athlete journals

You’ll notice a few new exercises this week, most as a result of me thinking about what my weaknesses are in terms of strength and muscular development. Varying Squat Stance for Quad ... Continue Reading

Scranton MMA held its first ever promotional event under Dominic Passaniti on Saturday. Many students earned stripes and two of our students received their blue belts. The Promotion One of our ... Continue Reading

Recently I posted the following on my Facebook wall: When your efforts are extreme, they will also be temporary. Intensity is meaningless if not consistent. It's not what you do today, it's what you ... Continue Reading

It’s been a great week for my jiu jitsu. With school out of the way, I’ve been able to fully dedicate my time to training. This Week's Lessons I learned a lot in classes this week. Frank went ... Continue Reading

I'd like to challenge you to explore your personal system of training. And more specifically, I'd like you to take an assessment of your personal values as they pertain to training. In other words, what's ... Continue Reading

The craziest thing happened this week: all of my lifts felt amazing! I typically have one day per week where I have a killer workout, but this week the wheels were rollin.’ After complaining about my five ... Continue Reading

Finals week is kicking my butt, but my elbow feels much better and I’m back to regular training again. Finals and a Long Break It’s finals week at the University of Scranton, which is good and ... Continue Reading

A few readers have noticed and asked about my use of the “IQ” notation after each exercise and workout. IQ is my own personal shorthand for “intensity quotient,” or put another way, the average weight per ... Continue Reading

I had to take it easy this week because of a few injuries, but I’m hoping to be back 100% by next week. Time to Heal I acquired some injuries while competing at the Goodfight two weeks ago. I ... Continue Reading

Meet week! Let’s jump right into it. I made weight at 165lb and made sure to hydrate and eat before my first lift, as there were hours before I started. I typically refuel with liquid carbs and ... Continue Reading

I competed at my first tournament as a purple belt on Saturday, and I took second place in the division! Tournament Day The day started with an eight o’clock wake-up and a two-hour drive to King ... Continue Reading

Volume is one of the key indicators that should be tracked in training. It has a direct impact on strength, as well as hypertrophy. Training volume is defined as the total volume of work you perform ... Continue Reading

I survived the stress of school and the Halloween party, which let me focus on getting ready for my tournament this weekend. A Lighter Week Last week was definitely a tough one, but I got through ... Continue Reading

Let’s be honest: when you walk up to a bar loaded with a weight you’ve never lifted before, there’s a big part of you that wants nothing to do with it. After all, the best-case scenario is, lifting ... Continue Reading

I went 2-1 at the Masters World Championships on Saturday and earned a bronze medal. I can’t say that I’ve ever worked harder, on and off the mat, or been happier to win bronze. My division was incredibly ... Continue Reading

I had a lot on my plate this week, but I’m feeling much better and I’m ready to take on the challenges. Once in a while, I have one of those weeks when it seems like I never have a moment to sit ... Continue Reading

A basic tenet of periodization is that each training cycle should start off general and end up specific. Another way to put it is that “a peak is only as tall as the base is wide.” Of course, ... Continue Reading

The time has gone by pretty fast, and I have now finished my last full week of training before the IBJJF New York Pro and Masters Worlds. I guess the best word to describe the experience of preparing for ... Continue Reading

Everybody has their trials and tribulation stories of traveling. Mine are no different. So we won’t bother expanding on that. Everybody has their trials and tribulation stories of traveling. ... Continue Reading

Another great week of training is in the books. I have been so fickle with my deadlifting throughout this program, but I finally settled. Squatting four times per week definitely did its number on my lower ... Continue Reading

Both split-training and whole-body approaches are conceptual ways of organizing your weekly training schedule. A split-training approach involves apportioning different muscles or body regions to ... Continue Reading

I’m now in the home stretch as I prepare for the Masters World Championship in November, and I’m feeling great. My BJJ training schedule has undergone some changes and I am already beginning to reap the ... Continue Reading

With my first week of my next training cycle in the books, it’s time to make a few revisions. I must have been out of my mind thinking I could have a day of pause squats with five-second pauses while ... Continue Reading

My career in the fitness industry spans nearly thirty years at this point. Often, my younger colleagues will ask me what changes I’ve noticed among gym-goers over that period of time. The funny ... Continue Reading