I had a blast getting interviewed by the crew at The Asbury park Press.
LISTEN HERE:
Think about it.
At The Manasquan Underground Strength Gym, the parks and rec department gave us ahard time for playing Ultimate Football on a random basis at a desolate park.
In 8 years, I have NEVER seen kids playing Football at this park.
The Basketball courts are empty or maybe have 2 kids shooting hoops.
Do we not play on our own?
Baseball on our own?
Football?
Kill the man with the ball?
STOP treating your child like he / she is a fragile snowflake.
In the video below, Travis, 1 of the original Football players who began with us out of the garage is another example of what happens when you FOLLOW THROUGH!
Travis used to struggle on light trap bar deadlifts, I had to keep him lighter than 185 until we strengthened his back and legs. The other guys in the garage were HAMMERS, deadlifting 405 and 495 for sets of 3 – 6 reps.
Travis was off in the corner of the garage, staying the course, never giving up and always doing the work. He weighed around 150 or 160 when we began training him.
T Woods competing in first ever LIFT STRONG fundraiser! Circa 2007!
Travis stayed the course, he ate the way we recommended, he trained with us 3-4 x week AND at his high school. None of this “I’m too busy” or “I’m too tired” and his parents never said “Is it too much?”
When you’re in high school or college and living the lifestyle, you CAN run through a brick wall 50 times a day! MOST kids do NOT live the lifestyle, they don’t follow through on nutrition and in turn, they struggle.
You get what you EARN!
Here’s a Video of Travis his Senior Year in high school, the photo above was before his Sophomore year, you can see the tremendous transformation AND his levels of Strength.
– Travis is Benching 275 for reps
– Bodyweight Around 225 lbs (Approx 65 lbs gained in 3 years)
– Tire Flip 600 + lb Tire
– Explosive Bodyweight Training Demonstrating Relative Body Strength & Speed
– Full Range Pull Ups for reps
– 60 lb Triceps Roll Backs
Strong is STRONG. No such thing as weak AND fast.
I understand the common fads and gimmicks nowadays are convincing kids and parents in avoiding the HARD work and thinking one gets explosive and fast by avoiding hard and heavy training, it’s a FAD. A Gimmick.
Hard Work on the basics is the way.
** NOTE ** Our Members should have printed out the welcome packet, 2 copies; 1 for parents and 1 for the athlete.
Follow through on the Nutrition Guidelines.
Live The Lifestyle and stop lying to yourself; It’s too much for me to train here and at the high school.
Our best athletes ALWAYS did both, train at The Underground AND on their own / at high school.
You can have Excuses or you can have Results but you can NOT have Both.
Destroy those excuses and BUILD yourself into a CHAMPION.
____________
ATTN Supportive Parents of Hard Working Athletes
I hear it ALL the time from athletes, they TELL me how great they want to be but they have a laundry list of excuses. I am not sure where these acceptable excuses come from but it’s BS if you want my opinion 🙂
Be a worker.
Otherwise, you will be average at best. Excuses help no one.
In the Fall of 2007 when we opened The Underground Strength Gym we began training adults after our athletes trained in the afternoon and evenings.
These 8 PM training sessions were short and intense.
The workouts were very similar to what our athletes did minus some specifics that just weren’t safe for most adults.
– We lessened and / or removed jump training.
– Mobility issues were addressed and complex movements such as Olympic Lifting were replaced with dumbbells, kettlebells and sandballs.
These modifications allowed us to safely perform full body exercises with a faster learning curve and in turn, faster results.
A BIG Goal When we train adults is this: We want to ensure that the training doesn’t take away from your life or daily activities.
The training should make your life BETTER.
I recall a friend of mine who had kids would go to a gym in the mornings and every workout was all about getting crushed.
This woman was already in great shape but her back began hurting on a regular basis, her shoulder was throbbing and she had LESS energy, not more.
She felt like the overly intense training was interfering with her family life so she had to stop.
I took that lesson to heart and as an adult / parent myself, I know how much energy it takes!
Training harder and crushing you every workout isn’t better. Better is BETTER.
Proper training makes you feel better. It’s not about exhausting you.
We also limited the timed workouts such as get as many rounds of this or that. I found technique would get thrown out the window as time or getting more rounds became the priority.
There are other ways to compete with yourself in others and with yourself during each training session but Technique Is ALWAYS # 1.
When you train in our adult strength classes, you’ll go through a warm up to get the mind and body ready.
As a beginner or advanced lifter, you can train side by side with other adults regardless of their or your experience because we use a model with progressions and regressions.
If someone is performing squats or deadlifts with a barbell, you might use Kettlebells or a bodyweight variation to build you UP to that level of strength & fitness.
To say EVERYONE has to deadlift isn’t safe, smart or effective.
Even our athletes train like this.
You train in a group yet sometimes you’re doing a different variation of that exercise that is best suited for you! To force everyone into the same exercise variation is not safest or most effective.
To help our adults improve on each training cycle, we perform full body workouts 3 – 4 x week. How often you train is up to you. I tell adults that 2 x week is 200% more than ZERO training sessions each week.
These workouts are similar in nature for 2 – 3 weeks to help the body adapt with improvements in technique, strength, stamina and overall fitness. After 2 weeks, we switch up the workout to keep the body from adapting but each week helps build you into the next week.
If we constantly vary the exercises every single training session & every week you actually NEVER get good at those exercises.
In turn, you hinder your results because you spend excess time on technique vs training at an adequate intensity with movements and exercises that you are learning to master.
Or, On the flip side, if you skip the learning of technique and push the intensity too soon, you end up injured and / or discouraged.
We don’t do what isn’t right for you.
Men and Women CAN be Strong, Fit and Athletic. The key is, a proven training system that Builds you UP instead of breaks you down.
We’re psyched for you to begin Training with us at The Scotch Plains Underground Strength Gym and we will transform you NOT just physically, but also emotionally and mentally.
It’s ALL about The STRONG Life: Mind, Body & LIFE!
For the 2nd year in a row, The Point Boro Wrestling Team started their Wrestling season at The Manasquan Underground Strength Gym.
This is NO Easy Day as these wrestlers go through a brutal training session to not only test them, but to teach them how to break through the most challenging times on the mat and in life.
What makes this so unique is that these Wrestling Coaches are extremely dedicated and not enough parents of athletes understand how amazing that is.
MOST Coaches don’t care.
MOST Coaches are clock punchers.
They don’t care about helping these kids get better.
You’re either going to be part of the “I’m too busy” or you’re going to blaze your own path as a champion and train year round.
Why do I push people to step up and do more? Because I see NO reason why anyone should aspire to be average and fit in with the norm. You have the potential to be GREAT, why not GO FOR IT!
