I just stopped by a BIG sports plex in Metuchen, NJ. I was watching one of our kick butt athletes, Amber Rauh, playing Volleyball with her club team. I was fired up seeing her play! When I saw her play I thought to myself, “WOW. I would get KILLED playing against her team!! ha ha” To see her strength, power and MOST of all, her confidence to play the way she was playing, it REALLY made me happy. It let me know we’re helping athletes do what we set out to do.

I saw TONS of girls playing Volleyball, jumping, running, cutting directions…. There were several courts of high school volleyball clubs playing.

I started thinking of a girl who was an AWESOME Basketball & Softball athlete & tore BOTH ACLs her final 2 seasons. I was her Phys. Ed. teacher in elementary and middle school. I watched this girl grow up.

That same girl didn’t want to train with us when she was mid way through high school, she was brain washed into thinking girls who train with weights will look like men.

TRUTH: Sorry, it’s NOT that easy, if it was that easy, all our 120 lb athletes would be 200 lbs of solid muscle but they’re NOT.

Her junior year, this star athlete tore her ACL during Basketball and had to get surgery, missing her junior season of Softball.

Senior year, she tore her OTHER ACL during Basketball, missing her final season of Softball, killing ALL chances to play sports in college and even more, lost ALL her opportunity to get a college scholarship.

I’ll NEVER forget this. It sounds odd, but it’s NOT a rare occurrence for female athletes.

She listened to false information and decided against training, which resulted in her not being physically prepared to the best of her ability.

That’s what we do at The Underground. We help YOU realize your true potential and the BIGGEST way to help you is to strengthen your body and reduce your chances of injury. If you’re hurt, you can’t compete. Period.

Anyway, back to my story while seeing all these girls playing Volleyball…..

Studies show that high school female athletes suffer from over 30,000 ACL tears every year.

Watching all these volleyball clubs playing, I saw ACL tears somewhere in this group, looming…. I looked around and saw nothing buy athletes playing soccer and volleyball. There was NOTHING regarding proper strength & conditioning.

I took a walk to the front desk as I was leaving and asked the guy at the front desk if he has anyone talking to the parents about proper training for their kids, as I saw kids playing soccer as young as 5 in that building. I said, “I’d love to help if you don’t have anyone educating your parents and their kids.”

His first response was NOT what I expected, “Yes, this would be a GREAT complimentary benefit to our athletes and an added value to our parents. I’d love to do this because I CARE about the athletes playing here….”

Well, that wasn’t the response…. Here is his response: “You would have to pay us $1,500 in sponsorship to speak here because people will go and train with you after speaking here…”

I replied, “That’s up to them if they want to train here, but you just told me you don’t have anyone here to help these athletes with proper strength & conditioning, nobody talking to the parents, nobody educating them on how to improve their performance…. You still want money for someone offering to help your athletes and their parents?”

I told him I wouldn’t pay $1,500 to hang a banner when my intentions are to help the athletes. His response, “Not interested…..”

I walked away, sick to my stomach, that this manager or perhaps the owner, was solely focused on $$$$, he was NOT focused at all on caring about these athletes and helping them achieve their true potential. What a shame.

He was too arrogant and felt if these kids and parents are educated they would train with me. Well, that would be great, that IS the goal of mine, in our efforts to help all local athletes. Period. That is what we do. We train athletes. We help them reach their potential.

The difference between us and this close minded manager is this: If I can’t help my athletes in a specific area, I bring in an expert to fill the gap.

These kids deserve better. These kids deserve MORE than just a place to play sports.

As a Coach and as a former competitive athlete who had injuries that sidelined me and killed my chances to reach my full potential…. and as a father, this makes me sick to my stomach that someone didn’t see that this would HELP the athletes and NOT cause him to lose money. Instead, it would have INCREASED the value of his business because he would be showing that he CARED about the athletes.

People like this need to re-think what $1,500 means to them or $15.

Would these kids / parents STOP playing sports in this metuchen sportsplex because I educated them on how to reduce injuries?

NO. I don’t own a sportsplex, we train athletes so we can help them achieve their true potential in sport.

We bring in top nutritionists, mental coaches and other coaches to compliment what we do and give our kids the best we can, especially if we are not covering these critical areas. We don’t say, “Hey, Pay us if you want to speak here!!”

Wanna know what this comes down to?

The Answer: CARING…

If you work with athletes, in ANY capacity, you need to CARE. Period.

Recommended Reading Materials for Metuchen SportsPlex Management:

Committed to YOUR Success,

–Team Underground–

See More Success Stories & Testimonials From Parents & Athletes HERE

If you ever wonder HOW we train, the best thing to do is to visit our you tube page and see our training videos.

If you REALLY wanna gain access to our coaching to help you become a champion then PLEASE, do NOT call and ask for a tour of the gym.

Touring our gym does nothing…. and, only takes 10 seconds. Through the years, EVERYONE now owns Kettlebells, free weights, sandbags, tractor tires, etc.

The tools mean NOTHING, it’s the coaching that brings the results.

In addition, we are very selective as to WHO we train. Affording our membership doesn’t guarantee entree into our program.

Your entry into our program depends on your efforts during our trial workout as well as whether or not you have been referred to us from an existing athlete / parent. Your character is THE difference maker in your success.This applies to our athletes AND parents. Unfortunately, we’ve removed some athletes from our program when their parents had issues with morals, manners and supportive behavior.

Here are some short clips of our athletes in action. As always, it’s harder than it looks. If hard work scares you, The Underground will not be a place for you. We simply can’t be good for everyone.

As you can see, we have a variety of athletes training here, from middle school / youth athletes, to high school, collegiate and olympic level athletes – they ALL work side by side.

If you’re ready to become a champion we’re ready to work with you.

If you sign up for your FREE Trial workout and our membership is full you have the option to be placed on a waiting list.

Our space is limited to ensure the best coaching for our students, we give OUR best and expect YOU to do the same!

In Strength,

- Team Underground -

I MUST share this success story with you. Amber Rauh shares with us how she was turned down from training here when in 8th grade, then changed her attitude and catapulted her success in Volleyball AND life since getting into The Underground before her freshman season began.

NOT many can outwork Amber, and far and few between have better technique.

We’re often asked if we train girls at The Underground, the answers is “YES!”, we train anyone who wants to work hard AND has supportive parents. This is a RARE combination but when it all comes together HUGE success is achieved.

Check out Amber’s success story….. only 15 years young, she hasn’t come anywhere near her potential, we’ve only just begun!

Here is some more footage of Amber training side by side with some of the best wrestlers in NJ along with David Ellis, one of the best Judoka athletes in The USA and the WORLD.

As you can tell, NO limits, it’s ALL mind set, and that is the BIGGEST benefit of training at The Underground!

I still wanna see MORE dedicated athletes…. MORE parents encouraging and supporting their kids to become champions…. LESS excuses from athletes…..

Who wants to step it UP and train to become a champion in training AND life?

In Strength,

Team Underground

PS: Not ALL applicants are accepted here, as Amber said, you need to show up with the right mindset and the commitment to make it happen.

When Amber started training here I showed her a video of Hallie Kuhlman and she got fired UP! She saw that girls CAN be strong and still look athletic, NOT big and bulky as the false accusations are always flying around….

Elite Wrecking Crew -

HUGE thanks for going ALL out last week during our 45 minute Underground Training session.

You guys DID the work and made the commitment that others won’t do.

I promised a gift and a e mailed to everyone but in case you missed it

Please click HERE to download Your Gift

The gift will do NOTHING for you unless you USE it.

And, for a lil’ more motivation…. DIG this video.

Hope to see you at The Underground AND Atlantic City!

Click HERE for info on our training and opportunity for a trial workout to see if you qualify for membership.

Peace & BIG thanks again to The Elite Wrecking Crew and of course, Steve, for inviting me!

–Z–

Click HERE to Dominate The Competition & Underground Membership Info

These guys make me proud…. Anthony Ashnault & Ray Jaz…..

Monday night, Ray Jaz shows up at 7:30 to train, unannounced…. after a looong weekend of wrestling in Va. and cutting weight from 128 to 113, he was FULL of energy. He trained till 8:30 that night, doing at least 3 x the amount of work as any other wrestler did that day!

THIS is what it takes to become a champion….. other athletes are “too tired”, “too busy”, “too sore”, etc.

Other wrestlers insist on going to a wrestling club on top of the 6 x week practices and matches…. this is the old adage of it use or lose it…. wrestling more In season isn’t the answer, but doing what others do NOT do in season IS the answer….

Then…. last night, Anthony Ashnault rolls up, the night before a BIG match against fellow Undergrounder, Jordan “Buckwheat” Pagano.

Most wrestlers won’t train the night before a match, but some will squeeze that workout in, knowing the small extras lead to BIG wins.

Look at this BIG win Anthony secured in Va. against one of the nation’s best wrestlers, Joey Dance, and, check that final 10 second Throw!!!

I’m proud of the guys who step up and do ALL the small things that lead to BIG victories.

This is NOT just about sport, this is about LIFE, and when you train at The Underground, we prepare you for LIFE… forever!

In Strength,

Team Underground

PS: To prepare you unlike any other training program can for BOTH sports AND life, you can apply for Underground Membership by clicking HERE.

Not all applicants are accepted and referrals will speed up your acceptance process. Space is limited.

PPS: These guys aren’t champions because they do 1 thing…. instead, they do ALL the little things that add up to BIG victories. They separate themselves from “the pack” by training at The Underground, with our non-traditional methods, battle tested and proven, they gain the edge.

WHAT do YOU do to get that advantage?