Since an injured athlete cannot compete or even practice, injury reduction is the most important benefit of a well designed and executed strength program. Sprinting has a high incidence of hamstring strains, even with elite sprinters. Both Usain Bolt and Andre De Grasse have sustained hamstring strains in world competition. But, athletes are not helpless [...]
*View part 1 of this blog series (skills 1 - 4). With the excitement of football playoffs upon us, this is a great time to divulge another set of secret skills all super athletes have. This by far one of my favorite times of the year, as we are treated to superhuman feats of athleticism [...]
As performance coaches we love to talk about the acute variables of training our athletes daily—the sets, the reps, the protocols and techniques that lead to our athletes getting bigger, faster and stronger on the road to high performance. We love to watch the most gifted athletes in our favorite sports perform on the biggest [...]
The clean-grip snatch is a variation of the Olympic snatch movement that helps to increase power output. As the name implies, the clean-grip snatch is a snatch performed with a narrow grip (about the width of the grip the athlete uses for their clean in most cases). With a narrower grip, the bar will contact [...]
If your athlete walks in looking like they’ve been riding an ostrich, they will be in big trouble when they squat. These athletes have poor levers for squatting. In order to get deep, they will have to lean a great deal. The lift will look more like a deadlift than a squat. The best levers [...]
Vertical Bar Rack Weight rooms are often overwhelmed with space issues. They can be filled with bulky equipment and dozens of athletes amid off-season, pre-season, and in-season training. Depending on your athletic program’s size, anywhere from 30to 300 athletes could be jostled through your weight room per hour. With so much commotion going on daily, [...]
When you think of power development you often think of movements such as the clean and snatch. These are fantastic movements that will increase your power, but if your athlete(s) are not at the developmental level to perform those movements or you are looking for some variations that will produce results, then a band-resisted broad jump may just fit the need.
1. Hex Deadlift Bars I have found these bars to be very versatile and extremely useful. First and foremost, I like the bars to teach a proper stance while pulling from the floor. The neutral grip assists the athletes in establishing a proper flat back posture. The coaching cues of chest over knees and knees [...]
Gopher Performance's GlutePro Floor GHD offers all the function of a full-sized GHD in a more economical solution! In many athletic settings one of the most common injuries is the hamstring pull. There are several reasons for this. The forces produced by the acceleration and deceleration can strain or damage one of the [...]
This past spring I had the opportunity to attend a clinic that had Jimmy Radcliffe from Oregon give the keynote address. I have followed Coach Radcliffe for years and greatly admire his philosophies. His presentation focused on the Golden Circle concept from Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why. His concept offers a great strategy to [...]