Your thoughts?
WE BUILD STRONGER ATHLETES!
We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.
One of the goals of athletic performance training should be to increase athletes’ work capacity while improving (reducing) their recovery time. Contrast training is a highly effective method for improving many physical attributes involved in athletic performance, including strength, power, speed (acceleration) and agility — if implemented properly. Contrast training involves performing a set of a heavy resistance exercise, immediately followed by a set of a biomechanically similar power exercise (for example, a barbell back squat, immediately followed by a squat jump). Complex training is a similar approach, which involves performing 3-4 sets of heavy resistance training followed by 3-4 sets of the biomechanically similar power exercise.
The benefits of contrast training include:
Here’s an example of a simple contrast model for athletes to build explosive power:
Incorporate this superset into your workout for speed development:
And finally, a superset using two explosive/plyometric exercises:
Your thoughts?
WE BUILD STRONGER ATHLETES!
We provide motivated athletes with a simple, customized training plan to help them improve performance and reduce injury risk.
One of the goals of athletic performance training should be to increase athletes’ work capacity while improving (reducing) their recovery time. Contrast training is a highly effective method for improving many physical attributes involved in athletic performance, including strength, power, speed (acceleration) and agility — if implemented properly. Contrast training involves performing a set of a heavy resistance exercise, immediately followed by a set of a biomechanically similar power exercise (for example, a barbell back squat, immediately followed by a squat jump). Complex training is a similar approach, which involves performing 3-4 sets of heavy resistance training followed by 3-4 sets of the biomechanically similar power exercise.
The benefits of contrast training include:
Here’s an example of a simple contrast model for athletes to build explosive power:
Incorporate this superset into your workout for speed development:
And finally, a superset using two explosive/plyometric exercises:
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?
More is not necessarily better, especially as it relates to training frequency, according to recent research from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
In the study (Training Volume, Not Frequency, Indicative of Maximal Strength Adaptations to Resistance Training; Colquhoun, Ryan J., et. al.), the authors determined that “6 weeks of resistance training led to significant increases in maximal strength and fat-free mass. In addition, it seems that increased training frequency does not lead to additional strength improvements when volume and intensity are equated. High-frequency (6x per week) resistance training does not seem to offer additional strength and hypertrophy benefits over lower frequency (3x per week) when volume and intensity are equated.”
Bottom line: When you’re at the gym, train hard. Push yourself. Get your work done. But don’t underestimate the rest/recovery process that follows. There’s no need to be in the gym every day to get results.
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?
If you want to slim your waistline, you can’t focus on spot training. You will need to increase your fat burning furnace with strength training, cardiovascular activity, and an appropriate diet. Done in combination, these strategies will help you trim your waist quickly and improve your health. Fat carried around the waistline increases your risk for serious health issues, including Type 2 diabetes, stroke, and certain cancers.
Here are 6 ways to slim and trim your waist:
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?
Here’s a great article from Men’s Health titled, 15 Reasons Lifting Is Better Than Cardio. Using a food analogy, the article compares strength training to the main course and cardio to a side dish.
If you love your cardio, stick with it. You don’t necessarily have to do strength training instead of cardio.
Identify your goals, develop an exercise/workout plan that’s consistent with those goals, and get in the weight room.
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?
Why do you workout? (and, conversely, why don’t you workout?)
Are you working toward a goal or do you just enjoy the process?
Is it for health and wellness? Do you want to improve your quality (and quantity) of life?
Do you want to look better, perhaps get more lean and muscular? (I saw a quote, recently, that said, “Diet if you want to look better in clothes; workout if you want to look better naked.”)
Do you want to feel better? Are you working out to improve your energy level or functional movement?
Are you trying to lose a few pounds and, perhaps, get closer to your ideal body weight and reduce stress on your joints?
Do you work out with a friend or group of friends and enjoy the social interaction?
Do you want to get stronger, faster, and more athletic? Is one of your goals to improve your performance?
Are you doing it for you, or for someone else?
The bottom line is, there is no wrong reason — and no one right reason — for working out (they’re all right). As that shoe company says, “just do it.”
Please tag me back with a comment and share your motivation for working out (or your reason for not working out). I will compile a list and share the best responses in a future blog post. Thanks, in advance, for your feedback.
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?
There are various differences in the physical demands of sports, based on factors such as the sport, itself, and positional differences among and between athletes. Different sports require athletes to move through unique movement patterns which, for training purposes, can be categorized into vertical, linear, and lateral. Exercises that focus on strength and power development, in these three areas, should be at the forefront of every athlete’s training program.
One of the goals of athletic performance training should be to increase the athletes’ work capacity while improving (reducing) their recovery time. Contrast training is a highly effective method for improving many physical attributes involved in athletic performance, including strength, power, speed and agility — if implemented properly. Contrast training involves performing a set of a heavy resistance exercise, immediately followed by a set of a biomechanically similar power exercise (for example, a barbell back squat, immediately followed by a squat jump). Complex training is a similar approach, which involves performing 3-4 sets of heavy resistance training followed by 3-4 sets of the biomechanically similar power exercise.
The benefits of contrast training include:
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?
Exercise and training are different concepts.
Maybe it’s semantics, but when I think of exercise, I think of a static, random activity.
Exercise is a generic activity of varying frequency. Most people who go to the gym are exercisers (and, although exercise is less of a planned process, it’s undeniably better than nothing at all).
When I think of training, I think of a dynamic, planned, goal-oriented process with a desired result sometime in the future. Each workout is part of the process, and should bring you one step closer toward your goal or desired result.
Training involves a consistently performed program, designed to improve function and performance at a specific activity. And, in order to improve performance you need an appropriately-designed program, aligned with your goal(s).
Exercise is often done in response to “need.” Training is motivated by “want.”
Short- and long-term goal setting is also an integral part of the training process.
Short-term goals provide “checks and balances” to ensure that the process is helping you progress toward your goal, and keep you on track.
Long-term goals provide focus and help keep you engaged. They are the destination on your training “road map,” and represent accomplishment/achievement.
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?
A few weeks ago I posted an article about jump training, which generated some commentary, particularly in the area of landing mechanics. To clarify, at Athletic Performance Training Center, we incorporate landing mechanics training into all of our plyometric (jump) training. Research shows that most non-impact knee injuries result from landing and/or cutting instability. There is a higher prevalence among female athletes, especially those who play sports like soccer, basketball, and volleyball.
Biomechanical considerations, such as knee flexion (knees should be bent and not extended/straight upon landing); knee alignment (knees should not point inward or outward upon landing but, rather, point straight ahead); and hip motion (jump should begin with hip flexion — hips back; extend hips through the jump; and flex hips upon landing) should be closely observed.
There are also some neuromuscular considerations, as strength and conditioning professionals must ensure that athletes possess adequate quadriceps and hamstrings strength to accommodate muscle co-contraction and balance in force.
Plyometric training involves multi-directional consecutive jumping. Technically correct posture and body alignment are emphasized, and athletes are instructed to land softly with knees and hips flexed while immediately preparing to jump again. However, plyometric training alone may not reduce the risk of ACL injury, but it may be more effective when combined with other types of training.
Resistance/Strength training increases strength in the muscles that support movement of the skeletal system, specifically joints. When muscles are consistently and progressively overloaded, the result is an increase in muscle size, increased motor unit recruitment, and improved coordination — all of which influence muscle strength.
Neuromuscular training, a comprehensive approach that incorporates plyometric training, strength training, balance training, and proprioceptive training (the body’s reaction/response to external stimuli), is a sound training strategy for athletes.
Training should begin with a movement-based warmup and conclude with appropriate stretching and flexibility exercises.
Get STRONGER, Get FASTER!
Your thoughts?