What's The Buzz

What's the buzz,
Tell me what's a happenin'
What's the buzz,
Tell me what's a happenin'

- Jesus Christ Superstar

If you are a fitness trainer, or are being
trained, or just have a membership at
the local chrome and fern gym you could
probably tell me the training buzzword
of the 21st century.

Functional.

As in functional training, functional
exercise, functional strength, and even
in my friend John Wood's website -
www.functionalhandstrength.com

And functional means the movement
you are training is something you will
actually use in real life or in sport. I'm
sorry but it doesn't mean doing situps
on a stability ball or whatever other
new age apparatus the gimmick gods
come up with.

Too many trainers though still use the
body building approach which isolates
and builds up individual body parts.

That may be good for standing in front
of a mirror, but it doesn't help much on
the basketball floor.

How many times playing hoops are you
asked to lay on your stomach and curl
your legs slowly up to your butt? Or
how often are you called on to sit down,
prop your elbows on a pad, and slowly
curl your arms up to your shoulders?

Never. The muscles built that way are
mostly for show. And there's no way
training like that will give you any
greater coordination and body control.

In his book 'Movement That Matters'
Paul Chek points out 6 basic movements
you need to do your work and be athletic.

The squat, lunge, bend, twist, push and
pull.

Any exercise that trains these movements,
especially in combinations involving major
muscle groups is functional.

For playing hoops and shooting those could
be movements like a lunge and medicine
ball throw (lunge, twist), a clean and jerk
(bend, pull, push) and a front squat (squat).

Most of these develop explosiveness and
core strength, balance, and the ability to
transfer force from the lower to the upper
body.

If you're getting your workout
information from a trainer who
emphasizes bodybuilding you are short
changing yourself and probably limiting
your athletic ability.

And this is especially true the younger
you are.

So please find yourself an athletic trainer
who knows his stuff and/or order Coach
Tony Alfonso's ebook for real basketball
training:

The Complete Basketball Strength and
Speed Training Program - 1st Edition

It's available for your convenience now at:

http://www.deandelker.com/alfonso_order.html

Shoot For The Stars,

Coach Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. They aren't very sexy, but bodyweight
exercises are probably the most functional
movements you can do with your body.

Even strongman afficianado John Wood
himself and 5-time national bench press
champion Brooks Kubik extol the virtues
of bodyweight exercise for.

And you can't help become a better shooter
when your body and mind are developing
together.

You have to learn how to do them right
and control your breathing though so for
that I recommend any and all of the
following:

http://www.mattfurey.com/
http://www.bodyweightbasics.com/
http://www.brookskubik.com/
http://www.eddiebaran.com/ (for lady shooters)

Make Every Shot Count

The One Percent Champion

You've probably heard of the "One Minute Manager".
There were a series of best-selling books on the topic
a decade or so ago.

But I don't think you've heard of the "One Percent
Champion".

Pat Riley coach of the Miami Heat wrote in his book
'The Winner Within' how with his Laker teams of
the 80's he implored his players to do just one
percent better each game. That's one percent in
every area. Passing, rebounds, steals, assists, scoring,
etc.

And that one percent made all the difference.

It brought the Lakers three championships and two
other finals appearances in a five year span during
the 80's.

One of the keys to their success was the team didn't
allow themselves to get down if they had a bad game.
They always looked to tomorrow. After all they had
improving to do.

That would be a great attitude for a shooter to adopt
too. You don't have to be the best shooter in the
world tomorrow. Just work to improve a little bit
every day, be consistent and you will be amazed at
your results.

Eddie Baran uses that same philosophy to inspire
women who want to get and stay in awesome shape.
What all the ladies like so much about him is how he
meets them where they are - fitness-wise and helps
them improve in strength, endurance, flexibility,
coordination and stamina.

Not pushing too hard, but pushing all the right
buttons. Whether you're an elite lady hoopster or a
mother who's never worked out in her life Ed has a
way for you to get one percent better, and feel one
percent better every day.

But if you don't believe me check it out for yourself
at:

http://www.deandelker.com/body_sculpting.html

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. The natural bodyweight exercises Ed has custom
tailored for you will train your body as a whole,
speeding up your workouts and turbocharging your
results. This builds a body you can be proud of and a
mind to match.

If you are ready to feel fit and whole, inside and out,
don't hesitate. Enpower yourself today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/body_sculpting.html

Make Every Shot Count

Copyright 2006 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

Grace Be With You

There is a quality great athletes have you don't
hear mentioned too often. Michael Jordan has it.
So does Larry Bird, and Jerry Rice. Emmit Smith
has it and so did Walter Payton. Wayne Gretzky
too. And in baseball Derek Jeter and Ted Williams
come to mind.

My friend and fitness coach Ed Baran calls it
simply, grace.

Grace might seem like a better word for a dancer
like Fred Astaire or a figure skater at the Winter
Olympics, but think about it. It's what every
athlete should strive for.

According to Ed, grace suggests attributes like:

- moving easily without wasted motion
- having mastered your own body
- uncanny awareness of where you are in space
and time
- moving effortlessly and under control
- being at ease and comfortable in your own body
- being one in mind and body
- having strength with balance

A good shooter will always be poetry in motion to
me. There is nothing I find more graceful than a
beautifully arching shot launched with rhythm
and graceful body control.

Some people might be genetically blessed and
naturally graceful, but that's not the end of the
story. I believe anybody with reasonable
coordination can develop grace. All that's needed
is training that teaches body movement under
control.

Bodyweight exercises done with awareness and
breath control will do what weights and machines
can never do for your body, and the most in-depth
program on the market is the best-selling 'Combat
Conditioning' program by Matt Furey.

If you want to develop real grace in motion strap
on your cross trainers and run, run, run right now
over to:

http://www.deandelker.com/matt_furey.html

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Eddie Baran has also taken his background in
bodyweight exercises and gymnastics and developed
a program specifically for women which develops
grace as well as strength, balance, agility, endurance,
flexibility and a killer, toned, lean athletic body.

Give the gift of grace and a finely sculpted body
this Christmas to the women in your life now by
jumping directly over to:

http://www.deandelker.com/body_sculpting.html

Copyright 2006 Delker Enterprises, Inc.

The Secret of Athletic Performance

My 16 year old Andrew had a question recently on
the way to school.

"Who's the greatest football player of all time?"

That's a toughie, right? There are so many positions
and skills involved in American football it's not easy
to come up with an answer.

I've always heard people say Jim Brown because not
only was he a great running back, but the feeling was
he could have been just as dominant on the defensive
side of the ball in any number of positions if he'd
needed to.

I think I'd have to say Walter Payton myself though.
That guy epitomized a football player for me. Sure
he was on the great Bears teams of the mid-80's, but
most of his career they weren't all that good. And
he was pretty much their only offensive weapon.

Thing is we all know an athlete when we see one, but
can we define what makes someone the greatest?

Is it strength? Endurance? Agility?

Flexibility? Balance? Explosiveness?

Stamina? Toughness? Speed? Power?

Attitude? Intelligence? Take your pick.

I guess maybe the perfect specimen in any sport
would have all these qualities wrapped up in one,
but I like the way master freelance strength coach
John Wood has described the perfect athlete:

"...when they move they look like liquid steel
- every muscle relaxed but incredibly powerful
and ready for anything.

That's really one of the secrets of athletic
performance - to be in perfect control of your
muscles, and your mind. Everything else falls into
place when that happens and there is a direct link
between the two that can, in fact, be strengthened."

To shoot a basketball like a superstar some muscle
groups need to contract while others relax so they
don't intefere in the shooting stroke. This takes a
high level of mind and body control.

The key to developing that kind of control is to
stay away from "mindless" exercise. You want
training that builds and strengthens the mind/
body connection.

Jumping on a treadmill and plugging in headphones
so you can zone out is the opposite of what you need.
The same with mindlessly pumping iron, or
aimlessly shooting around with a basketball. You're
not developing anything that way.

For my money there is nothing that develops body
control like bodyweight exercises done right. They
take more concentration and involve deeper neural
pathways than pushing around some external object.
They strengthen the body in natural movements
involving major muscle groups so your muscles learn
to work together in concert, unlike what you get with
weight training's isolation movements.

But before you roll your eyes and tell me how boring
pushups are, let me agree with you. You need more
than that. You need to work your muscles from
different angles to develop unshakeable functional
core strength. And you need to incorporate deep
controlled breathing and mental focus in all you do.

Unfortunately though until recently women have had
to to force feed themselves exercises developed by
men for men. A lady could still benefit from these to
some degree, but now there is a better way.

Fitness afficianado Eddie Baran has taken his unique
experience with bodyweight training, gymnastics,
handstand training, and climbing to craft a bodyweight
scupting and training program geared toward the
female who wants the body of an athlete.

Ladies, you don't wear men's jeans if you want to be
at your feminine best. Neither should you settle for
a man's exercise program. Learn how to develop
body control the way your body was designed today
by seeing what Eddie Baran has to teach you at:

http://www.deandelker.com/body_sculpting.html

Shoot For The Stars,

Dean - The Dean of Shooting Hoops

P.S. Guys, don't forget I recommend a kick-butt
fitness training program for you too developed by
a world-champion fighter that develops full-body
functional strength, endurance, and flexibility.

Coach Nick Nurse has been using it for a couple of
years in England to develop champion caliber
basketball teams with a huge conditioning
advantage.

Now you can even join an Inner Circle
membership club and get fitness tips and advice
from coaches and athletes around the world. Don't
be a lone ranger, but find out how to become a
world-class athlete today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/matt_furey.html

P.P.S. If you feel the need for hand, wrist, and
forearm strength for shooting like I do let John
Wood introduce you to his graduated resistance,
industrial-strength hand grippers.

They would be perfect stocking stuffers for the
athletes in your life. Conveniently available
today at:

http://www.deandelker.com/captains_of_crush.html

Make Every Shot Count

Copyright 2006 Delker Enterprises, Inc.