I’m sure a lot of you Bay Area folk remember when the BART workers threatened a strike in August 2013. The walkout was avoided, but for an entire day the state of public rail transit across San Francisco was shaky at best.

In that dark hour it was Uber who came to the rescue…well, halfway to the rescue. They actually partnered with a local San Francisco startup called Boatbound to send people off to work on boats across the bay.

Uber
never would have been able to orchestrate this singlehandedly:
Boatbound was the crucial element that made it all work. Here we are
now, almost two years later, and Boatbound is both still kicking and
thriving.

In short, Boatbound is the Airbnb for boats. It’s an idea that founder Aaron Hall cooked up thanks to a life spent boating with family and friends.

“We
were always out boating, and when we traveled it was something we’d do
on vacation too. It was always an integral part of my growing up,” says
Hall.

On one of those vacations, in 2012, they tried
to rent a boat for the weekend. They walked into an old, clunky marina
in North Dallas that was so desolate it didn’t even have a website.

The
drive was to get there was long and arduous, and when they finally
arrived the last available boat had already been rented out. However,
Hall saw hundreds of owned boats just floating in the marina, not being
used and not available for rent.

Surely there was a service out
there that let people rent these owned boats. Well, long story short,
there wasn’t, so Hall built Boatbound.

They initially launched in
2013 and only serviced San Francisco, which highlights the strategic
prowess Boatbound showed by teaming up with Uber in 2013. That, paired
with the hard work of a dedicated team took Boatbound to South Florida,
and ultimately across the rest of the US in 2014.

Hall would say they’ve “exploded”, and I have to agree. I pressed him about what contributed to this massive spike in growth:

“Think
about it: nobody goes out on a boat themselves unless they’re a lonely
fisherman,” Hall explains. “When one person books on our platform a lot
of other people find out about Boatbound while on the actual, rented
boat. The opportunity for it to spread like wildfire is unprecedented.”

Currently,
Hall and his crew are spending a lot of time with boating events and
dry land fun to keep the hype fueled. It’s fascinating: they still
haven’t turned on the marketing magic, so to speak, but have over 10,000
boats registered for rental on the platform.

Not only that, the
list of people waiting to sign up seems to get bigger every day. There
was even one man who rented his boat out eight times in the first week
it was listed on Boatbound.

“We can’t activate boats quickly enough.
It does take some time to get the boats ready, which is why we’re still
picky on markets we launch in,” Hall says. “Though, it’s mainly because
there are boats there already waiting for us to activate them before we
even arrive.”

Consider what this means for boat
owners. Effectively you can offset a sizeable portion of monthly
expenses by renting your boat just a few times in a given month.

That’s
huge, considering that about 80 percent of boats just float unused over
one calendar year. Hall tells me that people who rent their boats on
the platform can finally view their crafts as tangible assets and not
sinkholes to throw money in.

For all of us who don’t own boats,
it’s a steal to get out on the water for about $30 a day. What are you
waiting for? Daylight is burning, my friends, and summer is already
halfway over. Go have some fun already!

Thailand is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations on
the planet receiving an estinated 15.9 million tourists in 2010. Perfect
marketed images of tuk-tuks, long-tail boats, glimmering temples and
glamorous Thai dancers are what the mind conjures up when someone says
Thailand.

Living here for two years, I have had the immense pleasure of seeing
many different sides of this fascinating country, the hugely celebrated
and the unassuming, the popular and the forgotten.

Each place has its unique surprises and my experience makes me cringe
when I hear some stuck up backpackers say that Thailand has nothing for
them in way of adventure anymore. As someone once said, “only boring
people get bored.” Especially in Thailand.

10 Unique Places in Thailand

1. MaeKlong Market, Samut Songkram

MaeKlong Market in the province of Samut Songkram is an unbelievable
example of Thailand’s ability to thrive in regardless of circumstances.
The market is situated on the train tracks of MaeKlong Railway and eight
times a day, seven days a week, the train passes in and out happily.

The train literally goes directly through the middle of the market
stalls and over the goods on sale. Rather than relocate a market which
had been running for decades in this area, locals adapted superbly so
that daily life was not interrupted.

The vendors simply pull back any awning that sticks out too far
within centimeters of where the train will pass and usher shoppers to
step back. Locals know the exact time each day the train arrives and
once it has passed through, the awnings are recoiled and they are back
on the tracks laying out their fruit, meat and seafood as if nothing
happened.

2. The Forensic Museum, Bangkok

Have you always wanted to see a scrotum
with elephantiasis? Er… no, us neither! Bangkok’s forensic museum holds a
bizarre collection of everything that is weird, outrageous and just
downright freaky about Thailand.

For anyone looking to investigate a very
different side of Thailand, look no further… though be warned this place
is not for the squeamish or faint of heart!

With macabre interest in death and illness,
the museum displays a collection of gruesome photographs of
decapitations, deformed feotus’s in glass jars, an exhibition of skulls
with bullet wounds through the head and the star attraction, the
embalmed body of 1950’s Chinese cannibal, Si Quey. Next to the cabinet
read the handwritten words “because he loves to eat human’s organ not
because of starving”.

3. Phuket Town

Most people head to Phuket strictly for beaches and all night
parties, however, what most people fail to appreciate is Phuket town
itself. Dating back to the 16th century, colonial powers had an interest
in Phuket’s natural resources, namely its booming tin mining industry.

As a result, the architecture of the town is a mix of Sino-Portuguese
shop-house and Sino-Colonial mansion style. Despite it being home to
the cheapest digs in town (the famous On-On Hotel was featured on the
opening scene’s of the movie, The Beach!) there is a surprising lack of
backpackers roaming the town.

Artsy tea-shops and atmospheric jazz bars have now taken residence in
the old shop-houses and there are some great (and cheap)
Chinese-influenced eating houses. Visitors heading there in October are
in for a treat as the Vegetarian Festival takes place with incredible
feats of self-flagellation and body piercing.

4. Mae Sot or “Little Burma”

Nicknamed “Little Burma,” due to the presence of over 200,000 Burmese
refugees living in the area, the border town of Mae Sot doesn’t really
feel like Thailand at all.

Walking around the local market you will see women with a yellow
paste, ‘thananka’ bark smeared on their cheeks and men, wearing the
traditional Burmese wrap-around skirt, the longyi.

The town is fascinating in the sense that it makes you realize just
how complex the Burmese nationality is with ethnic minorities from
Karen, Kachin, Mon, Arakanese; each with their own separate customs,
cultures, dress and cuisine.

Eat chapatis and dal in the Muslim quarter in the morning for
breakfast and then feast on Karen curries in the evening. For
backpackers who are considering  visiting what is now called ‘Myanmar,’
Mae Sot is an intriguing taster.

Plus, the bridge over the River Moie has just opened for border runs
so the town may well be seeing more backpackers here in the coming
months. 

5. Nan Province

The remote province of Nan is a
mountainous, forested area that for many years was an autonomous kingdom
cut off from the rest of Thailand and the outside world.

The area remains somewat separated from the
rest of Thailand in the fact that very few tourists venture here. Home
to the largest national park in Thailand, the beautiful Doi Phu Kha
National Park, the area has an abundance of impressive limestone caves,
karats and waterfalls, not to mention the ancient salt mine village, or
‘Ban Bo Klua’ as it is known in Thai.

The best way to get to Nan province is by
motorbike from Chiang Mai on roads which are superb for riding passing
through spectacular mountain scenery. The town of Phayao, located on the
picturesque Phayao Lake is the perfect stop off point to explore more
stunning mountain scenery and nearby hill-tribe villages.

6. The Trang Islands

Just four hours by bus from the tourist hotspot, Krabi, lie the
‘secret’ islands of Trang, a group of 47 separate craggy isles each one
blessed with raw, unspoilt beauty.

The area which consists of 120-mile coastline remain untouched by
tourism and you will find no fast food restaurants, internet cafes or
tacky souvenir shops here. During low season (June-September) the
islands are completely deserted and you will have to persuade the local
fisherman to take you out from the main port of Trang to the outer
islands.

It is quite possible that you will be the only Westerner there as you
explore the beautiful white sandy beaches, limestone caves and
waterfalls that were recently designated a national parkland.

The accommodation is cheap and very basic but with a location so
idyllic, the Trang islands are like Thailand 20 years ago. If it is true
escapism you are after, the Trang Islands just may be your adventure
playground.

7. The White Temple and the Black House, Chiang Rai

It is true that with such an abundance of noteworthy temples in South East Asia, at times during your trip you may feel guiltily ‘templed out.’ After coming from Thailand’s capital of culture, Chiang Mai with its 300+ temples, the last thing you want to do in Chiang Rai is see another!

Yet, the White Temple just may be different from anything you will
have seen before with its eerie concrete hands and ghostly heads
surrounding the entrance of the temple and its huge silver tusks
reflecting the light as you walk up to the daunting doors.

The temple is like something out of a strange gothic fairy tale and
was built by artist ‘Ajarn Chalermchai Kositpipat’ as a Buddhist
offering. Less than 2km from the White Temple, you will find the
mysterious ‘Baan Dam’ or the Black House, built interestingly by
Kositpipat’s former student, artist Thawan Duchanee.

With an extensive collection of taxidermy, including the entire
skeleton of an elephant, the Black House is a bizarre contrast to the
pure White Temple. An antagonistic creation by the artist perhaps?

8. Khao Yai National Park and Bat Cave

Every night without fail as the sun begins to set in Eastern
Thailand, a thick black cloud spouts from the mouth of an eerie cave on
the edge of Khao Yao National Park.

They are thousands upon thousands of ‘wrinkled lipped’ bats who come
out to hunt at twilight creating what seems like one giant living
organism in a ribbon pattern across the sky.

Just four hours from Bangkok, the park is also home to 67 species of
wild mammal including the Asiatic black bear, Asian elephant, gaur
gibbon and even tigers! Visitors can walk the many hiking trails in the
area to spectacular waterfalls, observation points and even a dinosaur
footprint (a four day trek!).

9. Doi Inthanon National Park

It was this time last year when hoards of Thai people raced to the
peak of the highest mountain in Thailand (2565 metres) to get their
first experience of frost! Whilst English people find this incredulous,
the park does have more to offer than its cold winter temperatures.

Riding a motorbike through the park is the best way to explore a
landscape that changes with each turn; at times rugged, misty, cold and
eerie and then almost mediterranean with lush rolling hills,
rhododendron bushes and smiling farmers waving as they plough the fields
in the sun.

On the way up the mountain (you can reach the summit by road) there
is a Hmong hill-tribe settlement where visitors can stay overnight in a
homestead and observe the organic farming practices here which are a
Royal Project initiated by the current King of Thailand to stop the hill
tribes from growing Opium.

Although the area of Doi Inthanon is well set up for tourists, it is rare to spot backpackers here.

10. Tarutao National Marine Park and the Deep South

Right on the border with Malaysia, Thailand’s deep south is very
underdeveloped compared to Krabi and the Gulf islands. Today, it remains
an area which tourists are wary of due to continued travel warnings
because of the Muslim fighting in the area.

However, this area has more than one surprise up its sleeve, not
least the stunning Tarutao National Marine Park, an archipelago of 51
exquisite islands which were the setting for Thailand’s version of the Survivor TV program.

One of the first national marine parks in Thailand, its sparkling
beaches, coral reefs and virgin rainforest remain in pristine condition.
It is hard to believe that the largest island, Koh Tarutao was once a
huge prison with over 10,000 prisoners sent there.

One of the islands here, Koh Lipe has managed to evade park protection and is beginning to develop into a popular resort. Go now before pressure from developers to build more resorts becomes too much! The park is closed May-November.

What are consumers looking for when they come to your gym or studio? Sure, they want great workouts and access to the latest equipment in a welcoming, fun environment. But above all, they really want to attain their health and fitness goals.

At our gym—One on One Fitness in State College, Pennsylvania—we’ve learned that lasting, consistent client success depends on intelligent nutrition and habit-change strategies. Thus, we’ve pivoted from workouts to wellness to help clients succeed—and to differentiate our business. We focus on three areas: fitness, nutrition and lifestyle habits.

We’re making this happen with a new job title: the nutrition–fitness hybrid pro. We recruit registered dietitians who love fitness, and then we train them to be fitness professionals.

It’s an incredibly exciting
opportunity for the right people. These RDs interact with clients in
ways that they wouldn’t normally, as clinical dietitians. Moreover, they
help clients in ways that a dietitian or personal trainer,
individually, could not.

“I became an RD because I
have a passion for helping others,” says Haley Golich, RDN, LDN, a
recent addition to our team at One on One. “The nutrition–fitness hybrid
position enables me to promote healthy living, help clients set and
achieve health goals, and contribute to the prevention of chronic
disease. It is the ongoing interaction with clients that intrigued me
the most.”

Advantages to This Professional Model

We employ four RDs and are recruiting more. Here’s what we’ve observed since implementing this strategy:

Our Pool of Hiring Candidates Is Wider

Hiring/recruiting quality fitness professionals can be a significant challenge because it’s so hard to find that “gem” of a personal trainer who is competent, professional and (of course) looking for work. The nutrition–fitness hybrid position lets us recruit outside the pool of personal trainers and kinesiology students.

“When I went off to
college, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to study kinesiology or
nutrition,” says Bethany Paszkowski, RDN, LDN, another member of our
team. “They both interested me, and both would allow me to achieve my
longer-term goal of helping people. This position is perfect for me.”

RDs Have Advanced Skills

When hiring an RD, you’re
getting someone who is dynamic, smart and organized. Five years of
vigorous education forces a person to develop many of the professional
skills required to succeed in this role. Although RDs don’t have a
degree in kinesiology, they quickly develop an intellectual understanding of the science and prove that they can consistently apply it in a fitness setting. Bottom line: You’re not hiring a “project.”

RDs Enjoy Career Satisfaction

This position has a strong allure for the right kind of RD. After all, RDs rarely encounter so much diversity in their tasks and such a committed client base in clinical or community nutrition jobs. “I’ve worked as a registered dietitian in both the public health and clinical settings. These settings can be challenging to impact change,” says Golich. “By combining nutrition counseling along with fitness consulting, I am able to impact clients in a comprehensive way to elicit the most positive change.”

It’s Easier to Turn RDs Into Trainers Than Vice Versa

Teaching RDs
about fitness is a time-consuming but straightforward process.
Conversely, dietetics is a complicated, multifaceted subject that will
soon require a master’s-level education. Thus, the model works only if
you start by hiring RDs. Turning trainers into RDs is rarely achievable.

The Investment Will Pay Off

RDs are used to making a
healthy salary, so you will have to pay them competitively. You will
have difficulty competing against the pay of a clinical setting.
However, we don’t try. Instead, we attract people strongly motivated to
engage in our holistic wellness opportunity. We provide a 5-week
training program whose value is clear to the people we hire. They
recognize that our team will teach them a trade and that we’ve made an investment in them—knowing we won’t see a return until well after they start.

How the Nutrition–Fitness Model Improves Your Business

In a competitive marketplace, fitness businesses have to differentiate themselves and generate new sources of revenue. In our market, a lot of gyms and clubs are doing the same things: offering different spins/pricing on group training and selling supplements. Although many businesses succeed tremendously on this path, we think the competition will only get stiffer.

We believe that creating a
one-stop shop focusing on fitness, nutrition and habit change is a
win-win that helps our business while giving our clients the best
opportunity to succeed. We hired our first full-time RD in 2015, and our
nutrition program became profitable after about a year, mainly through
individual counseling sessions.

Some of the most
significant benefits are intangible. Having RDs on staff clearly
differentiates us from our competitors and solidifies our position as
leaders in our field. RDs also get nutrition clients interested in
fitness, educate our community and contribute to our social media
updates.

LAUSANNE: The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday that it was delaying until next month its ruling on a challenge filed by South African double Olympic champion Caster Semenya against the IAAF.

A decision in the controversial case had been due next week, but the world’s top sport court said it would not issue a verdict “until the end of April” because both sides had filed additional material since the hearing in February.

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Semenya is challenging proposals by the International Association of Athletics Federations that aim to restrict female athletes’ testosterone levels.

The IAAF is seeking to force so-called “hyperandrogenic” athletes or those with “differences of sexual development” (DSD) to seek treatment to lower their testosterone levels below a prescribed amount if they wish to continue competing as women.

The athletics governing body has argued the moves are necessary to create a “level playing field” for other female athletes.

A wide coalition has rallied behind Semenya’s cause, including the government in her native South Africa and rights activists worldwide.

Some scientific experts have argued that barring Semenya from competition due to naturally high testosterone levels would be like excluding basketball players because they are too tall.

One of our favorite times of the year at my facility is when our
college football sessions begin in May. What makes our job unique when
it comes to this 12-week program is our near absolute control over what
Mike Robertson and Patrick Ward call the athletes’ stress bucket. When
these guys come to train, there’s no external stress. Aside from a
girlfriend and a landscaping job, their lives are a piece of cake. And
it shows every day during the warm-up. We simply cannot get them to shut
up (a very simple way to determine their level of central fatigue or
lack thereof).

What do I mean when I say we control their level of stress? To
today’s physical preparation coaches, the figure below is nothing new,
but it demonstrates how we truly are the organisms’ stress managers over
the course of the summer. We structure our athletes’ training around
the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) by the day, by the week, and by
the month. Seems simple enough, right? Apply a stimulus to the point of
fatigue and watch the athlete recover and supercompensate leading to the
next training session.

Wrong. In reality, each athlete has his own GAS, if you will.
Different positions (lineman, receiver, etc.) require not only different
stressors but also varying levels of intensity and volume. Our program
fills the need for the application of unaccustomed stress. I believe
this system is the ultimate guide for building today’s American football
player.

The Summer Macrocycle

Before we dive into the daily training sessions, let’s look at a
10,000-foot view of the whole program for the three months we have these
guys in-house. Let it be known, I in no way consider myself a
“programming sensei,” I simply try to instill what others much smarter
than I have found successful.

At first glance, you’re probably rolling your eyes with the
assumption that there are too many moving pieces to this puzzle. It is
much simpler than it appears. I like to refer to it as Modified Block Periodization
where we’re linearly building athletic movement, meaning triphasic,
concurrently raising all aspects of athleticism, all while respecting
residual training effects (aerobic endurance, maximal strength, maximal
speed, etc.). The big picture is nothing more than transitions from slow
to fast, general to specific, and simple to complex using legend Al
Miller’s suggested prescription of volume first, intensity second.

Mesocycle One

When the session begins in early May, some of the guys have been
keeping up on their training since the end of spring ball while others
have kept up with Call of Duty and Taco Bell. With that in
mind, we adhere to the least common denominator and take everyone
through two weeks of anatomical adaptation.

The benefits of this period are two-fold:

• It raises work capacity.
• It increases resiliency in the connective tissue while preparing the
  players for the more violent demands to come, i.e. sprinting.

Our speed work for the four weeks focuses on starts from a static
position and is incredibly simple. Our go-to is two-point starts with
the emphasis on front side arm mechanics and, most importantly, posture.
We also emphasize posture, rhythm, and relaxation through extensive
tempos during this block. In the weight room, we want the speed of the
barbell to maintain relatively high speed. We are constantly cueing the
guys to “rattle the plates,” as athletic movement starts from the ground
up.

The first four weeks is a fan favorite (sarcasm) as we employ slow
eccentrics to the main movement in the weight room, and we perform them
in a cluster fashion. I would be remiss if I failed to mention that Cal
Dietz and his work greatly influenced the resistance portion of our
training session.

The goals of the eccentric phase, or block, are:

• To reach a level of hypertrophy necessary for the sport’s violent demands.
• To improve neuromuscular synchronization of the afferent/efferent
  pathways between the muscle spindles and central nervous system and
  desensitizing the Golgi tendon organ (GTO), which will then allow the
  organism to absorb high levels of force all while not triggering the
  over protective mother (GTO).

The only problem with eccentrics? They’re extremely stressful to the
organism, which is why we use cluster sets during this block. Clusters
are phenomenal for performing each rep at or near maximal velocity
during the movement’s concentric contraction. This results in maximal
power output, ultimately leading to greater improvements over time.

If you’re familiar with Coach Joe Kenn, you are without a doubt
acquainted with his Tier System Strength Training template. I’ll explain
why we implement it later in the article. For now, know our focus is on
hypertrophy (“R” for repetition effort, or in our case, slow eccentrics
and time-under-tension), then max effort, followed by a dynamic
movement which could be a jump, throw, or use of accommodating
resistance.

As for jumps during this block, we’ve had tremendous success with max
effort, single response jumps. More specifically, static overcome by
ballistic jumps (seated box jumps) with knee bends of at least 90
degrees to mimic the start of the acceleration phase.

Mesocycles Two and Three

June

As we progress further into the summer, the program becomes more
demanding. The emphasis continues to center on the one biomotor ability
that separates the terrible from the bad, the bad from the good, and the
good from the great: speed. From a bioenergetic standpoint, we focus on
alactic power rather than capacity. Why? It does not matter how many
times a guy can run a 5-flat forty, he’s still slow. We find it more
prudent to start building a Ferrari rather than a Ford Bronco.

As far as biodynamics are concerned, we begin to push the alactic envelope with longer accelerations and sprints. A staple in our program is flying 10’s (build 30, sprint 10) and medicine ball starts with great awareness on the height of their hips and their front side mechanics.
The fun part for my staff and me during this block is to witness the athletes realizing that as their speed increases, they’re able to generate more force with each ground contact. It’s even more rewarding to explain that the challenge they face as speed increases is that there’s less time available to apply force. A cue that’s worked time and time again for us is, “The only difference between flying and sprinting is ground contact.”The only difference between flying and sprinting is ground contact. Click To Tweet

Once they meet the sprinting requirements, they transition to the
weight room with isometrics as well as true dynamic effort a la Westside
Barbell. Isometrics seem to be all the rage again in the industry, so
I’ll spare you the physiology lesson. Here are the benefits from
isometrics that deserve mention:

• Motor unit recruitment which will increase the number of muscle fibers that will engage or fire.
• Rate coding will increase the rate at which the motor units fire, which then leads to a spike in muscular tension.
• Isometrics will divert maximal energy from the eccentric phase
  directly to the concentric phase with minimal (or no) loss of energy.

During this block, we’ve had great buy-in and greater success with
max effort, double response jumps to mimic the acceleration phase by
still employing a somewhat deep knee bend. A tried and true variation we
love is double broad jumps–effective and efficient. That’s a win-win.

July and August

Moving into July, we progress toward sport specific or what I prefer to call sport transferable.
Our tempos become more intensive, and we center sprints on absolute
speed. Bioenergetically, by having shorter distances and rest times for
the tempos while giving the athletes a more powerful engine and larger
speed reserve, we’re giving them the best opportunity to not only
survive during a game but to thrive. Football is an alactic-aerobic
sport with an emphasis on capacity.

Here’s how we prepare our athletes on a typical Saturday afternoon:

• Average play is 5 seconds.
• Average rest between plays is 28-37 seconds.
• Average series is 5-6 plays.
• Average rest between series is 9-10 minutes.
• Average special teams play 7-8 seconds.

The game dictates what we do bioenergetically. While we’re not perfect, I’m confident we’re on the right track.

It doesn’t take an MIT graduate to understand we’re now placing a
premium on “displaying your strength quickly” in the weight room, with
the institution of the concentric or reactive phase, the short and
multiple response jumps and plyometrics, and the priority Tier being
dynamic.
A quick note on deloads: use them before your athletes need them. We
back our guys down once a month. As Dr. Bryan Mann said, “Our body runs
in three-week adaptation waves.” With that, we extract as much as we can
from a given stimulus and then rejuvenate the organism. It’s not what
you can do; it’s what you can recover from.

High/Low CNS Training

We use the high/low approach made famous by the late Charlie Francis.
We are our athletes’ stress managers for the twelve weeks they’re with
us, and this approach allows them to supercompensate constantly rather
than seek homeostasis.

High CNS Training

After reviewing our weekly template, one could safely assume that our
program revolves around sprinting. Why shouldn’t it? Speed kills. Allow
me to quell your concerns regarding having only one day that addresses
agility and jumps/plyometrics. We’re able to improve agility without
venturing into that realm through linear acceleration and sprinting.
How? Having your athletes sprint farther and faster in training allows
them to reach higher speeds, thus achieving higher ground force. As we
all know, high velocity=high force. Derek Hansen has touched on the
multitude of benefits sprinting has when it comes to agility:

• Improved change of direction.
• Improved jumping ability (sprinting is a plyometric due to the flight phase).
• Ability to decelerate quicker.
• Less wear and tear (due to a decrease in agility/COD training).

When the organism is in a state of high velocity and high force, they reap the rewards of agility training without any of the risk. If we’re honest, we know agility and change of direction are hard on the organism. Knowing that, why venture into that realm of risk when it’s accomplished by sprinting full-speed?Linear acceleration and sprints train agility, allowing us to reduce risky plyometrics. Click To Tweet

Real world example: when Michael Vick was in his prime, he achieved
maximal speeds at over 20 miles per hour (21.63 mph to be exact). When
he was achieving at least 95% of his best times in max velocity speed
training, submaximal velocities would be that much easier on him.
I believe that all team sport athletes need to tap into max velocity
(absolute speed). Forget the benefits it has regarding jumping and
change of direction, sprinting alone has a plethora of benefits,
including:

• If it’s strength you seek, max velocity sprinting will drive up
  weights, because it is 5x ground reaction forces, 7x muscle-skeletal
  forces, and the organism is applying anywhere from 600 to 1,000lbs of
  force with each stride.
• It’s the safest expression of fight or flight. Derek Hansen said,
  “When a cheetah is chasing a springbok, does either animal pull a
  hamstring?”
• Sprinting enhances the organism’s speed reserve. Simply put, as we
  increase an athlete’s absolute speed, their submaximal velocity (or game
  speed) raises as well. Sprinting builds endurance; endurance does not
  build speed.
• Performing max velocity sprinting is a method of injury prevention.
  We’ve all seen a breakaway run in American football where the player
  blows his hamstring. This is because he did not do max velocity
  sprinting in training or practice, which led to a neurological misstep
  in his recruitment patterns.

Aside from the benefits of exposing our athletes to sprint work
thrice during the work week, there are also substantial costs. The most
glaring is the residual training effect of maximal speed. The benefits
gained from training at or above 95% of maximal speed last a measly two
days (depending on the athlete) as the residual training effects of this
biomotor ability are five days ± three days.

A Typical CNS Day

On a typical high CNS day, we use my friend Mike Robertson’s R7 protocol:

• R1: Release
• R2: Reset
• Dynamic Warm-Up
• R3: Reactive
• R4: Readiness (Game Changers)
• R5: Resistance
• R6: Resiliency
• R7: Recovery

Release–For the release portion, we prescribe no
more than three areas for the athletes to perform self-myofascial
release. We stick to three because I believe if we prescribe more, we
start to venture into the parasympathetic realm. As all of you know,
we’re trying to shift to sympathetic dominance on a high CNS day.

Resets–I admit we’re not postural restoration
wizards, nor are we great with functional movement screening when it
comes to resets. However, my director of performance, Thomas Bowes, is a
mobility guru on all things Supple Leopard. We know what we’re proficient at, and our guys feel good, mobile and stable, and that’s all that matters.

Dynamic Warm-Ups–After we’ve relieved some tension
and moved the guys into more advantageous positions, we start our
dynamic warm-up. Trust me, it’s nothing earth shattering. Again, I may
not be the smartest guy in the room; I just apply what the best have
done. We have great success with flowing yoga movement patterns as well
as Buddy Morris’ high CNS warm-up.

Reactive–The optimal volume for a world-class sprinter is 600 meters of max velocity. Newsflash, I do not work with world-class sprinters, so we adjusted our sprinting volumes based on position to meet the demands of our athletes. Our reactive segment taps into 100-300 meters of sprint volume. Dan Pfaff says, “Acceleration is a skill.” We believe that any skill needs to be addressed daily. The lineman will do at least 60 meters every single day, big skill will perform at least 100 meters every single day, and skill will be exposed to at least 150 meters every single day.The closer an athlete is to the football, the more he requires strength. Click To Tweet

This is where our program may be unique: a linemen’s exposure to the
reactive segment is rather brief, but his time during our resistance
segment is much more extensive. This is because the closer an athlete is
to the football, the more he requires strength. The relationship
between strength and speed is inverse for our skill players. Their time
during the reactive portion will be far greater than time spent in the
weight room as their position demands more sprint volume with less of a
premium on strength and weights.

Readiness–The bridge from sprint work to the weight room is what we call game changers, or readiness. Joe Kenn calls it halftime. Vernacular does not matter, substance does. This portion consists of:

• Posterior chain–hinge, knee flexion, or spinal erector
• Posterior shoulder–abduction, adduction; downward, upward rotation; protraction, retraction, or elevation, depression
• Abdominals–anti-extension, flexion, rotation
• Neck

We’ve found this is highly effective at the beginning of the weights
segment to ensure the proper muscles are firing before the “meat” of the
lift. For example, hinging before a deadlift or performing a knee
flexion variation before squatting. From a more practical standpoint, as
the workout nears the end, what athlete is going to be fully engaged if
we place this portion at the end?

Resistance–We love Coach Kenn’s Tier System for
resistance; this game is played head-to-toe, toe-to-head. I have yet to
see a football player use only his upper body in the first half and his
lower body in the second half. That alone provides enough rationale to
address the total body each weight session. Our weights are extremely
simple, efficient, and effective. We only use three exercises each
workout–yes, only three. Volumes are adjusted based on position, but we
make it known that we are concerned with speed, not weights. A typical
session would look similar to this:

Resiliency–For us, resiliency means bringing the
athletes through movements that are cyclical (running A’s, ankle jumps)
because of the following:

• Typically all movements in the weight room are acyclical.
• Sport is cyclical. We want to bring them back to what they’ll face on the field.
• Cyclical movements re-establish proper intermuscular coordination
  between the agonist and antagonist. As Charlie Francis once said, “It is
  not how fast you can contract a muscle, it is how quickly you can
  relax.”

Recovery–Again, nothing ground breaking when it
comes to recovery. We prescribe the guys elevate their feet and achieve a
parasympathetic state, or “rest and digest” to help kick-start the
recovery process. With early 20-year-olds, this is a popular time for
Snapchat sharing and selfies–not a bad promotion for our facility. If it
gets them to relax, I’ll take it.

Low CNS Training

On the low days, we prescribe tempos based on position. Larger
athletes (lineman) won’t have the same volume that a cornerback
performs. Our ranges will vary anywhere from 1000-2000 meters; at the
beginning of the summer we focus more on extensive tempos and progress
toward (slightly) more intensive and glycolytic tempos in July and
August.

Along with the tempos, we prescribe upper body circuits that include medicine ball throws. This accomplishes a few things for the athletes:

• The nutrient rich blood, or the pump, will flush out any toxins and
  waste accumulated from the previous day’s high CNS session. And let’s be
  honest, it provides a psychological benefit as well. The guys feel good
  after a brief upper body workout.
• The low volume from the circuit will aid in recovery for the next day’s high CNS session.
• If you pay attention to Charlie’s system, you can have a high CNS
  component on a low CNS day as long as it’s brief. With that in mind, we
  moved our medicine ball throws (with indirect transfer to sprinting
  based on the specific variation) to our low days a la Buddy Morris.

Conclusion

By the end of the summer, these young men have developed bonds that
carry over into the season as they mention one another on Twitter, post
pics of their new friends’ success on Instagram, and are truly invested
in each other’s careers. It’s one of the best parts of being in the
private sector–the relationships.

My goal for this article is not to brag or boast, but to simply shed
light on how we’ve found great success. And, speaking candidly, I hope
this will encourage other coaches to be as open as I am so we may all
benefit and continue to learn from one another. I am not naïve to the
fact that, with this article, may come criticism. I have zero issue with
this, as there is no perfect program. The program I presented to you is
different from what we did in years past and will continue to change
and evolve because training, by nature, is incomplete. In fact, as Buddy
Morris once told me, “The best program is the one you’re not
on!” With that in mind, let us professionals continue to pay it forward,
grow, and ultimately help those we serve. This is truly what this
industry is all about.

Kathy Murphy, IFMGA Guide (she was the second British woman to achieve this status), runs our mountaineering and glacier trekking holidays in the Alps. She guides many of these trips herself and her particular brand of leadership, described variously by clients as ‘highly professional’, ‘fun’ and ‘kick-ass’, makes her a very popular choice. Here she gives a no-nonsense guide to her Alpine essentials for trips which involve carrying your equipment throughout.

1). Comfy boots –
stiff enough to hold a crampon well, comfortable enough for long
descents back to the valley and warm enough for early starts from high
huts. My favourite boot is the La Sportiva Trango Alp GTX. It’s a B2
boot, so it’s got a bit of flex in the front half, as well as good
support around the ankle. Worn in a bit to avoid blisters – it does the
job well.

2). Ankle gaiters/mini-gaiters
– these keep the snow out of my boots and are not as heavy, bulky, hot
or as expensive as full-size gaiters. Grasmere DRY Gaiters by Trekmates
are my mini-gaiters of choice.

3). Crampons
– I use Grivel G10’s with anti-balling plates already fitted. They have
the ‘new-matic’ system – a plastic cup at the heel and toe which means
they fit any boot – even my ski-mountaineering boots in winter. Plus,
the flexible central bar means they’re more comfortable than a rigid
crampon and don’t pull on your heel and cause blisters.

You will notice that the first three essentials are all to do with my feet – if my feet aren’t happy then neither am I!

4). Travel sized bits and pieces
– these are easily found in the UK and at the airport shops – so a
travel-sized toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, sun cream etc. And to go
with this – a pack towel – these dry quickly and pack up really small.

5). Drinking water
– It’s always important to stay hydrated when in the mountains. Make
sure you take a reusable bottle you can fill up along the way!

6). Pack of cards –
great for passing the downtime in the huts. It’s sociable and I have a
whole selection of card games that anyone can quickly learn and a few
tricks up my sleeve! Obviously, 1 pack per group is enough!

7). Rucksack – my new pack for this season is a Millet

Prolighter 32 in the shorter back length womans version. It fits well
to my back, close, no fancy frames – when I’m carrying a pack I want the
load to be stable against my back, not wobbling several inches away
from it. Importantly, it has 2 compression straps on each side which
effectively make the pack smaller when it’s not full and are also useful
for stashing walking poles or ice axe. It’s also light at around 1kg.
Avoid packs with gimmicky features such as back systems which add
weight. Why else did I choose it? It’s blue – my favourite colour!

8). Waterproof overtrousers –the clue to these is in the name – they should fit over everything
you are already wearing, including your harness! Again, I go for light
weight but with a full-length zip that comes up to my hip which means I
can put them on over my boots and crampons. When I’m back in the UK I
always buy a new pair of Goretex Packlite Overtrousers made by Berghaus.

SRAM has clearly been busy. Less than two months after launching the new RED eTap AXS group to the world, they’re already onto the next. That of course being the new SRAM Force eTap AXS group. As is often the case, the group is extremely similar to RED, but with some key differences that will be significant to many consumers – particularly when it comes to price.

The newest member of the AXS (access) wireless family, SRAM Force
eTap AXS is an electronic drivetrain with wireless shifting and options
for either hydraulic disc or mechanical rim brakes. Other than a few
very small details, Force is nearly identical in performance to the new
RED AXS, with the main differences being materials, construction, and
therefore weight. That means that the batteries are the same between the
two groups (and older eTap groups as well) which is good news for teams
or individuals with multiple bikes. Even the motors and chipsets are
the same meaning the shift speed is identical between the two groups.
Ultimately, Force ends up about 300g heavier than RED, but it’s also
over $1000 less expensive which seems like a worthy trade off.

Force also has a completely different look which comes down to a
difference in finishes. While forged aluminum parts can be polished to a
beautiful shine, cast pieces can’t be polished – which requires a coat
of paint. Overall, the finish on Force is less sophisticated which is
where SRAM was able to drop some of the price.

AXS App

Like RED, Force is able to take advantage of the AXS app and
component integration system which allows you to monitor and customize
the performance of individual components. From checking each battery’s
power level to customizing your shift patterns, updating firmware, and
more, Force is joining the way of the app-based world.

Also like RED, this is a completely new group, so other than
the mechanical rim brakes, none of the new parts will be compatible
with older SRAM components – except of course the new SRAM RED eTap AXS.
These two groups are completely interchangeable – which is good news
for those who were upset by SRAM’s choice to integrate the power meter
and chain ring on RED (but for a good reason, more on that below).

New gearing options just like RED… mostly

Following right along, gearing is also one of the biggest changes for
SRAM Force. Yeah, they’ve gone to 12 speed in the rear, but as usual,
it’s about more than just adding another gear. The new X-Range gearing
ends up wider on both ends while the added cog results in better gear
progression. The addition of the 10t cog allows for an increase in gear
range without an increase in overall size of the drivetrain package with
SRAM pointing out that smaller drivetrains will be lighter, less
costly, and simpler overall.

In
terms of chainring options, Force will see 48/35 and 46/33t double
combinations with the largest 50/37t combination only available in RED.
By moving to a 13t jump between chainrings, SRAM says this 20% reduction
in jump size results in better shift quality and better front shifting
overall.

To keep the overall range, the rear cassettes move to a 10t at the
small end, and up to 26, 28, or 33t as the largest cog with 260, 280,
and 330% range respectively. Even the smallest cassette at 10-26 offers a
wider range than an 11-28t. Moving the range from the front of the bike
to the rear should mean you can stay in that current front chainring
longer without having to shift. Obviously, if you’re running 1x, wider
range in the rear is also a very good thing. The new cassettes also
offer more single-tooth jumps between cogs for better shift progression
when you’re moving through the gears.

Cassette options

In terms of construction, the XG-1270 cassette uses a
Mini-cluster/Pin-Dome configuration with the first four cogs machined
from a steel billet, and the remainder of the cassette using their
Pin-Dome technology similar to their GX mountain bike cassettes. Looking
at the cassette in profile, Pin-Dome makes more sense as you can see
the pins that hold all of the steel cogs together after the first four
cogs. The largest cog is aluminum which cuts down on weight and allows
for a secure connection between the cassette and the freehub body that
won’t dig into the new XDR drivers. The Mini-cluster/Pin-Dome cassette
ends up about 50g heavier than a comparable RED cassette.

XDR Required

The
addition of a 12 speed cassette meant that SRAM had to move to the XDR
freehub standard like RED, which is just like XD, just 1.85mm longer.
The added width is needed for the road since the largest cogs aren’t
nearly as big as those on a MTB cassette and can’t be dished over the
spokes. It also now matches up with the width of HG 11 speed freehub
bodies for road.

Importantly, you can still run cassettes meant for XD freehubs on XDR
freehubs with the addition of a 1.85mm spacer. You can’t however run
cassettes meant for XDR freehubs on XD freehubs. SRAM points out that
any Zipp wheels post April 2015 (176, 177, Super 9, and Cognition hubs)
are XDR ready meaning you can add an XDR freehub. Also, the SRAM 900
hubset has included an XDR drive for awhile now – before you really
needed it.

One Rear Derailleur to Rule them All

When it comes to choosing your drivetrain, you can run any cassette
with any chainring combination all with the same rear derailleur – 1x or
2x. The new rear derailleur has been optimized to work with all of the
cassette options in either chainring configuration and includes larger
X-Sync pulleys with steel bearings, and the Orbit fluid damper in place
of a mechanical clutch. Note that there is no longer a Cage Lock
feature, but the Orbit damper works a bit differently and doesn’t really
affect wheel changes. Compared to RED, the Force rear derailleur uses
an aluminum derailleur cage instead of carbon, and steel hardware in
place of titanium and aluminum.

Front Derailleur is Still There, and Better Than Ever

Up front, the new Force front derailleur is very similar to RED, but
it swaps in a stamped steel derailleur cage for the CNC machined
aluminum cage on RED. Riders who are pushing larger tires will be happy
to hear that the derailleur has been streamlined to offer better tire
clearance at the rear as well.

Force gets a Flattop

Completing the gearing is the new FRC-D1 Flattop chain. This new
chain style is required for the group with SRAM stating that this chain
represents their biggest investment in tooling on their part when it
came to the new group. While it did get narrower to fit another cog,
there is more to the story as usual. The shape of the chain is purely
driven by their strength testing – the top of the chain never rides on a
gear, so it can be shaped differently to provide increased strength.

Proportionately, the chain is also narrower to the cog spacing than a
comparative 11 speed group which SRAM claims results in a quieter ride
overall. The FRC-D1 chain is interchangeable with the SRAM RED chain,
with the Force chain using solid pins as the only noticeable difference.
Note that Flattop chains require a specific Flattop PowerLock. Also
note that you definitely don’t want to run the new chain on 11 speed
cassettes (think putting your bike on a direct drive trainer with an 11
speed cassette mounted). Apparently, the new chain will destroy the
cassette, which is why companies like Wahoo are quickly working to add
XDR driver capabilities to their trainers.

Acronym Glossary

If you haven’t already picked it up from RED, the new SRAM Force group comes with its own lingo, so here’s the breakdown:

• AXS – Refers to the new digital family of wireless/electronic components that will all work together. Check our AXS overview story for everything you need to know on that. Basically, anything with the AXS logo can communicate with each other.
• X-Range – The name for this entire new gearing concept.
• Orbit Chain Management – A new fluid damper system that improves chain retention while still allowing for fast shifting.
• AXS app – Lets you customize the setup and integrate cross-category components, check riding time, battery level, how many times you’ve shifted, and when you’re due for service.
• FlatTop – The new, narrower chain that’s also stronger, quieter and more durable. It’s not backwards compatible (nor is any other component), everything here is designed as a system to maximize performance.

SRAM Force Cranks

With the launch of RED AXS, one of the things that seemed to catch everybody’s
attention was the decision to integrate the power meter into the
chainring. Yes, this means that when the chainring is dead, so is your
power meter. But SRAM stands by the design, and here’s why: SRAM RED is
meant to be the highest tier group for pro racers and consumers willing
to pay top dollar in exchange for the lightest system possible.

The
integration of the power meter into the chainring meant that SRAM could
add power to the same crankset at a weight penalty of just 36g. It also
ends up with a more accurate power reading because you’ve eliminated
one of the connections at the spider/chainring interface. SRAM also
claims that the new drivetrain offers much longer chainring and
component life than previous groups, with field testing showing a
whopping 2-4x increase in longevity – so it should take you much longer
to wear out those rings.

Is it wasteful to create a one-time use power meter/chainring? Sort
of. But that all depends if you take advantage of the SRAM support
program where they take your old power meter/chainring back and recycle
it while providing a new one to you supposedly at or near the cost of
standard chainrings. That integrated power meter/chainring is starting
to sound a lot better all of a sudden.

Change your rings without changing your power meter

BUT… what if none of that matters and you simply
want to run power on your SRAM AXS crank without an integrated power
meter/chainring?

You’re in luck. The Force chainrings and DZero power meter are not
one piece, and the Force DZero power meter spider is compatible with
SRAM RED crank arms using the same 8 bolt direct mount interface. That
means if you buy a SRAM RED AXS crank with power and wear out the
chainrings super fast (or just want to upgrade a non-power model), you
can purchase a Force power meter spider and the Force AXS asymmetric 107
BCD (same as RED 1x) chainrings to go with it. This also allows for
mixing and matching 1x chainrings from the RED group or their aero 1x
chainring for TT/Tri bikes.

SRAM Force cranks will be available with or without power meters in
1x or 2x configurations, both of which separate the chainring from the
power meter.

Keeping in line with all of the new cranks from SRAM, the Force
cranks will include a  DUB spindle option, but they will still offer a
GXP version for Trek’s BB90 frames, Pinarellos with Italian threaded
BBs, and other frames that require it.

SRAM Force eTap AXS brake/shift levers

At the controls, Force eTap AXS is all about wireless shifting –
though not necessarily about hydraulic brakes. For those keeping the rim
brakes alive, the Force eTap AXS group will be available in two
versions; wireless shifting with mechanical rim brakes, or wireless
shifting with hydraulic disc brakes.

The hydraulic option uses their Hydro HC platform specifically
developed for eTap which means these brake calipers are different than
those found on Force 1. The Force group uses a two piece caliper design
with steel hardware, and the same brake pad as RED. Also, the Force
brakes are flat mount only. Still running a post mount frame? The RED
brakes are available in post mount as well as flat mount.

SRAM’s new Centerline XR (CLX-R) rotors are a thing of beauty and are
the same rotors that you’ll find with SRAM Red. The rotors use an
aluminum carrier and a steel CenterLine braking surface with rounded
edges to be UCI-Compliant.

Rim Brakes Still Stop

The new Force group even includes a new mechanical rim brake if you
are retrofitting an older bike or just don’t want to switch to disc. The
brakes use a dual pivot design that is updated to fit wider rims and
tires (up to 28mm), and include Swissstop Platinum Flash Pro pads for
carbon or BHP pads for aluminum rims.

Offering independent reach and contact point adjustment, the levers
are nearly identical to RED other than they have just one Blip port
rather than two on each shifter. You’ll also find a composite lever
blade rather than true carbon fiber which makes a negligible difference
in weight. While the derailleurs get their own rechargeable batteries
(which are the same as all eTap groups), the levers use a CR2032 coin
cell battery housed in the bottom of the lever. Since these simply have
to power a single button, the batteries should last quite a while. How
long? We aim to find out (maybe) in a long term review.

The AXS app offers the same tuneability with this group, letting you
switch the way the buttons and levers work the derailleurs, switch shift
modes between regular, compensating and sequential, and even pair with a
dropper seatpost or whatever else comes down the pipe.

Tri HRD

There’s also a complete 1x TRI HRD group available with hydraulic
aero levers for the hydraulic disc brakes and a new, smaller Blip Box.
SRAM states that running a 1x drivetrain with a 48t chainring and the
10-33 cassette would give you the same range as a 53/39 with 11-26. That
happens to be the most prevalent Ironman gearing combo they see on
11-speed bikes, only now you don’t have a front derailleur to shift, you
have a lighter drivetrain, and you still get six 1-tooth gear steps on
the cassette.

Availability, pricing, and actual weights

As much as we love knowing about new products ahead of time, it’s
much better when you can go out and buy a new product as soon as you
read about it. That’s the case with Force eTap AXS – groups are shipping
as of today and you’ll find more than 150 different bike models
equipped with the group hitting showroom floors. Initially, Force will
only be available as a complete groupset, but in a few months you’ll
have the ability to purchase individual parts.

In the U.S., complete groups will run from $2,078 to $2,678, well under the price of RED.

We got all of the loose parts we could find on the scale at Road Bike Connection, but because of all the options and things like the fact that the FD and RD didn’t include batteries, SRAM has provided the list of weights above. As mentioned, the group should work out to be about 300g more than SRAM RED eTap AXS.

The peekaboo style is as misunderstood as it is notorious. But the
fact that it’s so widely misunderstood could actually work in your
favor.

The core peekaboo principles give boxers a safe and loaded “base of
operation”, enabling the fighter to move where they want, when they
want, and thus, controlling their opponent and the fight with minimal
risk. Now, this luxury of control doesn’t come easy. There are a few
things you need to be aware of if you’re going to implement the best
parts of the peekaboo style into your boxing skill set.

In this article, I’m going to show you how to capitalize on Cus
D’Amato’s boxing philosophy without falling into the pitfalls that many
boxers criticize the peekaboo style for.  I’ll discuss the criticisms
shortly, but first, I think it’s important to highlight the man behind
the peekaboo boxing style and how he engineered it.

Cus D’Amato was born in 1908 to a blue collar, Italian family in The
Bronx, New York. Cus briefly boxed as an amateur in the featherweight
and lightweight divisions, but an eye injury prevented him from
obtaining a professional license. However, as we know, thankfully, this
was only the beginning of his legendary career. Cus’s dedication to
training up-and-coming boxers led him to literally sleeping in his gym
in New York. Cus believed in positive thinking. He would have his
students memorize things like, “The mind always makes things worse than
they really are.” And, “A professional always does what needs to be done
no matter how he feels.” Getting up at 5 am to do roadwork or going to
the gym to train, a professional does not follow their feelings. He
wanted his young students to always remember that, “Your feelings will
lie to you.”

Cus was one of the first boxing trainers to implement psychological
training. He brought Zen to boxing before most people in the western
world even knew what Zen was. He said, “Heroes and cowards feel exactly
the same fear. Heroes just react to it differently.” He spent a lot of
time teaching emotional control. Example: Tyson eventually admitted that
he was terrified before every fight, but looking at him, he was often
the source of his opponents’ terror. D’Amato genuinely cared for his
boxers, developing father-son bonds with many of them. Even after Floyd
Patterson decided to part ways with Cus, he would never talk negatively
of Floyd, nor would he let any of his fighters. Eventually, Floyd would
come to admit that he regretted nothing in his life except the time he
was apart from Cus.

He took care of his fighters so much so that Cus filed for bankruptcy
in 1971, but it was never apparent that any of his fighters felt such
financial pressure. In fact, Jose Torres estimated that he had earned
roughly $1 Million in his career, “and Cus never took a penny.” Cus also
fought and protected his boxers from the politics of boxing at the
time, many times refusing to take fights because of who the opponent was
associated with and their perceived backroom dealings.

What was less publicized, but perhaps most intriguing is that he
served as an occasional adviser for the late, Greatest, Muhammad Ali.
The city of New York renamed the street where his Gramercy Gym was
located to “Cus D’Amato Way”. There’s been books and documentaries done
on his life, and still, his impact on boxing doesn’t get the recognition
he deserves. The man has undeniably left a massive, well-respected
legacy in the boxing world. Now, on to the style he dedicated his life
to perfecting…

There’s something incredibly intriguing about the peekaboo style that
seems to get lost or at least overlooked in today’s complex world of
boxing. There’s so much information and so many videos to study that
it’s easy to lose sight of the essence of what made the peekaboo style
so effective. Cus said, “Slipping punches is the hardest thing to learn.
But once you get it, that’s when boxing starts to become fun!”

Very few boxers have been able to incorporate the style as Cus
himself had engineered it. Most notably, obviously, is Mike Tyson. If we
go back even further, other Gramercy alumni include: Floyd Patterson, a
1952 Olympic Gold Medalist and former World Heavyweight Champion. Jose
Torres, a 1956 Olympic Silver Medalist and former World Light
heavyweight Champion. Joey Hadley, a 6-time Golden Gloves winner. And
Kevin Rooney who trained Tyson after Cus passed in 1985 until 1988.

During his time training under Rooney, Tyson accrued 35 wins (31 by
knockout), and set a record as the youngest World Heavyweight Champion
in history just 4 months after his 20th birthday. Despite the obvious
success of his students,  a good amount of criticism has been hurled at
the style. Most notably, many believe:

– An efficient attack cannot be launched from the stance
– It relies too heavily on power
– The fighter eats too many punches on the way in
– It doesn’t utilize the length of taller fighters

Now, not to say there’s no validity in these critiques. But most of
these problems that boxers run into when trying to adapt to the peekaboo
style can be avoided.To get the most out of the style, we need to be
conscious of a couple things:

First: The peekaboo learning curve is steep. Many fighters will give
up before they fully understand the key principles of the style. I think
this is largely due to a lack of coaches who know how to teach it.

Second: When most people think of peekaboo boxing, they think of Mike
Tyson, and rightfully so. Tyson displayed, for the entire world, in
spectacularly brutal fashion just how effective the style can be. The
problem is, while Tyson is solid proof that peekaboo boxing can be a
viable style, even at the highest levels, his idolization has
unintentionally led many boxers down the wrong path.

Here’s why:

A lot of boxers who try to incorporate the peekaboo style try to
mimic Tyson. The issue is that Tyson’s style was a flavor of peekaboo
that was tailored to his unique physical attributes.  His exceptional
speed and power allowed him to slip punches at high volume and
capitalize on counter punching opportunities that the average peekaboo
fighter would have difficulty with.

The fundamental version of the style takes advantage of a high guard
with minimal openings for opponents to attack.  If you strip away the
exceptional speed and power of fighters like Tyson or Patterson you
would have a more modern example.  One such example is Winky Wright…

Strip away all of those preconceived ideas of what you think peekaboo
looks like and work on the core principles and philosophy that Cus
engineered.The secret is in the details.  Learn to hold your gloves at
the exact angle needed so punches either can’t fit through or they glide
off the outside of the glove and miss.

Here’s a few quotes from Cus himself that should give you an idea of just how dedicated he was to the peekaboo fundamentals:

“Now, in my style, you cover up all the time. You never gamble. The
right arm is always covering the liver, the left, the solar plexus, and
the hands are protecting the chin.”

“You gotta be protected, not part of the time, not most of the time,
but all the time. You cannot gamble by using open stance because every
time you gamble and lose, you get hurt. And when a fighter gets hurt, he
is intimidated. He thinks he is tired and covers up.”

“Always keep your chin tucked down into your chest. I don’t care if
you are running roadwork or just walking around school or watching t.v.
Keep that chin tucked down and your eyes looking up and out.”

And he wasn’t kidding…

Here’s a recent video I made that covers one aspect of this approach

A 1985 New York Times article highlighted an incident involving Jose
Torres. Torres had gotten into trouble prior to one of his big fights
and this was his phone conversation with Cus from the police station:

“Cus,” said Torres, embarrassed and apologetic, “I’m in the police station. I got into a street fight.”

“Jose,” said Cus, with concern in his voice, “did you keep your chin down?”

Here’s how to adopt the ‘aggressively safe’ style:

The proper way to implement the peekaboo style and truly get the best
out of it requires just two things which many boxers miss completely:

1. An unwavering dedication to its fundamental philosophy (not just
mimicking a specific move set).  Meaning hands up protecting the chin,
forearms protecting the body and learning to maintain this position in
all situations.

2. A proper adaptation to the fighter’s unique physical attributes. 
If you have quick feet then take advantage of them.  If you have great
visual reaction and slipping ability, then use it.

To get you started, here’s some of those core principles and philosophies for you to consider:

– A Stoic approach to controlling your emotions, when in the ring, in your day-to-day training, and even life in general.

– Active defense. Remain alert and protected 100% of the time, no relaxing or passiveness.

– Off-rhythm attacks that force opponents to be cautious, even when you’re defending.

– Intense, ‘aggressively safe’ movement and pressure, always using angles and balanced movement.

– Impenetrable defense that forces opponents to waste energy on ineffective punches.

– Draw out punches from opponents, leaving them vulnerable to rapid counters with what Cus called “bad intentions”.

If you are able to implement a more dynamic approach then move your
head before and after you throw, and add angles for compound attacks. 
Never give your opponent a free opening, keep your guard tight when you
move so you automatically block as you pressure your opponent. Jabbing
and closing the gap is often coupled with a slip in anticipation of the
straight counter. Further protection can be achieved by lowering the
body in conjunction with the slip; this extra bend can add even more
power to rising uppercuts and hooks.

Obviously, these are a simplified breakdown of what Cus’s peekaboo style can do for you…

If you want an in-depth look at different techniques and attacks that arise from the few foundations we’ve covered here, I strongly recommend checking out my Head Movement and Getting Inside instructional video.

This training will give you:

– The essentials of slipping and ducking; how to use these motions to set up your offense while maintaining rock-solid balance.

– How to use lateral motion to create angles and close the gap; sneak attacks that catch your opponent off guard.

– How to sync your footwork with your head movement to wind up and throw once you enter the best position.

– A little trick with your back foot to create sharp angles that set you up for quick attacks with “bad intentions”.

– And plenty more.

Whether you’re aiming to achieve your fitness
goals or simply want to look good in a swimsuit, acquiring a sculpted
set of six-pack abs is a goal shared by many.

Getting a six-pack
requires dedication and hard work, but you don’t have to hit the gym
seven days a week or become a professional bodybuilder to do so.

Instead, a few modifications to your diet and lifestyle can be enough to produce serious, long-lasting results.

Here are 8 simple ways to achieve six-pack abs quickly and safely.

1. Do More Cardio

Cardio, also called aerobic exercise, is any form of exercise that increases your heart rate.

Regularly incorporating cardio into your routine can help you burn extra fat and speed your way to a set of six-pack abs.

Studies
show that cardio is especially effective when it comes to reducing
belly fat, which can help make your abdominal muscles more visible.

One small study showed that doing cardio exercise three to four times per week significantly decreased belly fat in 17 men (1).

Another review of 16 studies found that the more cardio exercise people did, the greater amount of belly fat they lost (2).

Try to get in at least 20–40 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day, or between 150–300 minutes per week (3).

Activities like running, walking, biking, swimming or engaging in your favorite sports are just a few easy ways to fit cardio into your day.

Summary
Studies show that cardio exercise can reduce belly fat, which can help
you get six-pack abs. One review found that the more cardio people did,
the more belly fat they lost.

2. Exercise Your Abdominal Muscles

The rectus abdominis is the long muscle that extends vertically along the length of your abdomen.

Although
most well-known as the muscle that creates the appearance of the
six-pack, it’s also necessary for breathing, coughing and bowel
movements.

Other abdominal muscles include the internal and external obliques and the transverse abdominis.

Exercising these muscles is key to increasing muscle mass and achieving six-pack abs.

However, keep in mind that abdominal exercises alone are unlikely to decrease belly fat.

For
example, one study found that doing abdominal exercises five days per
week for six weeks had no effect on belly fat in 24 women (4).

Instead, be sure to pair your abdominal exercises with a healthy diet and regular cardio to boost fat burning and maximize results.

Abdominal
crunches, bridges and planks are a few of the most popular exercises
that can help strengthen your abdominal muscles and create the
appearance of six-pack abs.

Summary
Exercising the muscles that make up your abdomen can help increase
muscle mass to achieve six-pack abs. Pair abdominal exercises with a
healthy diet and cardio to optimize results.

3. Increase Your Protein Intake

Upping your intake of high-protein foods can help promote weight loss, fight belly fat and support muscle growth on your road to six-pack abs.

According
to one study, consuming high-protein meals helped increase feelings of
fullness and promote appetite control in 27 overweight and obese men (5).

Another
study showed that people who increased protein intake by just 15%
decreased their calorie intake and saw significant decreases in body
weight and body fat (6).

Consuming protein after working out can also help repair and rebuild muscle tissues as well as aid in muscle recovery (7, 8).

Plus, one study even found that a high-protein diet helped preserve both metabolism and muscle mass during weight loss (9).

Meat,
poultry, eggs, seafood, dairy products, legumes, nuts and seeds are
just a few examples of healthy, high-protein foods that you can add to
your diet.

Summary Protein may help
reduce calorie intake, as well as decrease body weight and fat. It can
also help repair and rebuild muscle tissues and preserve muscle mass
during weight loss.

4. Try High-Intensity Interval Training

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a form of exercise that involves alternating between intense bursts of activity and short recovery periods. HIIT keeps your heart rate up and increases fat burning.

Adding HIIT into your routine can boost weight loss and make it even easier to get six-pack abs.

One
study showed that young men who performed HIIT training for 20 minutes
three times per week lost an average of 4.4 pounds (2 kg) and saw a 17%
decrease in belly fat over a 12-week period (10).

Similarly, another study found that 17 women who did HIIT twice per week for 16 weeks had an 8% decrease in total belly fat (11).

One of the simplest ways to try HIIT at home is to switch between walking and sprinting for 20–30 seconds at a time.

You
can also try alternating between high-intensity exercises like jumping
jacks, mountain climbers and burpees with a short break in between.

Summary
High-intensity interval training can help increase fat burning and may
be especially useful for reducing belly fat and achieving six-pack abs.

5. Stay Hydrated

Water
is absolutely crucial to just about every aspect of health. It plays a
role in everything from waste removal to temperature regulation.

Staying well-hydrated may also help bump up your metabolism, burn extra belly fat and make it easier to get a set of six-pack abs.

In
fact, one study found that drinking 500 milliliters of water
temporarily increased energy expenditure by 24% for up to 60 minutes
after eating (12).

Other research shows that drinking water may also reduce your appetite and increase weight loss.

One
study with 48 middle-aged and older adults found that people who drank
water before each meal lost 44% more weight over a 12-week period than
those who didn’t (13).

Water requirements can vary based on a variety of factors, including age, body weight and activity level.

However, most research recommends drinking around 1–2 liters (34–68 ounces) of water per day to stay well-hydrated.

Summary
Studies show that drinking water can temporarily increase metabolism,
reduce appetite and increase weight loss to help you lose stubborn belly
fat.

6. Stop Eating Processed Food

Heavily
processed foods like chips, cookies, crackers and convenience foods are
typically high in calories, carbs, fat and sodium.

Not only that, these foods are typically low in key nutrients such as fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals.

Nixing these unhealthy junk foods from your diet and swapping them for whole foods can increase weight loss, reduce belly fat and help you achieve a set of six-pack abs.

This
is because it takes more energy to digest whole foods rich in protein
and fiber, which can burn more calories and keep your metabolism up (14).

The nutrients in whole foods, like protein and fiber, also keep you feeling fuller to curb cravings and aid in weight loss (15, 16).

Fruits,
vegetables, whole grains and legumes are all nutritious alternatives to
prepackaged convenience items like frozen meals, baked goods and salty
snacks.

Summary Processed foods are high
in calories, carbs, fat and sodium. These foods require less energy to
digest and are also lacking in important nutrients like protein and
fiber that can aid in weight loss.

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7. Cut Back on Refined Carbs

Cutting back on your consumption of refined carbohydrates can help you lose extra fat and gain six-pack abs.

Refined
carbs lose most of their vitamins, minerals and fiber during
processing, resulting in a final product that is low in nutritional
value.

Eating lots of refined carbs can cause spikes and crashes
in blood sugar levels, which can lead to increased hunger and food
intake (17).

Eating plenty of whole grains, on the other hand, has been linked to a reduced waist circumference and lower body weight (18).

In
fact, one study found that people who ate a high amount of refined
grains tended to have a higher amount of belly fat compared to those who
ate more whole grains (19).

Swap
out refined carbs from foods like pastries, pastas and processed foods
and instead enjoy whole grains such as brown rice, barley, bulgur and
couscous to help support satiety and burn belly fat.

Summary
Refined carbs are low in nutrients and can increase hunger levels. A
high intake of refined grains has been linked to increased belly fat.

8. Fill up on Fiber

Adding more high-fiber foods into your diet is one of the simplest methods for increasing weight loss and achieving six-pack abs.

Soluble
fiber moves through the gastrointestinal tract undigested and can help
slow the emptying of the stomach to make you feel fuller for longer (20).

In
fact, one review found that increasing fiber intake by 14 grams per day
was linked to a 10% decrease in calorie intake and 4.2 pounds (1.9 kg)
of weight loss (21).

Research shows that getting enough fiber in your diet may also prevent weight gain and fat accumulation.

One
study showed that for each 10-gram increase of soluble fiber taken
daily, participants lost 3.7% of belly fat over five years without
making any other modifications in terms of diet or exercise (22).

Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds are just a few healthy, high-fiber foods that you can add to your diet to help burn belly fat.

Summary Eating fiber can help keep you feeling full and may help protect against weight gain and fat accumulation.

The Bottom Line

There’s much more to getting six-pack abs than simply doing a few crunches or planks each day.

Instead, it requires following a healthy diet and maintaining an active lifestyle to help achieve your goals.

Making a few simple switches in your daily routine can get you a set of six-pack abs and improve your health at the same time.

Hi
everyone! So you arrive at the point where you think and realize on
taking your precious startup on the next level? And have you ever been
curious what it takes to grow your startup? Here are the top 15 guiding
principles on growing you startup. I made it plain and simple for you so
most of readers can relate.

Most
of entrepreneurs, startuppers and founders get overwhelmed easily with
stuff when it comes to just starting a startup, there’s a lot of things
to learn or to know, just imagine when you have to scale it. Well you
don’t have to be no more, atleast when you want to grow your startup to
bigger scale or markets.

Startups
and companies like AirBnB, Uber, Glances (AR Facial Recognition
startup), Away (startup for selling high end luggages), Warby Parker
(startup for prescription glasses) or even SpaceX has proven to follow
atleast 10 of these.

Below are 15
simple key principles that are results of my research analysis about
successful startups and companies up to this date and these principles
are fitting and applies to the upcoming year 2018.

1. Pick good co-founders — Also pick a great and talented diverse team
2. Launch fast, learn fast and move fast — MVP
3. Let your idea evolve
4. Understand your users — Every user is an evangelist of your product
5. Make your users love you
6. Offer
   good customer service — i mean really really good, this is something
   you can be much better with than fully-grown companies
7. You make what you measure
8. Spend as little as possible — remember money can either something or everything.
9. Avoid distractions
10. Don’t get demoralized — believe in you, your team and on your vision no matter what!
11. Don’t give up — Obstacles on your startup are requirements for your achievements
12. Deals fall through — Never stop trying and always be bold
13. Engage through social media — must have!
14. Get a very talented and open-minded design team
15. Keep moving forward

One last thing…

Word
of mouth marketing — the most valuable form of marketing , you can’t
buy it. You can only deliver it. Aside from the product you are
offering, if for example you’re deciding about merch pieces, t-shirts or
hats or stickers, they have to be weill designed and cool enough for
somebody to want to buy it or the wear it, walk around advertising the
brand of your startup.