Weight-Training Considerations for High-School Athletes
Young athletes at the high-school level have the potential to experience significant growth and improvement through participating in a well-developed, properly-taught strength program. I think it’s safe to say this fact is understood by the majority of coaches and athletes alike, but are these programs well-developed and properly taught? This is more of a rhetorical …
'Sport-Specific' vs. Sport Physiology
‘Sport-Specific’ vs. Sport Physiology The term ‘sport-specific’ is a common description used by personal trainers in an attempt to specify certain exercise-selections for athletes. The majority of these exercises, and the extent to which the programming actually improves athletic performance, attempt to mimic the movement(s) in the athlete’s given sport. This typically amounts to the …
Sport-Conditioning
Energy System Training (Sport Conditioning) June 3rd, 2011 I talk and write a ton about training the proper energy systems when performing specific sport-conditioning. In fact, I published an article last year that was a bit of a rant on sport-conditioning. Each sport has a specific Bio-Energetic structure that is comprised of one or more …
Hang-Cleans vs. Weighted Jumps
Exercise Review – Hang/Power Cleans I want to start this post off by stating that nearly ANY exercise can be used for a positive purpose, as it pertains to improving sport-performance, IF it is performed correctly (regarding BOTH bio-mechanics and bio-energetics). Furthermore, ANY exercise can become an ‘Explosive’ exercise if performed/programmed correctly. I preface this …
Improving Throwing Power
Exercise Review – Band Pull-Aparts/Rows/Rear Flies December 19th, 2009 I want to focus this exercise review on the ‘throwing’ athlete, as well as other athletic movements that are similar to throwing, such as the spike/kill and serve in Volleyball. Pitchers and Quarterbacks are at the forefront of athletes concerned with throwing power/speed. This is a …
Volleyball Conditioning
Sport Conditioning – Volleyball February 13th, 2011 In my first post on Sport Conditioning, I elaborated on the fact that all sports are unique, therefore each sport’s conditioning should be unique to other sports. I want to expound this concept further in this post. I want to look at Volleyball in particular, and detail the …
Warming Up
Warming Up December 11th, 2010 If you are having injury issues, or excessive soreness as a result of training, how you warm-up or don’t warm-up could be a large factor. The term ‘warm-up’ is similar to saying broccoli to kids; it doesn’t exactly make gym-goers excited. A proper warm-up is just as important, if not …
Hamstring Pulls
Exercise Review – Hamstring Pulls/Tears Prevention February 6th, 2010 The Hamstrings group plays a large role in virtually all sports’ movements, especially sprinting. The hamstrings flex the knee, bringing the heel toward the glutes, but they also assist the glutes in hip extension, which occurs in sprinting. For the purpose of this post, I want …
Tire Flips
Exercise Review – Tire-Flips August 4th, 2010 I want to write about the use and purpose of performing Tire-Flips as part of a training program. Tire-Flips have become a very popular exercise in numerous training programs, but like anything, the purpose of its implementation and use is critical to it having a positive effect on …
