Just like there are 5 tools that every carpenter should have (hammer, screwdriver, saw, pliers, and a tape measure), there are 5 key exercises you should have in your training tool box. You can’t accomplish every project with these tools, but they will get the job done most of the time! Each of these tools [...]
As strength coaches we are always in the hunt for the best ways to help our athletes get faster and stronger. We are constantly reading the latest articles, scanning the latest blogs, attending the newest certification courses and hunting for the best new tools to push our athletes to the next levels of performance greatness. [...]
Training for power is usually one of the main goals for any strength & conditioning program. But what does that really mean? In its simplest terms, power = force x velocity (or in other terms, strength x speed). Applied to strength and conditioning, power is the amount of force you can transfer to an object, [...]
There is only one way to sprint, and that is fast. Training for Power in the weight room follows that analogy. To develop power you have to train fast. This analogy is also about recovery. To train for speed, do fewer reps with full recovery between sets. The same goes for lifting. To train for [...]
Having sound principles of nutrition can have a large impact on the performance and recovery for your athletes. Typically, we want our athletes to be stronger, faster, and more explosive. A part of this is being properly fueled for athletic performance and having a leaner (more muscle, less fat) physique. Educating our athletes about what [...]
Whether working with youth, college, and/or elite athletes, the subject of weight room time management for the strength coach or performance enhancement specialist can always be a sensitive topic. In a world where we are in a constant time crunch, the average athlete is no different. With a laundry list of items pulling at the [...]
When it comes to optimization of your team workouts, organization is key. In this blog, I will cover a few areas you can address in effective and efficient workouts to accommodate large numbers of athletes in your weight room. Facility Setup and Layout The first component is to look at the setup of your facility [...]
As fans of sports and coaches of athletes on many levels, we tune in daily to see amazing feats of athleticism. Agility is a major contributor to these “feats”. There are three important agility training components: acceleration, deceleration, and balance. The athlete’s ability to accelerate and decelerate both linearly and laterally is necessary to compete [...]
Designing group workouts in a facility that caters to personal training, members, and group training takes some careful pre-planning and thought. The program needs to be structured to maximize work time and minimize rest time. This also needs to be done in a way to keep equipment available for members and personal training clients, but [...]
One of the hot topics in the world of strength & conditioning and sports performance is how to actually train for improving agility. The debate comes down to the definition of agility and how it differs from change of direction, and ultimately what you are actually training. There is one significant difference between the two [...]