout. These athletes motivated themselves through their own will, their own goals and needed no one to push them.
Check the video and ask yourself how you compare to this intensity when YOU train….
Remember: YOU have the opportunity and potential to become a champion and to become better than who you are today. The choice is yours. You will look back at these years for the rest of your life as either a proud man or a man of regrets.
Go back and see the graffiti on our wall about The 2 Pains In Life.
The Pain of Regret and The Pain of Discipline. Hopefully that sinks in!
“Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together.”
– E. Nightingale –
Above, The Gnarly Back of Andrew DuPoux, Underground Trained Since His Senior Year In College On The Gridiron and STILL Training With Us!
Train For LIFE!
Several years ago, this was a Friday afternoon Underground Wrecking Crew training with intensity while some Coaches flew in from around the country to see how we roll!
Look how HEAVY they are training, how aggressive they attacked the workout. These athletes motivated themselves through their own will, their own goals and needed no one to push them.
Check the video and ask yourself how you compare to this intensity when YOU train….
Remember: YOU have the opportunity and potential to become a champion and to become better than who you are today. The choice is yours. You will look back at these years for the rest of your life as either a proud man or a man of regrets.
Go back and see the graffiti on our wall about The 2 Pains In Life.
The Pain of Regret and The Pain of Discipline. Hopefully that sinks in!
Above, The New Year’s Eve Wrecking Crew! Where Were YOU!!??
Monday morning, 9 am, 10 athletes showed up ready to kick ass and take names.
Others were in wrestling, basketball or track and field practice.
Then there were others…..
You KNOW who you are.
9 am was “too early” for you….
you were “too tired”….
Shame on YOU. I get disappointed in the slackers because I KNOW you can do better, you just don’t WANT to do better.
The Champions out there, your competition….. They LOVE people like you. The excuse makers and slackers make it easy for others to win. It makes it easier for the Champions to climb to the top.
If you are too tired and too lazy to get your ass out of bed for a 9 AM workout, the TRUTH is this:
– YOU Will NOT Achieve Above Average Success
– That’s the TRUTH that your Coaches can’t say to you with fear of losing their job and that’s the TRUTH your parents don’t tell you because they hope you will be above average.
– Hoping does NOTHING. Start doing the WORK.
– YOU have the potential to become GREAT, but potential only comes to life when you rise above and do the work that others fear.
I’ve heard this comment from parents AND athletes since my first days as a Strength & Conditioning Coach.
There are 168 hrs in a week. Most of our athletes train 2 – 3 hrs a week.
Are you REALLY That “Busy”?
When I was in high school, I train ALL year, regardless of the season. Yet I remember MANY athletes were talking about summer workouts, as if they don’t train the other 9-10 months out of the year?
VERY strange…. aka LAZY.
Do you brush your teeth only when you have time or do you make this part of your daily habits?
That is what training is about. It’s something you LIVE. We teach our athletes to Live The Code: Honesty, Integrity, Commitment, Work Ethic
Honesty to others AND yourself.
Integrity – do the right thing, even when no one is watching
Commitment to excellence and becoming the best YOU can be
Work Ethic – Busting your ass to achieve your goals
As you can see, these 4 Codes rage against laziness, excuse making and lies.
Even during the heat wave, we do NOT back down or make excuses. That is what BUILDS champions.
As you can tell through our videos, we are NOT training for aesthetics such as 6 pack abs, bigger biceps or a beach body.
We train for LIFE. We train YOU so you can succeed at ALL that you set out to do.
We don’t just train the muscles, we train the mind, body and spirit.
