Coach Keith's Corner

People often say when they see the girls in the Olympics or hear about kids working out in a sport 20 hours a week, "they are giving up their childhood" or something along those lines.  What these people don't understand is 99% of the time that's where those kids want to be - that is their childhood.  What they should probably say "wow that's amazing that kid found something they like that much that they want do it 20 hours a week." I don't advocate having a kid drop everything at a young age and focus on one thing 20...

I think going to Catholic schools my whole life really has made me a better coach - I really learned how to guilt people into doing the right thing.  Asking a kid "do you think that was good enough or do you think you should take another turn?"  works much better than just yelling at them to try again (although some days yelling feels good). I am not the worlds authority on shoulder exercises but what I do know is if you screw up your rotator cuff and labrum you are out for a significant amount of time.  If you...

I get asked what do I do with my kids to get stronger or how long do they work on something. You have to realize the kids I coach are in the gym a lot!  They don't move non-stop (there is a lot of down time) but they are in the gym from 5 hours (the 6-8 yr. olds) to 20+ hours (the 13+ yr. olds) a week.  Some gyms practice even more hours - I like to say we are the least psycho of the top gyms in the country. So we will talk about the older optional gymnasts.  They have...

When I visit boxes I notice that a class typically consists of a warm up, working one skill then doing a WOD.  With so many different movements to learn ( Handstand pushups, snatch, front squat, muscle up, handstand walking) you maybe get to work drills etc for any movement once every couple weeks, and if you miss that class you are out of luck.  Like anything, you must put the time into getting some skills.  If you are going to class and using it to get in shape that is fantastic!  If you have hopes of getting muscle ups, hspu...

If you follow me on instagram or get one of my tutorials you will notice that I make a really big deal about stretching.  I think a lot of people look at the exercise and think the stronger you are the easier and while that may be the truth, your range of motion is going to make or break you. A big burly guy with horrible shoulder flexibility will not be able to walk as efficiently on his hands as a smaller more flexible person.  So get out there and work on that flexibility.  I have some stretching exercises on...