The hips need to function properly to maximize athletic potential considering the role hip strength plays in sprint speed, explosiveness, and change of direction. I recently demonstrate a series of exercises to help improve hip mobility. The video associated with this post illustrates how incorporating a mini band into your routine can improve hip strength. Many of the exercises are performed in multiple planes of motion. This is important because many strength exercises are primarily performed in the sagital plane which can lead to deficiencies in the other two planes (frontal and transverse).
Archive for the ‘Fitness Equipment’ Category
Hip Strength
Sunday, January 24th, 2010Evaluating training programs
Sunday, August 9th, 2009I come across a ton of bogus training programs that only use modality, promise unrealistic results, or do not structure their program based on scientific principles. Be a smart consumer when choosing a fitness/sports performance program to be apart of. For example, if you’re an athlete looking to get stronger or improve your speed/quickness it wouldn’t logically make sense to use fancy equipment where you’re in seated, prone (on your stomach), or supine (on your back).
Here is an example of an expensive (I mean $10,000 expensive piece of equipment) machine that is suppose to improve your strength and power while not making you sore. This machine only does concentric movements – you pull then you push. I’m going to clue you in on a secret…athletes don’t function this way. Instead, their movements involve a loading (eccentric muscle action) phase followed by a powerful transformation movement (concentric phase). Therefore, you are training your body on this piece of equipment in a way that you wouldn’t perform during your sport. In addition, last time I checked most sports (besides cycling and rowing to name a few) are performed in upright stranding positions where your body has to react to gravity and move in multiple planes of motion. Again, this expensive, fancy piece of equipment does not allow you to do this.
Here is fitness example about evaluating a training program with some logic before you participate. Many females come into a training with similar goals such as working on their hips, butt and thighs (at least this is what I have seen over the past 9 years of training). Many trainers will cater their exercise by doing a variety of different leg lifts in every position – side lying leg lifts, on all fours kicking your butt up in the air with the small pink dumbbell between their knee, and standing cable leg raises, just to name a few. Want to know a more effective and functional approach to targeting the hips and butt…wait for it…it’s called squats and lunges. Squat and lunge variations are performed in an upright position (more functional) and recruit more muscles than isolate exercises (more effective). Anytime you see a trainer doing special isolated exercises or using a fancy piece of equipment that isolates those trouble spots just remember there is usually a more effective and functional approach.
“Hello lady, do some squats or lunges and stop wasting your time with this silly exercise!!”
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Donuts aren’t healthy or beneficial for your swing research shows
Sunday, July 19th, 2009A great article recently came out on the effects of using a weighted bat (donut on the end of the bat) as a warm up. Here’s the link to the research article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19593220?dopt=Abstract. (I came across this article from Eric Cressey’s Blog.) Here’s an article written on this same topic: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=baseball-bat-speed-all-star
It’s known in the sports science community that if you practice swinging a heavy bat (using a donut) before going up to the plate you will decrease your bat velocity. Your goal as a hitter is to increase your bat velocity so that you can wait longer on a pitch (see if it has late break or see if it stays in/out of the zone) so that it gets deeper into your zone and you can still drive the ball. This article suggests (as well as many other research articles) that you should not take cuts with a donut on your bat in the batting circle because this will decrease your bat velocity when you get up to the plate.
I spoke on this same topic about two years ago on the radio while working with Angels minor league system. Here’s my advice as a sports performance coach…you can use a donut to loosen up the upper body and core in the on deck circle (arm circles , trunk rotations, and other general warm up movements with the donut on the bat). Just be cautious about swinging with your regular mechanics with a heavy bat in your hand becuase your hitting mechanics will change as the load changes. This simply means that you will alter the mechanics of your swing with a heavy bat which will have a negative impact when you go up to the plate to hit live pitching. It’s like you’re training your body to be slow when you warm up with a donut.
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Sunday Morning Workout @ The Park
Monday, June 8th, 2009I got a great total body workout in yesterday morning at the park with the TRX. Check out some of the images.
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Mimicking Sports Movements in The Weight Room
Saturday, May 9th, 2009You don’t see this often but once in a while I come across an athlete who tries to replicate their sport movement in the weight room using strength training equipment. There a couple classic examples – replicating a baseball swing, golf swing, or tennis stroke with cables or free weights. Once you add weight to your hands and perform the movement everything changes. The kinematics and kinetics of swinging a baseball bat and replicating your swing with a cable machine are vastly different.
I always tell athletes (and design athletic programs) with rotational movements include in their routine. However, I never ask an athlete to replicate a swing in the weight room. It is very important to develop core strength – especially rotational strength but be smart about choosing your exercises.
Check out the following post about rotational training for sport – Here are some examples on video.
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Abmat Sit Ups
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009The gym I work at has just has been remodeled and many of the members are so stuck in there ways that they seem to complain about all the new changes. One women was mad because we didn’t bring the Abmats into the new facility. She said she does ab work on those every time she works out and I guess she felt her workout would be deprived without an Abmat exercise.
Here’s what went through my head while she was complaining:
- If you’re doing supine (laying on your back) flexion (sit up) exercises, you’re setting yourself up for lower back pain. Your spine is not designed to do high repetitions of sit ups.
- She should incorporate bridging movements as well as standing rotational movements if she wants to target her core.
- Train movements not individual muscles.
- Take a look in the mirror and realize that your ab routine you’ve been doing for years isn’t working – change it up!
- Obviously she does not read my blog – as I have discussed this topic numerous times.
Check out these previous posts on core workouts – Check this one out, or this one, or even this one, and here’s another.
Train Hard-Train Smart
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Training with Rubber Band Resistance
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009Strength coaches and trainers are always looking to get an edge with their athletes. Some coaches are trying to get creative in the weight room to enhance their athlete’s performance. One method that has been popular in weight rooms is to lift with bands attached to the weights (usually attached to the barbell). The idea behind this training method is that as an athlete goes through a lift (say the squat); the athlete is able to produce greater force and torque at the end range of the motion. This is only true for certain lifts such as squatting, deadlifting, and bench pressing to name a few. At the end range of motion, the weight becomes easier to lift. The band tries to counter-act that by providing greater resistance as the bands stretch further and further. Coaches are trying to account for the natural strength curve by adding resistance at the end of the lift.
Rubber resistance is also used for jumping exercises, such as the Vertimax. The device straps athletes to a platform with bungees connected to various parts of their body. The idea behind this is the same – as the athlete reaches full extension in their jump the resistance begins to increase. In addition, with the Vertimax it enhances the eccentric (downward) movement because the tubing is pulling the athlete down to the ground. This is thought to enhance the stretch load and thus create a more powerful vertical jump.
Overall there is a lack of research and scientific evidence on this particular training method (training with any type of rubber band resistance). But it does appear to be beneficial when the band does not account for too large of the overall workload (around 20-30%). Remember – This method of training is simply one tool within the tool box. Within my personal tool box I store this tool, however it is used very sparingly.
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Body Weight Workout
Sunday, March 15th, 2009
The TRX is a great piece of fitness equipment. I use it with everyone of my clients at the gym and soon I will be incorporating it into team training sessions. You can perform any kind of body weight exercise you can think of.
Core Exercises:
Any kind of bridge variation you can think of
Lower Body Exercises:
Single leg squat variations
Upper Body Exercises:
Push Ups
Rows
Arms – Bi’s/Tri’s
Check out the TRX: Click Here
Train Hard-Train Smart
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