I LOVE Bodyweight exercises and bodyweight workouts! There is nothing better than burning fat, building muscle and developing insane relative strength using the best piece of exercise equipment ever invented – the human body!

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Today’s video is about old time, high school style rope climbing… without using your legs!

Many athletes think they’re strong. But, in my book, if you can’t climb a rope – Your not truly as strong as you should be.

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Rope climbing is one of my all time favorite ways of turning athletes into a strength monsters! If you’re a Strength Coach or Trainer and want your athletes to gain insane strength and out perform the competition – you need to get a climbing rope! Plus, it’s fun!

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So, who’s up for the strength challenge? – Are you strong enough to climb a rope without using your feet? Are your athletes?

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I think climbing ropes should be in every gym! – How about you?

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I have the honor of designing the “Gain Muscle,Burn Fat” workout article featured on the cover of the April issue of Men’s Fitness Magazine! (more…)

Guest Blog by Nick Tumminello / Jn 20, 2010

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As a strength coach who works with high level athletes and an educator who trains the trainers – I’m always being asked what I think is the biggest mistake trainers, athletes and exercise enthusiasts make in the gym. My answer is always “most don’t’ train the CNS”. You see – there are actually two ways to get stronger and improve performance. One way is physiological based which is done by putting on muscle size (hypertrophy) through typical bodybuilding style protocols? The other, lesser known, but possibly more important way of getting stronger is through neural based training. This is accomplished by using faster, more explosive exercise protocols like the ones I’m going provide later in this article.

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Continue Reading…

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by Nick Tumminello / Tues, Oct 6. 2009

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Most guys can’t sweep the room without using wrist straps to grab onto the broom. Here’s how to fix that sad, sad, problem.

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Continue Reading…

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by Nick Tumminello / Wed, Jan 6, 2010

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Got a set of biceps that haven’t grown since the Clinton years? Well, put down that cigar and start stretching some shirtsleeves.

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Continue Reading…

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By Nick Tumminello  /  Wed, Feb 10, 2010

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Give your triceps training a much-needed shake-up and start hammering out some horseshoes!

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Continue Reading…

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I’m excited about today’s post because I’ve got two very cool things to show you! Both of which happen to be created by one very cool and very smart guy. And, that guy is my good friend and colleague Bret Contreras.

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Bret is known for his nick name - “the Glute Guy” – because he has done some amazing research on Glute training in his Glute Book. If you don’t already know – Bret is the guy who invented the Hip Thrust exercise everyone in-the-know is using these days… myself included.

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On May 14-16th in Kansas City, MO – Bret and I will be presenting at the 2010 JP Fitness Summit together along with such names as Nutrition Guru – Alan Aragon and famous book author – Lou Schuler, to name a few!

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Bret recently put together this entertaining video about this year’s 2010 JP Fitness Summit. Check it out… it will make you laugh and want to be a part of this incredible event!

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This event is going to be a unlike anything else you’ve attended! So, go the the 2010 JP Fitness Summit website and book your spot before it sells out!

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Okay, now we can talk about the BEST Lower-Body Strength Exercises!

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In this video below, Bret Contreras uses EMG to evaluate which lower-body strength exercises are the best at recruiting specific muscles in the legs and hips. You have got to check this video out!

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This video above shows you the real-world application of EMG research and provides you with the exact mean and peak muscle activation created by a variety of Deadlift and Squat variations. The education gained from this short video is priceless! Plus, you get to see Bret in Spandex shorts and Fohawk hairstyle!

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Don’t forget to come see Bret and I, live and in color at the 2010 JP Fitness Summit! Hope to see you there!

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As you may already know from reading Alli’s training Blog – This week is a Deloading phase for us.

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We have  a great workout group consisting of myself, Alli, Mark (Simonetti) Simon and MMA guru, John Rallo. We have all been hitting it very hard lately and our bodies are in need of a rest and recovery week. So, to help us recover, we have toned things down a great deal and we are currenlty doing a Deloading workout each day.

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I’ve found that many folks, even  Strength Coaches and Trainers have trouble figuring out what to do and not to do during a Deload phase.

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So, in today’s post, I’m going to provide you a sample of a Deloading workout.

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Below is a layout of the exact Deloading workout we did today. This deload workout is lower- body dominant because today (Tuesday) is a Lower-body training day for us.

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Sample Deload Workout for the Lower-Body

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This Delaod Workout is performed Circuit training style with 3 different work stations:

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Station #1 – 4 Minute Ride on Airdyne Bike at 60-70 RPM

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Station #2 – 4 Minute Sled Pull (mix up facing forward and Backward) w/200lbs load (done on turf)

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Station #3 – 4 Minute Mobility/Activation Sequence, 1min High Hurdle Step-Over , 1min Mini-Band walks (any direction), 1min Yoga-Plex, 1min Dynamic Pigeons (hip rotator stretch)

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Rest 1 Minute between stations. Perform  3-4 rounds of the entire circuit.

A full circuit takes 15minutes total. So, 3 rounds takes exactly 45min time. Four rounds take 1hr.

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Important Deload Week Notes

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After this or any other deloading workout – You should NOT feel tired or be out of breath!

Instead, you should have a nice sweat going but still be able to talk normally and feel minimal muscle fatigue.

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REMEMBER – A deload week is for active recovery, it’s NOT a workout and shouldn’t feel like one!

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Don’t forget to post your comments below and tell us what you thought of this Deload workout and about your own personal favorite deloading techniques!

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by Nick Tumminello
01/06/10

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Got a set of biceps that haven’t grown since the Clinton years? Well, put down that cigar and start stretching some shirtsleeves.

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Continue Reading…

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At this point, this post needs no introduction. So, without further delay, here is my 3rd installment to the How to get Stronger without adding weight to the barbell/ Dumbbell series.

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Check out the video below and discover yet another killer training concept that is easy to understand, simple to apply and most importantly, it gets incredible results!!!

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Part 4 is coming at you real soon, so stay tuned!