Here is a clip from the Baseball Performance Camp. Both baseball and softball athletes are incorporating a dynamic warm up into their practice routine. These are the type of warm up stretches I was referring to in yesterdays post.
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I was talking with someone in the gym today and they asked me when is the best time to stretch – before or after a workout? Stretching is a highly debated fitness topic and there are a lot of opinions about it’s effectiveness and when to incorporate it into your workout routine. At the beginning of any workout (strength training or speed/agility session) I have every single one of my clients/athletes go through a dynamic warm up. During these warm ups I have my clients actively “stretch” through a full range of motion. Here’s the thing, there are different types of stretching (which I will cover in another post). My warm up routines actively elongate the muscle during movements that are similar to their sport or activity in multiple planes of motion. Here are a couple examples of lower body warm ups that can be done in place – Post I and Post II. I also use moving warm up exercises to prepare the body for activity – check tomorrows post for video of moving warm up exercises. One thing you will never see my clients doing is static stretching before a workout. Static stretching is when you hold a stretch for a given period of time, usually 10-30 seconds. Performing these stretches before a workout will inhibit muscle activation, therefore, decreasing your strength and power out. This would not make sense before any kind of fitness training session.
On the other hand, I do allow my clients to incorporate static stretching at the end of the workout. After a workout, static stretching will help to relax the entire body (mind and body) and restore length to muscle tissue that has been trained during the workout session. However, I still believe the most effective stretching to incorporate after a workout is multi-plane active stretches (just as I stated for the warm up).
If you truly want to work on flexibility then you must devote time to it. This means taking an entire workout and going through different stretches – like a yoga workout. To answer the stretching question – I incorporate stretching at the beginning and end of every work, and I devote entire workouts to flexibility work.
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After posting my most recent blog, I had someone ask me how many different deadlift variations are there that I incorporate into my programs. Well, I use different deadlift variations depending on the training goal and time period in the training cycle. Here are a few variations.
Bottom line is there are a lot of deadlift variations to incorporate in your training routines.
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When you look at primitive movement patterns (this idea was first introduced to me by Gray Cook who is a well-known physical therapist) man began deadlifting well before he was doing traditional squats with weight on his upper back. Cavemen would bend over to pick up a large stone off the ground and move it another location – deadlifts. They would not find a large stone on a rack at shoulder height, walk over to it, place it on their shoulders, and then squat down to lower the heavy stone. Deadlifting (using your legs and back to pick up an object off the ground) is still a very common movement pattern in every day life. Whether you are moving boxes or lifting groceries out of your car, the same movement pattern is necessary to complete the task. When you begin to load your spine with external resistance and do squats (such as traditional barbell squat), compensations and deficiencies begin to arise. Of course I implement squatting (bilateral and unilateral) exercises in my program, but I like to introduce squatting with body weight or dumbbells to perfect the movement pattern before moving on to barbell squats. I have begun to add more deadlifting variations (single leg, single dumbbell, etc.) into my programs in the last year and I have seen a difference in squatting mechanics and lower body strength. Take home message – don’t forget to include deadlifts into your strength training program.
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Here are a few examples of agility drills that be incorporated into a sports performance program. Cones can also be used instead of mini hurdles. These drills will enhance foot speed, lateral speed, and overall quickness.
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Here are a few pictures from the second Baseball Performance Camp that took place last weekend at Canyon Country Little League. It was a great weekend!
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I was talking to one of my clients about what they eat for breakfast and her answer was just a bowl of cereal and coffee on the way to work. This is probably a typical breakfast for a lot of working people. However, there are better and easier choices to make instead of having a bowl of processed cereal with milk and some coffee. Here’s just a couple easy alternatives (I eat these for breakfast all the time):
These are much healthier alternatives to traditional breakfast – cereal and coffee.
Train Hard-Train Smart (Eat Smart Too!)
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Congratulations to the following ASAP Athletes who were awarded for their strong play during the 2008 volleyball season. All of these girls participated in sports performance training for 8 months to prepare for the season.
All SCV Player of the Year:
Shelby LeDuff
All SCV First Team:
Katie Hank
Megan Lavo
All SCV Second Team:
Christina Worth
Casey David
Allison Tolido
Honorable Mention:
Jen Drake
Check out the full article, here.
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This weekend kicks off the second Baseball Performance Camp at Canyon Country Little League. This camp is intended to improve baseball fundamentals and enhance athletic performance. We’re expected to have a great turn out, almost double the number of campers that took place in August. Have a great weekend…I will be posting some pictures and videos of the camp early next week.
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