Jorge Gurgel will be working with me intensely over the next 4 weeks to get ready for his main event fight for Strikeforce's “Challenger Series 4” at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California on November 6th. Yesterday, I worked with him and Rich Franklin. I put them both through my "Gas in the Tank" program. They loved and hated it at the same time.
Kru Mark Dellagrotte and I work together closely when fighters come into Sityodtong. Also on my schedue for next week is WEC fighter Alex Karalexis and UFC fighter Marcus Davis. Time to cowboy up!
By the way, last week was an awesome experience at the EFC Summit in Miami. I met many great people and look forward to working with their schools.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sounds of Success
Recently I have had the pleasure of working with a musician named Malin Hess. He hired me to help him trim down for his latest music video. Malin already had been working out on a regular basis, but he needed to bring it up a notch. We decided in order to get the most bang for his buck, we would use a combination of sandbags and agility ladders for his interval training program. The results have been fantastic! He dropped 12 pounds in 3 weeks. Malin is an extremely hard worker and really dived into the training and nutrition plan I developed for him. He was kind enough to send me this video of his workout accompanied by his music. Check it Out.
Over the next few months I will be working with Jorge Gurgel, Marcus Davis, Alex Karalexis, and Greg Rebello ready for their upcoming fights at my home base Sityodtong.
Over the next few months I will be working with Jorge Gurgel, Marcus Davis, Alex Karalexis, and Greg Rebello ready for their upcoming fights at my home base Sityodtong.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Honored
Monday, August 31, 2009
Take Exercise to Heart
Interesting article from the Associated Press on the value of exercise for heart patients.
"Studies have shown heart patients benefit from exercise, and some have even shown it works better than surgical procedures. At a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology on Sunday, several experts said doctors should focus more on persuading their patients to exercise rather than simply doing angioplasties."
"Studies have shown heart patients benefit from exercise, and some have even shown it works better than surgical procedures. At a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology on Sunday, several experts said doctors should focus more on persuading their patients to exercise rather than simply doing angioplasties."
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Take the I out of Team
UFC 101 was a whirlwind of activity for me. Although Kenny Florian was fighting, I went to UFC 101 as a spectator, not as his coach. I had resigned as Kenny’s strength and conditioning coach a few months earlier. However, ending that relationship didn’t stop me from wanting Kenny to win badly!
Kenny hired me after his loss to Sean Sherk in October 2006. Kenny realized that he needed to improve his strength and conditioning if he was going to get another title shot. We worked very closely for the next two and half years as he pealed off 6 straight victories, which resulted in him once again earning a title shot, this time against BJ Penn.
Unfortunately, he would have to wait 9 months for the opportunity. After visiting Georges St-Pierre's training camp, Kenny decided to add on John Chaimberg, a strength and conditioning coach from Canada to the KenFlo team. Unfortunately, it was clearly evident from the beginning that John wanted my spot. Personally and professionally I am all about learning new ideas and working with other people. That being said, when you reach out (phone calls, emails) to someone on numerous occasions and get no response, it’s disturbing.
If long distance coaching is going to work, than you must have a colleague to work with that you can trust and communicate with on a daily basis. With John devising the programs from Canada, I was not able to provide meaningful inputs based on my history with Kenny and how he was performing under John's training programs. Eventually, I had no choice, but to resign as Kenny’s strength and conditioning coach.
While I am disappointed that Kenny wasn’t able to win his fight against BJ, I am very proud about the performance of a current client, Kurt Pellegrino, who fought and won earlier that evening on the main card.
With Kurt, I have a colleague I work directly with in New Jersey. Her name is Sharon Wentworth and she is a true professional. Although fairly new to the sport, she is willing to learn from me and I from her. Sharon had interned with Martin Rooney, who I respect greatly.
When I came on board last summer to train Kurt, he was in a difficult place. He had moved back to NJ, to open a school, and was living with his in-laws. He has just signed on for a tough fight. Kurt put his faith in me to design a program and Sharon to serve as his day-to-day coach. He was coming up against Thiago Tavares, a conditioning machine. Kurt not only won the fight, it was fight of the night, which provided a huge bonus that enabled him to buy a house for his family in NJ.
Kurt is now on a three fight win streak. The reason it works is simple - it's about the TEAM. There are No egos between Sharon and myself or the other coaches. We focus on the goal, “help the athlete win.” This mantra is what professional coaching is about.
Kurt once told a story about the great Genzo Gracie. Kurt was a blue belt at his academy and witnessed the Professor taping everybody in the room. He went up him and said, "professor that was great, I can't wait till I can do that." Genzo replied, "Kurt in life people are either a hammer or a nail, don't answer me now, but when you are awarded your black belt, you let me know which you want to be." When Kurt was awarded his black belt years later, he called the professor and said, "Professor, I know the answer, I want to be the nail!" Genzo asked, "Why?" Kurt replied, "because a nail makes everyone else look better and be better."
As coaches we are nails, we want our athletes to get shine. It takes a team to help them reach their goals.
Kenny hired me after his loss to Sean Sherk in October 2006. Kenny realized that he needed to improve his strength and conditioning if he was going to get another title shot. We worked very closely for the next two and half years as he pealed off 6 straight victories, which resulted in him once again earning a title shot, this time against BJ Penn.
Unfortunately, he would have to wait 9 months for the opportunity. After visiting Georges St-Pierre's training camp, Kenny decided to add on John Chaimberg, a strength and conditioning coach from Canada to the KenFlo team. Unfortunately, it was clearly evident from the beginning that John wanted my spot. Personally and professionally I am all about learning new ideas and working with other people. That being said, when you reach out (phone calls, emails) to someone on numerous occasions and get no response, it’s disturbing.
If long distance coaching is going to work, than you must have a colleague to work with that you can trust and communicate with on a daily basis. With John devising the programs from Canada, I was not able to provide meaningful inputs based on my history with Kenny and how he was performing under John's training programs. Eventually, I had no choice, but to resign as Kenny’s strength and conditioning coach.
While I am disappointed that Kenny wasn’t able to win his fight against BJ, I am very proud about the performance of a current client, Kurt Pellegrino, who fought and won earlier that evening on the main card.
With Kurt, I have a colleague I work directly with in New Jersey. Her name is Sharon Wentworth and she is a true professional. Although fairly new to the sport, she is willing to learn from me and I from her. Sharon had interned with Martin Rooney, who I respect greatly.
When I came on board last summer to train Kurt, he was in a difficult place. He had moved back to NJ, to open a school, and was living with his in-laws. He has just signed on for a tough fight. Kurt put his faith in me to design a program and Sharon to serve as his day-to-day coach. He was coming up against Thiago Tavares, a conditioning machine. Kurt not only won the fight, it was fight of the night, which provided a huge bonus that enabled him to buy a house for his family in NJ.
Kurt is now on a three fight win streak. The reason it works is simple - it's about the TEAM. There are No egos between Sharon and myself or the other coaches. We focus on the goal, “help the athlete win.” This mantra is what professional coaching is about.
Kurt once told a story about the great Genzo Gracie. Kurt was a blue belt at his academy and witnessed the Professor taping everybody in the room. He went up him and said, "professor that was great, I can't wait till I can do that." Genzo replied, "Kurt in life people are either a hammer or a nail, don't answer me now, but when you are awarded your black belt, you let me know which you want to be." When Kurt was awarded his black belt years later, he called the professor and said, "Professor, I know the answer, I want to be the nail!" Genzo asked, "Why?" Kurt replied, "because a nail makes everyone else look better and be better."
As coaches we are nails, we want our athletes to get shine. It takes a team to help them reach their goals.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Ireland Fighters
Congratulations to Catherine Costigan and Dave McNamara. They won Gold Medals at the All Styles Kickboxing Association of Ireland and East Coast San Shou Challenge Tournaments. Their coach (center in picture) sent me the following email:
"We used the Burn with Kearns Explosive Power and Burn with Kearns Gas in the Tank DVDs for their conditioning program. In the San Shou alone Catherine was able to defeat a girl twenty pounds heavier and Dave stopped all three of his opponents by TKO.Using the weight cutting advice you gave me Dave was by far the biggest guy in the 75 kilo category.Since I started working with Kevin I haven't had a single fighter even look tired in a match. His conditioning program is the best!"
Dermot McGrath
Pankration Kickboxing Academy
Limerick Ireland
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
UFC Fan Expo
The UFC Fan Expo was a huge success! I want to thank my Kru, Mark Dellagrotte for inviting me out to share his booth. I was honored to meet and talk with some of my many fans. This was a huge high for me and gave me tons of drive to continue helping people. I will to take Burn with Kearns products and programs to new levels.
Special thanks to the Bruce Lee booth and their crew for helping me during the event. A big thank you goes out to my friends from Colorado - Carol and Conner Cardova for helping me set up the Burn with Kearns booth. I met and went to the fights with a new friend, Oliver Grunner, the action star! Thanks to everyone who gave me positive feedback on my articles and DVDs! I'm truly blessed to have all your support.
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