———————————–
The Strength and Conditioning King:
Rhadi Ferguson, M.A.T., CSCS
———————————–

The King’s Court Vol 1 Issue 11
=============
In This Issue
=============

o How to Transform your body

o The 5 Exercises That Will
  Provide You With Great Leg
  Development

o Q&A With The Strength and
  Conditioning King: “Dear King
  what Supplements Should I take
  in order to gain strength”

o New Product Development

================
Introduction
================

If there is one thing that I really
want you to know, its that getting
toned, getting big or slimming down
is a secret, but its an easy secret
to unlock.

The answer is in the legs. The way
in which you work your legs will
(in most cases) dictate your size.

The way in which sprinters workout,
creates their chiseled body.

The way in which long distance
runners work their legs creates
how their bodies look.

And such is the case with bodybuilders,
Olympic Weightlifters, Powerlifters,
Aerobic instructors etc.,.

If you want to shed some pounds….
The answers in how you use your legs.
Start walking and watch yourself slim
down.

If you want to get toned.
Start speed walking or running.

If you want to put on size.
Start lifting with your legs heavy.

It is that simple.

So right now I’m going to give you
some great, easy and well known
exercises that you will be able
to put into your life and/or
your exercise routine to provide you
with the body that you are looking
for and desiring.

==========================
You’re Just 5 Exercises Away
from Huge Leg Development…
==========================

Are you afraid your current workout
just isn’t making the cut as far
as your legs are concerned?

Do you know your thighs could be bigger
and your calves more muscular, but are
having trouble getting from Point A to
Point B?

Is this lack holding you back from
achieving the body you know you could
(and should)

It doesn’t have to be that way any more!
These five exercises could unlock the
secret for revolutionizing the way that
you – not to mention everyone else –
look at your and your legs.

So get up off your arse and let’s make
it happen!

Massive Muscle Trick #1: Squats…

The squat focuses on the quadriceps and
the glutes, but also involves the
hamstrings, the calves, and the lower
back. It’s been called the “King of Exercises”
since so many people rely on the squat
and trust it to produce more and faster
muscle growth than other exercises.

Form is important here, for both safety
AND results… Proper technique is vital,
otherwise serious injuries (or gradual ones)
can occur. The back must be kept straight
and never rounded, otherwise excess strain
can be placed on the spine and cause serious
injury.

Lifting belts can be used to help support
the lower back, if needed.

Massive Muscle Trick #2: Hamstring Curls…

Hamstring Curls target the hamstring
primarily, as well as the secondary “helper”
muscle, the glutes and the femoral biceps.

Most people rely on machines (the
“regular” hamstring curl machine) for
hamstring curls. You can lay down on this
job – reclining on the machine face down.

Keep your hips flush with the bench.
Throughout the exercise, remember to keep
your abs tightened and maintain the natural
arch of your spine.

–> Here’s what I like to do <--

I like to do my Hamstring Curls
with the Stability Ball. This gives
my Hamstring the full and functional
development that I and many of my
athletes are looking for.

Massive Muscle Trick #3: Deadlifts…

Deadlifts are one of the four core
strength lifts. The targeted muscle
group is the quadriceps, as well as
your lower back and your glutes.

Secondary or helper muscles recruited
into the exercise include the lower
portion of your trapezius, your calf
muscles and, at the lockout portion
of the lift, your rear deltoids and
your lats.

When it comes to form, it’s highly
recommended that you incorporate a
weight lifting belt. If you’re looking
for a trick to more powerful lifts,
stare straight up at the ceiling before
you begin your lift…

Massive Muscle Trick #4: Glute-Ham Raises…

The Glute-Ham Raise, aka “Roman Chairs”,
are a popular strength training and
conditioning exercise. They will target
the hamstrings, as well as the glutes,
and lower back. However, it recruits a
whole host of other stabilizing and
secondary muscles as well.

Warning: Stick to proper form! If you
try to engage in this exercise in a
non-controlled fashion, possible
consequences include strained lower
back muscles as well as excessive spinal
cord stress.

Massive Muscle Trick #5: Leg Extensions…

Leg extensions are essential for the
rock hard, high definition quadriceps
that women go nuts over! Machines offer
single leg and double leg exercise
options, of which you want to concentrate
on the contraction at the top of the lift,
with a squeeze and hold principle throughout
the lift.

Remember to follow through on the exercise
in a slow and controlled manner to eliminate
the risk of undue stress on the knee or other
related injuries.

The primary muscle group targeted in
this exercise is the quadriceps. However,
there are other muscles involved, including
the hip flexor and the rectus femoris.

It’s time to unleash legs that will be the
envy of men and the desire of women all
over, not to mention the fulfillment of
all your fitness fantasies!

What are you doing still sitting there?!

Get up and get busy!
==========================
Q&A With The Strength and
Conditioning King
==========================

“Dear King,

what Supplements Should I take
in order to gain strength”

- L.C.

Dear L.C.,

Thank you very much for your
question L.C. As a member of
The King’s Court, you understand
that you are just as much as
a “king” as I am.

I am no better than you or
worse than you, but together
you and I can grow more and
learn more together.

So let me share this with you.
Eradicate from your mind (at
this particular time) that you
need a pill in order to gain
strength.

All the strength that you need
to gain is already inside of
you. The only thing that can
bring your strength out is
you. You must get it out
with that plate, dumbbell,
bands, bodyweight, kettlebells,
machines, etc.,. in order for
your strength to manifest itself.

You can sit down and take pills
and powders from now until
kingdom come and YOU WILL NOT
GAIN ANY STRENGTH unless you
train.

Focus on training and allow your
body to manifest the strength
that you have. You will be
shocked and surprised about
what YOU can do. If you pop
pills, you will never know
how good YOU are.

Now, I have taken supplements
before and I do. But I worked
myself all the way to the point
where I knew that my potential
was tapped and that I needed
to invoke the help of supplementation.

And to be honest with you, what
I really found out (after some time)
was that a proper diet was the
answer…. not a pill or powder.

And the supplements that I
use are “meal replacements” that
I use in order to stick to my
diet of low sodium and 2000-2500
calories a day.
=====================
What’s New With The Strength
and Conditioning King?
=====================

- I’m still chipping away at the
DVD and Book Maximum Dumbbell
Training. It is certainly tough
getting this done with my little
son running around the house bouncing
off the walls 

- Also if you haven’t yet gotten
your hands on The Backyard Workout,
make sure that you do that right away.
–> http://www.thebackyardworkout.net/   

One of my cousins has already
lost 16 lbs. in three weeks, just from
following the “Worlds Most Easiest Di~et”
- Thanks for sending all the emails and
the testimonials, keep ‘em
coming.
================
I Need You To Do This!
================

- To send a testimonial about The
King’s Court Ezine or how you’ve
benefitted from this newsletter
go here http://tinyurl.com/3xdx7d

- Before you close this page, you need to
do five things:

1. Click here –> info@rhadi.com and…..
2. You can type one of two things in the text area using no more
  than 2-4 sentences:
    a. Tell me what your biggest training problem is right now.
    b. Type how you’ve benefited from the emails and weekly ezine.
3. Click the “send” button
4. Do it right now!
5. Tell every jester you know to join The King’s Court and to
become a Strength and Conditioning King!

Make sure that whatever you send is ok for me to use publicly so
that I don’t have to send out email asking permission.  And, as
always, thanks again for your support!

            http://www.thestrengthandconditioningking.com/

————————————————————

© Copyright (c) 2007 Ferguson Marketing Systems. All Rights
Reserved.

==============
New Developments
With “The Strength
and Conditioning King”
==============

I hope you all had a great weekend
and to the Father’s I certainly hope
that you had a great Father’s Day.

I know I did. It was wonderful. My
wife, my son and I went out to eat
in the evening at this wonderful
restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
off of Las Olas Blvd. called Chima’s.
If you are ever in South Florida,
this place is a MUST!! www.chima.cc
From their website you will also
notice that they have another
location in Vienna, Virginia.

=================
New Developments
=================

Well, if you haven’t stopped
by my website in a few days then
you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

The new Video Section is up and
I will post more video soon but
there are something like 23
videos up and available right now,
just go here –> http://rhadi.com/textpage.php?PageID=20

I will post more videos soon.

==================
More New Stuff
==================

Many people are always asking
me about the things which I’m
reading, what I’ve read and
what book that I’m reading
currently. So I’ve created
a “Rhadi Recommends” section
here –> http://rhadi.com/textpage.php?PageID=21

Currently I am reading an
AMAZING book called “The strategy
Paradox” by Michael Raynor: Why committing
to success leads to failure
(and what to do about it). 

It is a refreshing book about
business that relates well to
coaching, sport and life. It
reminds me of what I was going
through in 2006 when I was trying
to make a business partnership
work but my committment to success
just led to failure in the relationship.

It wasn’t an issue of strategies
that weren’t sound, it was an issue
of paradoxical styles. The relationship
turned out to be a veridical paradox
which produced an outcome that appeared
absurd but was true nevertheless.

And that is that two people can be right
but just wrong for each other 

Enough of the philosophical brouhaha…
the bottom line is that there is some
great information here –> http://rhadi.com/textpage.php?PageID=21

===================
New Products In The Works
===================

My new video Maximum Dumbbell Training
is ALMOST finished and the
book is doggone near done as
well.

I’m trying to get this book done
but, “AAaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhh!!”
sitting at the computer is soooooo
boring at times. I’d rather be on
the mat, in the gym, or playing
with my son (or chippin’ away at
this doctorate degree which is
hannging over my head like a friggin’
rain cloud)

So Maximum Dumbbell Training is
maxing me out. But it is going
to be great. I’ve created a DVD
that has 10 comprehensive Workouts
on it that progress from easy to
difficult. There is also a section
of bonus and rehabilitation exercises
which are super helpful for the
fitness aficionado and the trainer,
coach and/or athlete.

Maximum Dumbbell Training ONLY
requires dumbbells not a bunch
of other fancy equipment that
most people don’t have, can’t
buy or can’t afford. I USE
DUMBBELLS and I attack the whole
body with reckless abandon.

So keep you eye on the lookout
for that later on this year.

=====================
Clients & Training Partners
=====================
Olympian Taraje Williams-Murray

2004 Olympian Taraje Williams-Murray
won his last tournament in Italy
and is now #1 again the USA Judo
rankings. You can follow Taraje
and his workouts and everyday
happenings at his blog –> http://www.taraje.com

Jeff Monson

I spoke with Jeff Monson
yesterday and he’ll be back
in town next week to train and
get in shape for his upcoming
fight against Wes Simms and then
Pedro Rizzo. 

Jeff said that he’s looking foward
to working himself back up the
“food chain” for another title
shot.

=====================
What I Need From You
=====================

Please post a comment to this
and let me know what it is that
you want, what you’re looking for
and how I can help.

If you want to hear from
a fighter let me know.

If you have a video idea
let me know and I’ll see
what I can do to bang it out
or put you in the right direction
with someone who already has it.

Whatever the case post a comment
and let me know.

Please.

All suggestions no
matter how big or small are
welcome.
=================
Last Thing
=================
I have a myspace page 

–> http://www.myspace.com/rhadi <--
www.coachferguson.com

 

Take care,

Rhadi Ferguson, CSCS
“The Strength and Conditioning King”
http://www.thestrengthandconditioningking.com

———————————–
The Strength and Conditioning King:
Rhadi Ferguson, M.A.T., CSCS
———————————–

The King’s Court Vol 1 Issue 10

=============
In This Issue
=============

- Note from The Strength and Conditioning King

- Feature Article: Functional Training: Gimmick or Godsend?

- Ask The Strength and Conditioning King: “I have a question? I
recently had surgeries on my shoulder and bicep in November. I then
had a second knee surgery in January. I am 34 yrs of age and in the
military which this accumulation of old injuries. I use to
powerlift and consistently trained in jiu-jitsu and thai boxing.
Now, my strength is only about 50% and I want to incorporate the
olympic lifts that I use to do as well, but my progress has been
slow since my surgeries. Any suggestions on how I can gain my
strength back and incorporate more flexibility?”

L.H.”

- What’s New With The Strength and Conditioning King:

I’ve got some new stuff that I’m just dying to tell you about in this issue.

Please add “thestrengthking@aweber.com” to your whitelist or address
book in your e-mail program, so that you have no trouble receiving
future issues.

 

************************
Note from The Strength
and Conditioning King
************************

Welcome Members of the Kingdom!

Welcome to Your New Ezine called The King’s Court

You know, I’ve had to come to grips with something recently. And
that is……..

I’m not 20 years old anymore!! I can’t stay up and
play all night long on the computer and get up young and vibrant
ready to go in the morning. Well, not unless I’m trying to make my
blood pressure go through the roof, skyrocket my cortisol levels,
stress myself out and work towards a quality upper respiratory
infection.

If I’m not trying to do that, then I need to rest and recover for
the next day.  When you start getting older, you really understand
that each nights rest is actually a recovery session that you
REALLY need to make sure you get.

And if you’re like many of the members in the court then you are
also working out 3 to 4 times a week at the MINIMUM. And if  you
are, you will certainly realize that your workouts are better and
more productive when you get a good nights rest and when your body
is fully recovered. So do yourself a favor and get some rest.

On another note….

Put down the sodas and pick up the water.  I’m from the south and
you would not believe how many people say.
“I’m thirsty. Larry, could you get me a Pepsi please?” 

Well, if you’re thirsty drink some water. Not a soda. Take care.

Take care and enjoy this weeks King’s Court Newsletter. And make
sure to stop by http://www.thestrengthandconditioningking.com  To
post and to provide input.
Your humble servant,

Rhadi Ferguson (aka The Strength and Conditioning King)
info@rhadi.com

——————————————————–

==========================
Feature Article: Functional
Training: Gimmick or Godsend?
==========================

Functional Training: Gimmick or Godsend?

When it comes to physical conditioning and rehab, one of the areas
seeing the most popularity and enthusiasm has been functional
training. All of that attention is prompting coaches and trainers
to ask some important questions:

1. What is functional training? What sets it apart from other
training options?

2. Does functional training work? Does it deserve all the hype?

3. How can my athletes get the most out of functional training?
Should I take a one-size-fits-all approach, or should functional
training be tailored and customized?

To help take away the guesswork, we’ll turn to Jeffrey C. Ives and
Greg A. Shelley’s 2003 article from the Journal of Strength and
Conditioning Research, Psychophysics in Functional Strength and
Power Training: Review and Implementation Framework, to provide you
with those answers you’re after.

============================
What Is Functional Training?
============================

On the surface, functional training is physical training that
attempts to mimic the demands of real life actions. At its core, it
aims to bring the specific situational needs (and limitations) of
every day life and meld them into the training environment.

These real life activities aren’t limited to everyday activities
either; they can also include sporting and other athletic events.
The end goal? To insure optimized neuro-muscular control while also
emphasizing efficiency of function.

In action, functional training, involves a slew of specialized
exercises:

• Agility drills
• Closed-chain exercises
• Ballistic movements
• Medicine ball exercises
• Balancing activities, etc.

But to get the most out of functional training as a coach, you
can’t stop there. Something else is needed to elevate functional
training from just hype to something that’s real and offers lasting
transformation and improvements.

Does Functional Training Actually Work?
At this point, no one is debating whether or not functional
training works (there are several studies with evidence that it
does), but how functional training can be tweaked to get the
absolute maximum results.

The authors of the article in question, after careful research,
have noticed that most of the approaches to functional training are
omitting important factors that play a part in both physiological
and neuro-motor adaptations.

When they boiled it all down, they came up with a few conclusions:

1. To get the most out of functional training, attention must be
pad to the cognitive and perceptual environments. This means that
if you’ll be competing in an event on turf-grass, you should be
training on turf-grass. If you’ll be playing in the mud, you should
be training in the mud, too.

2. Strength and power movements in real life scenarios are
performed in situations where athletes face varying cognitive and
perceptual challenges. To be truly effective, functional training
should too!

These conclusions translate into specific recommendations for
coaches interested in pursuing functional training for their
athletes…

Milking Functional Training For All It’s Worth…

This article went further than most other related research
articles. Instead of merely wondering if something worked, the
researchers involved were equally concerned with the goal of
tweaking functional training to get better results.

In this quest to improve the acceptance and implementation of
functional strength training across the country and the globe, the
researchers compiled a list of suggestions for coaches and trainers
interested in helping their athletes milk functional training for
all it’s worth.

This doesn’t allow for a one-size-fits-all approach, and instead
encourages coaches to customize their training regimens for the
individual, not the group.

1. Coaches should work to determine the physiological, perceptual
and psycho-motor skills and factors that are necessary for their
athletes to reach optimal, successful performance.

2. Coaches should also focus on determining the specific
constraints which influence movement and performance outcomes.
Attention should also be paid to the obstacles that must be
overcome for “learning” to take place. Look at these obstacles as
problems that MUST be solved. And once again, avoid the temptation
to look at this as a group activity. Though every athlete that you
train should be a part of this process, it should be focused on the
individual, based on their individual strength, weaknesses and
capabilities.
3. When you’re designing your training environment, whether it’s
indoors, out of doors or elsewhere, make sure that you tailor it to
address not just strength and power, but also the mental factors
and psycho-motor (voluntary movement) aspects that will also play a
part in their final performances. Address things like mental
effort, attention span, and don’t forget about intentions. While
your training may not be able to address each and every one of
these items, strive to integrate as many of these factors as
possible into your training environment.

4. Don’t forget to involve your athlete in your training planning.
Be sure that you carefully make them aware of their constraints,
obstacles and effective “cues”, but don’t rule them out of the
decision making process. They may have unique solutions that will
provide them with the means to accomplish their training goals to a
degree greater than what you could offer on your own. Be sure to
monitor the progress of your athletes. Once you realize that
they’ve achieved their current goals, it’s time to begin presenting
new obstacles and constraints into their training so that their
progress won’t stagnate.

If you’ve been contemplating making the shift to functional
training for your athletes, don’t make the mistake of thinking it
will be easy! This personalized, customized approach to coaching
will pay off with big results, but it will cost you time, effort
and foresight.

However, if you’re not afraid of working your butt off as hard as
your athlete’s do, you should be in prime condition to make the
switch to functional strength training. On a positive note, as your
training progresses, so will your athletes.

A Special Note To Coaches:

Just remember that you absolutely MUST allow them to work on
solving their own problems and learn new ways to accomplish their
primary goals and overcome the most pressing of obstacles standing
between them and their success.

Take care and thanks for reading.

Your Humble Servant,

Rhadi Ferguson (aka “The Strength and Conditioning King”)
———————————————————–

Ask The Strength and Conditioning King:
“I have a question? I recently had surgeries on my shoulder and
bicep in November. I then had a second knee surgery in January. I
am 34 yrs of age and in the military which this accumulation of old
injuries. I used to powerlift and consistently trained in jiu-jitsu
and thai boxing. Now, my strength is only about 50% and I want to
incorporate the olympic lifts that I use to do as well, but my
progress has been slow since my surgeries. Any suggestions on how I
can gain my strength back and incorporate more flexibility”

Dear “Distinguished” Member of The Court:
 
Well, I understand your question and I hope that I’m attacking it
from the right angle, if not, let me know.

To me it seems that you are really looking to do three things.

(1) gain some “lost” strength
(2) rehab your knee injuries
(3) gain some flexibility

First things first….

(1) Gaining “lost” strength.

You asked about Olympic Lifts, but what you really want is more
strengh and more power and you want to gain back the strength  that
you lost.  Well, remember expressing strength through lifting is
only one way to express strength and power. It can be express
through various activities and more often than not your ability to
perform movement appropriately and with good form can help in the
“expression” of strength. Case in point, when prospective NFL
athletes are getting ready for the NFL combine in order to showcase
their skills and strength, they learn “tricks and tips” to run a
faster forty time. They aren’t necessarily faster, but they have
expressed an increase in “power” through a decrease in their forty
yard dash time. 

So technique is one area where  you can improve.  Use less weight
and work on your form and technique. The second thing that I want
you to realize is that strength can be expressed at a greater level
through and increase in neural drive through neuromuscular
adaptation.  You can accomplish an increase in strength in this
fashion through functional training exercises. More specifically
asymmetrical loaded exercises such as the 1 Arm DB Snatch and the 1
Arm DB Clean and Jerk and the 1 Arm Over Head Squat.  You may also
use unilateral training modalities such as 1 Leg Squats, Single arm
presses and single arm pulls.  You can also switch things up by
training in a stabilization limited training (SLT) environment so
that when you do return to a stabilized environment you may be able
to “express” greater strength due to an increase neurally.

What I’m telling you is this. You may lift less weight but actually
be “stronger”, if that makes sense.  Don’t worry about the weight,
worry about functional strength. You don’t need to lift a house in
order to throw a thai kick. 

(2)Rehabbing your knee

I’m not really sure what type of knee injury that you have, but if
it is an ACL injury, you want to spend a great deal of time
strengthening your hamstrings and if it is a PCL injury you want to
spend a great deal of time strengthening your quads. If you’ve
injured your LCL don’t overdo the hamstring work, it can really
aggravate the LCL if it is still tender.
One thing that you will notice with a knee injury is that you are
in constant rehab mode. You should always ice after practice or a
vigorous training session. Try to incorporate a lot of balance on
proceptive work in your training. Try to stay off the machines and
work the bodyweight and free weights.

(3) Flexibility

I’m really not sure that you have a flexibility issue as much as
you have a joint mobility issue. Kick the functional training into
high gear and consult with a physical therapist. The one thing that
I do know is this. Most of the time a lack of joint mobility is due
to a lack of strength. Many times the brain will send an inhibitory
response signal in order to stop you from moving into a range of
motion which would most likely cause you to injure yourself. This
usually happens due to a lack of strength. So I’m of the school of
thought that as you increase your strength through a quality
working range of motion, you will also increase your “flexibility”.
 I really don’t do a whole lot of static flexibility myself.

But I do recommend Bikram Yoga. It’s a good change-up and somewhat
fun. 
I hope that answered your question.

Your Humble Servant,

Rhadi Ferguson (The Strength and Conditioning King)

———————————————————–
What’s New With The Strength and Conditioning King?
- I’m still chipping away at the DVD and Book Maximum Dumbbell
Training. It is certainly tough getting this done with my little
son running around the house bouncing off the walls 

- In the next upcoming months I’m releasing a DVD with one of my
clients called “The Harder I Work, The Luckier I Get.” The video is
about how I train prepare and work with 2004 Olympian and 2008
Olympic Hopeful Taraje Williams-Murray.  It is also a peek inside
the life of elite athletes. It is a great piece of work. If you are
interested you may go to
http://www.theharderiworktheluckieriget.com

- Also if you haven’t yet gotten your hands on The Backyard
Workout, make sure that you do that right away. –>
http://www.thebackyardworkout.net    One of my cousins has already
lost 12 lbs. in two weeks, just from following the “Worlds Most
Easiest Diet”
- Thanks for sending all the emails and the testimonials, keep ‘em
coming.

========================
PLEASE SUBMIT A TESTIMONIAL
IF YOU’VE ENJOY THE KING’S
COURT
========================

- To send a testimonial about The King’s Court Ezine or how you’ve
benefitted from this newsletter go here http://tinyurl.com/3xdx7d

- Before you leave this page, you need to do five things:

1. Email me at rhadif@rhadi.com and….
2. You can type one of two things in the text area using no more
  than 2-4 sentences:
    a. Tell me what your biggest training problem is right now.
    b. Type how you’ve benefited from the emails and weekly ezine.
3. Click the “send” button
4. Do it right now!
5. Tell every jester you know to join The King’s Court and to
become a Strength and Conditioning King!

Make sure that whatever you send is ok for me to use publicly so
that I don’t have to send out email asking permission.  And, as
always, thanks again for your support!

If you enjoyed this message and you’d like more like
then visit www.thekingofstrengthandconditioning.com
and get your free ebook and MP3s right now.

————————————————————

© Copyright (c) 2007 Ferguson Marketing Systems. All Rights
Reserved.