Robertson Training Systems Newsletter
In This Issue:
- Robertson Training Systems Updates
- Training Tip
- Nutrition Tip
- Exclusive Interview #1: Nate Green
- Exclusive Interview #2: AJ Roberts
- New Articles
- Schedule
Robertson Training Systems Updates:
Not one but TWO GREAT INTERVIEWS this issue!
As you can tell this is quite a lengthy issue!
I've got interviews from not one but TWO great up-and-coming strength coaches. Read all about Nate Green and AJ Roberts, two guys I think you'll be hearing a lot about in the coming years!
Both of these guys have also recently released fitness info products as well. Nate has released Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, an audio series that interviews today's top fitness experts on every topic imaginable - programming, running a business, and simply being more effective in your personal and professional life.
AJ's Ultimate Program Design is a complete resource for fitness professionals and interested strength trainers alike. This audio program interviews 12 great strength coaches (myself included!), and examines how they write superior programs.
Be sure to check out both of these products by following the links below, or within their respective interviews. Great work guys!
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
JP Fitness Summit
My good friend Jean-Paul Francouer from the JP Fitness forums (www.jpfitness.com) wanted me to let everyone know that there are still seats available for his annual JP Fitness summit. If I wasn't taking my wife on a vacation for her 30th birthday, I would be there myself!
Here's the list of presents that JP will have at this years summit:
- Alwyn Cosgrove
- Bill Hartman
- Robert "Dos" Remedios
- Chad Waterbury
- Lou Schuler
To reserve your seat today, check out JP's website below:
Career Opportunity at Poliquin Performance Center, Chicago
From Mike Bystol, owner of PPC Chicago:
Poliquin Performance Chicago is searching for quality coaches and trainers to join our team! PPC is also accepting internship applications.
If interested, please email your resume (in Word or PDF format) to mike@ppcmidwest.com
Candidates should have at least one of the following:
- Personal Training Certification
- Related Degree
- Sports Background
- Coaching Background
- Personal Training experience
Ideal candidates will be notified within 2-3 business days.
Training Tip:
Do Less, BETTER!
(Note: This tip is coming straight from my Blog; if you don't check it out frequently, you need to start!)
My good friend Jimmy Smith and I were talking recently about the trend to continue "learning" more. For fitness professionals, it's key to our growth - if you don't continue learning, you'll definitely be left behind.
But at some point, we need to remember the basics.
In our rush to learn more, I think we forget to use or implement the things that WE KNOW work. With the fitness industry ever evolving, there's a tedency to become caught up in all the hype, the new trends, the newest findings. Whatever happened to just getting under the bar and squatting to get stronger?
When it comes down to basics, think super simple - like this:
Don't we know that if our posture is jacked-up we need to fix it?
Don't we know if we want to get stronger we need to keep adding weight to the bar?
Don't we know if we want to lose fat we need to dial-in our diet, build muscle and crank up the intensity of our training?
Keep learning - but don't forget that you already know quite a bit. If you're one of those people who is constantly spinning their wheels looking for the next great diet, routine, or the ever popular "missing link," chances are you'll never make significant improvements to your strength and physique.
When in doubt:
- Step back and see what in your program you can make simpler
- Apply the basic principles that YOU KNOW work
- Train hard and achieve your goals
Nutrition Tip:
The Organic Debate
By Dr. John Berardi
The average person should consume two pieces of fruit and three servings
of vegetables per day as a minimum. Athletes probably need even more. Experts
often spend too much time arguing about organic vs. regular fruits and veggies.
I agree that raw, organic fruits and vegetables are best since they have
a higher micronutrient count, but any fruits and veggies are better than
none! Get sufficient fruits and vegetables in your diet before worrying
about whether they're organic or not. Once you've done that, worry on.
If you like this tip and want to learn more about JB and his products, check out his Precision Nutrition website.
Exclusive Interview #1: Nate Green
MR: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Who do you train?
This sounds like one of those online dating services, Mike. I like long, windy walks on the beach and daffodils, and…all right, I’m kidding.
I train everyone from moms looking to lose weight and busy executives to high school, collegiate and professional athletes. I’m pretty new to the game, so for awhile there I just took whatever I got!
It’s nice to finally be in the position to be a bit more selective, you know?
MR: No doubt. Now you’re a fairly young guy, and this is coming from what I consider to me a fairly young guy! What would you contribute your success to thus far?
Well, it’s a mixture of a few of things, man.
I’ve been in the martial arts since I was 5 years old, so I definitely had all the positive aspects (respect, commitment, courage) instilled in me at a very young age. Couple that with the fact that growing up, my family stayed tight-knit through our fair share of set-backs and financial troubles and I just learned to take chances and appreciate things a bit more.
So the right, hungry mindset for my situation has been absolutely imperative. And the fact that I’m 21 means I have a ton of time to make mistakes, try new things out, make friends and contacts, and learn from all my (and others’) experiences.
MR: You’re an up-and-coming writer for publications like T-Nation and Maximum Fitness. Who has inspired you as a writer and why?
I’ll tell you, a few years ago I just decided to randomly email Lou Schuler (former Director of Men’s Health magazine) to introduce myself and ask for his advice.
I felt stupid. My friends called me stupid and told me he’d never write back.
Three hours after sending that letter, Lou was kind enough to write me back. That correspondence essentially started a chain-reaction of me meeting people and getting advice from everyone from Lou, TC Luoma (T-Nation), guys like you and Eric Cressey, and my good friend Jason Lengstorf (who has nothing to do with fitness but is one of the best writers I’ve ever seen).
To be proficient at writing, you got to read and write every day. Lucky for me that books and notepads were about the only thing we could afford for entertainment back in the day!
MR: You’re in the process of releasing your first fitness info product as well; please tell the RTS readers a little bit about the “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants” audio series. What’s it about? Who is it designed for? Who did you talk to? We want to know it all!
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants was an idea I got from Alwyn Cosgrove. He mentioned that as a young up-and-comer in the fitness industry, I was sure to have a lot of questions on everything from business to program design to writing for magazines to, well, anything someone interested in the fitness industry needs to know.
He also reminded me of the fact that I had a ton of great contacts with some of the Industry Elite, as I call them. So I took his idea, ran with it, interviewed the best and brightest, and put it all on a 10 CD set with an accompanying manual.
The list of contributors are freakin’ amazing, and I still can’t believe it. Mike Boyle, Bill Hartman, Alwyn Cosgrove, Lou Schuler, Ryan Lee, Jim Labadie, Craig Ballantyne and more.
Even Eric Cressey and Jason Ferruggia helped me out and contributed to the bonus materials. The only one who’s missing is that Robertson guy…I’ll get him involved some how.
MR: What plans to you have for the future?
To learn as much as I can from all of my experiences, maintain a fresh outlook on life, and appreciate things that deserve appreciation.
MR: Feel free to shamelessly plug your site or youself at this point in time.
First, I want to thank all of your readers for taking the time to listen
to me ramble.
As far as promotion, all I’m going to say is when I first started
in this industry I wish I would have had something like Standing
on the Shoulders of Giants. I’ve heard from new-comers
and veterans alike that the information contained on the CDs are nothing
short of amazing for business-savvy people and technical junkies alike.
I couldn’t agree more.
Cheers.
Exclusive Interview #2: AJ Roberts
MR: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Who do you train?
Currently I am the director of SportSpecific.com which is private, members-only, resource for those that are serious about sports training. It is jam packed with articles, training programs, audio interviews and much more.
I have also been working at the division one level for several years and
have primarily worked with football for the last year but have worked swimming,
basketball, cheerleading, track and field, and soccer in the past.
MR: You’re a highly successful powerlifter; tell us a little
bit about your training.
Over the years I have developed what I like to think is a very unique
training system. Basically I have looked at many different training philosophies
from all areas and have created a hybrid that
incorporates the best from each.
For soft tissue work and warm-ups I have taken a lot from Magnificent Mobility and Inside-Out as well as things I have learned from Mike Boyle.
For the strength development part of the work out I combined Louie Simmons Westside methods with Sebastian Burns Metal Militia methods and Brent Mikesell's Irongladitor methods. For supplementary and accessory work I do a lot of hypertrophy work using bands, dumbbells, and kettlebells, and then I always make sure I finish off a work out with some Prehab Work.
MR: Now you’re a fairly young guy, and this is coming from what I consider to me a fairly young guy! What would you contribute your success to thus far?
I think the number one this that has contributed to my success as a lifter and a coach is that I continually make the effort to learn from everyone, which has opened my eyes to many different ideas. I hear so many coaches put down other professional who have a different views and opinions than them but the truth is often we can learn the most from those we disagree with.
The other thing that has helped me is getting under the bar and actually learning how the body needs to move in order to execute the lifts correctly. By understanding the movement patterns I am able to teach the athletes the lifts much more effectively which ultimately leads to better results.
MR: You’re an up-and-coming writer for publications like WannaBeBig and Sport Specific. Who has inspired you as a writer and why?
There are too many people to list that have inspired me to start writing through their works over the years but if I had to narrow it down to the most influential I would say Alwyn Cosgrove, Bil Parisi, Gray Cook, Mike Boyle, Dave Tate, Mark Verstegen, Lee Taft, Brain Grasso, Eric Cressey and of course yourself Mike.
And to answer the second question, the reason I choose to start writing is really to share what I have learnt myself and from so many great coaches over the years with the hopes that others will learn from me and maybe be inspired to sit down and write themselves.
MR: Now I’m always on clients and readers; I always tell them, “If you don’t understand how to write programs, why are you writing them for yourself?” Your new product Ultimate Program Design is very cool, and I’m not just saying that because you interviewed me! Please tell us a little bit about the project – what is it? Who have you interviewed? Who would this product be beneficial for?
I’ve put together what I believe to be one of the most informative resources on program design that the industry has even seen. I interviewed twelve of the very best sport performance enhancement coaches in the world on how they build their successful training programs from the ground up and got them to reveal everything! If you’re a serious coach, trainer, or athlete then you not going to want to miss out on this information.
If anyone would like a sneak peak they can download the transcription
of the Mike Boyle interview by going HERE.
MR: What plans to you have for the future?
If all goes to plan this summer I will be opening my own sports performance training center that will work mainly with youth athletics. Everyday I see athletes who have been hurt in there high school weight rooms and so I feel a need to break into this niche and start educating and helping build the champions of the future.
MR: Feel free to shamelessly plug your site or yourself at this point in time.
If people want to learn more about me they can go to www.EliteSportsTraining.com and check that out. I have a free newsletter that goes out on a weekly basis and if you sign up now you’ll receive a free copy of “Smoothies for Athletes – 126 Easy Recipes for Maximum Sports Performance”
New Articles:
Here are Mike's most recent articles:
Gittin' Diesel in Your Own Home Gym
Push-ups, Face Pulls, and Shrugs for Healthy Shoulders
Schedule:
April 20-22 - Z-Health Certification Seminar, Week 2 (Durham, NC)
May 7 & 8 - Biosignature Modulation Seminar (Chicago, IL)
May 11-13 - Perform Better Functional Training Summit (Chicago, IL)
July 20 & 21 - Functional Movement Screen Workshop (Indianapolis, IN)
Stay strong,
Mike
www.RobertsonTrainingSystems.com