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Bodybuilding.com has some special guests in town for a few days to do some informational training videos, articles and such.

Please welcome Obi Obadike and Kendall Wood to Justin TV for a live chat.

Obi and Kendall will be on Justin TV tomorrow, Friday, June 26, 2009.
Come join the chat and ask any questions you have from 12:30-2:00 p.m. MST.

For more information click here.

To join the chat click here.

OR Invest in the www.FitnessModelProgram.com

We filmed all the footage starting last April of 08′ through September of 08′. I go from 282lbs down to 260lbs through this elapsed time and transition from swollen to sliced!

The DVD includes me training all muscle groups Pecs-Delts-Arms-Legs-Back-ABs and Cardio,
in Contest prep for the Europa show and Atlantic City open and masters competition.

We Call it Andy Haman IFBB Pro “It’s All LIGHTING!”

because many time people ask me how I get into such good shape or “how did you get so big!?”
and I always answer Joking- “It’s all LIGHTING!” referring to good lighting in the gym or a photo shoot!

The DVD is filled with Ridiculously funny stuff with me Guest Posing-Cooking-Training-Shopping-and spending time trying to get my training done during the day while taking care of my four children!

Some fun highlights include:
Issac Hinds Photo Shoot!
Halloween Guest Posing with my kids!
Ripping cans apart!
500lbsplus Bench press at contest weight!
American Gladiator Tryout Footage!
News interviews!
and Europa Footage!

Everything was filmed here in Colorado Springs, Colorado at FLEX gym-Villa Sports
and my Home with the exception of the Europa footage-

We Rated it R Ridiculously Funny! as it not your typical Hardcore Bodybuiding DVD
because of all the time I spend with my family trying to juggle getting them to school and there activities through the day!
(make no mistake though- it’s packed full of incite and plenty of gym time with lots footage of just me Blasting away with the Iron!)

Get more info here

Reactive agility may be the most underrated and underused training method for athletes.  Think about it, how often in a game does Allen Iverson or Ladanian Tomlinson know where a defender will be, how fast they will be attacking them, and from what angle?  The answer is they don’t. They rely on their gifts of instinct and reaction to their environment to make a highlight move. Moves like this cannot be taught, you either have it or you don’t, right?

Wrong!

Reactive agility can be the bridge that links training for a sport and actually playing the sport well. We have all seen the athletes who look like Tarzan and play like Jane.  It is frustrating to see these players do so well in off-season training and, when game time comes, they are performing under expectations, or worse, they are watching the game from the sidelines. We eliminate this problem for our athletes by utilizing reactive agility as one aspect of our entire agility progression.
  
Recent studies have shown that better players have better reactive agility.  One study found that an athlete’s reactive agility was the only significant factor determining performance. (1) It is the decision-making aspect, and the reaction to an external cue, in these drills that make them so beneficial. Incorporating these drills will improve play on the field or court by helping the athlete react faster and anticipate the next move of the opponent.  

Here are a few of our athlete’s favorite reactive agility drills. Our guys love these drills because they have fun, and it doesn’t seem like dreadful work to them.  We love these drills as coaches because it breeds competition and you get to see who is willing to compete.

Partner Lane Slides: This drill is effective because it closely mimics actual sport moves. Watching the video you can envision defending an opponent in basketball, soccer, or volleyball. Easy set-up and the ability to perform it almost anywhere puts this drill on our top three:  

4-Corner Agility Drill:  This is another one-on-one drill, but now the athletes can move in multiple directions. We try to time the work to rest ratio to match the sport the best we can. Example: most football plays last 6 seconds with a 30 second rest between plays, or a 1:5 work to rest ratio. This increases the carryover to the sport that coaches and players love. The drill only involves 6 cones and we like to set up a few stations if a large number of athletes need reps.

Mat Drills:  This can be timed in a specific ratio as stated above, or as a conditioning tool by going longer.  Florida State, Georgia and many other top programs use this regularly in the off-season group training as a way to enhance toughness, conditioning, competition, team cohesion, and of course…reactive agility.  

Sources:

1.  J Sci Med Sport. 2006 Aug;9(4):342-9. Epub 2006 Jul 17

Josh and his brother Tyler Fagan are Strength & Conditioning professionals specializing in training young athletes. Join their FREE newsletter and check out their site at www.Improvingathletes.com.

Exercise 7 – Kick Boxing – Kick boxing is perhaps my favorite hanging core exercise.  It taxes the grip, core, and is really an enjoyable challenge.  Hang a bag in front of your chin-up bar.  Start in a hanging position and perform a series of kicking strikes on the bag.  Strikes may be roundhouses with the right or left foot, straight kicks, or axe kicks.  

A harder variation, while not being exceptionally good kicking form, band the feet together so all strikes must be with two feet.  Attempt three sets of two minute rounds with one minute of rest in between, your hands, forearms, lats, hips flexors, and core will be on fire!

Kickboxing.

More Kickboxing.

There are many more variations out there and I truly enjoy learning about them.  I recommend working hanging core into your workout program weekly.  You will see your back, core, and grip strength improve drastically.  As always, be creative and make these exercises your own (then come back and tell me about them!)

Exercises are demonstrated here:

Joe Hashey is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA.  Joe is a former D1AA college football player and the owner of Synergy Athletics in Endicott, New York and is enjoys creating innovative athlete training methods.

Author Joe Hashey.

Joe can be reached through www.Synergy-Athletics.com or via email at CoachHashey@synergy-athletics.com.  Take advantage of the Synergy Athletics Free Newsletter by signing up at the website!