Carson Palmer works with J "Troll"
Subin at the world famous Yard
Training Center in beautiful Hermosa Beach, Ca.

The last two months, Palmer has been doing strength and flexibility work for 4 to 6 hours a day, six days a week, at The Yard training center in Hermosa Beach, Calif. His "performance coach" is J. "Troll" Subin, whose nickname stems from his 5-3, 175-pound frame.

Subin's assessment of Palmer began with a multiple-choice test and a 15-minute interview. The primary purpose was to see how Palmer prefers to communicate. Subin then adapted his vocabulary, echoing verbs Palmer had just used. "I motivate him using the same words he uses to motivate himself," says Subin.

Subin says he pays as close attention to Palmer's mood and emotions as he does to the quarterback's knee.

"The worst injury a quarterback can suffer is any injury that puts him on the bench," says Subin. "If he's removed from the practice and game scenario, there's a huge responsibility the quarterback bears. When you take the quarterback out of that equation, there's a huge emotional load on him."
 

Read the whole article http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2006-07-20-comeback-quarterbacks_x.htm
 

www.foundationsports.com - for more info and ordering information.

From the Easy Reader, August 3, 2006. "A Bengal in the Yard", by Randy Angel

There have been many well-known athletes who have broken a sweat in the small gym on Hermosa Avenue known as The Yard, but recently the fitness facility played host to its first Heisman Trophy winner.

Carson Palmer, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Pro Bowl quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals and Heisman Trophy winner from USC, was being pushed by the diminutive - yet muscular - 5-foot-2, 175-pound fitness guru Jeremy “Troll” Subin.

Subin, the President and Founder of Yard Strength, Inc., lent his years of experience to help Palmer return to playing shape after suffering a career-threatening knee injury in last season’s playoffs.

Almost seven months ago, on the second offensive play of a wild-card game against rival Pittsburgh, Palmer took a hit in the knee by Steelers' defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen after completing a long pass for a completion.

The injury left Palmer with torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, a dislocated kneecap, and cartilage and tissue damage. “I knew right when it happened that it was serious and that I was out for the game,” the Bengals’ field general said.

A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most dreaded injuries on the gridiron and one that leads to a substantial loss of playing time.

“Surgeons were able to reattach all but one. They used a cadaver to replace a hamstring,” Palmer said, wiping sweat from his brow after a warm-up session that would be a daily workout for average person.

Ken O’Brien, Palmer’s friend and former coach at USC, frequents The Yard and suggested the facility to Palmer. “I’m really here because of Troll,” Palmer said. “He has a tremendous reputation working with athletes. I believe a lot in what he does.”

Palmer was pleased with the results he had seen since training at The Yard before joining the Bengals’ training camp last weekend at Georgetown College in Kentucky.

“This gym is old school. It’s not glitzy or glamorous. You can come in and get your work and not socialize. You don’t come in and power clean, bench press or squat all day, you come in and work on functional movements that you will use on the playing field.”

Palmer considers his rehabilitation period over and is now focusing on getting back in shape and increasing the strength in his leg. “It’s not a big concern about the strength. The doctors told me before the surgery that the strength would take the longest to get back. We’ll find out how the progress is when two-a-days (practices) start and when I take that first hit.”

Many pre-season periodicals predict Palmer as missing up to the first four games this season, but Palmer is optimistic about his speedy recovery and expects to be on the field when Cincinnati travels to Kansas City on September 10. As an insurance measure during the off season, the Bengals signed veteran quarterback Anthony Wright to a one-year deal.

While there is concern in Cincinnati – Palmer inked a nine-year, $118-million contract last season – the Bengals’ offensive leader is optimistic, even if his timetable to return is set back.

“Anthony (Wright) is doing great,” Palmer said. “He’s a veteran player who has played behind Troy Aikman. He’s been in the playoffs and played big games and has the capability to come in and get the job done.” In 2003, Wright was 5-2 in seven starts while leading Baltimore to the AFC North championship.

Palmer had a breakout season last year. In just his second season as a starter, Palmer lived up to his lofty billing after being the No. 1 selection in the 2003 NFL draft. The Laguna Niguel native was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2005 after tossing a league-leading 32 touchdown passes and leading Cincinnati to the AFC North title.

In 2002, Palmer became the fifth player - and first quarterback - from USC to win the Heisman Trophy. He set seven PAC-10 records while leading the Trojans to a share of the PAC-10 title and their first Bowl Championship Series bid. Palmer was named the MVP of the Orange Bowl after USC’s 38-17 victory over Iowa.

Two seasons later, USC had its second signal caller win college football’s highest award when Matt Leinart took home one of sports most famous statues.

Although not a No. 1 draft pick – he was 10th overall and the first pick of the Arizona Cardinals this year – Leinart faces much of the same pressure to turn around a losing program that Palmer dealt with in Cincinnati.

“I told Matt to learn as much as possible,” Palmer said. “It’s a similar situation to the one I was in. It’s tough to get thrown in there as a rookie, so sit back and learn as much as possible. He’s got a great quarterback (Kurt Warner) ahead of him who’s been a league and Super Bowl MVP. My advice is to learn football, learn leadership, and learn how to deal with the media from the veteran.”

Palmer’s off season regimen included riding a stationary bike, lifting weights, agility drills and running underwater on a treadmill. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May, shown running in a rehabilitation pool.

When not working on physical agility and strength, Palmer improves the mental aspect required by his sport by watching game films, something that has become a year-round practice. During the season, Palmer watches countless hours of game footage, although not all of it is that of upcoming opponents. Palmer’s brother Jordan is a senior quarterback for the University of Texas-El Paso, where the four-year starter holds all of the Miners’ passing records.

“I watch every one of his games, usually not live, but on tape,” the elder Palmer said. “We speak to each other all the time, but unless he’s really struggling at something, I don’t give him advice. We usually don’t talk football, we talk about everything else.” ER

 

DiG - Is your practice time limited because of the back injury that kept you off tour last year?

George Roumain - Due to my weight - 275 or whatever the heck I am - I have some issues, just like every other player. I do a lot of pool workouts with Chip Cooper. He does the best he can to keep me in one piece. I also do workouts here at The Yard(Hermosa Beach) with Troll Subin. When I come out here on the sand, I do a lot of serving and passing and try to limit my jumps and twisting.
 

www.digvb.com

“The more we talked, the more we knew this was meant to be,” says Troll. “A lot of times when you deal with superstar athletes, it takes a while to build up that trust factor, especially with someone who will be working with you on your personal training, something that effects your livelihood. But when we found out how much we had in common, all the walls came down. That helped accelerate the training process.”

So, starting at four hours a day during the off-season for the next four years, Troll introduced Karros and Piazza to a new way of training. Their “conventional” exercises such as seeing who could bench press the most were replaced with baseball-functional drills, more cardiovascular exercises, medicine ball tosses, and Olympic weight lifting. And since Troll’s gym was located near beautiful Hermosa Beach, Troll would take the two out for conditioning work, just like Rocky and Apollo in Rocky III.

The two men transformed their eating habits after undergoing hair analysis, blood testing, and body-fat-composition readings to find out what specialized nutritional programs they needed to be placed on, based on what their bodies had too much of or lacked. “They were able to absorb more nutrients faster so that they were able to recover better and build up their strength,” says Troll.

During that 4-year span, Karros improved to become a consistent 30-homer, 100-ribbie-type guy, while Piazza’s numbers significantly improved as well. Karros noticed that his physical strength added to his mental stamina during baseball’s grueling 162-game season.

Getting up every morning and working out intensely built his mental focus. Every positive action he took built on itself, in the end making him more disciplined in all areas of his life.

“Everybody thinks, ‘oh, geez, their physical ability must be unbelievable,’” he says. “But have you ever stopped and thought about the kind of discipline the guys that get in those bodybuilding contests have got to have? It just doesn’t stop there, it’s a way of life. You’re lifting, you’re conditioning, you’re going in every day and working out, then you carry that over into your nutrition and then you carry that over into other walks of life.”

“Without question, I would rival my training with any baseball player’s in the off-season,” Karros says. “I would put mine right up there.” With three months of the year to get in peak shape, it has to be intense. “I know that I’ve prepared myself as well as, if not better than, anyone else.”

Best Gym for - RECHARGING YOUR BODY - The Yard Training Center. You can sweat first and swim later at this beachfront gym. We recommend The Yard's Saturday-morning "regeneration class" on the beach, which begins with a series of poster improving movements. Then as the sun's rays shine stronger and your blood flows faster, you'll toss medicine balls, run sprints, and finish with a game of ultimate Frisbee or volleyball.




 

Calls to The Yard come in from all over the world in reference to the gym’s award-winning 2001 television commercial. Now considered a highly influential spot in the world of advertising, Sports Illustrated recently traced a current Nike campaign back to Troll’s crew at The Yard.

Excerpted from an article in Sports Illustrated by Pete McEntegart

This spate of commercial nakedness traces to 2001 when Yard Fitness, a training center in Hermosa Beach, Calif., produced a spot with a trash-talking playground hoopster whom opponents are reluctant to guard because he’s wearing only a headband, glasses, and high-tops. The ad (tagline: Feel Comfortable in Your Own Skin) won awards and “caused quite a disturbance,” says Troll Subin, Yard’s president. “Some people thought we were crazy.” The Yard spot has survived on e-mailed MPEGs and the Nike ad seems destined for a long life...

The Yard 1 (56K) - Real Player
The Yard 1 (56K) - Windows Media Player

The Yard 2 (56K) - Real Player
The Yard 2 (56K) - Windows Media Player