Lost Secrets of Strength Seminar DVD's on SALE!

Sunday, 16 August 2009 11:51

Check out the video below...

So there you have it; Zach Even-Esh and I have decided to release our last LOST SECRETS OF STRENGTH Seminar on DVD! The DVD series contains over 6 hours of our most effective training and business strategies, along with a killer workout!

We limited this seminar to 15 attendees to ensure quality. Our seminars sell out fast - but unfortunately - there are always a dedicated few that get left out. This is what prompted us to make a limited supply of this seminar available on DVD. We also decided to limit the amount of seminar DVD's to "protect" the attendees that flew in from all over the country to attend the seminar. These people invested $350, plus hotel and travel expenses, to make it to New Jersey and attend this seminar in person. Out of respect to these people who busted their ass to make it happen, we decided on releasing just 50 copies of this product on each of our websites. (Although we mentioned we were making 100 DVD's each in the above video; we decided to make only 50 each! We are NOT trying to reach the "masses" with this product; the goal is to provide an incredibly valuable resource for the 1% of coaches, trainers and business owners that want to be the BEST at what they do.) Once these DVD's are gone; they're gone for good! So if you're looking to make an incredible investment that will come back 10-fold, take action NOW!!

Here are some highlights from the seminar...

 

BONUS Audio CD!!!

Everyone who orders the LOST SECRETS OF STRENGTH DVD PACKAGE will also receive this FREE Audio CD!! I can't tell you how proud and excited I am of this CD! Zach and I got on the phone last month and next thing you know, we started throwing around training ideas and business concepts that I feel are THE blueprint for success in this industry! We covered so much information that we ran out of tape and had to continue recording the following week! ALL of this is provided on the Audio CD!

Here are some of the topics that are covered in this jam-packed, 1-hour Audio CD...

-New athlete/client ASSESSMENTS

-EXERCISE SELECTION theories

-Joe D. tells a hilarious TRUE-STORY of an "internet guru's" workout at DeFranco's...if you can call it a "workout" LOL!

-How to incorporate "PRE-HAB & REHAB" exercises into your "base template"

-How to design an EFFECTIVE PROGRAM based on your facility, or lack-there-of!

-How to organize GROUP TRAINING SESSIONS without "watering down" your program!

-Learn about both Zach & Joe D's "humble beginnings" and get their equipment, marketing and budget recommendations for starting your own business!!! (This section is worth the price of the product in and of itself!)

There's not much more I can say about this DVD-CD PACKAGE. Most of the seminar attendees invested well over $750 on their trip to New Jersey to get the information that's provided on these DVD's. We are offering the entire 6-HOUR SEMINAR, along with the Audio CD, for only $297 !!!

If you want to be the "leader of the pack" in your area, you must invest in your knowledge just like Zach and I have done (and continue to do) for the past two decades! Remember that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! To get the LOST SECRETS OF STRENGTH SEMINAR PACKAGE, click HERE!

This is an educational resource that will remain in your library for a lifetime...guaranteed!

-Joe D.

2 Comments

Life after the World's Strongest Athlete Contest

Friday, 07 August 2009 22:26

 

Ok, I appologize. I haven't checked my "Ask Joe" email account in over two weeks. The summer is always insane, but this year we added to the insanity with all the preparation that went into our World's Strongest Athlete Competition. And I know that no one gives a shit, but on top of the endless work hours, I moved. Everyone knows how time-consuming moving can be...and how bad it can suck! Needless to say, free time has been almost impossible to find. But, I'm back and hopefully I'll be posting regularly again from this point on.

The thing that prompted this post were the first two "ASK JOE" emails I just read. Basically, the first two emails that I opened were from "fans" of ours that are PISSED because I haven't posted any summer training updates since the World's Strongest Athlete Contest. So to hold our angry "fans" over, I've decided to post a couple quick highlights from the past two weeks at our gym. (FYI, if you're on FACEBOOK, don't forget to "friend" DeFranco's Gym as we make quick posts and updates daily on our Facebook page.)

So without further ado, here's some random things that went down over the past two weeks...

 

Brian Cushing re-writes our Record Board before Training Camp!

Cush broke our 225-pound bench press rep test record in the Pro Athlete Division the day before leaving for training camp! The previous record was held by former Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle, Eric Downing (33 reps), and it stood for 7 years!! Watch Cush EXPLODE through 35 angry reps in the video below...

 

 

Mackenzy Bernadeau is no longer an "unknown" NFL player!

Not too many people outside of our "gym family" know too much about Mack. If you search "Mackenzy Bernadeau" on this website, you can learn more about Mack's incredible road to the NFL. Basically, he wasn't supposed to "make it". He came from a Division II school and he didn't even get a Combine invite because he was undersized, too slow, hurt and "not strong enough" to handle himself against the BIG BOYS in the NFL!

After winning our World's Strongest Athlete Contest for the 2nd year in a row; NFL players throughout the league have now taken note! Check out THIS POST that was on ProFootballTalk.com. For those of you that don't know, "Pro Football Talk" is THE website of choice where NFL PLAYERS get the scoop on what's going on throughout the league!

Defensive lineman now know that Mack is "strong enough"...and he's got some badass weapons to back it up!

 

 

Speaking of our Strongman winners...

Cameron Josse jumped vertically into the back of a pick-up truck!

What more can I say about this??? I guess Strongman Training doesn't create "big & slow" athletes afterall, huh? This is the ultimate display of strength, power, mobility and coordination. Not too many athletes walking this earth can perform this feat! I guess something's working. Enough said.

 

 

"World's Strongest" Police Officer breaks our Bench Record!

 

New Jersey State Trooper, Brian Markowski, proved that he has some "traditional" strength to go along with his "Strongman" strength! The above picture shows Brian breaking our Bench Press Record in the Washed-Up Meathead Division with this 475-pound press!

 

 

New Toys arrive!!

"The Asshole" breaks in our new "toy" by floor pressing 225 lbs. + 18 chains!

EliteFTS continues their tradition of coming up with equipment that helps athletes become brutally strong! Their latest "invention" is the CHAIN MATE. These things make floor pressing and deadlifting with chains much more productive and practical! Do you "need" these? The answer is 'No'. But, every summer I like to invest in 1 or 2 new "toys" that add variety into our program and keep our athletes motivated! (I suggest every coach/gym owner does this!) These things fit the bill!

 

 

Patrick Cole Squats 405 on his 16th Birthday!

Last year, Pat hit an impressive 275 x 2 in the box squat...

 

After a dedicated year of training, Pat did THIS last week on his 16th Birthday...

What a difference a year has made for this young Track & Field standout! He's already throwing over 53' in the shotput and he's got two more years of high school!! Remember his name...he's just getting started!

 

 

"Tire Battles" produce BIG RESULTS!

University of Rhode Island WR, Zack Moore (left), does battle with the county's leading rusher, AJ Scoppa. (AJ is heading to East Stroudsburg to play running back...check out his highlight film from his sophomore year HERE!)

As training camp approaches for our football players, we try and incorporate more "specific" exercises that bridge the gap between weight room strength and football strength. The most popular Dynamic-Effort upper body exercise most coaches incorporate are medicine ball throws. Medicine ball throws are great because they enable the athlete to "release" the object, which helps develop power because they don't have to "decelerate" at the end of the movement (like most barbell & dumbell exercises). Although I like medicine ball throws, they can't compare to "Tire Battles" for developing upper body power! After all, why throw a 10lb. med ball when you can throw a 400lb. tire?!

I used to make my athletes perform tire battles by keeping their hands on the tire the entire time, while trying to "push" each other over. But over the past couple weeks, we have been "releasing & catching" the tire and I like it MUCH better! I've been having my guys do this as the main exercise on Dynamic-Effort Upper Body Day. You can perform a set amount of reps or perform timed sets. And this exercise isn't just for football players! It can be used with any athlete that needs to improve their throwing power, punching power, or just overall upper body power!

Check out the video below of two college football lineman doing battle! This video will really give you a feel for the type of upper body force that's developed with this drill!

Andrew "The Russian Bear" Sklover (left) vs. Danny "The Nightmare" Nunez (right)

As an added benefit, get ready for a SICK pump in your chest, tris, shoulders and upper back when performing tire battles! "The Russian Bear" actually had a vein pop out after his 3rd set...and according to him, "his body doesn't have veins" LOL!

 

 

Joe D. goes back to his "roots"

Matt Lowney (St. John Fisher), Mack Bernadeau (Carolina Panthers), Kevin Brock (NY Jets), Paul Drake (East Stroudsburg University) and Ryan Hoffer (Catholic University) run "The Hill"

There is nothing new about running hills. But, I'm embarrassed to admit that I kind of "forgot" about this old-school training method amongst all the new things we have incorporated at my facility over the years. I say that I'm "embarrassed" because hill sprints were THE first training method that my father introduced me to back in 1989...and they are THE thing I actually felt transfer to the football field the most. The lower body power, knee drive, speed and endurance it gave me literally helped me run through people on the football field.

Ironically, my gym is only two minutes from the house I grew up in...and only two minutes from the exact hill that I ran back in the day.  I want to kick myself for not incorporating "The Hill" into my program more often. I don't know how the hell I could have forgotten about "The Hill"; my dad used to drive me there, make me wear 10lb. ankle weights and then yell at me while I sprinted like my life depended on it..."C'mon, it's the 4th Quarter and the game is on the line...you gonna quit or run through people!!!" -- these are the things my dad used to yell as I ran the hill...and it worked! Although I HATED running that thing, it gave me a HUGE advantage over my competition. When my dad was working, my mom would drive me to "The Hill". The difference was that she would just sit in the car, rosary beads in hand, and pray I didn't work myself to death :)

Sorry for that trip down memory lane, but it's kind of cool when - 20 years later - my "job" enables me to go back to "my roots" and do for athletes what was once done for me. In 1989, if you would have told me that I would be training NFL players on that same hill in 20 years, I would have called you crazy. Life is funny.

"The Hill" is back and it's officially part of the program...and it aint goin' anywhere...

Opposing athletes BEWARE!

So there you have it...your quick summer recap from the Dirty Jerz. To summarize...

*Our athletes lift heavy things...

*They jump onto and over high things...

*They throw heavy objects...

*They sprint...

...and they will all be KICKING ASS this season!!!

 

Hard work trumps fancy training methods every time! I want to know what YOU think? Leave me your comments below!

-Joe D.

9 Comments

2009 World's Strongest Athlete Contest RESULTS!

Wednesday, 22 July 2009 17:51

I was going to wait until I received all the videos from the contest before posting these results, but the amount of emails I’ve gotten made me fold! People are dying to know who won and how the event unfolded!

I wanted to wait for all the video footage because words alone can’t even come close to doing this years contest any justice; it had the atmosphere of a college football rivalry and the intensity of a heavyweight title fight! Over 280 spectators lined the fields of Overtime Sports Facility in Wayne, NJ to watch 60 of the hardest-working athletes in the world do battle! The event far exceeded the hype…and it was all for a GREAT cause!

So without any further ado, here are the official results of the event, along with a video “teaser” that will give you a little taste of what this event was all about!! (This should hold you over until we post the longer, documentary-style videos that are currently being edited.)

Enjoy!

POLICE/FIRE/MILITARY DIVISION

This was the first year we opened the contest to this division…and it was worth the wait!! This division produced one of the most exciting battles of the day between two beastly New Jersey State Troopers! When it was all said and done, only one point separated Brian Markowski from Kevin Kelly! This is how close (and exciting) their epic battle was…

Brian Markowski edged out Kevin Kelly in the tire flip by flipping the 600 lb. tire four times in 10.28 seconds, compared to Kevin’s 10.32 seconds!

Kevin then dragged the 255-pound sled 60 yards in 31.0 seconds, compared to Brian’s 32.25 seconds!

In the 210-pound hand-over-hand rope pull, Kevin again edged out Brian by pulling the 75-foot rope in 18.0 seconds compared to Brian’s 18.9 seconds!

The deciding factor of the contest was Brian’s amazing 19.3-second, 60-yard Super Yoke carry with 420 lbs. on his back! (This Super Yoke time was the 2nd fastest time of any competitor in the entire competition!) Kevin took 3rd place in the Super Yoke as he was edged out by Kevin O’Neil of the US Air Force. Slipping into 3rd place in this event prevented Kevin Kelly and Brian Markowski from going into sudden-death overtime and the dreaded Prowler “push-off”!

Ironically, Brian Markowski was a member of my original Strongman “competition” back in 1999 when he was a junior football player at Paramus Catholic high school! (I guess the “veteran” experience paid off on the big stage that this contest has now become.)

When it was all said and done, ALL of the competitors in this division deserve all the credit in the world for competing (and finishing) a grueling event like this!

Here were the final standings of this division:

1st Place

Brian Markowski – New Jersey State Police

2. Kevin Kelly – New Jersey State Police

3. Kevin O’Neil – US Air Force

4. Greg Cyrwus – New Jersey State Police

5. Jan Czech – New Jersey State Police

6. Adam Gagliardi – Montgomery County Maryland Fire & Rescue

7. Paul Gifford – Lebanon New Hampshire Police Dept.

8. Doug Kechijian – US Air Force

HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION

The high school division also had an extremely close battle between two training partners – Paul Drake from Wayne Hills and Cameron Josse from Indian Hills. Both football players have trained together for the past 7 months and were looking for gym bragging rights! When it was all said and done, Cameron edged out the bigger – and more tattooed – Paul Drake by 2 points! Check out the impressive numbers that both of these “kids” put up at the competition. (Remember that these are HIGH SCHOOL “kids”)…

Both Cameron and Drake tied in the Super Yoke carry by completing the 60-yard “walk” with 370 lbs. on their back in 19 seconds flat!!

Drake pulled the 175 lb. rope 75 feet in an incredible 16.65 seconds, compared to Cameron’s 21.25 seconds.

Cameron edged out Drake on the sled drag by completing the race in 27.19 seconds, compared to Drake’s 27.59 seconds.

The major difference maker in this battle was when Cameron KILLED the 600 lb. tire by flipping it 3 times in 8.03 seconds! This incredible feat of strength turned out to be the deciding factor in Cameron becoming the strongest high school athlete at the competition!

Here are the final standings of the entire division…

1st Place

Cameron Josse – Indian Hills HS, NJ

2. Paul Drake – Wayne Hills HS, NJ

3. Travis Woods – Edison HS, NJ

4. Justin Michalak – Northeastern Senior HS, PA

5. Patrick Cole – Hasbrouck Heights HS, NJ

6. Brian Long – TF Riggs HS, South Dakota

7. Dan Lungo – Edison HS, NJ

8. Chris Guido – Bishop Ayr HS, NJ

9. CJ Hart – Bishop Ayr HS, NJ

10. AJ Scoppa – New Milford HS, NJ

11. Robert O’Neill – St. Francis Prep HS, NY

12. Sean Doherty – Littleston HS, PA

13. Frank Cem – Bishop Ayr HS, NJ

COLLEGE DIVISION

The college division was the largest division of the competition and it was packed with studs!! Amongst the 24 competitors was last year’s defending champion, Brian “Curls” Pascal of John Hopkins University. The defending champion jumped out to a quick start by taking first place in the first event – the 255 lb. hand-over-hand rope pull. “Curls” pulled the 255 lbs. 75 feet in 22.75 seconds!

The second event is when things got interesting. Monmouth University defensive lineman, Andrew “The Russian Bear” Sklover worked himself into a frenzy and then EXPLODED with 420 pounds on his back and completed the 60-yard Super Yoke carry in 18.8 seconds! This was the best Super Yoke performance of the entire event and there was a buzz amongst the competitors that the defending champ may be going down!

Luis Altimiranda had the best sled drag of the college division when he dragged 300 pounds 60 yards in an impressive 35.47 seconds on the brutal field turf surface! Andrew took second place in the sled drag with a 38.34-second performance and “Curls” got himself a solid third place finish with a 42.07-second drag.

But the thing that put “Curls” ahead of the pack – as it did last year – was his freakish ability to flip the tire! The kid explodes through a 600-pound tire like no one I’ve ever seen! He flipped the tire 5X in an unbelievable 12.84 seconds which ended up solidifying his second straight College Strongman title!

Here’s the final standings of the entire college division:

1st Place

Brian Pascal – John Hopkins University

2. Andrew Sklover – Monmouth University

3. David Kennedy – Monmouth University

4. Luis Altimiranda – Stony Brook University

5. Derek King – Florida Atlantic University

6. Brandon Glyck – Princeton University (tie)

6. Paul Polomski – Bryant University (tie)

7. Rich Brennan – Catholic University

8. Douglas Beyer – Trinity College

9. Adam Triglia – University of Pennsylvania

10. Kyle Keelen – Kean University

11. Matt Lowney – St. John Fisher College

12. Frank Spinelli – Springfield College

13. Daniel Rodriguez – American International College

14. Tom Kraus – Ramapo College

15. Chris Orzechowski – Rutgers University

16. Josh Griffith – Bucks County Community College

17. Nick Goodling – Albright College (tie)

17. LaSalle McDonald – William Paterson University (tie)

18. Zach Moore – Rhode Island University

19. Ryan Hoffer – Catholic University

20. James Cooper – Muhlenberg College

21. Andre McCalmont – Queens University (Canada)

22. Anthony Ferla – Temple University

PRO DIVISION

First of all, I want to extend a HUGE “thank you” to all the pro athletes that showed up to compete in this event. These guys obviously don’t “have” to do this; yet they all came, competed their asses off and were more than happy to talk with the younger athletes, sign autographs, take pictures, etc. Having them there is also a huge “draw” and they definitely put “asses in the seats”, which enabled us to raise a lot of money for the charities.

The beauty of the pro athletes that showed up was that they didn’t just “show up”…they came to compete and WIN! You seriously couldn’t have written a better script for how the competition in this division unfolded!

The competition started out with defending champion, Mackenzy Bernadeau, jumping out to a quick lead by dominating the Super Yoke Carry! But then things got very interesting when Lance Ball shocked the world and took first place in the tire flip! This is when everyone realized that the pro division was wide open! Brian Cushing let out his frustrations on the hand-over-hand rope pull when he pulled 255 pounds 75 feet in 21.6 seconds for a first place finish (and the best rope pull of the entire event)! The final event for the pro guys was the torturous sled pull. Kevin Brock shook things up when he took first place in this event.

There was a hush amongst the crowd as the final points in the pro division were being tallied. The guys were exhausted and had no idea who had won!! One pro athlete was overheard saying, “Please don’t let it be a tie. I got nothin’ left in me.” Once all the points were totaled, a 3-way tie was revealed between Mackenzy Bernardeau, Kevin Brock and Brian Cushing!! I had to hunt the 3 finalists down to break the news to them…they would have to perform a head-to-head, 20-yard Prowler Push-off; winner take all!!

Hunting down the three finalists was no easy task…

Kevin had already taken his cleats off and was relaxing with the crowd. Big Mack was outside puking up a lung after his grueling sled drag. And Brian Cushing was sprawled out on the treatment table, getting his blood-filled quads massaged after his battle with the sled!

Although I know all three of these guys would have liked to call it a day, they all sucked it up (as they always do) and pushed their bodies past their limits one final time! This is the exact characteristic that has made every single one of these athletes so successful! With no energy left in their bodies, Big Mack, Kev and Cush all took the line, prowlers in hand, for a final, epic push! It was the longest 20 yards of their life. In the end, it was "Big Mack" that edged out Cush at the finish line, with Kevin Brock finishing shortly after Cush. Although they all deserved to win the event, their can be only one World's Strongest Athlete...and that man was the defending champion, Mackenzy Bernadeau!!

Here were the Top 5 in the Pro Division:

1st Place

Mackenzy Bernadeau – Carolina Panthers O-line

2. Brian Cushing – Houston Texans linebacker

3. Kevin Brock – Carolina Panthers tight end

4. Lance Ball – Indianapolis Colts running back

5. Greg Isdaner – Dallas Cowboys O-line

GREAT day! GREAT cause!

Wait until you see what we have in store for next year!!

Let us know what you thought of the contest by leaving your comments below!

Joe D.

11 Comments

GIRL POWER!!

Thursday, 09 July 2009 22:54

One of the things that I am going to start incorporating into my blog posts are feature workouts on various athletes of different sports. Today I decided to feature two of our female volleyball players - Rachel Bello & Stephanie Roco. Rachel was a 4-year starter at the University of Rhode Island and is now preparing to play professionally overseas. Stephanie was a standout player at Immaculate Heart Academy HS and will be continuing her career at Iona College this fall.

Today's workout was a Repetition Upper Body workout for Rachel and Stephanie. This workout is somewhat "unique" compared to the basic template that many of our readers are used to seeing. I thought everyone would like to see some of the little tweaks and variations that we use with our athletes on a daily basis. It's important for people to see how much variety can be incorporated into our basic template. As trainers and coaches, we must constantly be thinking "outside the box". Here's what today's workout looks like on paper:

1. Hand-over-hand Rope Pull - 6 sets w/ the 75-foot tug-of-war rope

Now here's what the workout looks like 'in action'...

 

Please post any questions or comments you have about this workout in the COMMENTS section below!

Joe D.

 

16 Comments