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I have been getting a lot of emails inquiring about our NFL Combine/Pro Day clientele so I wanted to give everyone a quick update on our athletes that have performed for the NFL scouts so far…
Deon Anderson - UConn fullback
As most of you know, Deon is regarded as one of the best fullbacks in the nation. He was invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and he didn’t disappoint! Here were his numbers…
Height – 5’11” Weight – 243 lbs. (and JACKED!) 40-yard dash – 4.67 (#2 among fullbacks at NFL Combine) 225 lb. bench press test – 23 reps (#2 among fullbacks at NFL Combine) Vertical Jump – 33” Broad Jump – 9’06” 20-yard shuttle – 4.43
*Look for Deon’s name to be called in April at the NFL Draft!
Mike Richardson - Notre Dame cornerback
Although Mike got screwed out of an NFL Combine invite, he put on a show at Notre Dame’s Pro Day in front of 65 NFL scouts and coaches! Here were Mike’s impressive numbers…
Height – 5’10 ¾ ” Weight – 188 lbs. 40-yard dash – 4.48 3-Cone Drill – *6.27! *This is currently the fastest 3-Cone drill of ALL TIME! To put this time into perspective, the all-time record at the NFL Combine in the 3-Cone drill is 6.56 seconds. Mike CRUSHED that record! 20-yard shuttle – 4.05 (and he slipped on his only attempt!) Vertical Jump – 36” Broad Jump – 10’07” 225 lb. bench press test – 14 reps
*Those numbers are about as impressive as you’re going to see from any defensive back in the country!
Chad Upshaw – Buffalo tight end
The biggest knock on Chad when he arrived at my facility was that NFL scouts were concerned about his 40-yard dash time. They had Chad’s 40 time ranging from 4.95 – 5.03. Well, all that changed at the University of Buffalo’s Pro Day on March 7th! Check out Chad’s numbers…
Q: Joe,
First off, love the site. About 2 months ago I purchased your Super Strength DVD and I gotta tell you it's the best training dvd I ever saw. I refer back to it almost daily and me and my training partner have experienced tremendous gains since following your program. (We train in my garage and I have access to all the "essentials" - thick bars, bands, chains, Elitefts squat rack, glute/ham bench, dumbbells, etc.) My question is do you have any other high rep upper body exercises that you use on Rep day that weren't shown in the video? My partner and I prefer bodyweight exercises on rep day - most of our exercise choices revolve around chin-up & push-up variations. We perform chin-ups with different grips, both weighted and un-weighted. For push-ups we perform weighted vest push-ups & push-ups with a band around our back like you show in your video. It seems like the choices are somewhat limited and I was just wondering if you had any more suggestions??
Thanks from David in Cleveland.
A: David,
It sounds as if you have a pretty nice set-up in your garage…much better than any commercial gym can offer! And I’m glad that you and your partner are making gains on my Super Strength Program!
Although my Super Strength DVD is jam-packed with exercises & information, I obviously couldn’t include every single exercise that we use at my facility. One exercise that I left out that we have been performing a lot lately is chain push-ups in a “drop-set” fashion. To perform this exercise, you need 3 things – a good training partner, chains, and the ability to push yourself to the limit! (This is one of the exercises that has helped our NFL Combine athletes perform very well on the 225 lb. bench press rep test.)
To perform this exercise, have your partner place a couple of 5/8” chains across your back in a “cris-cross” fashion. Once all the chains are placed on your back (I recommend starting with 2-4 chains), start performing push-ups. As you start to fatigue, have your partner pull one of the chains off of your back as you continue to perform push-ups. Your partner should keep stripping off the chains until you are left with just your bodyweight. Perform 2-3 sets in this fashion on your Repetition Upper Body Day.
Below you will see a video clip of this exercise being performed by Virginia Tech safety, Brenden Hill. Brenden starts this set with five 20lb. chains on his back and pushes himself until he is left to rep out with just his bodyweight!
Q: Coach DeFranco – my main focus in training right now is to improve my vertical leap. I’m performing 1 max effort lower body workout each week and one jump day each week just like you outlined a couple of weeks ago. My legs already feel more powerful so I know this program is going to work. My question is about technique – have you discovered any more “dirty tricks” that will help me perform better at the vertical leap test? I have your combine dvd and I have read your vertical jump article over & over but was wondering if there's anything new?
Thank you sir. Someday I hope to come to your facility and train under your supervision.
Donnie
A: Donnie,
It seems as if you’re on the right track with regards to your weight training and hopefully you have studied the vertical jump technique that I reveal in my Football Combine DVD. My “Dirty Tricks for Higher Vertical Jumps” article should also help you dominate this popular test.
As far as new technique “tricks” are concerned, we did discover a new technical aspect of the vertical jump this year that helped many of our athletes jump a little higher. The technique that I’m referring to is holding your breath during your vertical jump! For some reason, I never focused on coaching this during past years and I don’t know why! For years, I’ve coached my athletes to hold their breathe during max bench press attempts, max squat attempts, during the 1st 10 yards of the 40-yard dash, as well as any other quick, explosive activity. After all, the Valsalva maneuver has been proven to increase strength and power. But, for some reason I didn’t make it a focus when I coached vertical jump technique in the past. Well, I learn something new every year when preparing guys for the NFL Combine and this year was no exception. During one of our training sessions, Deon Anderson was stuck at a certain height and he couldn’t jump any higher. Then, out of nowhere, he exploded upward and jumped an inch higher! When I asked him what he did differently, he said, “I don’t know, I just held my breathe and jumped.” Immediately after he said that, I thought, “Why the hell haven’t I thought of that?!” To make a long story short, a bunch of other athletes tried it and all of them jumped ½” to 1” higher.
Basically, you want to take a deep breathe right before you’re about to descend into your jump and then hold your breathe during the jump. Try it. It works.
I never would have thought that this lunatic would end up teaching me something I didn't know about vertical jump technique!
*The following email was sent to one of my trainers, John Impallomeni, from a visitor we had at the facility last week…
Q: John,
It's Mike Antolini - I just visited not too long ago, I was the big dude with the red shirt in case you forgot. That was an amazing experience at the facility! I had some good talks with you and Joe D. and a little with Carr. You guys are good people. It makes me wanna come all the time and shoot the shit with all of ya and it was awesome to witness some great training going on! Being there made we wanna lift so bad I wanted to bust out reps with the boys. I was gettin’ so fired up and it felt great!
I met some great athletes - Deon Anderson, that crazy bastard, he’s a man with a big heart and loads of intensity that could detonate the atom bomb! Mikey Guadango, another insane bastard, one of the nicest dudes you could ever talk to and he also has enough intensity to fuel a tractor trailer. The big guy that's going to Texas to play Arena football was another guy that was nice as hell and a pleasure to talk to. Actually all the guys that I met today were all chill. I would like to come up a few more times before the semester ends (if Joe lets me, and has time).
I was a bit timid when I walked in there, I shouldn't have been but I was. I was afraid to ask questions in the beginning because I was afraid that I was gonna interfere with the training. The atmosphere of Joe's facility is insane, and it fires me up to come again, again, and again, until you guys get sick of me and eventually hire me (haha, just kidding)! I thought it was great that Joe offered to let me come in the summer and see some of the strongman stuff, I am already looking forward to it. When you speak to Joe, tell him I appreciate him letting me come up to the gym and visit and also inviting me to come up this summer and experience some strongman training…
Thanks,
Mike Antolini
A: Mike,
It was great having you at our place and I’m glad you got to “experience” the facility when Deon was there! I can’t say enough about that kid’s heart and the insane INTENSITY that he brings to the gym! He makes everybody better. In my opinion, Deon should be a 1st round draft pick…the bottom line is that you can’t put a “number” or a “grade” on an athlete’s ability to make all the players around him better; and Deon is the best athlete that I have EVER trained at making EVERYONE around him better! Whether it’s a high school freshman in the gym or an NFL star, Deon is going to motivate you to push your body to the limit and that can’t be taught. If I was a coach, I want that kid on my team!!
Anyway, I wanted to give everyone an inside look at the type of training that Mike witnessed during his visit to my facility. Below you will see a video clip of Mike Guadango being pushed through a set of chain push-ups by Deon Anderson.
FYI, this set was performed AFTER we tested everyone’s 225 lb. bench press for max reps, then we did 2 sets of chain push-ups to failure. After the 2nd set of chain push-ups, the guys were fried and ready to move onto some upper back work, BUT, Deon called everyone out to perform 1 more set. To give everyone an idea of how important a great training atmosphere is, Mike “failed” at 32 reps on his 2nd set, yet he is shown below performing 37 REPS on his 3rd SET!!
Sometimes you gotta throw out the exercise science books and just TRAIN LIKE A MADMAN!!! (Athletes that train like this every once in a while will definitely have a psychological advantage over their competition.)
Turn the volume up on your computer and enjoy…
Did you see his triceps almost rip out of his skin on the last 2 reps???
