Monstrousitous Strength and Performance Blog

My 2 Year Fitness Evolution - Part 1

by Jeff Lee

I'm coming up on the 2 year anniversary of the day I took complete control over my life, my cravings, and my success in fitness. April 1, 2021, I had grown sick and tired of looking like I don't train. So, I hired a coach, and a damn good one, and in process have learned so much more about myself it's not even funny. I have learned tricks along the way to help my clients as well, so I almost consider what I did the springboard to actually starting Monstrousitous Strength and Performance in it's current form - an LLC.

Let me start at the beginning. 2021 up to that point was hard for me. I had lost a coach and friend, Terrance Mitchell that previous October right as we were hitting stride. Terrance is the soul behind 45 Days of Discipline and the 12 Week Hybrid by the way. He taught me how to train with kettlebells and that program was a salute to him. So, here I was in April and I finally pulled the trigger to reach the goal Terrance and I had set - weigh 230 again. A weight I hadn't been at since college. Starting at 292, I had a ways to go.

So, my coach Justin Harris started me on carb cycling, and the results spoke for themself. I ate whole food meals, at more carbs some days, less on others and quickly lost 20 pounds by my birthday (just 7 weeks in). Then, we progressively kept going - lower carbs on training and non-training days, and higher carb counts on high carb days to keep my metabolism high. Before I knew it, I was at 250 pounds, and as school came into session I knew it would only continue. I wasn't moving a whole lot at home outside of my training and cardio, but moving 10,000 steps a day at work made all the difference, and by October I hit 230 pounds.

It wasn't easy, it wasn't the hardest thing I've done either, it was simply a decision I had to make. Did I wish to be successful or not? If you're reading this - that's the question for you. Do you want to be successful? Do you really want to get the job done? Or is it hyperbole? I'm a man of my word - I know my angle - what's yours?

The Development of a High School Strength and Conditioning Program

by Jeff Lee


This is a brief outline of what we are doing for our student-athletes at Oldham County High School. This is my first year back working with teams since 2011 in person, and it has been one of the best experiences I have had in the profession. My last stint was as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Southeast Missouri State University and I walked away from that position to start our family. It’s hard to put into words just how much I have missed being in the weight room, working with student-athletes, and developing a culture of hard work and discipline. In terms of our football team, we are a Kentucky 6A program and they finished this past year 0-10. Myself and another friend and teacher started the school’s first powerlifting club this year and this article is to lay out our program evolution, what we are instilling in the kids, and the principles we use when training them.

1. Don’t Train to Failure in the Big 3

This is a concept that our kids have struggled with. They all think that every day is the day to go as heavy as they can. The problem is, there is nothing to write home about on the bar. We have used this time to instill the importance of NOT failing, getting your reps, grooving our technique, and making small improvements week to week. We have yet to put a bar on the back but we are close to it with the weightlifting group. We started small with 3-second eccentrics on goblet squats to build technique and show them what it means to place a muscle under tension. We now have the goblet squat as an accessory movement but are now on to the front squat as our tier 1 squatting movement. I love the front squat as a teaching tool, ingraining squat depth, and just making them miserable. Front-loaded movements aren’t fun, but that is where we began - and NOT by training to failure. With this age group, I think going lighter is better, and it’s better to leave a rep in the tank at least, but more than that is just as good. Let the kids have a win by having 5-10 pound jumps in their final sets each week, and then rotate to another movement when you see that as a group they’ve about reached their limits.

2. Train Full-Body Every Session

At OCHS, we use the Tier System due to its versatility and balance of movement type across a weekly schedule. We use the typical Total, Upper, Lower rotation and generally work in 3-4 tiers, but also include a full body repetition day that includes dumbbells and calisthenics only. As a strength coach, I believe one of the most overlooked elements in a lot of programs is its lack of calisthenics. We use push-up variations, pull-up variations, dips, assisted dips, lunges, and Hindu squats primarily. We look to program a 10-20% increase in calisthenic volume each week to continue building their bodies. With the accessory lifts (both upper and lower body) we rotate those exercises every 3-4 weeks and give them a variety of movements progressing from the easiest to master to a more difficult movement requiring more stabilization (usually moving from double leg or double arm to a single leg or arm). An example, and something we have used is to progress from dumbbell bench press to an alternating bench press to a one-arm DB bench press - all the while keeping reps in the 8-12 range.

3. Coach and Be Coachable

A former boss of mine, Emil Johnson, who is the Head Strength Coach at the University of Hartford once told me that there should never be a time in the weight room when you aren’t coaching. There is always something to fix, whether it be technique or attitude. I have told our kids this and told them to be receptive to it. They need to be coachable. If they aren’t following the program to the letter, and need an adjustment on the technique side, that’s on them first to listen, but if they cannot do that it’s on me or another coach to get them to correct it. The point is, being coachable is a lifelong skill. If you’re not giving your best and someone asks for more, it’s your duty to correct it. If you are asked to do something but don’t know how to do it, it’s also your duty to advocate for yourself and let the coach know you have no idea what he’s saying. NOTE: I think it is vital that coachability goes both ways. As coaches, we are not exempt from learning from our trainees. We must take the visual and auditory feedback we get from our student-athletes and adjust. If you fail to adjust to them and their performance during your training session(s), you as the coach have failed. We must put ego at the door and learn from what we see and hear in order to provide the best product possible for our student athletes.

4. Have Standards

From a technique standpoint, you should have standards. From a work ethic standpoint, you should have standards. From a room point overview you should also have standards. My standards are high with work ethic and technique, but the room standards are just as important. The bars should be picked up, the dumbbells should be picked up, the plates should all go on the bar the same way, and the racks should all be set at the same level. The picky stuff matters and if kids begin taking pride in what they have, it carries over to how they train, and ultimately how they play their respective game. Details matter.

5. Be a Teammate

This one should be number one on my list. It’s essential to be a good teammate, but what happens if nobody has ever taught you how to be one? This again is something I took from Emil. The room you’re in should be electric, but it’s a process to get there. The first step comes with telling athletes they need to care about their teammates and support them. Most think it’s just yelling “COME ON! PUSH!” but it’s far more than that. Being a great teammate is caring about the guy next to you more than you care about yourself. Sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. If everyone in that room cares more about the performance that the guy next to them has, nobody escapes. When it’s your turn to get under the bar, another teammate has your back - spotting, coaching cues (because we teach kids this stuff), and then to just plain get excited for them. One more rep can become 5 more because you have a room full of kids behind that athlete. In my eyes and experience, the only thing that matters as a strength coach is delivering a group of teammates. Sure, the X’s and O’s matter, but nothing matters if the effort and intensity aren’t there from man 1 to man 99 on that roster or team. It’s our job as strength coaches to not only get them physically strong but to create a cohesive unit of young men and women who are in it for the name of the jersey (not the back side of it either). I’m excited to see where our training takes us in the coming months. I can tell you for a fact that our weightlifting group, which 90% of them aren’t student-athletes, have improved a ton. Not only their technique, not only their weights, but the way they carry themselves in the hallway and classrooms. Kids who once stared at the floor when they walked, now stand tall. To me, that’s the only thing that matters, building confidence in young men and women. In the coming weeks and months, more teams will come into the fold and we will continue developing them the only way I know how. One rep at a time.

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Contact Us

(321) 456-7890

Jeff@monstrousitous.com

Business Address

Service Hours

Monday - Friday: 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM


Saturday: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM


Sunday: Closed

Social Media

Business Name - [keyword]

2021 | Monstrousitous Strength & Fitness | All Rights Reserved

Privacy Policy | Site Map