Pictured are World, Pan American and European Champions Roger Gracie, Romulo Barral and Braulio Estima all monitoring their heart rate recovery during training.

Tim,

Thanks for writing in and for the feedback about the site. As I have found, the more you share, the more comes back to you in training and in life. If you have read "The Secret", you will learn about the law of attraction which I believe is true, but there is also the law of reciprocity: help enough people get what they want and you will get what you want for sure.

As for biggest breakthrough in training, that is hard to decide on. I am always trying to put my training "white belt" on and see things from the eyes of a beginner. Since I really started doing this, I have had breakthroughs in many aspects of my training. I will say that one area I dont think I paid enough attention to was monitoring heart rate and heart rate recovery during training sessions. Now I am doing this consistently and not only is it teaching me a lot about myself and my athletes, but it is also teaching me about the exact demands of my exercises as well.

Below is my take on this style of training:

At the 2007 ADCC Championships, I saw the epitome of physical conditioning during many of the hard and long fought matches. I was extremely happy that 5 athletes (Roger, Rolles, Kyra, Flavio, Braulio) I have worked with brought home either a silver or gold medal. I was even more satisfied that even when multiple matches went 20 minutes for my athletes, they were still focused and fresh. This event compelled me to reflect on how my training for cardiovascular conditioning has changed over the years to create this result. The following addresses my current view of this style of training for combat sports.

A common mistake of athletes and trainers is to solely focus their training on what they are good at or what they enjoy most. When I began training athletes, I was no exception to this statement. At the time I began this training over a decade ago, I was very strong, but surely did not have the endurance to match this strength or the endurance needed to be a world class athlete in many other sports that had a different energy requirement.

I have since challenged my thought process about our physical preparation. I realized that the enemy of becoming the best at something was simply being good at something to start with. I began to realize that getting great at your weaknesses and making them your strengths was a key to both physical and personal growth. This new way of thinking forced me to concentrate on the two most important pieces of anatomy for sport training: the brain and the heart.

Initially all I could find on Heart Rate was training and identifying Heart rate Maximums and working within a “target” heart rate for weight loss. We started here by simply measuring our heart rates with our fingers pressed to our necks, but I quickly realized that we were not making progress. The target ranges were too continuous, too long, and did not match the demands of an actual contest. Unfortunately first for my fighters, we then pushed the training to the opposite end of the physical continuum. We began to push our limits with torturous sessions that had the fighters crawling in their own sweat and sometimes vomiting at the end of each session. After analyzing this “hardcore” training, not only did I find that this was not helping performance, but was also deterring the athletes from wanting to train at all. This pressed me to study the exact demands of the sport in terms of length of time for the fight, and energy system requirements for the fight and then apply that to the specific fight style and usual fight architecture that an athlete would use. From here, I created our hurricane training. This style of training is a cyclical form of anaerobic training that is brief, yet demanding, and then followed by adequate rest to then repeat the training again. I started to apply this training to all of my athletes according to the energy system demands of the sport that they played.

For the last number of years, my hurricane training sessions have served me well, but as with anything, I am always trying to improve on what we are doing. I was trying to uncover how to keep the mind under control even though the athlete was under great physical stress during these hurricane sessions. I realized that since the athlete had no reference point for this style of training in terms of biofeedback, it was difficult for the athlete to manage and or determine the level of progress and overall conditioning. In weightlifting, the athlete can easily determine if they are getting stronger by the change in weights and can determine the intensity of any workout by the weight that they select. For cardiovascular training, however, this was much more difficult. It was then that I searched for this feedback mechanism and found it in heart rate monitors.

If you never had a speedometer in your car, how would you ever know what 55 mph “felt” like? It was only through the practice of looking at the speedometer and matching it with your velocity that you learned what 55 felt like and then began to understand how fast you were moving at a certain “feel.” The same is true for heart rate. If you don’t know what it “feels” like when your heart is at 170 beats per minute or you cannot match an intensity level with this rate, you are essentially exercising as blindly as driving a car without the speedometer. Every session, whether it is running or lifting, my athletes now wear monitors to not only let me know their status at any time during the session, but also so that they can develop a sensitivity to connect their heart and mind to better understand themselves. This is known as biofeedback and is critical for an athlete to start to better understand their own body and how it responds to, and as you will see in the next paragraph, recovery from bouts of exercise.

The most important recent discovery I have had from this type of training was finding that heart rate recovery was an important aspect of training I was not focusing on and neither were my athletes. I realized that although it is important for athletes to be able to perform at a high heart rate and intensity, it is also important for the heart to be able to learn to quickly recover. This is now known in science as Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and is becoming seen as a most important ability to work through progressive, cyclical training. HRV can simply be described as the capacity of the heart to recover and do work. Without this ability, the stage can be set for disaster. In our cyclical training we not only monitor the maximum heart rate during activity, but also the speed at which the heart rate returns to our accepted value to tell us that the athlete has recovered. If you are not looking at and training this variable, you are only doing half the work.

If you do not have a heart rate monitor or don’t monitor this value in training I suggest you get one. Without this information about yourself, every cardio session is essentially guesswork. It would, in essence, be like lifting with a blindfold on so you never knew the weight you were using. Without the properly trained endurance, you can be the strongest, fastest athlete and still be in big trouble. Endurance is the key to success and matching it with an understanding of mentally knowing where the body is at and what it has left in the tank through trials and errors working with biofeedback. According to Marcelo Aller, Performance Consultant for Polar Heart Rate Monitors and personal friend, more research is identifying the critical moment in sport in which even though an athlete may have more physical attributes like strength and explosiveness, an opponent that is better able to control their HR and recover may have a better opportunity to make the right decision at the right time. This can and does lead to success in sports all the time. Some may call it strategy, but now science is finding that the connection between the heart and mind play a big role in victory.

In addition to monitoring physical training like lifting and running, I think that monitoring sport specific training will also be very important in the future of sport. By better understanding the physical demands of certain positions and situations in a actual game, coaches and athletes will better learn how to relax, improve technique, and control their bodies and emotions. This will surely be where I next take my training of these athletes. Until we exactly understand the demands of sport, how can we ever adequately prepare ourselves for it?

To summarize, your training should be brief, cyclical and mimic the demands of the actual sport. Every training session should be monitored, and not only should you be looking at HR max, but also the heart’s ability to recover in terms of rate and time. This will create more time for overall recovery, prevent injury, and give the athlete a much better understanding over his or her self. In the great scheme of training and the martial arts, that self awareness is, after all, the ultimate goal.

I hope this helps everyone take their game to another level,

Martin 

Pictured was one of the last photos taken of the group before they left for the combine.  Now with all the pro days about complete and individual workouts coming, the combine team is setting their sites on the draft in a few short weeks.

Although most of the guys stood by their combine numbers, here is a list of some of the tests they did take at the pro days from around the country:

Jay Moore, Nebraska: Ran a 4.74 40 yard dash at 274 pounds!

David Clowney, Virginia Tech: Ran a 6.69 3 Cone Drill!

Dante Rosario, Oregon: 9-10 broad jump and 6.91 in the 3 cone drill!

Germaine Race, Pittsburg State: 9-10 broad jump, 34 vert, 7.00 3 cone drill!

Craig Dahl, ND State: Ran a 4.10 in the short shuttle!

Michael Coe, Alabama State: Ran a 4.49 in the 40 yard dash!

Dan Bazuin, Central Michigan: 9-7 broad, 6.97 3 cone, and 4.79 40 at 267 pounds!

Chris Davis, Florida State: 4.08 in the shuttle, 36 inch vertical and 9-7 broad jump!

Cliff Ryan, Michigan State: 5.14 40, 7.36 3 cone and 29 vert at 308 pounds!

and the big story,

Kyle Cook, Michigan State:  Not only did he run 4.51 shuttle and 28 vert at over 290 pounds, but he set the Parisi Record with 40 Bench Reps on 225!

Congrats to all the athletes for their hard work and look out for them in 3 weeks!!!

Martin Rooney

Pictured is Luke Petitgout practicing the role he will be playing in Tampa for Chris Simms this season: Bodyguard!  We are pumped that Luke just signed with the Bucs and that the two that have been working out for years together here at the facility will now be on the same team.

Also congrats to long time client and now Minnesota Viking Vinny Ciurciu on his recent contract with the Vikes!  Pictured is Vinny below blasting out some nice sets of 10 with 275!

Mark,

Great to hear from you and thanks for writing in.  This is a great question.  I have to say that although the athletes will still be working out, eating right, rehabbing and getting enough rest, the training will actually be different from the combine to playing in the NFL and getting ready for camp.

Right now, many of our combine athletes are back at school to finish up this month with their pro days and individual workouts.  Once those are complete, then it is time to focus the training on strictly prep for camp to play football.  We also currently have a number of current NFL pros in training and their training more closely mimics what our combine athletes will be doing once their workouts are over.

Using Chris and Luke as the example, they are in 4-5 times per week and alternate between running and lifting sessions.  Before every workout, they go through the entire Parisi Warmup as seen below and we also use the hammers and med balls to start tempering the body for the contact of football throughout the week in addition to the speed and strength drills.

For the running, I suggest that athletes at this point really focus on improving their anaerobic conditioning with drills that take less than 6-10 seconds and then repeat. We do more agility and resistive running work than we do straight ahead distance work at this time.  We also do some nice interval work on the ladders as seen below:

Many of these drills are more football specific.  Chris works a lot on 3,5,7 step drops and passing drills and Luke focuses on shorter lateral and backward movement drills that mimic his position.  So obviously I would advise an athlete to start honing their specific football techniques in addition to just pure speed and strength work as well.

Another final difference in the training would probably be the emphasis on the leg work.  During the combine, we do not spend a ton of time on the legs since we are training twice a day 6 times a week.  Now that the workouts have cut down and there is more recovery, the athletes can go after the legs harder too.

I hope this helps,

Martin Rooney

David,

Thanks for writing in and following the program.  As you probably saw, we had another amazing year (check the recent news section to see where many of the athletes excelled).

In terms of overall numbers, every class is hard to compare.  Last year when I was with the groups at a reunion in Boca Raton, they asked me which class was the best and I still find it difficult to answer.

What I will say is this: in our top All Time NFL Combine (means this happened at the combine, not a pro day) every class has had members on the top list and this year was no exception.  See below on the list and the athletes in with an asterisk are the ones that made it this year.

As for big winners, big Michael Allan of DIII Whitworth State shocked many,

Fred Bennett of South Carolina and Craig Dahl of North Dakota had amazing days, Michigan's David Harris' 4.5 turned heads, and Tony Ugoh of Arkansas showed he is the real deal.

Now for some insane numbers, see below (and remember, these are NFL Combine numbers, not pro days or personal workouts):

Here is the 4.3 Combine Club.

Fabian Washington Nebraska 4.25

Triandos Luke Alabama 4.30

Jonathan Joseph South Carolina 4.32

Jonathan Carter Troy State 4.33

Tim Jennings Georgia 4.34

Dunta Robinson South Carolina 4.34

Domonique Foxworth Maryland 4.34

Joseph Jefferson Western Kentucky 4.35

Josh Wilson Maryland 4.35 *

Willie Reid Florida State 4.36

David Clowney Virginia Tech 4.36 *

Matt Jones Arkansas 4.37

Leron McCoy Indiana Pennsylvania 4.38

Nick Collins Bethune Cookman 4.38

Top 5 All Time 20 Yard Shuttles:

Dunta Robinson South Carolina 3.75

Kevin Kasper Iowa 3.75

Deion Branch Louisville 3.76

Justin Beriault Ball State 3.80

Rashad Holman Louisville 3.83

Top 5 All Time Verticals:

Derek Wake Penn State 45.5

Kevin Kasper Iowa 43.5

Jonathan Carter Troy State 42.5

James Anderson Virginia Tech 41

Ko Simpson South Carolina and Chris Harrell Penn State 40.5

Top 10 L Drills:

Kevin Kasper Iowa 6.56

Reed Doughty Northern Colorado 6.66

Chris Davis Florida State 6.66 *

James Anderson Virginia Tech 6.67

Fred Bennett South Carolina 6.67 *

Craig Dahl North Dakota State 6.69 *

LJ Smith Rutgers 6.74

Willie Pile Virginia Tech 6.75

Michael Coe Alabama State 6.78 *

Owen Daniels Wisconsin 6.87

Top 5 225 Pound Bench

Ryan Fowler Duke 35 reps

Bryan Thomas Alabama Birmingham 33 reps

Tony Ugoh Arkansas 32 reps *

Eddie Freeman Alabama Birmingham 32 reps

Drew Mormino Central Michigan 27 reps *

So, overall I thought this class stepped up this past week as well as the past 3 months.  I am proud of them and now we will all look anxiously forward to the draft in April.

Martin Rooney

Pictured is the true speedster of this year's combine class, Josh Wilson of Maryland.  Josh went sub 4.3 when this photo was taken at our last mock 40 test last week.

LD,

Thanks for writing in and for the interest in our program.  This year was another fantastic class and I am always anxious to get it over with at this time of the year.  Everyone is calling in for predictions, so now that the class is almost graduated, I can start to give some out.

In terms of the speed of last year compared to this year, we could be right there.  Dont forget in addition to Wilson, we also have David Clowney, Chris Davis and Michael Coe who have all dropped fast times in training.  Also dont forget that I dont just compare this year to last year's 4.3's (Jonathan Joseph, Tim Jennings, Willie Reid) but to all our previous guys in the 4.3 Combine club (Fabian Washington, Jonathan Carter, Dunta Robinson, Triandos Luke, Joseph Jefferson, Nick Collins, and who could forget Matt Jones! I hope we add another 3 to the group at least and take home the top spot, but every year is tough.

I think that this class is going to surprise people not just with the flat speed of the CBs and WRs, but also our big men.  Keep your eyes out for Gabe Hall, Tony Ugoh, Mario Henderson and Cliff Ryan.  I will be more proud when they all go under 5.0 in the 40 than if we get 3 4.3's!   Those big guys worked so hard and although they may not run 4.2, when you are over 300 pounds and drop a 4.8 that is saying something.

Also we have 3 realy fast DEs that are going to shock the scouts. When Dan Bazuin, Jay Moore and Jacob Ford all drop 4.6's or better, they will turn heads.  Then their other drills are going to be wild too (watch these guys hit the L Drill).

At ILB, I am hoping to have the fastest guy there too.  I am not going to spoil the surprise, but David Harris is surely going way faster than the 4.75 that is expected.  See for yourself if my prediction comes true.

At TE, look for DIII Michael Allan to drop a quick 40, smash the broad jump and blast a high vert and Dante Rosario to smash the L and 5/10/5.  Between them, we could be placing high in every event.

Overall, I measure the overall improvement of this group like none other.  Now it is time for them to go in and get it done.

Let's see how my predictions go over the next 2 weeks.

Martin Rooney

Pictured are a few young athletes in our program getting the chance to not only test their performance, but have the tests actually run by our 2007 NFL Combine athletes! (Pictured are Cliff Ryan, Mario Henderson and Dan Bazuin helping out with the 40).

L.,

Thanks for writing in and thanks for taking an interest in our program and the current state of performance testing in the industry.  I too have seen tremendous change in terms of the level of performance evaluation for athletes in the last decade.

For instance, 8 years ago, myself and others from this organization helped to run major "speed camps" across the country for elite high school football players at some of the top D 1 Universities. These events were an opportunity to get college coaches and these athletes together to test performance and technical skill.  At the time, these were the only such events I knew of.  Now, almost a decade later, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of these events for all sports.  Unfortunately, I have often heard athletes returning from many of these only to be disappointed in either the facts that no coaches were present, they were poorly run, or that they then felt that the event would not impact their future as they originally thought.

What I am trying to hint at is that I do believe that performance testing for athletes at any age are important.  Just like height and weight, I think that an athlete must also always have a gauge on their speed and strength.  Not only that, but by measuring these variables, the athlete then has a starting point and now can work to improve areas of apparent weakness and know when they are actually making progress.  So, my answer is that testing is important, but understanding where that testing will take place and what you are trying to determine from the test will determine its validity. 

My advice would be for every athlete out there to constantly be seeking to improve their physical conditioning and performance. That, unlike what college may like you, is solely under your control.  I would also advise that the testing that they perform be run under the same conditions so that they can accurately see progress.  For instance, it would be great to get a higher vertical, but if that is because of testing differently instead of real gains, the test result is not valid and a false sense of performance.

In the end, nothing will replace hard work and numbers.  As I promise all the athletes I work with, improve your performance and someone is going to notice. Become one of the fastest kids in the country and you will be impossible to ignore.

I hope this helps.

Martin Rooney

Pictured is Josh Wilson CB of Maryland working on his cornerback drills before he left for the Senior Bowl.  Although both the physical and sport specific tests are ways to evaluate athleticism, you still can forget actual career play of the athletes too!

Michael,

Thanks for writing in and great question.  Every year, some form of this question surfaces when it comes to the Combine.  Often it is worded more like do I think that test like the 40 or vertical mean anything, but I will cover this topic to let everyone know what I think.

Every year, athletes are evaluated physically and mentally and the results of these tests do have an impact on their draft status.  What I want everyone to understand is that if you are an athlete going to an All Star game or the NFL Combine, there is already a consensus that you are one of the top players in college football.  Since everyone already knows that these athletes can play, I believe that the tests are a great way to separate one athlete from another, not just in terms of flat out speed, but power, strength,mental toughness and other areas people may think less about like body fat % which to me is often a big clue in on overall discipline.

Imagine for a moment that you are now the coach or GM that has to make a multi-million dollar decision on which athlete to select. The more information you have at your disposal, the better able you are to make a choice.  So, if you have two athletes with similar career numbers against similar level teams, you may be inclined to select the faster, stronger, leaner athlete.

So I guess my take on the situation is that all of the tests are important from the speed, to the football drills to the interviews.  Everyone of them has influence on an athlete's future, so they better be focused and do their best.  Overall, I dont think anything can replace a great football career though.  There is nothing more famous than a pure athlete that may not be as good at the sport as a pure player, but what we are trying to create here is that athlete that has both.

Here is a shot below of Mario Henderson working his OT technique to be the best that he can be.

I hope this helps.

Martin Rooney

Pictured is Dan Bazuin of Central Michigan going through DE drills under the watchful eye of 16 year NFL veteran Dave Butz. 

Milt,

Thanks for writing in and having an interest in the combine program.  Every year, so many people write in and call about the program.  It is always a very exciting and challenging time for us to prepare our athletes as best as possible.  Over the last number of years, we have had very small groups of athletes, yet have produced leaders in many of the events at every position including the fastest man 4 of the last 6 years.   I hope this year will add to the growing legacy.

As for the training, since our time is short with the athletes (sometimes as little as 6 weeks) the training is much more intensified and focused than the fighter's splits.  We train two times a day, six days per week here in the program with Sundays off (unless of course we are doing position work or extra credit on Sundays).   These sessions are running, lifting, football specific, plyometric and rehab sessions.  In addition to these, the athletes are meeting with our nutritionist, massage therapist, ART practitioner, physical therapists and specialists that we bring in for interviews and their extra position work.

I am not going to lie, it is a tough time of the year, but I love it.  There is something about the pressure that we thrive on here at the school and in the end we want what is best for these kids.  Overall, we are not just giving them skills to get ready for the next bunch of weeks, but hopefully concepts that will continue to help them throughout their NFL careers.

This year, we have a very deep class in terms of talent.  For me to pick a clear cut Star of the group would be hard and unfair to the other athletes.  Keep tuning in to the Q&A and over the next few weeks I will keep the stats updated so that you can pick him out for yourself!

Pictured below is a shot of Dan, Mario Henderson of Florida State and Jay Moore of Nebraska working with 30 year veteran NFL coach Chuck Banker

Martin Rooney

Pictured are two members of the 2007 NFL Combine Class, Michael Coe of Alabama State and Germaine Race of Pittsburg State (over 6,000 yards rushing in college) working out the kinks with the foam rolls before a training session last week.

Rebecca,

Great to hear from you and thanks for writing in. I am glad that our company is helping to inspire you and I will let you know that we are always looking for great people in our organization. Now that we are up to 15 franchises plus 5 stores in New Jersey, I am sure we will eventually be in a location near you and needing your help.

I was exposed to the foam roll a number of years ago, but interestingly it was more for the therapeutic arena and not yet in performance. Now, it is not a rarity to see many facilities and programs using the foam roll either pre/post workout or in the training room for rehab.

As I understand it, the theory I was taught for the foam roll was to decrease the density of certain areas of certain muscles by directly working on trigger points. This was used to “loosen” up the athletes for workouts and potentially decrease the chance of injury by addressing chronically injured areas of the body like the hamstrings and hip flexors. We use the foam roll to help athletes identify sore spots and work them out before we do our warmup. For many athletes this is an uncomfortable experience, so teaching proper technique, having the right density of a roller and getting the athlete to understand what muscles to work are all musts for successfully adding this tool to any program.

In my experience, I would not say that the foam roll can be identified as an enhancer of speed. What I mean by this is just rolling is now not going to make you faster, it is the better range of motion and speed of movement that you might be able to attain with proper training that is critical. So, I will say it is a tool that can indirectly affect speed, but still it is one tool in the toolbox. I will be interested to see what you find out from your study and how it is designed. If you need any athletes, let us know. We have a laboratory setting that researchers can take advantage of for sure.

Martin Rooney

Pictured is Kim Conk, the lead massage therapist for our 2007 NFL Combine Program.  Kim has been involved with the program for the last three years and has been an integral part of our rehab and recovery offering. (The athlete on the table, Michael Coe of Alabama State has some big shoes to fill this year.  The last 3 years the first athlete in has been a first rounder! D'Qwell Jackson, Matt Jones, Dunta Robinson)

John,

Great to hear from you and I am so glad that the info on this site is helping to help you reach your potential.  As I always say, your journey in training is ultimately about doing this and learning about yourself.  I am also glad to hear that you are as interested in movement as you are muscle.  This focus of speed work all year is really going to make an impact this season.

With any form of training, it is not the training per se that make you better, but the recovery from the training that results in improvement.   The actual adaptation from the stimulus of training is what we are looking for in training and that is why proper recovery is so important.

In our program, we offer a number of different recovery modalities, but there are a few that you are actively involved in.  What I mean here is that yes we offer massage, active release technique, stretching, and therapeutic modalities like e-stim, ultrasound, and infared, but those are passive uses.  That means that you just sit back and allow them to happen.  Active measures that you must take are also making sure that your diet is perfect, that you are getting enough sleep, are properly hydrated and that you are actually taking the time to recover.  When you mix both of these active and passive measures, now you are going to be ahead of the curve.

My advice is to remember that less is more.  Dont think a day of rest is doing nothing, you are doing the most important thing, you are adapting and recovering for the next training session.  I recommend getting involved with some of the recovery methods above and finding out which ones work for you.

I hope this helps and best of luck.

Martin Rooney