Mark Bell's Power Project - EP. 321 - Phil Daru

Episode Date: January 30, 2020

Round two with Phil Daru! We recently podcasted with Phil inside the Power Project STudio, but Mark Bell missed out so we wanted to run it back so we linked up with Phil on our LA trip. Phil Daru is the head strength and conditioning coach at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL. He works with pro MMA champions among the likes of Dustin Poirier, Amanda Nunes, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. He is a competitive bodybuilder, strongman, powerlifter, and former professional MMA fighter. Subscribe to the Podcast on on Platforms! ➢ https://lnk.to/PowerProjectPodcast Visit our sponsors: ➢Piedmontese Beef: https://www.piedmontese.com/ Use Code "POWERPROJECT" at checkout for 25% off your order plus FREE 2-Day Shipping on orders of $99 ➢Perfect Keto: http://perfectketo.com/powerproject Use Code "POWERPROJECT10” at checkout for $10 off $40 or more! ➢SHOP NOW: https://markbellslingshot.com/ Enter Discount code, "POWERPROJECT" at checkout and receive 15% off all Sling Shots Follow Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast➢ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/markbellspowerproject  ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbpowerproject   ➢ LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/powerproject/ ➢ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/markbellspowerproject ➢TikTok: http://bit.ly/pptiktok ➢Power Project Alexa Skill: http://bit.ly/ppalexa FOLLOW Mark Bell ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marksmellybell ➢ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkBellSuperTraining ➢ Twitter: https://twitter.com/marksmellybell ➢ Snapchat: marksmellybell Follow Nsima Inyang ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nsimainyang/  Podcast Produced by Andrew Zaragoza ➢ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamandrewz

Mark, how much steak do you eat a week, man? I don't know, man. I think I eat like two or three pounds every single day. So let's see, carry the one. I think that's probably about 50 pounds of steak a week. My God. Do you like going to the grocery store? No, I hate it because there's peanut butter cups there

and I'm going to be enticed to buy other crap that I don't need. Dude, like you go to Costco, right? You walk in, you have to show them your card. Then you're walking through. You have to go find the meat. You have to go pick through everything. Some of it's not that great. Some of're walking through. You have to go find the meat. You have to go pick through everything. Some of it's not that great.

Some of it's good. Then you have all of the samples. All the samples. Those damn Costco samples. Then you have the pizza, the Polish dogs, all that crap. It's difficult. It takes time. I love not having to deal with that.

I just come home from a hard day of training, and a tomahawk ribeye is sitting at my doorstep, or a filet, something like that, just sitting there right at my doorstep. I didn't have to even think about it. I didn't have to waste my time going to the grocery store. And that's how simple it is. Our friends at PeteMontees.com, you don't have to deal with any of the grocery issues waiting in line all day long. They deliver it right to your doorstep, and they deliver steaks that are from those jacked cows,

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That is you. Hey everybody. So we, we brought Phil back. So in SEMA and I had a conversation with him when you were out of town, but we really want to get into training on how to do like better shoulder throws, you know, like whatever we can do to set that up a little bit better. So that's what we're hoping to get into training on how to do like better shoulder throws you know like whatever we can do

to set that up a little bit better so that's what we're hoping to you know get out of today but we can make that happen maybe not as good as connor but we can make it happen so you banged yourself up over here doing some jujitsu what happened yeah so i tore my acl complete tear have you torn anything before um no not that i know of. So it's the first time. You haven't needed a surgery before? I had a hernia surgery, umbilical. And then probably, I think I broke my arm when I was a kid. Yeah.

That's it. So nothing too crazy. Believe it or not, eight years of pro fighting, and now that I'm not fighting, I get an ACL tear. Walk me through what it looked like. So you tore your ACL ACL and I'm sure right away you're probably communicating with three or four of your colleagues and saying hey what should we do with this thing how do I how do I repair it how do I recover from this yeah so automatically you go into like coaching mode and like okay what do I need to do to get this already ready to go so

being proactive you know thinking about and I talked to my physical therapist christiana maron um and she basically was telling me well let's just get it stronger you know let's just work on it the great thing about you know what happened was that now i get to understand the injury a little bit more so with all my athletes now i can have that more deeper knowledge from what they go through you know but and that's the same thing with fighting you know when i fought for eight years now i can understand what they go through from you know, but, and that's the same thing with fighting. You know, when I, when I fought for eight years, now I can understand what they go through from a cutting weight perspective to the, to the whole camp itself. So yeah, the great thing there was that my hamstrings saved me a little bit, you know, my strength there saved me the, the strength in my

legs. Um, so that was the one thing that I could really say to the, to the athletes now is that, you know, with that strength that I had, it allowed me not to have too much damage to where now, you know, it's not going to take me too long. It's not gonna take me a year. It won't take me, you know, a year and a half. It'll take me six months, you know, at the most, hopefully. But I think that we'll be able to do that because I am being proactive. I'm working on stability, mobility, and I'm increasing the strength there in the surrounding tissue. What about, you know, there's some theories that like when you injure one side, you can still train the other and you get a training effect. Have you seen anything like that?

Have you experienced that yourself? I actually have. You know, with me, I'm still training. I'm still doing work on this knee anyway. So we did some squats there and I did some blood flow restriction training. I also did just single leg unilateral work and, you know, loading it in ipsilateral unilateral work. And what I'm seeing now is that I'm actually having still hypertrophy effects in both legs, even if it's unilateral, whatever the case may be. And I'm also doing a lot of isometric tension work too, as well. Eccentric neural grooving,

basically what I'm doing is I'm pulling into the position of a squat, right? I'm using the antagonistic muscle. I'm pulling myself down and I'm driving up. And what that's doing is that's enhancing the strength and stability around the tissue. Then I'm also doing what's called iso ramping, whereas basically I'm giving my, the surrounding tissue, whether it be my BMO, my basso lateralis, I am putting a external stimulus onto the muscle. And then I'm working in that to help the range of motion in that muscle. And that's helped been helping a lot. What exactly is that external stimulus, by the way? Like it could be, it could be anything like a lacrosse ball or something along the range of motion in that muscle and that's helped been helping a lot what exactly is that external stimulus by the way like just like could be could be anything like a lacrosse ball or something along the lines of that yeah so i'll place a lacrosse ball let's say on the vmo i'll

lay into the vmo i'll relax the tissue and then i'll go ahead and contract ramping up into an isometric tension could potentially have like a mark pro on or one of those devices or something like that right it would yeah that'd be cool similar right for sure yeah yeah i mean a lot of people don't really have the ability to get that. Right. Right. For sure. Yeah.

That'd be good. How about any of those, um, for that, actually that specific thing, do percussive massagers work well for that at all or no? Yeah. I mean, you're looking at it from a stimulus perspective. So at the end of the day, I'm just trying to downregulate nociceptors. Right. So with that, yeah, those those types of those types of devices may

work and same thing when you're doing a foam rolling technique right if i'm going and i'm feeling tight and stiff right you can go foam roll it for about you know 10 to 15 seconds just get the stimulus and then work into the range of motion i'm not going to stand there or sit there on a foam roller for 30 minutes just to go ahead and squat what i want to do is i want to get the stimulus help with opening up the range and then work into the movement got it how do you help get people strong like from a real general perspective you you mainly deal with a lot of fighters you said 85 fighters that's that's a lot of work right there but um and i realize it depends on their level but like walk us through the process a little bit of like what what is what are you

trying to stimulate when you're trying to get somebody to be strong well it really depends on the person too as well like what what are their weaknesses and with my fighters a lot of the times first we have to have the proper prerequisites the joint prerequisites to get underneath load so for me i'm looking at it from the assessment standpoint i want to see movement quality yeah if you can't move well this can be yeah a lot different it'll look a lot different than somebody that can move really well right off the bat right yeah and you can't stimulate the muscle that needs to be done or fired and appropriately to get that force adaptation so for me like first and foremost we want to get quality movement mobility active range control and then from there we can load the uh the particular joint and the particular movement

but what i would do is usually I run a condensed conjugate method where we do eight weeks out is usually when they start camp. And then from there, I'll go ahead and I'll run them, run an assessment or on a test to see, you know, how well they can take to that stimulus. And whether it be a compound lift, let's say I do a lot of Zurcher squats because my guys, they just can't get into that external rotation. They don't have the joint prerequisites. So we're going to utilize an exercise that has the efficiency there and it's effective. So there's a lot of things. There's progressive overload to a degree, but I'm also just stimulating that force production throughout each week because, again, we don't have a whole lot of time.

Maybe a little mix of things too, right? Because you're trying to kind of tune up the central nervous system but in addition to that you you want to try to have people pack on a little bit of size in some cases right and so you might have to attack things from many different angles and what i find unique about your job is a lot of times you have to keep someone in a certain weight class yeah uh or have someone even drop weight you know so now they're trying to get stronger which is normally associated with putting on a little bit more mass at least as far as it pertains to like lifting weights and stuff and so uh you have to chase after many things at one time

which sounds which sounds very difficult yeah it almost sounds kind of productive in a way right um but so that's why the assessment becomes a true a true hit point for me because at the end of the day we want to find out are they stronger than they are faster faster than they are strong and from there we can use things like reactive strength index the dynamic strength index i've also been using a split test off a sprint 10 to 20 yard sprint and that's going to actually show me you know if they need more force production if they need more speed or any more power and that's that's what i got off of Cal Dietz in Triphasic Training. So we've been working through that and actually been doing that with Yoni on J-Check right

now. We ran her through a 20 meter or 20 yard sprint test. And what it showed, you know, surprisingly that she needed more speed than she actually needed more force production. So with that, we're doing a two week block of just speed work. So hyperspeed and a little bit of a little bit of strength speed there, too, as well. And I'm also running it through a condensed model. So the condensed conjugate that I do already, I'm putting it into place with that speed category in a way.

Right. Because that focus point is to get her faster right now. Is there a way for somebody to be able to like kind of test themselves like they're listening to this right now and they're kind of like, yeah, they want to know like, yeah, how could I learn whether I need to be more strong or more fast? Yeah. So I would definitely run a dynamic speed index or a reactive strength index. And what that's going to do is that's just going to show you how well they can basically, uh, you know, redirect force, right? So you can do a jump mat test, you can show, okay, do I want to increase my speed through dynamic movements? Or do I need to increase my force production through isometric tension or something along the lines of that you can also do a mid thigh pull and isometric. Again, it's going to take you a little bit of equipment,

right? You're going to need probably something like a if you wanted to rig it up you can do a crane scale and rig that up to a plate put it connect it to the barbell and then you would pull into that plate and you would see the exact loading parameters that you can actually pull from an isometric tension standpoint and then you just plug it into the to the calculator and would that be the simplest thing an individual would do or is there even something that is even more simple that like a listener could do to figure that out? So I like to use velocity based trainers. And I know that's probably not the simplest thing. But I mean, VBT monitors for me are very important, you know, because I'm actually trying to figure out I'm gauging the stimulus based off of that, right? So you wouldn't be able to necessarily tell just

by how fast someone gets up off the ground or something like that? That's pretty tough. I mean, at the end of the day, you can also look and have an eye for it, too, as well. I mean, especially if you're a coach that's been in the game for a long time. Like Louie says it all the time, you can see if you're fast or you're not strong. From there, you know, but I like to use it in the beginning just to see, okay, well, how fast are they moving this barbell at a certain percentage range right so if they are moving it let's say that they're moving 85 percent at the predicted range that they need to from a meters per second standpoint well then that's good but if they're moving it slower they still can lift it well obviously we know we need to move a little bit faster we need to increase that speed the athletes probably respond really well to like

the technology right they probably uh like they're getting that immediate feedback you know like they don't i mean they still might say how am i doing coach but they almost don't even need to when they see it and they start to learn it and you're starting to you know give them positive reinforcement uh it probably makes every rep and every workout a little bit more productive yeah i mean when you have that metrics there it also helps with the coaches too you know with the skills coaches it kind of helps them buy into the situation. But, yeah, so the athletes do like to see the numbers go up. But primarily what they're really worried about and what they really want is to see them increase their performance inside the cage or, you know, on the mats. And that's really a good thing when you can see it from a real world perspective in a sport specific realm.

But, yeah, definitely with the numbers, they kind they kind of compete you know a lot with that and you see the numbers go up and i have to kind of pull them back a little bit because again we have the vbt monitor on there you don't want technique to go out the window because they're trying to blast it up and get a better score right so coaching becomes a big issue too as well in regards to that like to trying to kind of like hey pump your brakes like how often are you having them actually run these tests um so for instance like for the speed the sprint work we do about every two to three weeks right now is as far as like let's say for instance i'm trying to see where their force production lies we can do that every four weeks and usually it's going to be something that is an indicator lift whether it be a zurcher squad whether it be a sumo deadlift, a trap bar deadlift, something along the lines of that.

So do they ever, like any of the athletes, be like, no, no, no, I need to retake the test because I didn't sleep last night or something like that? Oh, they're always coming up with excuses. Okay. Yeah, there's always something. I just sparred today. No, you didn't. I seen you today. You're lying.

So there's always something. But we do like a beep test for you know just measuring out their vo2 max and they'll say like oh no i have my shoes on the right way or something or something like that you know and uh but you know you want to keep it as consistent with the testing as possible obviously and you want to keep it in the same um you know whether it be you know on the track on the turf or something along that you make sure that wherever you're testing at you're obviously putting the protocols together for that particular you know surface area you know, on the track, on the turf or something along that, you make sure that wherever you're testing at, you're obviously putting the protocols together for that particular, you know, surface area. You know, let's say that there's a, someone listening, they're like a, a weaker jujitsu guy or a weaker boxer, just martial artists in general. Right. I know that

every martial art has its specificity because you kind of answered this question in the last podcast, but if they don't have access to a coach um what can they like what's a what are some general training concepts that they should keep in mind as they're trying to get bigger and stronger for their martial art so first and foremost keep mobility right keep mobility keep range of motion so you want to work through full ranges of motion you want to work on your active end range control right and then from there you can start to load several different movement patterns to help get stronger in those ranges especially when you're talking about bjj you know there's you're going to be contorted in all these different ranges of motion so different planes of action is going to be key and then from there you

know just progressive overload that's all you really need in that perspective because at the end of the day anything that they do because it's a new this it's a new stimulus to them they're going to get stronger yeah right so but we only want to what we want to do is make sure that we are mitigating the injury risk and we're also reducing the risk of fatigue because they are doing all those other demands of the sport okay how much lifting we actually talking about you know uh let's say someone's in camp and they they have a fight you know 12 weeks out or something like that and they're you know midway through the camp or so like are these guys training three times a week and doing five exercises every time are they training five times a week what what's the protocol look like in terms of actual lifting

weights yeah so it really depends on the individual too um depends on how much skill training they're actually doing and it also depends on the individual, too. It depends on how much skill training they're actually doing. And it also depends on their experience level. So I work with a lot of elite fighters. So at the end of the day, they know how to throw a punch. They know how to get punched. So for them, really getting in the weight room and actually working on their structural integrity, their balance, their control, their athleticism is more of an importance outside of camp. Once they get into camp, now we're working on the specifics of the sport. We're working on those specific ranges of motion and those planes of motion of training

that are going to correlate over to the fight. Usually we start a camp about eight weeks out. That's when they come, whether they are traveling to American Top Team. Some of them don't live there. So they come to us about eight weeks out. Hopefully they developed a solid base of general physical preparedness. So if we do, if I do have my if I have my choice, they would do some type of triphasic or some type of off camp work where we're building up that structural integrity. We're building up a little bit of hypertrophy, you know, and just tissue remodeling in general so that we can have efficient movement under load.

And then from there, I'll go into the condensed model, which is basically the conjugate style is two days a week. And that's why it's condensed, because it is two days a week. And you will know this a lot, Mark. So basically, and I asked Louie about this, too, when I went out to Westside. And he was like, that's great. It's perfect. So I was like, all right, good.

I'm on the right track. But the thing was is that I needed to have enough time to get all these aspects taken care of. And we even run a concurrent style of an aerobic system base because, again, they're training multiple bioenergetic demands every day. So what I do is on, let's say, for instance, my first day is Tuesday. That's a sparring day because Monday is a hard wrestling session. So they're wrestling. They're getting their work in. It's a lot of lactic work.

So it's hard for me to get them in the weight room after that. So Tuesday we go ahead, we get in the weight room, and they'll go ahead and do some dynamic upper, and they'll do max effort lower. And what we'll do is I'll just work through the speed ranges depending on where their strengths lie, whether it be they need more speed or more strength. And the lower body lifts will be

depending upon either be singles doubles or triples and if they're getting closer to the fight it would be maximal isometrics because i want to make sure that we're mitigating the risk of injury there and then it's just flip-flopped 72 hours friday we go ahead and we do max effort upper dynamic lower and then again with the supplemental lift we'll do one supplemental lift based upon the max effort lift then i'll do two x two accessories and then again with the supplemental lift we'll do some one supplemental lift based upon the max effort lift then i'll do two x two accessories and then we'll go into a energy system training where it's actually mixed or basically integrated into the energy that we're utilizing inside the weight room so let's say for instance we're doing some type of alactic capacity type

training inside the weight room so we're not throwing the organism in two different directions that makes sense it does yeah yeah now you know i know not every single fighter that you're working with is not all of them are getting ready for a fight at the same time but you work with 80 to 85 fighters and when someone that works with people in person hears that they're probably wondering how the hell does he organize all of these different training programs all these different structures what kind of systems have you built to be able to do that successfully so you have to have a system because if not then i'm trying to do too many things at once right right so i do have an off-camp program and i do have an in-camp program and then is the the in-camp and the off-camp are based around the subjective you know measures of the athlete right so i'm gonna have a basic layout right and

then i just plug and paste depending on the person right so if this person needs more speed right then we just work in the max effort we work more strength speed we'll work more sub-maximal lifts but we'll still get the work in because i still want them to increase their force production they just may need a little bit more velocity right what do you think of uh joe rogan has talked on his podcast quite a bit about bigger guys, you know, jacked guys getting exhausted like a guy like in SEMA. And SEMA did good, though. We did a conditioning, and he did pretty good.

Yeah, no, that's kind of what I pointed him out. He's got good lungs. But I know there's always a rare case. There's always like a mutant out there that can be jacked and figure it all out. But what are some of your thoughts on that of being like uh of having a lot of muscle mass i mean the muscles an organism that chews up a lot of energy so what are some of your thoughts on that i mean as long as you have a large aerobic base and you can take in and utilize oxygen efficiently and you got to train it too it's not just like you know he's he's naturally gifted with a lot of

yeah we don't know uh Yeah, you're right. You're right. Should we look in his cabinet right now? That's right. Check that fanny pack. That's it, man. Yeah, so like with that, you know, you're looking at it from a base aerobic capacity standpoint. So if he has a large VO2, depending on how big he is, it really doesn't matter at that point because he can take in oxygen more efficiently.

And that's going to help buffer out lactate. So with that, I'm looking at that, and that's what the assessment would dictate too as well. I got a lot of guys, bigger guys. Cain Velasquez is a heavyweight, and he had a large aerobic gas tank. He could go for a long time. Junior told me. He was like, man, I don't even know. I think he was on EPO.

Right. Yeah, he was insane with his conditioning, but he also didn't have a lot of muscle, though. He was a big guy. That's true. That's very true. A big guy. Very true, yeah. But he wasn't, like, overly muscular.

I mean, even, like, Sean Shirk back in the day. You remember him, right? Yeah. The muscle shark. Like, I mean, the guy had insane amount of muscle, but, you know, he could definitely— Who did he throw around the cage like a madman? Who was that? I think, like, everybody he actually fought.

He took somebody, though, and he dumped he dumped him like 11 times in one in one round i don't think anybody's done anything like that since he just was ragdolling the whole time yeah and i think that that just is a testament to one his natural ability and his ability you know a large amount plays with genetics too as well some people have a genetic predisposition to have a better gas tank you know look at colby covington for instance he's a guy at american top teams the guy i mean he trains hard don't get me wrong but he's been naturally gifted with a larger gas tank so yeah i guess uh bo jackson was like that when he was at alabama or at auburn that's a huge mistake right there he was at when he's at auburn uh

he uh his coaches you know they had everybody running and everything and he's like running for people that are out of shape. Yeah. And it's like, well, don't you need to run to get in shape? He was like, no, I'm good. Yeah, yeah. Like, come game day, give me the ball, and I'll take off with it. He was like, I didn't need all that.

Naturally gifted, yeah. Naturally gifted, for sure. I mean, for us, like, a lot of my guys like to run. They like to do their aerobic work just because it's more of a mental thing for them. You know? It's restorative work, too, as well., but mentally they like to recharge the batteries a little bit there. I can't stop Dustin Poirier from going and doing his long distance running, even though

he's predominantly slow twitch, and we need to get him in the weight room, and we need to work on that fast twitch fiber recruitment and things like that, but I'm not going to stop him from doing what he loves to do just for that particular reason. I'll make sure that i reduce it a little bit but obviously i'm not going to totally stop it i love that side of coaching you know you have to kind of weigh in on the things that you value and the things you feel are important but then you also need to be open to like wow that guy just loves doing that as much as i fucking hate it as much as it goes against everything i've ever learned uh you know i gotta make i gotta squeeze

room in for it because he thinks that's going help him and if he thinks it's gonna help him it's gonna help him yeah and that's comes with like the art of coaching in a way you know what i mean and communication is key and the first time i've worked with dustin he was telling me he's like man i'm not gonna stop running so i don't care what you say i was like all right so we gotta fit this in somehow all right we're gonna fight over it yeah basic well shit i don't want that man we do we do play fight but i ain't doing that um but yeah so he's he's he's one of those guys that you know he has to do a certain thing and it's that's that's fine you know fighters have that you know and they're different individuals they're different than other athletes in a way and they're they're very like um routine like you know and whatever's going to

help them mentally and psychologically get into that cage and do what they need to do then i'm all for it you know it's a give and take in a coaching realm yeah you said that like letting them run it was almost like a mental thing too is there any other like tricks or any kind of like uh movements or anything that you will tell a certain person like hey you need to go clear your head go do this yeah i mean a lot of it is is that long distance running believe it or not or a swim or something like that or i'll tell like for instance for dustin i will tell him to go just go to the beach and play with your daughter and your wife and have fun and a lot of times you know that clears his

mind he comes back rejuvenated because have in in camp and just as a fighter you're always training you're training year round so going in there and going there each and every day the same gym the same training partners same coaches you know it gets tough you know and you don't really want to you want to take a break for a second and just recharge your batteries and that's usually what i have him do yeah i feel like maybe like bodybuilding coaches will have like a similar concept when they're you know like what you guys told me. You're stressed out. You look fine.

And it's like, no, I look like shit. And then Mark's like, dude, you're in your own head. Just go play with your daughter. He literally told me the exact same thing, and he's totally right. That's really cool. You got no off-season, huh? Never. And these guys, they get paid to fight.

So a fight comes up and then also like you don't want to be like ducking people and be like nah man i'm not you know i need another six months or whatever right and so that makes it very difficult but because even if you're let's say you're maybe not as strong as you should be for your weight class it might be hard to develop uh some of those attributes while you're always training for a fight right yeah i mean we get guys that have take fights on short notice and that's the reason why i developed the condensed conjugate model so they can always be ready you know if they're closer to the fight let's say three to four weeks out then we're going to start working more of that velocity range depending on if they need more strength or speed again but you know we do a two-week taper and we make sure that

the weight cuts going appropriately making sure that their weight is down because that's going to play a major role, especially when you're talking about CNS activation and, and just recovery, you know, cause their caloric intake is down. And they're also, you know, for, for most parts, they're training a lot. So they're training a lot without getting a lot of calories in. And a lot of times they're probably bringing down the carbs too. Luckily we have like guys like George Lockhart that helps us out out too as well and george has been a tremendous help for me too with george george is amazing he like came to our gym and like wrote this giant formula out

on the yeah yeah fucking board so and he like forgot how he got to all these numbers he's like this is 16 divided by this and i'm like okay hold on how'd you get to that number he's like i he's like i fucking forget and he's going on like he's like this is just the way it is though yeah so in his in his seminars i was there in miami when he held one he usually holds one in like an airbnb and i'm like and i'm like he's like come down man like i'm here in miami i was like yeah perfect i'll come through and uh he don't even have like a fucking whiteboard he just has like a big sheet of paper and he writes it down and then like he's like and then he's like flip the page yeah flips the page and i'm like man this guy's crazy but it works you know and i've seen it work time and time

again i love that he's got uh i mean so you know sometimes he's got stuff like that but he also is very simple when i asked him on the podcast about you know uh like having a certain carbohydrate post-workout like having say like uh orange juice or something which is fructose and fructose will uh you know put glycogen into your liver rather than like uh maybe into your muscles i was like well you know because he was recommending orange juice post-workout and i was like well that sounds a little uh different from things i've heard yeah he said well i just believe the human body's going to do whatever it needs to do and if in post-workout it's going to need carbohydrate so it's going to still put it into the muscles and it was just like that's that sounds reasonable like that sounds like it makes a lot of sense yeah they've been

doing it and it works a lot with uh with stan too as well the rhino yeah so like and i know they did the uh the 40 milligrams of caffeine too as well for the reabsorption of glycogen into the touch into the muscle right so i was like all right well cool so like and then and then he's telling me you know we need this creatine we need branch chains we need caffeine and we need uh glucose so we need dextrose or any type of branch cyclic dextrin that's gonna be quick right and then um you know he was telling me all right we need three leaders and we do the three leaders and there's like a a like a minute detailed out approach of like what you need and it's like man this is a lot this is different than what we usually do let's get some pedialyte and call it a day yeah so there's a different approach there and it's and

it's spot on in a way and i got a i got a young guy um eric pena who's been working with a lot of fighters now and he's kind of taking over for george and he was actually my intern so it was actually cool to see him he's just been he just finished um he's worked with connor he's worked with a bunch of guys so it's cool you know when you look at uh fighters obviously fighters in camp and even outside of training camp they're doing so many different types of martial arts and lifting like they need to eat an excessive amount of carbohydrates to be able to keep fueled now i'm saying that because i'm wondering what type of athletes do you think when you look at strength training or bodybuilding or whatever what type of athletes do you think they don't need an excessive amount of carbohydrates the reason why i ask is because there's a lot of

power lifters who are like oh yeah i need all these i need i need to eat this and this and, yeah, I need all these. I need to eat this and this and this so I can perform. Bodybuilders, I need to eat this and this and this so I can perform. But it really seems like they don't need. No, not too much unless they're doing a whole lot of volume. Unless they're on like maybe in an off season or looking to bulk up or something along the lines of that or in a volume phase or hypertrophy phase. In my opinion, you really don't because you got to look at the energy system. It's primarily creatine phosphate, right? So for that, I wouldn't do as many.

And I think, Mark, you've done the ketogenic diet. How do you feel on that? Yeah, I feel awesome, man. I mean, at the end of the day, like I've even done intermittent fasting and hit PRs. You know, so, I mean, really you have to outweigh the options of, okay, well, maybe if you're looking at a marathon runner, then probably, yes, they're going to need some some carbohydrates if you're looking at somebody like a bodybuilder who's doing a massive amount of volume um then yes you're going to need some when you're talking about mma definitely going to need some right when you're talking about

power lifting and you're talking about you know getting into the max phases probably don't need it only probably going to need it just for muscle recovery after their accessory work or something along the lines of that but i wouldn't go too crazy with it and it's super important for any athlete that has to train multiple times a day or has the energy output to get those carbohydrates in because it can help you recover from each workout so if you have a workout in the morning and you have carbs right after that first workout kind of from a you know the way it looks on paper it's supposed to kind of help you you know get glyc looks on paper it's supposed to kind of help you you know get glycogen back into the muscles help you repair a little bit faster and help you have

enough energy and strength uh for the next workout you know which is all stuff you know the cool thing about nutrition that i i think is really fascinating is it's actually very new like it really hasn't been we haven't been like trying to eat the foods that we've been trying to eat in the scenario that we have today as we used to. You know, people, you know, a thousand, you know, a thousand years ago, they might have died very young, you know, and people will point to that and they'll be like, oh, you know, because they ate meat or whatever. But they died for a lot of other different reasons. And we don't have those same reasons anymore because we have some modern medicine around that can help antibiotics and different things like that. And so I feel like the stage that we're at now,

this is kind of the first time where we get some real time, like we're going to figure out what happens to the vegans. We'll figure out what happens to the carnivores because back then they would die before they could figure out what happened, before the onset of cancer, before they weren't 85. So 85. Right. So we're going to, we'll find out more, you know, as we continue to go along here. Yeah. It's an interesting time in the fitness industry, give or take. And then with nutrition, everything's always evolving. There's always new studies out, you know you know, before there was like fats were bad and now carbs are bad and this and that. And

now, you know, full meat diet and vegan diet there's just so much going on just contract there's contrast everywhere everybody has their views but only time will tell if something actually is really going to work and what's detrimental and what's what's going to be good for somebody speaking of an interesting time in the fitness industry what was it like at the fit expo yeah that's um that's that's different yeah that's the first time i've been out there so it's like a madhouse i'm seeing a lot of like trendy like uh you know crazy stuff that i'm like what the hell is that like i seen somebody walking on springs oh yeah like they look like rollerblades but they were like springs it looked like it looked like they were in the mario brothers

it was definitely like an out of shape dude right it was actually like some yeah it was like an like a 50 year old female i'm not yeah i was like okay this is it's never a dude it's always a chick in tights yeah and they they're always just like bouncing around looking like they're having a bunch of fun but it's like it's just like gimmicky type deal and i'm like this is really real this because i'm not in that world i really don't do all that like i'm i'm in an mma gym or i'm in a powerlifting gym or something along the line i'm not in that fitness world so seeing that actually this really is real like it's mind-blowing to me a little ways as far as like tools that i think i asked you this before too but are there any outside tools

that you use for your athletes in terms of recovery other than the obvious sleep you know all of that stuff are there any outside tools that you use for them yeah i mean nothing i'm gonna say it again nothing beats sleep and nutrition right so that's first and foremost i have to make sure that those guys are getting adequate sleep because they're training so much and then you got to think of these guys also have families you know they got kids a lot of my fighters just had newborn babies so and they're in camp so there's a lot going on there and mark you probably know about that yeah right so do i and it sucks right and you know but yeah if you're talking about you know just standard things like a nice bath you know we do contrast training or contrast baths, too, as well. As far as, like, you know, we do heat in contrast with that.

I don't really do too much other than that. Really, I don't. Myofascial release treatments, stuff like that. Do some massage here and there. Once they're in camp, that's definitely going to be more of an importance. When they're out of camp, we kind of limit the ice baths just for the hypertrophy benefit. But other than that i don't really do too much there got it what's uh triphasic you mentioned that earlier and you

mentioned cal deets and we're gonna have cal on the podcast uh in a few weeks i think uh what's triphasic mean so basically triphasic is the three parts of a movement right you got the isometric the eccentric and the concentric and basically what you're doing is you're spending two weeks of each phase of that particular lift whether it be a squat bench press whatever the case but the goal really is is to increase the neural capacity increase the technical efficiency of the lift and also increase a little bit of hypertrophy basically it's a baseline approach to getting the athlete ready for an in-camp or an mc's in program yeah i think that's one of the most uh like least understood thing about training in general is that before you go and do anything you need to make sure that you're prepared for it yeah and you need to kind of you know go you

need to go from one phase to another and it's a very it's a very gradual thing like it might take you if somebody might see a program and it might be like german volume training or something 10 sets of 10 and that's not a great thing it's not really wise to although it's kind of cool to just try shit out when you're young but it's not a great thing to like jump into you you better get your volume in order and get everything in order before you get there so that you actually get a real benefit from it rather than just getting really sore and beat up getting wrecked and then they can't train the other aspects of the training. So, yeah.

And that's one thing that like a lot of the guys come in and I have to ease them in and they're doing things that are, you know, we're keeping them in the same group. Like I said, the system is there, but the tempo, the amount of reps, right, the amount of volume or the amount of the intensity is going to change depending on if the individual is ready or not. So, yeah, I mean, it is very important to, one, get the joint prerequisites in order, and then, two, make sure that the muscles are ready to withstand that load under that amount of volume. And with your injury, we have a lot of people that ask about, like, rehabilitation, and I understand it would matter, you know, the person and different things of that nature but um have

you utilized you mentioned a little bit about isometrics earlier to help people rehab and recover from stuff um and then in addition to that uh what about like eccentrics and like what would it look like somebody has a really jacked up elbow or jacked up shoulder what would the some of the progressions look like it would would have to depend on the injury, first and foremost. Like for me, I've had tendinopathy in my elbows just from lifting, you know, elbow tendonitis, medial epicondylitis, things like that. And for that, isometrics has been a major part of that. Also, heat and compression. So in that example, what kind of isometrics are we talking about? And do you have weight on the bar? Yeah, you can either do yielding or overcoming isometrics so basically

yielding would be stopping at that range of motion whether it be a 90 degree position or you can push into an immovable object right and i would do a slow ramp up from about 50 to 100 and then also you want to improve on the range of motion and articulation of the joint capsule so we're actually gaining that range. I'll be working through controlled articular rotations of the elbow. And you can also do pails and rails, progressive and regressive angular isometrics through that too as well. So that's been helping out a lot because it's going to downregulate those nociceptors and help you increase that mechanical response to basically move the weight and not be feeling like shit.

mechanical response to, uh, to basically move the weight and, uh, not be feeling like shit. Okay. Now let me ask you this in terms of, um, because again, for individuals that don't have access to a coach, uh, and there's two kinds of athletes I want to ask about here, powerlifters or strength athletes. And let's say that they're, they're in gym powerlifters. They're not always getting ready for competition because I know if you're getting ready for competition, you're not going to be doing an excessive amount of cardio. But a lot of powerlifters want to increase their gas tank a little bit. They want to feel better. They don't want to feel, you know, tired walking up a flight of stairs, right? So that type of athlete, and then also a jujitsu athlete that, you know, they train at jujitsu and they also want to increase their gas tank. What are some things that they can implement now this is for you this is all you this is for him

no this doesn't sound like question like i mean that's exactly his question outside of training outside of training what what can they do you know whether it's uh you know biking or whatever what can they do to increase so i do like the fact that one one, with a power lifter, you have to maintain your fast switch fiber. So there is a method that Pavel actually made up or I should say incorporated into his training, Pavel Satsou. Yeah. And the quick and D method, I utilize that a lot with my fighters, believe it or not. And basically what that is is that's just going to increase the mitochondrial density of fast switch fibers. So it's repeated efforts, right?

So you're doing, let's say, for instance a 10 10 repetition kettlebell swing you're waiting you know every minute on the minute you'll do 10 reps and then you would do that for around 10 rounds right so what you're doing is you're still getting explosive power and you're getting the ability to repeat bouts of energy every minute on the minute you're doing 10 reps 10 reps yeah you keep it at 10 reps we found that like you know after 10 reps it starts to slow down so you want to still stay explosive so if it takes you only five reps and you start to slow down then keep it at five and you do every 30 seconds and are you going like a maniac or i mean you're hitting it with good technique yeah you want to be you want to be tight obviously you want to keep your brace control but going at it hard

yeah yeah the speed needs to be there so you're looking at it from if you're looking at it from a velocity perspective of meters per second, you're looking at probably 1.5 to 2.0 meters per second. That's what Andrew was going to say. Essentially. I didn't carry the one, so I wasn't sure. Some of the numbers were off. I don't want to speak out of class. You know what I mean? Out of turn, I should say.

Calculus. What's your diet looking like? what's uh what's your diet looking like right now since i'm not doing a whole lot of strength training i'm just obviously prehabbing and doing a lot of uh i'm actually doing a lot of primal movements too as well uh right now i'm just keeping my carbs low what do you mean by primal movements like movements like as in um let's say for instance like uh animal movements right believe it or not on the floor a lot of stuff we do in jujitsu right a lot of stuff we do to get warmed up right so i'm doing that i'm doing a lot of frc doing a lot of mobility work um i'm frc certified so i had a conversation with spina and he told me you know basically just keep doing what i'm doing with the articular rotations of the like it's like it's my life you

know especially with my knee because again we want that rotation we want to you know reduce inflammation going into the surgery so i'm doing a lot of that um as far as my diet goes i'm doing like as far as supplements omega-3s doing i'm doing some cannabinoids so cbd is prevalent lately or not and then um fish a lot of white fish um as far as meats go do some steak here and there you know a little bit of chicken but my carbohydrates are low especially you know if i'm not training or anything like that fats are obviously going to be dictated depending on my carbohydrate intake i know that your injury you said it was a freak accident

right because like you're staying on top of everything but for individuals that are doing a martial art and they're scared you know they get in these positions and they're scared about their knee what should they be doing on the outside to, I guess, um, decrease the ability of that potentially happening to them? It's tough, man. Because again, like, like I said, my, my knees are strong. My, my legs are strong. Um, the reason why I guess I didn't tear everything was because I had strong hamstrings and a strong quadricep muscles and just surrounding tissue was strong. Right. Um, strong hamstrings and strong quadricep muscles and just surrounding tissue was strong right um in this sport it's very hard to read to just stop an injury from happening right we can reduce it or we can you know increase the ability to recover faster but it's not going to happen like that like

yes you want to stop non-contact injuries from happening that should never happen but you're getting kicked you're getting contorted like your joints are getting contorted it's really not going to happen to that you know you think that you're going to totally stop it you're in another fucking planet you know so but the one thing you need to do is get strong you need to get your hamstring strong you need to get your quadriceps strong you need to get stability in the lower limbs you know you need to get your feet mobile you need to get your ankles mobile and you need to get your hips mobile because again things will lock down if mobility is not there. It's like walking on ice.

If you're not mobile, it's the same thing. Your body stiffens up. So with that, to say that, we need to make sure that we're gaining the active range control and we're increasing the strength in all those ranges. So that's why I like something like FRC because you're actually training that particular muscle to gain the range of motion there. You're not just passively working into a stretch. What's FRC? Functional Range Conditioning. So basically what that is is, again, increasing functional movement under active control of N ranges.

So we're increasing mobility. Flexibility is good. Mobility is better, in my opinion, because it's one thing to be able to get into a position. It's another to be able to actively get into the position and be strong in that position. What's it like watching some of your fighters actually fight? We have a big fight tonight. Honestly, I think that was the first thing we even started talking about when you walked in. So obviously, it's heavy on your mind.

Always. I know, but can you walk us through what it's like? I'm pretty sure you get nervous, too and you know but like a lot of people don't when I just like when we have somebody on the podcast like now I'm nervous to watch the fights tonight because like of our connection now so I can't even imagine actually working with you know a fighter like that yeah even though like they're older than me some of them I feel like they're my kids you know they're like man and I've and them, I feel like they're my kids, you know, they're like,

man, and I've, and I've, I've gotten way more nervous for their fights than I did with mine, you know, sitting there watching, you know, junior and Edson and Dustin and Ioana and Tisha and all those people that are

at this highest level and they're working to basically change their lives and just catapult their careers. Yeah. It's crazy. You know, and I get the butterfliesapult their careers yeah it's crazy you know and i get the butterflies just like i used to and you know like tonight junior's got a big fight and a couple weeks you know i've got a big fight i'll be right there you know cage side watching it you know and we're if i'm cornering that's even worse because now it's on me to make sure that they get everything in order last week i had a fighter uh boxer of mine maureen shea she was a two-time um two-time champion uh ibo and wbo or iba and wbo and uh she just won her her

first fight coming back in about two years and uh she's 39 years old but you know did great phenomenal i was like it was like like a like you know i just had a newborn child you know i was like this is great you know so yeah it's definitely it's nerve-wracking but it's also you know it's something that um that i live for man that's why i do it you know yeah i was gonna say probably a lot of passion in that too yeah um so how's uh fight camp been for yana it's actually been really well i mean we're only about three weeks in but she's in good states like good spirits i feel this is actually one of the better camps that we've had we've had um i think we've i've had about five fights with her so far so i mean actually six so this will be our seventh fight camp and

you know i can actually see a difference in the way she's going about training and going about just her daily life you know and she's happy with her life. That's the best thing. You know, she doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. So that's one thing that, you know, that's not weighing on her mind and her just her overall mentality, you know, coming into the training is good. I'm going to get his ass. I'm going to get his ass. You know, you do hang out with like, I don't know, a little gnat.

It was a gnat from somebody not me you hang out with a lot of because you work with a lot of you work with a lot of top level fighters right top level competitive mindsets and i know that every fighter is obviously different every fighter has a different type of process but you know i think a lot of people would be interested in maybe the through lines or the consistencies that you see from these high-level athletes getting ready for competition. What kind of things do they do that you see often? You're like, this is something that people should be implementing all around. Athletes should be doing.

It's just a mindset thing. They're totally confident in their approach. They're confident in their abilities. For instance, Joanna, she thinks she knows that she's the best and she'll say it every day. She comes in prepared no matter what. She's tunnel vision focused every time she comes to train, but she enjoys it too. And she, and she likes to do it. You know, there's a smile on her face until it's time to get to work. And she's like, yes, coach and goes. So that's one thing that I see a difference in like just your regular, kids that just want to train you know um

but the good thing is that at american top team all those kids are like that even though ones that aren't at the elite level our b squad is like superstars in a regular gym so i don't really see that anymore i see that on a constant basis The great thing is that I get to be around like-minded individuals because I was like that. I'm still like that to this day. I attack my coaching just like I attack the way I did it in the MMA world and how I attacked it in football and all throughout my life. How I attack business and how I attack my lifestyle of being a father. I do the same thing. So it's good to be around those people because it obviously lets off on you too as well.

What's going on with these tattoos? What do we got going on here? Oh, okay. This is the first time somebody's actually asked me this. So, yeah. I know sometimes, you know, sometimes people just like the design and get something. A lot of them have a lot of meaning. Yeah, I have a lot of meaning.

This is my family crest. So my great-great-grandfather was a general in the Napoleon Army. So actually, if you go to France, you go to the ARC. Actually, my name is on the ARC. So I went to France and got to do that. I did a seminar on France and Paris, and I got to see my name out there. Shit, I don't know. You speak French?

I definitely don't. They don't understand shit you said. They're like, what? Yeah, and then just some family stuff you know this is my mother you know my mother died um i want to say roughly six months ago and my father died beforehand before her three months prior so it was pretty tough it was a pretty tough year last year it was good things and bad things you know and i just took it with stride so only the strong survive and that was good things and bad things, you know, and I just took it with stride. So only the strong survive, and that's kind of the story of my life, you know what I mean, what I live by.

It came from humble beginnings. It didn't come from, you know, the greatest background, you know, not the best neighborhoods. So I had to fight for everything that I have now. Were your parents together? They actually were. You know, I was blessed with that. They were able to be together. My dad worked all the time. I'd barely ever seen him, you know, I was blessed with that. They were able to be together. My dad worked all the time.

I'd barely ever seen him, you know, just managed restaurants and did what he could do. And, you know, God bless him, you know. And then my mother, same thing. She was a firefighter. And then from there, she got hurt. She ended up getting developing lupus and a lot of stuff started to go downhill from there, you know, because it's an autoimmune disease started attacking everything in our body. So I'm actually looking to get involved with a lupus foundation to help with, you know, just awareness, you know, and that'll be launching pretty soon. Oh, that's great.

Yeah. What did your dad pass away from? He actually had a he had a esophageal bleed. And this was sudden, very sudden. had um some some issues with his stomach wasn't really saying anything he's kind of a hard-headed guy and uh his stomach was bloated and we could see something maybe you know maybe it was stress or something along the lines of that and then just one day i remember waking up in the morning getting a phone call from my mother and she was frantic and she was bleeding all over the place came in and there was blood

everywhere and i kind of knew from there it was pretty much over so had to deal with that you know um had to obviously handle all the arrangements for the funeral at the same time i had seminars i had to do two weeks prior and had you know had to coach some of my athletes and things like that after the funeral you know i had to go right to the gym and start coaching you know but this is my life you know it's what i did it's what i live for yeah do you remember when like you were younger and you recognized that your dad was like extremely hard working yeah yeah well he'd i used to wait for him every night every night before he get home probably got home like one or two in the morning and he would leave before I would get up. So, I mean, there was times where I was like, wow. And that basically showed me how to work hard,

you know, from that perspective, there's not a time I guarantee you. And people say this is cliche, but I mean, Mark, you probably can get me on this one, but at the end of the day, I feel like I'm the hardest worker in the room, no matter what, you know what I mean? But that's the mindset I have. And that's, that's what brought me to the position where i am now you know and i believe things do come into play and get in order if you put yourself in the right position you know luck really really doesn't happen as long as you're doing the right things you know so at the end i hate when people say oh man lucky for this you know you got all this you got all these fighters and i'm like yeah motherfucker i'm really lucky huh you weren't there when i did this for 10 years and i ain't when people say, oh man, lucky for this, you know, you got all this, you got all these fighters. And I'm like, yeah, motherfucker,

I'm really lucky, huh? You weren't there when I did this for 10 years and I didn't get paid shit. And I used to sneak people into gold's gym for $20. You didn't remember that. Or when I was, you know, fighting full time and then had to leave,

go and do a midnight class and then get back up in the morning at 3 a.m. to go ahead and do another class so i can get more knowledge you know and then do this all over again five to six days a week yeah people say i'd kill to do that and it's like you wouldn't even do what i'm doing for one week you wouldn't even last you wouldn't be able to do it no no you'd all of a sudden have excuses yeah yeah and that's why i like to bring the interns over to the gym because they're like oh i'd love to be in your shoes and do what you do. I'm like, yeah, I mean, yes, don't get me wrong. I love what I'm doing.

And they watch you zip around. They're like, whoa. Yeah. And they're like, man, I don't know how you do it. And that's the first thing they say. I don't know how you do it. And it's because I do it every day. You know, it's natural to me at this point.

Do any aspects of being a father scare you now? Because I didn't know you had a kid. I got three. I got two teenage daughters. Get ready for that shit. Yeah, that's crazy. They're my stepdaughters. I'm not that old yet.

They're my stepdaughters, but I raised them. I've raised them since day one was four and the other one was six. So I've pretty much seen them grow up. My son, he's five years old. He's like a little me. I got him going. He's know, and my son, he's five years old. So he's like he's like a little me. You know, I got him going. He's doing jujitsu now. He's going to wrestle.

So, yeah, it's good. It's fun. Nothing really scares me. The only thing is like I do am always looking to be a better father and learn. But the great thing is that, you know, I have plenty of practice with coaching you know and i feel like if i can lead individuals in that manner i can lead my own child to do the right things real quick going back to that like basically rocky montage of you working your ass off and you know not really having time to sleep and all that um like what was your living situation like because i know there's a lot of people that are like oh i want to do this but you know i can't you know my living situation right now is not perfect i'd imagine

because you said you grew up in a like rougher neighborhood and whatnot yeah so like what was it like i mean obviously it was a kid as a kid as a teenager like we we get our house broken into all the time you know so for me i didn't i never asked my parents for money never wanted to there were some times where i did some things that i shouldn't have you know you know sold some things that i shouldn't have to be honest with you um it got into some trouble you know but at that point in time like if i could go back and talk to my younger self it's funny because i watched the gemini you know the will smith movie yeah yeah i watched it on my way over here and i'm like man if i could go back and do the same shit i would just tell myself to learn from every mistake and every experience because you're gonna grow and get better from it and you know fortunately for me

i have and i and i never made the same mistake again so taking a quote from stone cold from the podcast we just did he's like there's some people that you know they'll say like hey that that's a hot pan don't touch it but young kids will be like i want to go ahead and it's like oh shit okay that burned me yeah he's like you do it once and you're good he's like it's a dumb ass is that'll go back and keep doing it over and over and over so yeah then living experiences that you can't get out of a book, you know, all that stuff you got firsthand and it's made you who you are today. So in a way, if you did go back, you might've messed something up. Like you had to live what you lived through. Yeah. It molded me to where I am today and how I am today, you know? So, and I get to put that into my professional life and

my family life too, as well. And let them, let my my kids know like listen dad's been there don't worry you know what i mean like there's a lot that you're you that you don't see because we didn't put you in that environment we did that for a reason you know because i went through it so you don't have to go through it is it hard to sometimes uh remember that that is your number one job being a dad no no because of the fact that again even though my dad worked very hard he wasn't there for me a lot so like for me it was a good and a bad thing right so now every day that I come home every night I come home if I'm dead tired I'm still gonna play with my son you know I'm still gonna you know spend at least a little bit of time with him as much as I possibly

can it don't matter how bad or how bad I feel or how tired i am it's gonna happen i'm gonna go to my my daughter's soccer game no matter how much work i have to do at the end of the day it's gonna get done and that's that's a priority for me for sure you know and that comes first and foremost you said your son's five and he's doing jujitsu right is that something he wanted to do or is something you like you should do it um a little bit of both. You know, we wrestle all the time. So he was like, he didn't know what he wants to do right now. He's five years old.

So he's like, yeah, dad, I'm going to go do, I want to do jujitsu. And then so we went there and he loved it. And then from there I was like, okay, cool, we'll keep it. If he was like, I don't like to do it, then I probably would have been like, well, go a couple more times, see how it is. You know, the first time you got to, you know. Well, I mean, that's my next question is like what about the girls because my daughter she was she showed interest in jujitsu and then she had a friend that was like i do karate she's like oh now i want to do karate

and i'm just like no you don't but i don't want to like be the parent that forces her to do something she doesn't want to do but at the same time we we talk about on the podcast often like sometimes you do have to force your kid to do something they don't want to do because they don't even know they don't know what they want yeah and so i just give it a timeline like try this out for a couple of weeks you know and see how you like it because you never know the first time may be a bad experience the second time may be a great experience and you know so for that i would say give it some give it a time frame for sure do your girls get into it too or well my my younger daughter she's more the athlete my older daughter she's just more of like the academia like you know i want to be a lawyer so i'm like okay cool not bad you do that you know so yeah but i i try to make sure that they're

doing something whether it be you know debate team or something along the lines of that something that's going to keep them occupied in a good way. You have time for anything else? You got time for, you know, uh, reading or watching TV or I'll read a lot. I do read a lot. Um, I make sure that I at least read a book a week, you know, I just finished oxygen advantage, you know, I finished that book and then I went right into, now I'm doing anatomy trains by Thomas Myers. I finished that book and then I went right into now I'm doing Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers. And then I'm also doing, what is it, The History of the Human Body by David Lieberman. So I'm reading two books right now and then also audio books and stuff like that.

The good thing is when I drive, you know, I have that 90 minutes. I get a lot of that self-education in. Other than that, just spending time with my wife, you know, going movies going out to eat dinner stuff you know and then um i've taken up some fishing lately with my son with my son and he's like dad i want to fish and i said all right let's do it i went to go buy i bought you know some rods and things like that and one of my guys that um that is a he's one of my closer friends he's like a he's a fisherman and he was a boat captain so we went out there and did it and i caught my first fish and he was mad that i caught the fish before him he's like man i was supposed to catch the fish i was like listen son it's gonna happen daddy's good

but no it was fun and then um i go to the range and shoot a little bit sometimes but that's about it yeah that's all i have time for. Yeah. You're a busy guy. Yeah. Are you actually physically training people or are the 85 people, it's like some of it's remote and things like that? No, they're all at American Top Team. I don't count the ones that I do online. Those are like I have about six or seven online clients. Some of them are athletes.

Some of them are fighters. clients some of them are athletes some of them are fighters and then um as far as like my programs that i have on sale those are basically just written out programs that people can purchase and and go from there and then obviously they have questions they can hit me up email dm things like that and i usually answer them pretty quickly so but yeah mostly mostly fighters um in combat sports so judo boxing and mma are you paid by the fighters or by the gym or so for american top team i am paid by american top team um but for my boxers and my judo practitioners they pay me directly cool so how many people are gonna like can be at att at once like uh like i can't i don't even know how big the gym is. It's 40,000 square feet, so there's a lot. We have over 150 pro fighters, and most of them, 90%, give or take,

are in the UFC, Bellator, or 1FC. So they're all major promotions. We have the best fight gym in the world, in my opinion. We've proven it. We have plaques. We have belts. Amanda Nunes, best fighter in the world in my opinion right so we definitely are there i think it the most difficult thing that we do have is that it is also

just a general gym for general people to come in and that that becomes an issue too as well when it gets oversaturated with people but you have to pay the bills you know so i get it what are some of like the freakiest performance feats you've seen from any of the fighters that you've worked with okay so vo2 max of dustin poirier was at 65 so that's crazy it's like an olympian um as far as let's see etson barbosa i've seen him jump a 44 inch vert believe it or not well you can believe it with the kicks he throws um as far as strength feats i've seen kyoji horiguchi who was a 1fc champ right and also was a bellator champ he can he can squat zurcher squat three times body weight deadlift three times body weight he can bench bench press or floor press one and a half times body weight.

He's 135 pounds. So that's crazy. And then I got one guy by the name of Tiago Moises who's a UFC fighter. Probably from a – just from a strength standpoint, you know, I would say he's probably the strongest in the gym. And he's only 175 pounds so you're looking at it from that perspective not from you know just just from a strength standpoint he can outlift from that perspective if you would put like a you know what

we call that um for powerlifting what do you call it oh Oh, man, come on. Damn it. It's a... Like when they tally up all the weight. Oh, your total? That's total. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. Wilks? Wilks.

You put a Wilks on him and he's got the best at that percentage. What's the deal? Desert your squat. That's like a death sentence. That's a brutal exercise. It is, man, but just get your arms stronger and bigger. You know, shut the fuck up. No, I'm just kidding. No, a lot of times it's like the only reason, real reason is because, again, it's the most efficient way of loading the squat pattern for me right now.

Because, again, axial loading with those athletes, they're getting beat up all the time. And again, I'm just trying to sit the body in the right position so that they can get into that squat position and do the lift and get the adaptations we need. A lot of times, you know, it depends on the person, again. But for that perspective, I think it's the most efficient and effective lift for what I have to do just to load a squat pattern. Same thing with a sumo deadlift. I like that because it allows for hip dexterity to occur. It allows for lateral force displacement. You're working on mobility there.

And for my guys my guys usually have stronger lower backs than they have hips believe it or not so i'm trying to work on the specific muscles that need to be strengthened and we use those specific exercises to help with that yeah yeah it's a tough one the zurcher squat's brutal and it always kind of like bruises your arms and you like don't realize it until a couple days later you're like shit we'll wrap it up we'll wrap it up with like a towel or something along the lines of that you know with the good thing is that you're not going to be able to squat assert your squat as much as you back squat right so you're still getting that load right that you need to increase

force production you're just not loading it to the degree of a back squat so you ever use the harness that louis has i don't know i don't i want to get it i don't know he still makes it i seen it at west side when i was there i was like let me just get that real quick but no no i haven't i haven't used it um it was pretty cool because like your arms you know your your arms are like a limiting factor as you start to get stronger but the problem there is that i do like the upper body muscle activation that you get absolutely so when i do that too and a lot of guys they'll do the zurcher well they'll have their, they'll basically have, you know, their hands clasped together. And what that does is that kind of eliminates that upper body activation.

So we like to pull the hands apart and get into that supination and drive the elbows up. So they're actually working the mid back a lot more that way. Yeah. It's a brutal exercise. It's tough. It's tough. But I mean, the guys, the guys take to it.

I haven't seen, there's no, I mean, Cal says it a lot. Like, he's like, you know, you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet. But I haven't had to, like, crack a few eggs, though. That actually has been doing really well. Sumo deadlifts, Zurcher squats. What else are you a fan of? So any type of Zurcher variation. I'll do Zurcher split squat, good mornings.

I do a lot of box squats. I do a lot of Zurcher box squats. I'll do trapurcher split squat, good mornings. I do a lot of box squats. I do a lot of Zurcher box squats. I do trap bar deadlifts. I do single leg work, unilateral work, whether it be rear foot elevated, front foot elevated. RDLs are a big part of our exercise list and pool. As far as upper body, I do a lot of floor pressing, incline pressing, single arm work. We do a glute bridge floor press too as well for a special exercise to help with the glute activation, help with force production. And also it's specific to what they're going to be doing

with their bridge and roll perspective. And then, you know, a lot of rows, rows and horizontal, do some pull-ups depending on if they have the ability to rotate the elbow directly um and again it just depends on the joint prerequisites so those are my my main lifts and then rotational exercises anti-rotational exercises especially you do a lot with the landmine so we'll do like um we'll do all of our ollie style lifts whether it be speed strength orientated we'll do a lot of snatches a lot of push presses because in that range in that 45 degree range we could still get the adaptations we need we're just not getting them into that overhead position because a lot of them don't have that that shoulder flexion for all the strength

coaches listening along obviously with yourself and all the information you put out on youtube instagram your website who are some other strength coaches you think that people should be paying a lot of attention to because it's a loud space? Yeah. Okay. So here's my guys. Lauren Landau, hands down, one of my guys that everybody should take note of. He's the head strength and conditioning coach of the Denver Broncos, but he also works with a lot of UFC fighters.

He has Landau's sports performance in Denver. Cal Dietz, obviously, he puts out a lot of good information, a lot of free information, which is crazy to me. Joel Jamison still has by far the best conditioning book out there. Let me think. Let me think. One of my guys that's close to me that I'm not putting too much information out there, but he should, and I'm going to get on his ass about it, is Corey Peacock. He works with a lot of the old black civilians. He worked with Michael Chandler and I'm going to get on his ass about it is Corey Peacock. He works for a lot of the old black civilians he worked with,

like Michael Chandler and the what's way champ? You'll see. Kamara. Kamara. It was one. Yeah. I don't want to say his name. Why don't you want to say his name?

Can't say his name. I'll let you say his name. He just beat one of my guys. Oh, okay. So fucking man. Okay. So fucking Corey. But, yeah, so those are the guys right now that are really doing well with it. Yeah, I mean, that was it.

Okay. Oh, Joe DeFranco. I can't leave him out, man. Joe's my guy. Yeah. So DeFranco. And if you don't know who Joe DeFranco is and you're in the strength and conditioning industry, if you don't know who he is, shame on you. Awesome, man. Uh, what you doing down here in LA? I know that the fit expo is going on, but, uh, are you training anybody that that's doing power

lifting or MMA over here? No, no, no. I was here doing a couple of things. I had to do a couple other, uh, you know, podcasts and interviews and stuff like that. And, uh, we're just here to check out the LA fit expo, see how it is. And now, now I've got to get back because I got other uh you know podcasts and interviews and stuff like that and uh we're just here to check out the la fed expo see how it is and now now i gotta get back because i got out here trying to be a hollywood hunk that's it yeah trying to get recognized really getting a movie why don't you just say it just tell us i mean i got some acting skills yeah i've been in some films it's okay wait wait wait what kind of films hey relax this is on camera is this off it's off no but in all seriousness i did uh some videos from mind pumping and we did some things with

jason ferugia so it was good awesome man where can people where can people find you uh you can find me on my website derustrong.com also my instagram is at derust me on my website, derustrong.com. Also, my Instagram is at derustrong. Twitter is at derustrong. And also, my YouTube, Phil Derustrong. You still have the mentorship program, right? Yep, yep. We got 65 coaches that are really hitting it hard right now. There's a lot of good information in there.

Yeah? Oh, you've been on now. Appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah, so we put out, you know, I got all my methodologies, all my protocols, programs in there, articles, you know, studies that are put out that I feel are beneficial for the coaches that are working with the athletes that they're working with. But, yeah, you can find that on my website. If you go to the link in either the bio in my Instagram or just the website in general, you'll find it. ZercherSquads.com.

Why are you hating on the Zercher Squads? No, I'm going to go ahead and put you on to the Zurcher Squads. You know what? I'm just happy I don't have to do them anymore. Yeah, that's true. You're a bodybuilder now. They were part of my powerlifting career. Well, that's good because not a lot of powerlifters actually implement that.

Yeah, I did those in good mornings. Like every other week. That's another thing that I forgot to tell you. We'll do a lot of good mornings. Do a lot of different stances in good mornings. Wide stance, closed stance. Nobody wants to do a good morning. They're terrible.

Yeah, they suck. But they work for sure. Awesome. Where can people find you, Nsema? At NsemaYinYang on Instagram and YouTube. And Byte, B-Y-T-E. And then NsemaYinYang at TikTok and Twitter. How about you, Andrew?

At I am Andrew Z, but make sure you guys are following the podcast at Mark Bell's Power Project Podcast. At MB Power Project on TikTok, Twitter, NowBite, whatever the hell that is. Facebook.com slash Mark Bell's Power Project. LinkedIn.com slash IN slash Power Project. I think that's it. Make sure you guys are subscribed on Instagram. For sure, YouTube if you're watching this right now on YouTube. And leave us a rating and review.

If I was Mark Bell, where would I be? At Mark Smelly Bell. Pretty much everywhere. Strength is never weakness. Weakness is never strength. Catch you all later. What up, Power Project crew? This is Andrew sneaking in right here at the very end.

We really, really appreciate everybody that's been rating and reviewing on iTunes. It helps the podcast so much. So if you guys have gotten any benefit or any value out of any of the episodes, we really would appreciate it if you guys would go ahead and just take the time to drop a review. Like our boy KlingyManB, I think that's how you pronounce it. He says, mind changing quote, love you guys for the content you share and talk about.

It's real and raw and has changed my mindset on so much and my diet. Please don't stop doing what you're doing. More and more people need to hear this. That means a lot, uh, on so many levels. Um, obviously it does help the podcast with like getting podcast with getting the reviews and the ratings up

because that will put it in front of more people. But that heartfelt review right there, that's freaking awesome. Thank you so much, Matt. We really appreciate that. If you guys want to leave a review, if you guys want to hear your name at the end of a podcast, just drop a review and you could hear your name

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