Varsity House Strength & Conditioning - 184 Central Ave, Old Tappan, NJ 07675 - 201-767-1305 - info@varsityhousenj.com - Bergen Counties Premiere Sports Training Facility

He-man Frittata Recipe

Ingredients
3 whole eggs
3 egg whites
½ cup frozen mixed veggies
3-4 slices of low salt turkey
2 slices of reduced fat cheese
Season salt & Pepper to taste

Directions
Place saucepan over medium high heat. Turn Broiler on. Mix whole eggs and egg whites in a bowl. Add veggies and pinch of season salt & pepper. Add mixture to saucepan. Cook 2min lifting sides of frittata to get all runny egg cooked. Place turkey and cheese on top and cook under broiler for 1-3min. Frittata is cooked when cheese is melted and there is no more runny egg!

1/12/10

Big Mike’s Blog #1
Competitive Strongman, Certified Sports Performance Coach

Hey guys, welcome to my weekly update on my training each week. Let me start off by saying I am a competitive strongman with a goal of becoming a light heavyweight pro. This article each week will be based on my training from the previous week, and also some of the new things I’ve incorporated. This week was the start of a new program for me that was put together with the help of Joseph Riggio (MS, CSCS), with the focus on the conjugated system of strength development. Throughout this program I will be working with more chains, bands, as well as trying to increase my overall work capacity.

Before we get started, here are some of the numbers I have attained in the past year: Overhead Press-345, Back Squat-515, Front Squat-415, Deadlift-650, Bench-370 (all raw). This week of training I worked up to 305x5 on the over head, 425x5 on box squats with two chains on each side, 285x3 on the bench with one chain on each side, and singles with banded rack deads for power and speed development. To help with my joint stability I have incorporated more dumbbell work into my program.

For the past three years, Saturdays have been dedicated to my strongman specific workouts. I really wanted to focus on power and speed. I started off with log pressing 230x5, 240x5, and 240x5. Next was speed farmer’s with 240 in each hand for 50ft, for as fast as I can move. I did three runs that were all consistently in the 7 second range, with my best time being 7.2 seconds. Next was speed yoke for 50ft, with 565 on the yoke, and my best time here was 7.03 seconds. The day was ended with some stones w/no tacky working up to 310 for 4x1, and 280x3 for lots of power out of the hole. Check back next week for my next post, until then keep training and keep eating!

-Big Mike

1/18/10

Bad-Ass Burrito Recipe

Ingredients
½ Roasted Chicken (store cooked)
½ cup sautéed peppers and onions
½ cup prepared Spanish rice
1Tsp Chili Powder
3Tbsp salsa
2Tbsp low fat sour cream
3 Whole Wheat Tortillas

Directions
Sauté Peppers and Onions in saucepan over medium high heat until cooked through. Add chili powder to pan and cook for 2min more. Meanwhile debone and dice chicken. Place 1/3 chicken, 1/3 peppers & onion mix, 1/3 rice, 1Tbsp salsa, 1/3 sour cream onto tortilla and roll into Burrito. Makes 3 servings.

1/20/10

Big Mike’s Blog #2
Competitive Strongman, Certified Sports Performance Coach

Hey everyone hope training went well this week. This week I was working triples on all my max lifts. I worked up to 320 for3 on the overhead, 475 for 3 on the box squat with 2 chains on each side, 465 rack deads with the band for power and speed, and 300 on the bench for 3 with 1 chain on each side. Friday I did some active recovery work such as sled pulling 6x50 yards, 5 min bike, 15 min tread, and 10x15 yard prowler sprints with a 10 second rest periods.

For Strongman on Saturday it was a beautiful 14 degrees and it was time to train like a true Viking! I started off with a log/axle medley for time with the focus still on speed and power. The log and axle was 240lb each and I had to do each twice and finished with a time of 29.22 secs. Next we brought it outside to do some farmer’s walking focusing on speed, I did a 250 farmer’s in each hand for 65ft with a time of 11.44secs(need to move faster). The third event of the day was meant for work capacity on the 750 tire, working up to 20 flips each between the four of us we did 80 flips in about 12 minutes. Lastly were the stones with no tacky and I worked up to 280x3 and then 280x5.

This Sunday was also spent outside in the cold by jumping into the Atlantic Ocean for the Wounded Warrior project. This plunge was for a great cause, helping support the Wounded Soldiers of our country. On that note we all need to remember that things can always be worse and that is one of the reasons we need to push ourselves to the limit every week.

For the upcoming week I’m going for some singles on my max lifts, so check back next week and until then keep lifting and keep eating!

-Big Mike

1/25/10

Coaches Joe, Mike and Dan all took a plunge in the frigid Atlantic ocean down in Long Branch New Jersey for a charity event to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. .

Team Varsity House Goes Polar