By Jason Ferruggia and Jim Wendler
As a strength and conditioning coach it is my job to stay on top of the latest findings and keep myself updated on the most advanced training methods out there. Doing this requires me to spend several hours a week surfing the web looking over the vast array of training sites. Over the last year, however, I have found myself doing this less and less. Is this because I know everything there is to know or because I don't care to learn anything new anymore? Absolutely not. The reason that I rarely ever visit other sites anymore is because I just haven't found any useful information on the majority of them. I am interested in getting my athletes bigger, faster, stronger, leaner and more flexible. This is the goal of any strength coach. When I need advice on how to do this more efficiently I seek out the help of a select group of experts. If I sit back and ask myself who I really trust and who would I actually take training info from and put it to use with my athlete s, the list is quite short. I realized that the list is very short. I also realized that most of the guys on that list are members of the EliteFTS.com Q/A and writing staff.
Dave Tate has a reputation that speaks for itself and is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable people in strength and conditioning. If I have questions about training, Dave would be one of the top guys on my list to go to.
Jim Wendler was a former Division I college football player, a highly successful powerlifter who recently squatted a grand, has worked with athletes in a major university setting and is as well read as anyone in this business. Most importantly, he knows how to take that knowledge and experience and simplify it and make it easy enough for anyone to understand and apply. When some one writes programs or articles loaded with quotes from Russian training literature and tons of studies to back up their points, a red flag immediately goes off in my mind that this person has no clue what they are talking about. If you can not explain something to a thirteen year old in their language and make them understand it completely, then you probably do not understand it either. Fancy training programs and gimmicks that have no real world applications are useless.
Our sport specific Q&A staff here at EliteFTS.com is by far and away the best there is on the entire worldwide web. Coach H is the best strength coach currently working in the NCAA. Coach X is one of the best prehab/rehab guys you could ever find. 62's knowledge of strength and conditioning is immeasurable. And Martin Rooney is a brilliant mind who knows everything there is to know about combine training and combat sports. We even have a guy named Jason Ferruggia who has over ten years experience working with hundreds of athletes and knows a thing or two about athletic performance enhancement.
The powerlifters on our Q/A are all elite lifters and some of the best in the world. Donnie Thompson, Travis Mash, Chris Mason, Brian Schwab, Marc Bartley, Paul Childress, J.L. Holdsworth, Mike Ruggiera have all competed in WPO meets; some of them are world record holders. John Bott has totaled elite in four different weight classes. Bob Youngs and Lance Mosely are the heart of Southside Barbell and are some of the strongest lifters in their weight class. And let’s not forget about Jackass. His conditioning workouts would drive most people into the ground. All of these guys have trained or are currently training athletes. All have participated in athletics. One thing is for certain though – these guys know strength and know how to get stronger.
What about rehabilitation after an injury? We’ve got that area covered by Tom Deebel and Coach X. Both of these guys know a ton about getting healthy and how to stay that way. This is one of the most important areas in athletics.
After coming to the realization that almost all of the greatest minds in strength and conditioning all reside here under one roof I had an epiphany. Immediately I called Dave, "Dave, we have the greatest sport specific staff on the internet, hands down. There is no other site that can touch our guys. The only problem is we are missing a few other top experts and we are not exploiting this fact enough. What we should do is get those guys immediately and make them part of the staff. I am tired of reading all of these other so called sports specific websites or training articles by guys who have never worked with anyone or couldn't get real world results with an athlete if their lives depended on it. Let’s get the guys who are out there in the trenches and have the experience to back up what they write about. We are already the number one powerlifting site on the internet, how the hell can we not be the number one sport specific site?! It makes absolutely no sense. It's time for us to step it up a notch and take over!"
"Dave?"
"Dave, you there?"
Either my cell phone cut out or Dave drove past McDonalds and was too mesmerized to hear what I had just said. No worries, I'll go there and tell him myself.
On the ride over, I had some time to think about who else I go to for advice in this industry and who I really trust. It's not the guys writing about something overly complicated and fancy to make a name for themselves. (Geez, I never paused for 18 seconds in the bottom position before, this should definitely work!) No, it's the guys with the experience and the results that speak for themselves. Guys like the incredibly educated and experienced Alwyn Cosgrove and strongman expert CJ Murphy. If I want a lesson on tire flipping I will call Murph before I will read an article by some pretty boy who is hopping on the bandwagon because it's popular. When I decided to learn some new kettlebell exercises, I called up my friend and colleague Zach Even Esh. If I want a refresher on the science of Russia's Process of Achieving Sports Mastery, I will call up James Smith, an unbelievably intelligent individual with the experience to go along with the knowledge.
As I approached Elite Fitness headquarters, I called Jim. He was in on the plan from the beginning and was ready to put it into action.
"It's go time," I said. "I'm two minutes away."
I barged through the front door and stormed Dave's office with Jim by my side.
Dave was listening to a Hooked on Phonics tape in preparation for his upcoming spelling bee challenge against Coach X.
"We're taking over!" We said.
We went on to once again explain the plan to Dave and reiterated how we have long been number one for powerlifting but it is now time to take over the sports specific market and start dominating this industry.
"With all of the crap out there, there is no way we should not be the one and only stop on the internet for coaches and athletes looking to improve their games. Most of the smartest and best strength and conditioning experts are here. And the ones that aren't, are only a phone call away and will be here very soon."
"In fact, I have put in calls to Murph, Alwyn, Zach and James and they are all on board. We now have the staff that can not be beaten." I told Dave.
“I don’t think so.” Dave said and started to put his head phones back on.
I looked at Jim, confused.
“I’ll handle this.” Jim snatched the headphones off of Dave.
“What the hell is going on?” Dave was not in a good mood.
“Listen. We have some of the best minds in the business and we are only going to get better. This is a great idea.”
“What the hell do they squat? That is all that matters.” Dave grumbled at Jim. Both of them were getting worked up and showed no signs of backing down.
“First of all, who the hell helped you when you were injured? Who helped you with your flexibility and mobility? And what the hell do we know about sprinting?”
“But are they strong?” Dave was not going to back down on this one. “EFS has always been about strength; nothing less will do.”
“How strong can you be if you are injured? And what about all the other components of strength and conditioning? We both know that we are not experts.” Jim was trying to calm him down.
“What’s your point?” Dave was not happy but was starting to see the light.
“The point is that I squat more than you and I’ve got the final say. Plus, you’ve used a ton of resources to further your training. Everyone should have access to these.” At this point Jim was puffed out and standing his ground. I’m glad he was the one that had to do this.
Dave sat back in his chair and contemplated this coup. He knew that getting on board meant taking a risk but this idea was what EFS is all about. He closed his eyes and started to twitch like Hulk Hogan making his famed comeback at the end of a match. He rose out of his chair, angry and motivated.
"I like it!" He bellowed. And with that he power slammed me through his desk and put Jim’s head through the copy machine.
"The hostile takeover, huh? You want it? You got it!" Dave told us. "You two are in charge. Now go get it done!"
As Jim and I brushed ourselves off, Dave turned to us, with an evil stare and a pointed finger, “If I see one pencil necked geek writing articles for us, then both of you will be expired.”
We took note and left for an evening meal of steak and pizza.
And so it begins.
Over the course of the next few weeks we will introduce the newest members of our staff. We will also help you get to know the current members of our staff a little better and even bring you articles from our sport specific Q&A guys on occasion. From now on you will only find articles from the top names in the industry here at EliteFTS.com. Nothing and no one less will suffice.
On behalf of Jim Wendler and myself, I would like to tell you all that things are about to change around here and like we said before...
"We're...taking...over!"