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The Pro-Maker
An Interview with Joe DeFranco
by Chris Shugart of
T-mag.com
This interview originally appeared on www.T-mag.com
Joe DeFranco is a busy man. Right
now he's training sixty high school athletes, thirty
college athletes, and ten professionals. NFL agents
keep his phone ringing all day long. HBO wants him
to appear again on Inside the NFL. First round draft
picks from Major League Baseball are waiting in line
for his services. And DeFranco doesn't even advertise.
He doesn't have to.
DeFranco is a pro-maker, a gun for
hire used by athletes seeking an edge on the competition.
DeFranco's coaching techniques have brought seventh
round draft picks up to the third round, and third
round pics up to the first. Thirty-one of his athletes
have been drafted into the NFL.
Agents love him and players love
what he can do for them. Scouts, on the other hand,
think he's a scumbag. I asked him about that and about
a number of other hot-button issues in our recent
interview.
Testosterone Nation: Joe,
for our readers who aren't familiar with you, tell
us about yourself and how you got into all this.
Joe DeFranco: Well,
like most people in this field, I grew up obsessed
with sports. My life revolved around playing football
and someday playing in the NFL. I even ended up going
to a private, all-boys high school because of its
football program. I was a third-year starter at Bergen
Catholic High School in New Jersey. I played fullback
and linebacker and I was a captain. We were 22-0 my
junior and senior years and state champs. Other teams
knew that when they played us, they were going to
get their ass kicked!
T-Nation: Now, at age 28,
you're a successful trainer of NFL players, but what
happened to your own pro dreams?
JD: Well, although
I had a great senior year, my performance was hindered
due to excruciating pain in my low back and shooting
down my leg. All of the big-time schools recruiting
me backed off because they could tell I was playing
in pain. To make a very long story short, four years
and four major back surgeries later, doctors discovered
a tumor in my sacrum. The excruciating pain I was
living with for four years turned out to be an osteo
osteoma, which is a benign tumor located inside a
bone.
Since my football career got cut
short due to the tumor, I knew I wanted to do the
next best thing with my career: help other athletes
achieve their goals. I majored in Exercise Physiology
in college and basically read everything I could get
my hands on with regards to improving athletic performance.
I turned into a research freak.
After college, I traveled all over
the country and went to every seminar and read every
book I could afford. Instead of going back to school
and getting my Master’s degree, I decided to
continue my studies in the "real world."
The rest is history.
T-Nation: So what do you
do every day as a pro-maker?
JD: I have my own
business, DeFranco’s Training Systems, LLC,
located in Waldwick, New Jersey. I basically make
athletes bigger, stronger, faster, leaner and more
flexible — and I get paid for it! I have the
greatest job in the world! I cover all aspects of
athletic performance at my facility. I train high
school, college and professional athletes all day
long!
T-Nation: You're still quite
an athlete yourself. You definitely walk the walk.
What are your best stats in the gym?
JD: I've recently
benched 225 for 30 reps. I probably won’t be
doing it again any time soon, though. For me, high-rep
training is similar to cardio: I hate them both! I’ve
bench pressed 440 while weighing 218 pounds, and box
squatted 545 with just a belt. I’ve also recently
performed three strict chin-ups with a 90-pound dumbbell
strapped around my waist.
I know these aren’t the greatest
numbers in the world, but I’m proud of them.
This is because I have permanent nerve damage in my
back and down my right leg from the back surgeries.
I’ve also dislocated both AC joints playing
football and powerlifting. My back and shoulders still
hurt like hell when I train. I must admit that if
I didn’t get A.R.T. treatments every week and
take Vioxx, I wouldn’t be able to bench press
or squat two wet socks! I’ve also never used
anabolic steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs
in my life!
T-Nation: Party pooper. Now,
you're an expert when it comes to prepping athletes
for the NFL Combine and the "Pro Day," yet
you think those tests are mostly bullshit, right?
JD: You’re absolutely right.
The tests are poorly designed. I'd still love to know
who the hell came up with these tests anyway. I mean,
how often does a football player get in a track stance
and run 40 yards in a straight line? And I find it
hysterical these scouts think that the "agility"
drills can predict a player’s game speed. They
fail to realize that true "game speed" and
"agility" is an athlete’s ability
to react to a visual stimulus in a split second. Making
predetermined cuts around cones that aren’t
moving is a lot easier than a running back trying
to juke a linebacker in order to score a touchdown.
And let’s not forget about
the 225-pound bench press test. First of all, it’s
not even a strength test! It’s a strength-endurance
test. I'd much rather see a one to three rep max in
the bench press or incline press. I also think a medicine
ball chest pass for distance would be more appropriate.
The harsh reality of these tests
is, whether they’re bullshit or not, they're
still a prerequisite for a lot of football players
to get drafted or get into an NFL camp. Many players,
especially guys from small schools, must dominate
these tests in order to get the opportunity to even
step on the field and prove they can play. It’s
sad, but true!
That’s why I do what I do.
Hey, if these scouts are going to make these kids
perform the Combine tests, then the kids should practice
to get good at them. That’s where I come in.
I prepare college football players to get past the
first part of their evaluation (the NFL Combine or
their Pro Day). Doing well at their Combine or Pro
Day then opens up doors for them to show what they
can do on the football field. That’s the bottom
line.
T-Nation: Some critics and
a few NFL scouts say your Combine coaching and videotape
on the subject borders on cheating.
JD: [laughing] It’s
only cheating if you get caught, right? Seriously,
any college football player who gets invited to the
Combine and doesn’t learn the techniques to
these tests is out of his mind! Their Combine test
results can dictate their future. Think about it:
one-tenth of a second can literally mean millions
of dollars to these kids! If the scouts are going
to grade them on these tests, why not prepare to perform
well on them?
Here’s what bothers me. Why
is it recommended that high school students take S.A.T.
preparation courses, yet college football players
are frowned upon for taking Combine preparation courses?
Whether you’re talking about the NFL Combine
or the S.A.T.’s, both of these tests can dictate
a young kid's future.
It’s funny that teachers who
teach S.A.T.-prep courses are praised when their students
do well, yet I’m considered an asshole when
my "students" do well at the Combine! It
doesn’t make sense.
T-Nation: Agreed. You once
took a shot at some other coaches, saying that any
coach can make you tired, but it takes a true pro
to make you stronger, faster, and more flexible.
JD: Yes, I made
that statement and I stand by it. Athletes need to
be aware of this. Unfortunately, they don’t
always distinguish between getting tired and getting
better.
Here’s an example: Let’s
say that two performance coaches were preparing two
different athletes to improve their 40-yard dash times.
Coach A spends an hour teaching his athlete the proper
track stance and first-step technique. Coach B makes
his athlete perform jumping jacks for an hour straight.
The athlete who did jumping jacks for an hour would
be more tired than the other athlete. But the other
athlete got better during his workout.
The lesson to be learned is that
athletes must be very careful when hiring a performance
coach. There are a lot of uneducated coaches out there
who make up for their lack of knowledge by just beating
the crap out of their athletes. Don’t get me
wrong, I’m all for hard work. I just like to
make sure the hard work has a reason and a purpose.
T-Nation: Makes sense. What
are the biggest mistakes athletes make in their training,
generally speaking?
JD: Younger athletes
(grade school and high school) specialize too soon.
When I say, "specialize," I'm referring
to playing their sport all year long and never leaving
time for a training season.
For example, there's an epidemic
of ACL tears with female athletes. Studies have proven
that one of the reasons females are susceptible to
ACL tears is due to their lack of relative body strength.
This muscular weakness, coupled with other inherent
female factors (electromechanical delay, joint laxity,
Q-angle, etc.), has contributed to this devastating
injury. Knowing this, you'd think that females would
dedicate some portion of the year to strength training.
Most of them don’t. Instead, they join club
teams, AAU teams, attend camps, and end up playing
their sport all year long! I feel this only contributes
to the problem.
With regards to advanced athletes,
I see the same three mistakes being made all of the
time. The first is consistency. There are a lot of
athletes out there who work hard; the best athletes
in the world do it on a consistent basis, year in
and year out. The biggest problem I see with regards
to consistency is the disregard to in-season training.
I always say, what good is it to be big, strong and
fast in the off-season, if you’re going to stop
training and get as weak as an eight year-old girl
during the season?
The next big mistake is exercise
selection. I think most athletes choose exercises
they're good at or that they enjoy doing. These usually
aren’t the same exercises I consider productive.
Lastly, they lack basic knowledge
of nutrition. There’s no nice way to put this:
most athletes eat like shit! Feeding your body with
the proper food combinations can have a profound effect
on how athletes look, feel and perform! It’s
a shame that a lot of athletes neglect this aspect
of their training.
T-Nation: Good points, and
true with regular people too, not just elite athletes.
Now, as a performance coach, what do you think of
this "functional training" craze?
JD: It’s funny
you ask about functional training. As we speak, I’m
standing on a Swiss ball with my eyes closed, I have
my left thumb jammed up my nose, and I’m juggling
two wobble boards with my right hand. My strength
is more functional already! [laughing]
Obviously, I feel that most people’s
definition of functional training is bullshit! "Functional
training" is a way for skinny, weak personal
trainers to get recognized. They know they’re
not going to turn any heads by bench-pressing the
eight-pound chrome dumbbells, so they balance on a
wobble board and touch their toes! It makes me sick!
Whoever came up with the term "functional"
for these ridiculous exercises needs to have his head
examined. Here’s my question for all of the
"functional" trainers out there: How would
you categorize the following exercises, since you
don’t classify them as functional? Squats, chins,
deadlifts, sled dragging, tire flipping, and glute-ham
raises, just to name a few. I’d love to be enlightened
with an answer to that question. Let’s move
on.
T-Nation: You know, Joe,
you should stop holding back and tell us what you
really think. Just let it out and stop being so shy.
Kidding. Let's do move on before that vein in your
bald head pops! I've heard you use the term "training
economy" quite a bit. What do you mean by that?
JD: I first heard
of this term a couple of years ago at a Charles Poliquin
seminar. Basically, training economy refers to choosing
the exercises that give you the best "bang for
your buck" in training.
In other words, why would an athlete
perform eight unproductive exercises and spend three
hours in the gym, when he can get better results by
doing four productive exercises and spending one hour
in the gym? High school kids are the biggest culprits
of not adhering to the training economy. Their exercise
selection is usually a disgrace and they’re
in the gym way too long. Then they wonder why their
physiques never change or why they never get any stronger!
Athletes must also adhere to the
training economy to prevent overtraining. You must
remember that there’s more to an athlete’s
training than just the weightroom. Spending too much
time in the weightroom can end up being counterproductive
to an athlete’s technical training, conditioning,
etc.
T-Nation: Speaking of conditioning,
let's talk about bodyfat and athleticism. Does it
matter? Some say who cares what their bodyfat percentage
is as long as they're performing. Other coaches make
it a goal to get their athletes ripped. Where do you
stand?
JD: Excess bodyfat
doesn’t help anyone! It only serves as an anchor
when you try to perform! I don’t want an athlete
carrying 300 pounds of shit in a 200-pound bag! Obviously,
not all athletes need to try and achieve the same
bodyfat levels. For example, an offensive lineman
doesn’t need to be as lean as a wide receiver.
But, the bottom line is that there's no advantage
to carrying around too much excess baggage.
T-Nation: Agree or disagree:
A weak athlete is a slow athlete.
JD: Agree! The bottom
line is, if you’re weak, you’re slow!
Athletes who are strong in relation to their bodyweight
(relative body strength) are always fast. Think about
this: the primary function of your body's 600 plus
muscles is to contract to move body parts. Only muscle
can cause movement. If your muscles are weak, they
can’t move your body fast. Simple enough?
T-Nation: Simple enough.
I notice many of your training ideas were inspired
by the Westside powerlifting techniques. Why were
Dave Tate and these guys such an influence?
JD: It’s simple.
Westside powerlifting has influenced me because their
stuff works! That’s right, I have an ego and
the bottom line is that if an athlete hires me, he
will get results. So I make it my business to research
the methods that produce the quickest and/or best
results. I feel many aspects of the Westside system
help me achieve these results.
I’ve always gravitated to what
the Soviets and Eastern Bloc countries were doing
with regards to strength training anyway. I always
thought they were way ahead of us in this field, and
the Westside methods are based on these same beliefs.
Their techniques make sense and everything is backed
by science and real world results.
I use the term "real world"
a lot because I’m not a lab geek. My lab is
the weight room, track, etc. I need to know what works
with real athletes in a real athletic setting.
T-Nation: Hey, a little off
topic here, but I saw a picture of your dad and was
blown away by how big and powerful he looked despite
his age. What's his story? Was he an influence on
you?
JD: My dad has definitely
been my biggest influence. For as long as I can remember,
I begged him to teach me how to lift weights. Finally,
when I was in the seventh grade, he brought me to
his gym. He owned a hardcore gym in a bad section
of Paterson, New Jersey. It was a private gym located
on top of a factory. It was standard procedure for
members to look out the window that faced the parking
lot in between their sets.
T-Nation: Why is that?
JD: They feared
getting their cars stolen while they were training!
What a great training atmosphere for a twelve year-old
kid! I still say it was the best place in the world
to train.
I was also fortunate enough to have
the best teacher in the world — my dad. Since
day one, he always trained me for performance. Even
at twelve there wasn’t much "vanity"
work in my program. My dad stressed to me the importance
of leg strength and core strength and I worked a lot
on my neck and traps. So while all of the other kids
were doing benches and curls, I was squatting, doing
hyperextensions and set after set with the neck harness.
I benched 225 in the eighth grade.
My dad also instilled in me the importance
of hard work. Our workouts were so intense that one
time my mom came to the gym to watch us train and
she started crying! Enough said.
My dad has been training for almost
40 years now. He’s 57 and in the best shape
of his life. He’s currently 5’11"
and weighs 196 pounds at 9% bodyfat. He first started
training to prepare for the physical demands of becoming
a New Jersey State Trooper. He was in the State Police
for 25 years, retiring as a Lieutenant in 1994. During
this time he competed in powerlifting and arm wrestling.
He took first place in every powerlifting contest
he ever entered and placed third in the world in arm
wrestling in 1977!
He was even offered a part in Sylvester
Stallone’s arm wrestling movie, Over the Top.
In his arm wrestling prime, my dad could curl 120-pound
dumbbells for sets of ten reps! He also benched 440
with a pause (no bench shirt), weighing 217 pounds.
He's never touched an anabolic steroid or performance-enhancing
drug in his life. In fact, just bringing up the subject
causes the veins in his neck to pop out!
T-Nation: Wow, I think we
need to interview dad next! Back to performance coaching.
You're a specialist at increasing
the vertical jump. You once said that big calves have
about as much to do with how high you can jump as
the color of your hair. What's the full story on "big
hops"?
JD: The posterior
chain (spinal erectors, gluteals and hamstrings) makes
up around 70% of the musculature responsible for your
jumping ability. Squat and deadlift variations, Olympic
lifts, and good mornings will give you the most bang
for your buck in the weightroom with regards to improving
your vertical jump.
There's another very interesting
factor that plays a large role in how high you can
jump. I’ve had the pleasure of working with
over two-dozen athletes who can jump over 35".
Besides being very strong in the posterior chain,
they had something else in common: "high cut"
calves. What I mean by this is that their calves had
an insertion point very high on their lower leg. This
usually means a longer Achilles tendon. A longer Achilles
tendon can store more elastic energy, which translates
into more explosive jumps.
Think about this: have you ever seen
a kangaroo with big calves? Of course not! The reason
they can jump so high lies in the length of their
Achilles tendons. Kangaroos have the longest Achilles
tendon of any animal on earth. They also spring off
the ground better than any other animal on earth.
Unfortunately, you can’t increase the length
of your Achilles tendon — it’s genetic.
You have your parents to thank for that.
T-Nation: You've mentioned
the deadlift a few times. What kind of deadlift do
you prefer?
JD: I don’t
prefer any one variation of the deadlift; I use many
variations. The variation I choose depends upon the
level of the athlete I'm training and the goal of
the session.
I usually start my high school athletes
with the trap bar deadlift. The trap bar is a great
piece of equipment that I feel should be used more
often by strength coaches. It evenly distributes the
weight through the midline of the athlete’s
body as opposed to in front of it like regular straight
bar deads. This is a great way to strengthen a young
athlete’s low back, while placing much less
stress on the spine. By no means is the trap bar just
for beginners, though. I use it with my college and
professional athletes as well.
Regular deadlifts and snatch-grip
deadlifts are also a big part of my program. For my
advanced athletes, I also like performing all three
of these deadlift variations off four-inch blocks.
The added range of motion helps to further recruit
the hamstrings and vastus medialis. (Try sitting on
the toilet the day after a couple sets of snatch grip
deadlifts off four-inch blocks!) I also like the effectiveness
of using chains draped over the bar with all these
lifts. Deadlifting with chains is tremendous for improving
your vertical jump and first-step quickness.
As far as set and rep schemes are
concerned, it depends on the athlete I’m training.
For younger athletes I prefer more traditional set
and rep schemes. Three to four sets of eight to ten
reps usually does the trick. For my advanced athletes,
I prefer multiple sets of low reps. This type of set/rep
scheme recruits the higher threshold motor units to
a greater degree. In general, I'll usually prescribe
five to ten sets of one to five reps in the deadlift.
T-Nation: Okay, cool. I've
heard you make some pretty definitive statements about
leg training. For example, you say to always follow
squats or deadlifts with a single leg movement. Why
is that?
JD: First of all,
I usually start lower body days with a double-leg
movement, such as squats or deadlifts, because the
brain activates a lot more motor units at once while
performing these lifts. This is because you can obviously
handle much heavier loads in the squat or deadlift
compared to any single leg movement.
It's true that after squatting or
deadlifting, I always prescribe a single leg movement.
This is because I’ve found most athletes have
strength deficiencies between limbs when I evaluate
them. And we must remember that in most sports, athletes
are usually running, jumping, stopping and cutting
off of one leg. Building balanced strength in both
limbs can drastically improve performance and decrease
the potential for injury. I always have my athletes
start the single leg movement with their weaker leg.
I’ll sometimes prescribe one or two extra reps
per set on the weaker leg to try and speed up the
"balancing" process.
The single leg exercise prescribed
is crucial. Single leg extensions and single leg presses
just won’t cut it! The exercises I’ve
found to produce the best results are single leg squats
with the back leg elevated, step-ups, reverse lunges
and sled dragging. All four of these adhere to my
training economy. They all build strength, balance
and flexibility if they're taught and performed properly.
I have about fifteen to twenty variations of each
of these lifts, ranging from beginner to advanced.
They work!
T-Nation: Also, you always
recommend finishing a leg workout with hamstrings,
then doing core work for the abs and low back for
five or ten minutes after legs. What's the thinking
behind these rules?
JD: Always finishing
a leg workout with extra hamstring work originated
when I realized most athletes have pathetic hamstring
development and strength. One thing I won't tolerate
is weak hamstrings! This is because the hamstrings
are way too important in the development of the athlete.
Most athletes have underdeveloped
hamstrings because they're not a "visual"
muscle. Growing up, every kid wants to bench and do
curls. Why? Because you can see your chest and biceps
getting pumped and responding to the training while
you’re looking at yourself in the mirror. Focusing
on training the visual muscles is a habit most kids
start at an early age and then it carries over with
them later in life. This comes back to haunt most
athletes as they progress in their athletic careers.
When I first start training high
school kids, I have them stand in front of a mirror
and look at themselves. I then tell them that all
of the muscles they can't see are the ones we're going
to focus on. I let them know that the posterior chain
is their "performance engine." I also tell
them the upper back and external rotators are paramount
in producing a well-functioning and balanced athlete.
This sets the tone and gets them in the right frame
of mind about the type of training they'll be doing
with me.
Everyone's now well aware of the
importance of core strength. I know a lot of trainers
even advocate starting a workout with abs and low
back so these muscles get top priority. I don’t
like doing this. I feel that pre-fatiguing the abs
and low back before squatting or deadlifting can be
potentially dangerous. That’s why I always start
with the complex movements that train the larger muscle
groups and then finish with abs and low back.
T-Nation: Let's talk about
flexibility. Why is it important and what kind of
stretching do you use?
JD: First and foremost,
when athletes feel good, they usually perform well.
You'd be surprised how many athletes come to me with
alleged "bad backs." They claim they can’t
squat or deadlift (amongst a lot of other things)
because of their bad back. After one flexibility session,
they usually get off the stretching table and have
no pain in their backs!
My point is, a lot of the time an
athlete’s low back pain is due to the tension
caused by shortened hip flexors, gluteals, and hamstrings.
The downward pull created by these muscles usually
causes low-back pain. This low-back pain usually prevents
an athlete from functioning properly. So, feeling
good would be my number one reason for incorporating
flexibility training into an athlete’s program.
Also, a lot of athlete’s hire
me to improve their sprinting speed. My number one
goal for improving an athlete’s sprinting speed
is to increase his stride length. Stride length is
in large part due to your strength and flexibility.
If you have the flexibility of a guitar string, you’re
not going to be able to achieve a full range of motion
when you run, thus, your stride length will suffer.
It’s ironic that the first
thing most of my clients do after getting off the
stretching table is go run around the gym. This is
because they usually feel as if they have a new pair
of legs and they want to "test them out."
After one session, most athletes get addicted to stretching.
The changes are that drastic! So, my second reason
for incorporating flexibility into an athlete’s
program is to improve sprinting speed.
T-Nation: When exactly should
we be stretching?
JD: Timing is everything
when it comes to what kind of stretching should be
performed. Pre-workout I have my athletes perform
an active warm-up that incorporates dynamic and ballistic
stretches. These stretches fire up the nervous system
and prepare the athlete for the workout or event.
I also incorporate P.N.F. stretching
pre-workout and during the workout. Although static
stretching has gotten a bad rap lately, I incorporate
it as well. All of my athletes static stretch three
to four hours after workouts. Waiting a few hours
after the workout allows the nervous system to calm
down and this enables the athlete to achieve a better
stretch.
T-Nation: Okay, interesting
stuff. Now let's hear some mutant athlete stories.
Any good ones?
JD: I can talk forever
on this subject, but I'll give you three of my favorites.
First, three years ago I had the good fortune of training
University of Iowa wide receiver, Kevin Kasper, for
the NFL Combine. Kevin is still the most well-rounded
athlete I’ve ever trained. He's strong, fast,
flexible, and shredded!
One of the evaluation tests for our
athletes was to analyze their squat form on a wobble
board. This is a great test to determine muscular
imbalances, flexibility issues, and weaknesses. Most
athletes suck at this test. Kevin stood on the wobble
board, squatted ass to the ground without the slightest
movement of the board, stood up, and then did a back
flip off the board and landed perfectly on his feet!
It was amazing. He then went on to break three all-time
Combine records and gets drafted by the Denver Broncos.
T-Nation: I can do the exact
same thing. I'll show you, um, later. What's your
second story?
JD: Two years ago
I trained University of Alabama-Birmingham defensive
end, Eddie Freeman, for the NFL Combine. Eddie is
a freak of nature — he also likes to talk shit.
During a lower body training session, Eddie was arguing
with one of the other athletes about who was going
to get drafted higher in the NFL draft. Eddie ended
up deadlifting 500 pounds for five reps during the
argument. The amazing thing was he didn’t shut
up for the entire five reps! He was more in tune with
the argument than the fact he had 500 pounds in his
hands. This was also the first time he ever deadlifted!
(Eddie ended up being a second-round draft pick, thus
winning the argument as well.)
One last story. Kansas City Chiefs
defensive tackle, Eric Downing, is still legendary
among my athletes for his 30-yard, 660-pound sled
drag last year. If you added in the friction created
by the track surface he pulled the sled on, the resistance
was probably closer to 800 pounds! I have a picture
of this in my office. It’s a classic. Eric also
vertical jumped over 33 inches while weighing 313
pounds!
T-Nation: That's amazing!
Sounds just like Tim Patterson! (cough, cough) Do
you work with your athletes on diet?
JD: Yes, all of
them. Nutrition is the weak link for most athletes.
Generally speaking, I have all of my athletes cut
out sugars from their diet. This doesn’t mean
cutting out carbs, just sugars. I use recommendations
similar to John Berardi’s with regards to protein
plus carb meals and protein plus fat meals. If an
athlete is carrying too much bodyfat, I usually recommend
two protein plus carb meals (breakfast and post-workout)
and three protein plus fat meals. Athletes that are
lean would eat five to six protein plus carb meals.
For my advanced athletes, I send
them to my nutritionist, Dr. Tom Bilella, for a comprehensive
nutritional screening. I work very closely with Dr.
Bilella after he performs these tests on my athletes:
Comprehensive Allergy Profile, Amino Acids Analysis,
Adrenocortex Stress Profile, Male Hormone Profile,
IGF-1 Assay (Somatomedin C), Essential and Metabolic
Fatty Acids Analysis.
Once we get the test results, every
athlete is treated as an individual. After the nutritional
screening, Dr. Bilella prescribes an individualized
diet and supplementation routine that I help the athlete
carry out on a day-to-day basis. The results this
type of program brings are drug-like.
T-Nation: How about general
supplementation? What do you recommend to your players?
JD: The foundational
supplements I recommend to most of my athletes all
year round are essential fatty acids, glutamine, magnesium
glycinate, and a quality protein/carbohydrate post-workout
shake. I cycle the brand of the shake I recommend
every couple of weeks. I’m also a huge advocate
of taking three to five grams of L-Tyrosine thirty
minutes before workouts. I feel L-Tyrosine is one
of the most underrated supplements out there. I recommend
creatine as well.
If an athlete needs some help getting
lean, I’ve recently started recommending HOT-ROX.
I’m not kissing ass, either. I tried this stuff
for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It's hands-down
the best fat-burning supplement I’ve ever taken!
T-Nation: Cool! Good to hear!
Let's get back to iron. What do you think of the leg
press machine for athletes?
JD: The leg press
machine and the word "athlete" shouldn’t
even be mentioned in the same sentence! The leg press
is a waste of time for athletes. With all of the squat
and deadlift variations out there, I can’t see
why any athlete would even look at a leg press. Yet,
it’s still one of the most popular pieces of
equipment in the gym, but when I see an athlete on
the leg press machine, I automatically think he's
a lazy athlete.
And don’t tell me you’re
doing leg presses instead of squats or deads because
you have a bad back either. The leg press is much
more damaging to the low-back compared to squats or
deadlifts. Not to mention the fact that leg press
strength has no carryover to the athletic field! Try
putting the leg press machine on your back and see
how many times you can squat it. Then it may be useful
for athletes!
While we’re on the subject,
let’s burn the leg extension, hack squat, inner/outer
thigh machine, pec deck, and that stupid pad that
people wrap around the bar when they squat!
T-Nation: While we're on
that subject, what's the dumbest athletic training
device or gadget on the market?
JD: Where the hell
should I begin? If I listed all of the worthless gadgets
out there, we'd be here all day! The two devices that
baffle me because they've been around for so long
are the parachute and strength shoes.
I mean, the parachute blows all over
the friggin’ place when you start running. This
alters running mechanics and can actually make you
slower. And if it’s a windy day, you’re
really screwed. If you’re not planning on jumping
out of an airplane, you don’t need a parachute!
And then we have strength shoes.
These things are supposed to strengthen your calves,
which in turn will make you jump higher. Well, you
already know how I feel about that statement! These
things also come with workouts that even the most
advanced athletes can’t complete. I used these
shoes in the eighth grade and pulled my calf muscle.
I couldn’t walk for two weeks. I’ve also
seen too many cases of Achilles tendon injuries with
these things. If you really want to walk around on
your toes, go buy a pair of high heels!
T-Nation: Already have two
pair, thank you very much. Now, you do like the Swiss
ball though, correct? That thing causes a lot of controversy.
JD: Yes, I like
the Swiss ball for certain exercises during certain
times of the year. The problem with the Swiss ball
is most trainers overuse it. It becomes counterproductive
when it’s overused because you can actually
get weaker! This is because even though your stabilizers
are activated, your prime movers are never overloaded
due to the decreased loads you must use in Swiss ball
exercises.
I like using the Swiss ball for high-rep
dumbbell work, implemented in two to four week mini-cycles
in a program. This is a great way to add muscle mass,
address muscular imbalances, strengthen weaker stabilizing
muscles, and it acts as restoration. After a few weeks
I'd move on to more traditional exercises. I also
like performing ab work on the Swiss ball due to the
pre-stretch it provides during the eccentric contraction.
T-Nation: How 'bout Olympic
lifting? You don't seem to be a big fan of it.
JD: I need to clear
this up. People always accuse me of condemning the
Olympic lifts. It’s not that I don’t like
the Olympic lifts or that I never do them, I just
feel there are usually quicker, more efficient ways
to achieve certain goals.
First of all, the Olympic lifts take
a long time to teach. After all, they're a sport in
and of themselves. It usually takes a while before
an athlete gets good enough at them to be able to
handle a sufficient amount of weight. That is, if
the athlete ever gets good at them!
I don’t always have a lot of
time to work with athletes. An athlete might fly in
and train with me for four to six weeks before training
camp. I need to get quick results. I can’t spend
a week teaching a pro-athlete how to power snatch
a broomstick! And the reality is that most athletes
aren’t good at these lifts when they first learn
them. This is usually because they aren’t strong
enough in the right places.
After assessing an athlete’s
power clean or power snatch form, I usually conclude
that his technique flaws are due to a lack of hamstring,
glute and low-back strength. This assessment usually
means I end up prescribing more deadlifts, reverse
hyperextensions, glute-ham raises, etc.
This goes back to what I was saying
about the training economy. Getting stronger in the
deadlift, reverse hyper and glute-ham raise will improve
your power clean, but it doesn’t always work
the other way around. Basically, I choose the exercises
that give my athletes the best "bang for their
buck" in the shortest possible time.
T-Nation: Okay, here's something
I've noticed recently. When I interview performance
coaches I always ask them what the key exercises are
for athletes. Yet when I myself design a training
program for a guy just wanting to look good naked,
I find myself prescribing most of the same exercises:
deadlifts, squats, pull-ups, rows, dips, etc. What's
the lesson here?
JD: The lesson to
be learned is that the exercises you named produce
the best results, regardless if you’re an athlete
or you’re just trying to look good naked!
It drives me nuts when people think
that the best way to get "toned" and look
good is to perform such exercises as cable crossovers,
concentration curls, and the inner/outer thigh machine.
This is complete bodybuilding magazine fiction!
The "toned" look is achieved
when people who strength train possess low bodyfat
levels. Basically, if there's minimal fat covering
your muscles, you'll look "toned". Exercises
such as squats, deadlifts, and pull-ups are great
choices due to the fact that they work a lot of muscle
mass and they burn a ton of calories in the process!
It’s a fallacy that these exercises
make you look bulky. Eating too much makes you look
bulky! One of my biggest pet peeves are people who
eat at McDonald’s every day, then come to the
gym and only use the plastic-coated, neon-colored
dumbells because they "don’t want to get
big and bulky."
T-Nation: Yeah, some people
deserve public beatings. Hey, what's the steroid scene
like these days in high level sports?
JD: Steroid use
has actually died down a little bit. The steroid testing
in sports has gotten more serious and I think athletes
are scared of getting caught. Don’t get me wrong,
though, it’s still out there. Growth Hormone
seems to be the drug of choice these days. This stuff
is becoming as mainstream as Gatorade! I also think
this whole "designer steroid" thing is about
to take off. The athletes always seem to be one step
ahead of the guys doing the drug testing.
T-Nation: Thanks for the
chat, Joe. Very cool stuff. Where can readers find
out more about you, your services and your video?
JD: They can checkout
my website at www.defrancostraining.com. If you subscribe
to the site (it’s free), you'll receive an e-mail
newsletter whenever I update the site with new information.
My video, Mastering
the Football Combine Tests, can be ordered at
my website, too. T-Nation readers can also email me
at joe-d@defrancostraining.com.
I've also started to work on an article for T-Nation,
so hopefully that'll get published and your readers
will be hearing more from me.
T-Nation: Thanks again, Joe.
JD: Any time, Chris!
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