Random Friday Thoughts

I love video.  I’d rather watch a movie then read a book. I’d rather watch an exercise video than read a description and I’d rather watch a presentation than listen to it.  Video is already beginning to dominate the athletic development industry as coaches see its value in teaching exercises.  

1. Brijesh Patel took it up a notch when he built the exercise database at Holy Cross’s website so that athletes could have access to the countless exercise videos there.  I’ve spent hours watching all the variations he and Jeff Oliver have come up with over the years.  Since then, Brijesh has helped develop myfittube.com, a revolutionary website with the industry’s best providing exercise videos, teaching demonstrations, etc.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, go now.  It’s arguably the internet’s best strength and conditioning teaching tool. 
2. Nothing breeds success like hard work.  Nothing, except maybe hard work paired with motivational speeches…and spandex.  If every athlete had the die-hard mentality of a rower, sports would be a lot more entertaining and more young athletes realize their true potential.  A video to bring this randomness together:
3. This exercise makes me feel good, every time.
4. This doesn’t, but it’s great for breaking up tension in the glutes and hip external rotators (typically tight in hockey players).
5. Yoga has some validity in sports performance training.  While I don’t look at yoga as training in itself (it will not make you significantly stronger; it will not help you lose weight; and it will not give you long lean muscles), certain yoga routines can improve function range of motion about the hips and shoulders.  More on this to come in future posts.
6. 100 rep time tests are brutal.  Due to snow, my gym was closed on Wednesday, so I had to do a make-shift workout.  100 chin-ups as fast as possible.  Followed by 100 push-ups as fast as possible.  These are the types of workouts everyone should try once (assuming it won’t cripple you permanently).  My 100 rep chin-up time was 18 mins 20 secs; my 100 rep push-up time was 6 mins 13 secs.  If you try this, feel free to post your results below.

That’s it for today.  Tomorrow I leave for a road trip to coach a couple games against the University of Rhode Island so you may not hear from me until next week.  

Keep working hard.