Las Vegas, NV., Oct. 5, 2021 – American Barbell has successfully expanded their commercial business to include athletics and military sales channels by adding two marquis names. This will allow the company to leverage an already strong position as an OEM while developing more American Barbell branded product lines.
The company announced it has added two National Account Managers in Hillis Lake and Clay Whittaker. Lake, formerly with Eleiko and Whittaker, formerly with Precor, will now run national account strategy and assist with adding to the Athletics channel market. “Hillis and Clay are known quantities and respected in the industry,” says Doug Katona, CEO/partner of American Barbell. “These two fit our culture and understand our growth plan that is more than just making the best equipment. Most of all, they are both good human beings who are looking to leave some legacy and support our industry.” Lake will support the training and education platform while Whittaker will help lead the military sales channel.
ABOUT AMERICAN BARBELL
American Barbell, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the world’s preeminent designer, manufacturer, marketer, distributor and retailer of commercial-grade strength and conditioning equipment. An innovator in the fitness industry for over 40 years, American Barbell has redefined the levels of precision manufacturing and durability in the commercial, collegiate, government and home-gym training spaces.
For more information, please email support@americanbarbell.com
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So, in honor of dads out there or for those of you just looking to enhance your athleticism and real functional application of moving load with intensity, here’s a training session to try out.
Option 1 (no equipment available)
Warm-up:
3 min brisk walk or 3 min on a stationary bike at 60-65% of MHR
3 x 20sec on, 20sec off moderate run intervals at 65-75% of MHR
3 rounds at a comfortable tempo of:
6 push-ups
6 walking lunges
6 squats
rest 2-3min to stretch, mobilize or check on your baby
6 sets of the complex, resting no more than 10s between movements and 1min between sets
5/5 speed skaters (jumping laterally 5-6 ft staying low and touching the ground with the opposite hand from the anchor foot)
8 switch-hand push-ups (switch hand positions with each rep and get chest to deck with each rep)
8/8 stationary lunges (touch those knees to the ground)
8 ground to oh with any object weighing 20-40 pounds depending on what you have (bag of water softener pellets is what I’ve used…slam ball works best)
Run 1min at a challenging intensity (approx. 300m depending how speedy you are)
Rest 2-3min to check on your baby or order groceries (dads always multi-task)
5 sets of max reps full sit-ups for 15sec on, 30sec off
Option 2 (you got a cool garage gym)
Warm-up:
4 sets at a comfortable tempo
20 jump rope or running in place
20 jumping jacks
10 KB swings (Russian)
5 front squats at 15kg or 20kg pending ability
5 shoulder/push press at same load
rest 2-3 minutes to change laundry, check on baby or bring wife a snack
6 sets of the complex, resting no more than 10s between movements and 1min between sets
5 Power Clean at moderate load
5 Shoulder to overhead at moderate load
5 pull-ups or ring rows pending ability
5/5 Dumbbell snatch at moderate load alternating arms
Run 1min at a consistent speed (or approx. 300m pending your engine)
Rest 2-3 minutes to fold laundry, check on baby or tell wife you’re almost done training so that she knows when you can go do more stuff around the house
4 sets of the following for strength and accessory work
12 standing, banded tricep extensions or tricep pushdowns
12 good mornings, banded or with a barbell pending how many times your kids jumped on you the night prior
12/12 1-arm DB row at moderate load
1min plank (putting a bumper plate on your back is optional)
]]>The ability to move heavy loads quickly and efficiently makes all the difference, but how do we get there? By incorporating speed into your training, your central nervous system will start to pattern and pull together faster, which means improved explosiveness when moving load.
This approach of training with speed (Dynamic Effort) was smartly introduced by one of the few visionaries in programming, Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell. Put simply, Dynamic Effort (DE) training is lifting lighter loads (approximately 50-75% of 1RM) at high speed. To be specific, many Westside Barbell coaches say each rep (focusing on squat, bench, deadlift) should take less than a second to perform (.75s to be exact).
Integrating dynamic effort training days does not mean easy. Quite the opposite. Training with speed can be both emotionally and physically tiring. You’ve got to have a heightened sense of focus and dedication to moving quickly and mechanically well. And as you get more acclimated to DE days, you’ll notice a different kind of soreness because you’re engaging muscle fibers differently.
It works. It helps with explosiveness, reaction time and takes stress off of constantly training heavy (a common mistake). The intent is to increase power output and learn to get heavier loads up faster (which has numerous applications in sport and life).
We’ll get into more dynamic effort principles and programming in the future, but here are a few tips and starting points to improve speed and efficiency while increasing your power:
Time to get Strong,
Doug Katona, CEO American Barbell
]]>When it comes to HIIT, there’s a lot of smoke-n-mirrors. In many of our education seminars, I say you should put an “S” in front of the “HIIT”. Let’s be truthful about what HIIT really is.
Most “trainers” forget about the second “I” in HIIT. INTERVAL. Interval means, work and rest. This is essential for high intensity work. Many HIIT programs aren’t that – they are a let’s see what we can throw together to make it a hard program. Hard miss. Plus, who can roll at true high intensity for a full class of 40-60min? The work to rest ratio must allow for adequate time so the athlete can go again with an effective power curve. Meaning, rest long enough to do repeated work at nearly the same power output – that’s where results and adaptation happen. Typical rest periods for aerobic work should be roughly 1:1. For anaerobic efforts (where the good stuff happens), 1:3 minimum is sufficient in most cases. Keep in mind, the harder you go, the more you need that recovery time.
The other big myth is that HIIT is all body weight or done with a kettlebell or dumbbells. Quite the contrary. The key is to vary the movements and make sure you use decent load in your HIIT programming. In addition to the compound movements, mix in a barbell, sandbag, weighted vest or any movement on a rig. Adaptation and application to sport or life is a key result from HIIT training. Of course, we also believe in mixing up stamina modalities too (i.e. rower, bike, treadmill) to keep your heart strong.
Just starting out? Here are some key points to remember:
There are numerous studies showing that HIIT training has psychological and physiological benefits. The key is to do it intelligently and with purpose. We will dive deeper into programming in the upcoming weeks, but for now, here is an example of what HIIT programming should look like.
-Doug K.
]]>You’re such a good coach. You’ve got a following. People like you. You have grown the program and acquired more athletes (please stop saying clients). Surely you are worth much more than what you make; time to move on to greener pastures right?!?. Hold up, before you make any moves, ask yourself this, do you do the same thing in relationships? If so, get ready for a vicious cycle of, as one of my favorite bands (Gogol Bordello) says, “Not all seekers will be finders.” There are so many transient coaches who never progress financially. They kill themselves to make the same amount of money. The effort wasted is the real tragedy. We’re mainly talking about group coaches here but this applies to those of you who coach one on one as well.
What’s my point? When you plant a garden, you nurture it. It grows over time, bears fruit, becomes full and brings happiness. It’s not rewarding to plant then move on, plant then move on, etc. You can always improve on your garden, add or replace plants – the soil has been prepared for stronger growth. Get it? There’s always opportunity, if, you’re a good coach with some business acumen. And you can often do it right where you’re at.
The successful coaches, the ones who earn more over time (i.e. Nick Saban, Gregg Popovich, Bill Belichek, Pat Sumner, Gino Auriemma) build strong programs that reward them due to their hard work and ability to create culture. It’s not about YOU! It’s about your athletes.
Here are a few tips, albeit, more on the business front but heck, Coaching is a business. Loyalty matters. Working with what you got (i.e. Fitness Truth) will pay off IF you pursue it. Simple.
-Doug K.
There’s something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty. (Sean Simmons)
]]>The barbell. Arguably the most versatile and complex piece of equipment to get yourself fit and athletic. Barbell training is the epitome of functional fitness. Yet, many in the fitness industry are reluctant to incorporate it - makes no sense. Plus it doesn’t cost a ton, even after you dress it up with accessories. And most importantly, if you take care of it, a quality barbell will last nearly a lifetime.
In a short amount of time, barbell training can be used to increase power, strength, speed and coordination. And now we have support that barbell training may be more beneficial than other forms of traditional training. Check out this study.
What can you do with a barbell? Squat, press, deadlift, lunge, clean, row, curl and do midline (core) variations. Not to mention the numerous variations of the main weightlifting movements. It’s endless. And here’s another cool thing – the barbell is progressive in that there is no ceiling as you get stronger! Add more weight, learn how to move load faster, refine technique and build athleticism. There is no doubt that being strong has numerous advantages regardless if it’s weight loss or moving more weight as your goal.
Are you ready to step up your training to the barbell? If so, stay tuned because we'll be releasing training tips, programming, nutrition and more.
This is just the beginning...
- Doug K.
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