AB Sports Performance - Blog by abspweb

Y.O.L.O

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 06:57:02 -0500

We’ve all heard the saying “yolo”, popular with kids in the 2010s.

The saying is an acronym that stands for

“You Only Live Once”. As much pop culture as the term has become, it still holds extremely true in every day life. There is a common misconception in our society where we seem to always be scared to take the leap. We’ve become a society that is used to comfort and tranquility in our daily lives. This has created a culture of individuals who don’t take risks because of the fear of failure. Failure is and will always be the best teacher. Risk vs reward is a common way to measure out whether risks should be taken or not. I challenge you to take the risk. A good strategy that I have is to flip a coin when making tough decisions. The flip of the coin puts your risk in fates hands, which I find kind of cool. The flip of the coin takes the risk out of it for me. If my decision is in the hands of the universe, I have to trust what it has for me. Take that risk today and realize that life is all about making the leap no matter what it is.

The Unreal Experience

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 22:18:56 -0500

November 19th, 2019 is a date that I will always remember. A day where my first real life epiphany occurred. This day was supposed to be a new chapter in my career. I was headed to the hospital in Jacksonville, Fl, for a common baseball operation called “Tommy John” surgery. Most times, the surgery occurs in pitchers. I had recently just started pitching and was learning all types of stuff about arm care, but my body couldn’t adjust in time. This surgery was a pivotal point in my life and baseball career. This was supposed to be the start to my ultimate comeback and the beginning of my college baseball career.

I suppose on this particular day, God had other plans. As every surgery requires, I had to go in to the hospital a day prior for pre-surgery rehearsal. I was asked all kinds of questions and given all types of instructions. One of the questions happened to stand out to me in a peculiar way. I was asked, “do you have any anesthesia allergies?”. I thought this was a trick question so I giggled and answered with, “I would hate to be the guy that answers yes to that question”.

Fast forward to the next day, I’m about to go under. My surgeon comes in and says he’s about to take me back and to say goodbye to my mom. I could already tell my mom was nervous and her instincts are always right, so I was nervous too. I proceeded to tell her that I loved her and I’ll see her in an hour. Next thing I know, I’m dozing off and eventually pass out.

Two years prior to this date, my step father had passed away from a heart attack. It was a tragedy and a beautiful soul taken too soon. His spirit has kind of always lingered with me since then, I feel his presence every now and then. After being put under and falling asleep, I figured it would be smooth sailing. Wake up in an hour high as a kite with a brand new UCL? Living the dream. All of the sudden I wake up. When I woke up, I was playing basketball with my step dad. Everything was sort of bright and beautiful, like a movie scene. I’m dribbling the ball and Mike is guarding me, just like old times. As we continue to play and have a good time, I notice him sort of fading away. He’s still guarding me and I still feel his defensive pressure, but he slowly backs away. He then looks me in my eye with this special gaze of his and says “Your time is not done, you have so much more”. As he continues to fade I can view myself on the operating table. I start to see memories and flashbacks of every right and wrong of my life. All of the times of tragedy; my mothers tears after eviction, my brothers tears after seeing his mother cry. All the times of joy and pleasure; my mothers tears after my high school graduation, my brothers voice on the phone after his little brother finally made his dream come true. The smile on my mothers face when she was with Mike.

My entire life was seen through my eyes as a movie was on a screen. I then focus back in on myself on the table. I’m shaking and screaming, why am I doing this? I don’t know what I’m feeling at this moment, but I know I’m confused. Am I dead or alive? What world is my conscious in? As I ponder these deep thoughts, I feel myself transition into the screaming man on the table.

I woke up on Earth, screaming and crying. The most emotional moment of my life was when I woke up on that table. I watched an entire movie of my life, front to back. I was able to see myself from an outside lens and ask myself, what do I want from this world? I realized in that second that I would never take one more minute of life for granted. The epiphany I had was this; life is meant to be lived fully. Before this occurrence, I never was able to see the true beauty of life. I took my family for granted, friends, and all other things in life that make life beautiful. I was an entitled kid who knew nothing about what life was. I’m still a kid who has no clue what the world has in store for him, but I do know one thing. What we have in this world is an opportunity. An opportunity to live each day with the idea that it will be your last. Spend that extra time hanging out with momma, don’t miss that concert for your daughter, hug that person with intent. I had no idea that my life was so precious until that day. I knew nothing about anything, I was just going through the motions. I now realize that my life can be amazing if I live every day like I knew I could die that day, because I already have.

To Sweat or Not to Sweat?

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 22:03:00 -0500

In today’s post, we’re going to generate ideas to maximize efficiency in a warm up period. I’ll try to give you a well-rounded picture of the intent of a warm up and explain some of the specifics we use. I am a huge fan of the “RAMP” method which Mike Young uses due to its simplicity as well as its fluid nature.

First of all, you need to raise the core temperature of your body, which to us this looks like jump rope or skipping in a more dynamic session with an assault bike or a med ball movement circuit in the weight room setting. This will result in a consistent sweat that will carry on into the meat of the program. This could be a 2-5 minute process based on environmental as well as scheduling factors (air temp or if practice was just finished). I suggest you do something enjoyable to create a positive mental space for the rest of the session.

Another warm up goal is to activate higher intensity elements in order to tune up physical as well as neurological patterns that we are looking to create in training. This would look like a more powerful skip outside or a med ball slam indoors. With a sprint workout, this could take 10-15 minutes as we use plenty of rest to keep power production high. In the weight room, I like to fit this in as a superset (a paired motion to our main motion for the session) with specific buildup to the main movement for the day; ex: the med ball slams with an explosive landmine overhead press.

Aim to include movements that mobilize the joints that we are targeting for the meat of the session. This is actually a fairly general aim, and hips and shoulders are always a good target. We can become more specific based on task for the day; ex: wrist mobility when cleaning or doing a front squat. In an outdoor space, this will look similar to a med ball movement circuit we would do in the beginning of a weight room lift. Also consider adding on a more dynamic stretch to the end of a high-intensity session to help drop heart rate while working through large ranges of motions. On the other hand, I usually incorporate this into the first activities of the session to slowly help raise the body’s temperature as well as demand ranges of motion in a weight-based session. I may sprinkle these exercises in throughout the whole training period as a superset or even a cardiovascular burner at the end of the indoor session.

On Google, potentiate is defined as an “increase in power, effect, or likelihood of (something, especially a drug or physiological reaction).” We use this phase in all of our high speed workouts and it can look similar to the skip above or weighted sprints. We like to use our Exergenie to create a sled style run. In the weight room, we usually either lift heavy followed by a vertical jump variation or vice versa.

There is no wrong way to set up a warm up unless there is no warmup. If crunched for time, use bodyweight pump sets to get things flowing. Ex: 2 sets of pushups for 2 sets of 10-20 repetitions (aim to sweat) followed by the main upper body movement for the day. On the lower half, an easy (side) lunge followed by repeat low intensity squat jumps would be a good answer to hit aspects of the above “RAMP” protocol. If you received any benefit or have any critiques from this information please let us know on our IG account abspsouthshore or become a client for more information on how we can help guide your training on our Thyrv platform through the client tab up top.

Don't Put Off Living

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 20:39:32 -0500

I first heard this concept of “Don’t put off living” in a book recently. Titled, “The Monk who Sold his Ferrari”, it’s a story about a hot-shot lawyer who gives up everything to become a monk in the mountains. Late in the book, Julian, the antagonist, goes into detail about his decision to give up all tangible things to reach an intangible goal: fulfillment. What is life about? Why are we here? For obvious reasons, these are the questions that have perplexed Western civilization for centuries. The thought of having a purpose for your life seems cliche and fraudulent. With 7 billion people on Earth, you mean to tell me that every individual’s life has a deeper meaning? In my opinion, that’s exactly correct. That being said, it’s extremely important to search for your purpose daily. Most people go throughout life not even having an idea of what their purpose could be. After reading this book, I’ve learned that the search for deeper meaning starts within. We go throughout life acting as if we are going to live forever. The daily intricacies are often overlooked and taken advantage of. The little things of life are the most beautiful and as a society we have missed the beauty in our search for deeper meaning. We go through our days on cruise control, falling victim to a schedule and routine. Each day is the same for most people; go to work, come home, and do it all over again for five days a week. After doing some simple math, that’s 260 days per year that we are a victim of our professions. We never hit the pause button on life and ask ourselves, “why am I here?”. I don’t believe that a career and a purpose go hand in hand, no matter the profession. There are millions of ways to start your search for meaning. Something as simple as a few minutes of meditation or a good book can offer the perspective shift that you may need to kickstart your journey. By no means am I an expert on this subject after one book but I have asked myself the necessary questions to start my journey for deeper meaning. Remember, fulfillment is a journey and not a destination. That being said, your purpose is found in the journey of deeper meaning. Like anything else in life, the journey is the destination. Fulfillment is reached through continuous and persistent action. A simple shift in perspective could be the start to the rest of your life. Don’t put off living.

How Hard Should I Go?

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 16:57:12 -0500

Today we’re looking at how to make the decision of when to push or when to fall back in-season when it comes to your strength and conditioning program.

Understanding when to push yourself in the gym should be a point of emphasis if athletic performance is the key quality that you are training for.

This decision in the workout process could be the major difference between getting stronger in season or an early season sickness or injury. Many of the young athletes I work with today play their respective sports competitively year round, so I would call their “in-season” the competitive time period during which they have the most at stake (like scholarships, exposure to schools, etc). Due to the stress of this time period, managing the spikes of fatigue built through practice and games might be the most important concept to grasp when looking at the long-term performance for a year. This task takes a great deal of focus to understand; you have to learn your body and how it functions in distinct scenarios.

Asking a simple question about how you feel each training day can allow you to reassess daily to make the best decision as to how to proceed. Using this simple stoplight analogy could allow you to rethink how you view training from a long term perspective in the day by day.

Green, or go, would feel like a good night’s sleep followed by adequate food and hydration. Energy levels are well above 80% and you have a bounce in your step. In this case, following your S&C program as written, you should proceed to do complete the whole workout. In the example below, the first day of our program looks like a lower body power movement paired with an upper back movement followed by a single leg and upper body superset. Lastly, add in a walk variation in addition to a crowd favorite movement (pick anything that you’d like to do) superset. If energy drops drastically at any point during this workout wrap up the session and call it a night.

Yellow, or proceed with caution, would be an energy level below 80% where you may not have had highly restful sleep or may have not fueled properly, however, you look forward to completing the training session. With this scenario, stick to high intensity work and minimize the amount of work done. Instead of hitting all 3 supersets as shown above in green, you will work through the first superset of a lower body power movement pairing with your upper back movement. This will save the volume of the session while also avoiding draining your energy reserves.

Red would be when you are in a situation with high stresses and are having a hard time overcoming inadequate sleep and nutrition. If this occurs change plan A and move to plan B, C or D, which can be a mobility circuit, arms for the jocks or a complete off day! I prefer that this session is away from the gym as outside influences could be too strong to resist in the gym—such as ego lifting and lack of focus. The goal is no more than a 30 minute workout that gives you a light sweat and doesn’t tap the energy reserves—there should be no strain from the session. HERE I included an example of the Green-Yellow-Red chart as well as the mobility workout I prescribe to the athletes that I work with. If you received any benefit or have any critiques from this information please let us know on our IG account abspsouthshore or become a client on our Thyrv platform.

Learning From Death

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 22:53:57 -0500

Death will be a chapter in every life and for all those close contact with you. This story ending carries the weight of many burdens—emotionally, financially and energetically, etc. As with anything in this world, the reaction towards this situation is where our internal peace is made or broken. It is known that everybody handles life and death differently, however, I’d like to share with you how I have responded with death of my mother as well as how we can use these lessons for a more fulfilled life.

Writing this piece, I can feel my heart racing as I keep positive thoughts flowing all the while fighting the anxiety of what I feel. I have been putting off blog posting due to being afraid that it would not result in a coherent flow that would impact many others. However, with recent events, I have come to understand that having a positive influence on any one individual creates a cascade of positive energy that is passed on. The quick background is that my mother was a hard-working young (66yo) lady who hustled until the end, living the life she thought was best for herself and family. She supported herself through crippling back pain with Sciatica, a fractured shoulder and heart bypass surgery, to name a few. These life situations did not stop this woman from owning every day of her life. As her friends would know, you wouldn’t have had any idea about these problems because she would deal with them on her own. I admirably watched as she conquered obstacle after obstacle including being laid off from a job she held for over 40 years as a 61 year old woman. In the end, it was the pace that she operated at which lead to her wonderful life being cut short.

Here are a couple of the thoughts I’ve chewed on that help(ed) me stay at peace with the void losing my mother created.

You must act with urgency by laying a foundation of time, which you use, that fills you with energy, joy and deliberative focus. Whether the time comes sooner or later when you need relief you can always fall back on doing what you love for the limited journey. Just as I use weight training for release, you can find something that makes you passionate—darts, bowling, Ju Jiitsu, etc. For some it could be lighter activities such as playing board games or reading.

Life is short—get lost in it!

Keep contact with the people that help you align yourself with the future you want to see. They will show up when they are needed for support and can help guide you through any detour. I’m highly fortunate that my rock, my wife, helps me understand when a different perspective is needed through triumphant or tough times. Lean on those that are invested in you!

Anything sustainable that will bear fruit in life takes time. Life will be a process that comes with oscillations that arise in the short term. Fighting through the in-the-moment frustrations, the desire to give up your chosen path for an easier one, and the self-doubt will allow you to focus your time and energy on building something worthwhile. That something won’t be easy to come by, but it is important to invest the time and energy that you have into such an endeavor. Time will pass by regardless of what you are doing, and you might as well be doing something worthwhile with it!

Moving forward I hope to go through deeper thoughts on training topics that will range from nutrition of the athlete compared to the non-athlete to the best way to build your squat or deadlift. This was the nudge I needed to create urgency in my life to do the things I hope to get lost in.

Lead Through Love

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 12:08:11 -0500

I first heard the term “tough love” after receiving a chewing out from my older brother when I was about 6 years old. I had crashed my brother’s brand new Pocket Rocket that he had just gotten for Christmas. He beat the breaks off of me and told me it was “Tough Love”. It stood out to me that the two words Tough and Love could fit into the same sentence together and make sense. I took my beating and learned through the experience not to treat others property with less care than my own. I also learned a very important lesson about leadership: Love is the key ingredient to lead. Through sports and other competitive endeavors I’ve experienced, the best coaches and teachers have always led through love. There are many ways to accomplish the sense of love and care. From my brother beating me up for crashing his Bike, all the way to consoling someone for losing a loved one. Leadership doesn’t come with a manual but it comes with a foundation of principles that must be followed to reach certain goals. Have you ever been apart of a team that is led by someone who asks you to do things that they don’t do? Have you ever been “led” by someone who doesn’t know the first thing about what you have been through? If your answer is yes, I’m willing to bet that your team wasn’t very successful. People want to be heard and cared for. This is no different than having a spouse or companion that wants to be heard during a conflict. The only way is love. I recently heard a quote from “Serendipity with Inky Johnson”, a podcast from Inky Johnson. The quote says, “The problem that coaches have is they aren’t coachable”. The best leaders show humility and submit their ego to serve a group of individuals that need love. In today’s trying times, people live on edge. The old adage of “Tough Love” might not be too successful in these fragile and conflict filled environments. Tough love can still be achieved but most don’t respond to tough love as they used to. People are hurt, broken, and drained. Life has become harder as tensions in daily interactions grow. When was the last time you asked someone how they were and took the time to genuinely listen? Empathy is another key ingredient to leadership and it goes hand in hand with love. You cannot love someone without trying your hardest to understand why they are the way they are. You cannot lead someone without loving them in some aspect or another. Styles and tactics vary but the principles stay the same. Leadership is love and love is leadership. Be cognizant of the people you come across and start to pay attention to how interactions go. Are you asking how people are doing, with care and empathy? Are you serving the people the way that fits them the best? Most importantly, are you displaying love in a gentle and genuine way? The answer to these questions will lead you down a path of true leadership and service. Love is the key ingredient to leadership but also the most overlooked. Leading through love is and will always be important. Finding your personal style and tactics through daily interactions will lead you to love.

Happy New Year!

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 10:36:00 -0500

Thinking of the year 2021 coming to a close, a sigh of relief is almost always correlated. The year was filled with adversity, anger, frustration, panic, and many synonymous feelings. It’s almost impossible to think of this year without hearing the words Corona, Trump, Biden, or Vaccine. The divide tied to the year 2021 will go down as one of the “worst” years in American history. People are tired, worn down and beat up, anxious, depressed. There seems to be a common feeling of exhaustion and unease amongst our society daily. The constant arguments over social media about political opinions and controversial topics have only driven us further from each other.

Aside from the anguish and suffering, we can look at just a couple of positive advancements and new beginnings that have come out of 2021. An estimated 371,504 babies were brought into this beautiful world this year (unicef.org). Oxygen was made on planet Mars and a human brain was connected via Bluetooth to a computer. Looking at it in that perspective, there were great moments of growth and prosperity. The biggest lesson that 2021 taught me is that relationships matter most. I had the opportunity to speak with a family member of mine that is 74 years old. She is the head of nursing at a New Jersey hospital, a mother and grandmother of 3, and has earned two masters degrees throughout her life. I asked her “what was the most fulfilling thing you’ve ever done?”, out of everything she’d done in her life so far, she answered with “becoming a mother”. She then went on the explain to me how all tangible achievements are just that, achievements. But at the end of the day, when the clock strikes zero, your relationships will matter the most. Achievement is often confused with fulfillment. It’s a common misconception that happiness and fulfillment come with more achievement (money, better job, new spouse). The grass is not greener on the other side, it is greener where you water it. What I learned from speaking with her and looking back on 2021 is that relationships will always be the head of my agenda from now on.

It’s safe to say that everyone has struggled with 2021 in their own ways. Most people have had it so bad this year that it’s become nearly impossible to see the lesson in it: start worrying about what is actually important. Through the hardships, I view it as a year of prosperity and growth. In 2022, I challenge you to make an emphasis on growing relationships. A relationship with someone you care about is not volatile. As the pandemic as taught us, just about everything else is so it’s become that much more important to become a better brother, sister, friend, etc.

Going into 2022 I challenge whoever reads this to look back on the lesson of 2021 and turn it into a positive. Thinking positively heading into the new year will create a swing of momentum and get your ball rolling for an amazing year. We wish you nothing but Health and Wealth heading into 2022 as we close the chapter on the year 2021. Happy New Year!

Vulnerability

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 10:34:00 -0500

In today’s world it almost seems impossible to be completely genuine and real. We live in a society where people receive praise for “living their best life” on Instagram and other various platforms. An indirect competition to look the best has been created and has formed our society to “fake it till we make it”. A false sense of perfection has formed over the years and I, myself, am extremely guilty of seeing a post on Instagram and thinking “gosh I wish I could live like that”. The real and genuine feelings of our society have been swept under the rug for some time, creating an elephant in the room for most. The indirect competition to this sense of perfection has made it nearly impossible to admit to feeling anything but great. I’ve experienced a sense of embarrassment admitting to feeling hurt or pain, even to my own family. There is a pandemic of comparison and sadness associated with our society. Vulnerability is a trait that can be used to combat these thoughts and feelings of a factitious fantasy world. As we age and learn more about ourselves and one another, the real importance of human connection grows more important.

It seems as if we’ve gotten away from building genuine relationships because of this false sense of perfection. It has become un-cool to speak about real things. Conversation is backed by what we perceive as cool, not what we truly believe and feel. I write this from a perspective of a 21 year old college athlete. This is the world that I know and see as I mature as a man. I’ve noticed that I cannot speak to my peers on a deeper level because most are scared to be vulnerable. They are scared to talk about the real feelings they have because they believe that others will not feel the same. But the truth is, we’re all a lot more similar than we may think. The pain and hurt that you may be feeling can be a breath of fresh air for someone else learning that they are not alone. I believe that being able to be vulnerable is a super power. I believe that vulnerability is a key ingredient to relationship building and leadership. In my opinion, there can be only good that comes from speaking your truth.

Nowadays, this concept poses a great challenge and threat to most. This is because it’s become “cool” for people to negatively speak on someone else’s truth. We see it everyday on Twitter, someone will post an accomplishment or something positive and there will always be someone in the comments with a negative response. That negative comment was made just because someone else’s truth didn’t line up with theirs. In today’s society, it seems as if everyone feels like their truth is the only acceptable one, causing others to have a hard time to be vulnerable and speak their truth. A way to combat this problem is to challenge yourself to speak only positively about everyone you come across. A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. Seek genuine connections and relationships and be mindful of the power that your truth may speak.

Happy Holidays!

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 10:27:00 -0500

As the holidays approach and families gather, spend time to give thanks to the people you love the most. The holidays are a wonderful time to catch up with family and grow relationships with friends. However, it is important to keep in mind that the holiday season is also a time where some families face an extreme struggle to make ends meet. Without knowing what a family could be going through or what challenges they are facing, spend some extra time this year making everyone that you come across feel like they’re apart of your family. Doing this will help grow your relationship with that individual, but you also might impact this person to do the same onto others. That being said, nothing tangible has to be exchanged for a gift to be given. A smile while opening the door for someone or a compliment given can have the same impact on somebody as a new necklace or a purse.

Ultimately, the theme of the holiday season is to give and spread joy. You never know what impact you could have on others, so showing empathy and gratitude to those around could change someone’s outlook on their current situation.

Challenge:

Perform one small act of kindness each day for 30 days straight. If you miss a day, you must restart! Try it with your friends and family to create a fun way to bond during the holidays.

Get Started Now