Average increase per player – Back Squat: 48 pounds

Average increase per player – Bench Press: 19 pounds

Average increase per player – Clean: 10 pounds

I was very impressed with the squat results.  We really worked on lower body strength with squats – bilateral, split stance and unilateral squats.  I personally do not put much merit on the bench press, but it was nice to see about a 20 pounds increase across the board.  I thought for sure we would have more successful results for the clean.  It is a very technical lift and what we saw was a huge increase with athletes who had very little experience performing this lift before.  At the same time, many of the athletes who have been performing the clean for many years (through high school) had very little improvement.  This could be do to a few different factors: taught incorrectly how to clean in the first place (many times this is true when high school football coaches are not trained and educated to teach Olympic lifts), athletes did not take the first 4-5 weeks of the semester serious when we only performed skill transfer complexes (jump shrugs, RDLs, front squats, light weight/bar only Olympic movements), and finally it could be my fault because of program design or coaching effectiveness.  Either way this will improve with the next group of incoming freshmen.

Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

Every program at Pierce College is designed with these training principles in mind (Training philosophies I and Training philosophies II).  Every program is 3-6 weeks in length – depending on the training goal and phase of the program.

Train Hard-Train Smart

Here are my new Vibram Five Fingers:

I think we will begin to see more competitive athletes train barefoot or with shoes like the Five Fingers.  Athletes that first come to mind are volleyball and basketball players.  Most court athletes wear ankle braces and supportive athletic shoes when they compete.  Practicing and training braces and shoes weaken the muscles in the foot and ankle.  This increases the risk of injury not only to the foot and ankle but also up the chain – knees, hips, and low back.  Athletes need their foot and ankle to function properly to maximize athletic potential.

Train Hard – Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

Lessons from the trenches

I came to Pierce College with a ton of good training ideas (so I thought). One thing I got a lot of rift about from the football players was front squatting and not barbell bench pressing (this will be another post). Here is my rationale on front squatting: I believe in programming front squats into a workout routine before I introduce back squats. The front squat is a great core dominate exercise that requires the athlete to maintain a rigid torso (emphasizing core stabilization). At Pierce, we front squatted for 6 weeks. We never did heavy singles, doubles or triples because we were still in the foundation phase of our program. Even with relatively low loads on the bar, many of the athletes said their legs had never been that strong. In fact, we tested the back squat (using this number as a baseline for the next training phase which did include back squats) after 6 weeks of front squatting and most of the athletes said they beat their PR on the back squat. We didn’t even back squat though! Now this didn’t take place with every athlete, but I think it does illustrate that the front squats helps to build a stronger chain between the lower half and the torso. With back squats I tend to see a lot of hip/lumbar flexion and extension. The athletes tend to have greater forward tilt with their torso. With the front squat you don’t have that option – if there is excessive forward tilt of the torso you will miss the lift.

Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

Day 1
Medium Intensity

Day 2
High Intensity

Day 3
Low Intensity

Day 4
Medium Intensity

Train Hard – Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

Hip mobility is extrememly important to help protect the lower back and knees. There is a limited amount of motion that takes place at the lower back, so the hips actually need to be the area where the greatest range of motion comes from in the core.

Shown below are a few simple stretches that will definitely help improve flexibility of the muscles of the hip and enhance mobility of the entire joint.

Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

In that post, I noted that certain physical characteristics such as muscle fiber composition (type I and type II muscle fibers) is predetermined or genetic.  I made that statement to inform you that you cannot convert all your slow twitch muscle fibers into fast twitch muscle fibers and start winning gold medals.  However, there is actually more to the story.  Type I and type II muscle fibers have different capabilities (type I fibers has a greater aerobic capacity and able to produce less force at slower velocities, while type II fibers have a great anaerobic capacity and are able to produce more force at faster velocities).  Now the theory that many of us have heard is that you are predetermined with the number type II fibers at birth (the fibers all athletes want so they can be fast and explosive during sport).  However, there are hybrid fiber types that have the capacity to change based on the stimulus provided to your muscle.  A well-designed training program (weight, speed, agility, and power training) actually has the ability to change muscle fiber composition in hybrid fibers!  Training can actually alter the ratio and percentage of type II to type I fibers that leads to increased strength and power-generating capacity.  This really strengthens the argument that great athletes become “great” because of hard work, dedication, and a well-structured training program throughout their entire life.

Every athlete has the capacity to improve based on the stimuli provided to the body.

Source:
Bompa, Tudor and Haff, Gregory. Periodization – Theory and Methodology of Training. Illinois: Human Kinetics, 2009

Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

Being heavily involved in the athletic community you hear comments all the time like “This kid was born to play baseball.  Her jump shot is smooth and natural.  This guy was born to a professional quarterback.”

First off, I do understand that genetics play a role in athletics (especially at the professional level – you can’t be 5’6 and be an NFL lineman or a 7’2 middle infielder).  Your height, fast twitch muscle fiber composition, limb length (including hand/foot size), some other physical characteristics (tendon attachment, bone articulations, etc.) are genetically predetermined.  However, when it comes to athletic skill it is hard to argue that individuals are born with greater genetic abilities to swing a bat, hit a volleyball, or kick a soccer ball.  When you start to understand that genes give way to certain characteristics and human physical traits, it is also important to understand that does not directly equate to athletic skill.  Humans do not come out of the womb with pre-wired neuromuscular pathways to hit home runs or run the 100-meter dash under 10 seconds.

Athletes become great because of the stimulus provided to them over the course of their life.

Many times what happens is, a child (or usually parent) realizes that they enjoy a sport and are pretty good at it.  Now this child starts to enjoy practice and has the motivation/internal drive to improve their skills even more (improve their neuromuscular pathways).  Now they live and breathe the sport so much that they spend all their free time watching it on TV (obtaining that visual stimulus to the brain).  Maybe the child doesn’t obsess over the sport, but they are given positive verbal stimulus from coaches and parents letting them know how good they are at the sport.  All these stimuli strengthen the child’s athletic skill set.

What about the kids that are “genetically” coordinated and fast/quick.  (Again fast twitch muscle fiber composition aside for this argument)  If you really start to analyze it from an early age, you begin to see that many of those fast kids play multiple sports.  They also spend all their free time outside playing with their friends – even if it’s just hide and seek, riding bikes, kicking the soccer ball around, playing hopscotch, or playing on the playground.  All these events provide a stimulus to the body and this child becomes more coordinated at controlling their body and improves their spatial awareness.

Was Tiger Woods born, I mean actually genetically predetermined to be the best golfer in the world?  My thought is no way!  How about the fact that he started hitting a golf ball when he was 2 years old, or that fact that his dad was an avid golfer (that’s a whole lot of stimulus provided to young Tiger Woods).  He took golf lessons and played in golf tournaments his entire life – he was preparing his body (the neuromuscular pathways) for greatness.

Let’s begin to look at athletic talent as something more than “genetic ability/potential”.  Understand that your body has the ability to adapt and change based on the stimulus you provide it whether it is physical, visual, emotional, or mental.  Hard work and deep/deliberate practice make an athlete great, not their chromosomes.

Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

Going along the same lines…Soreness is not necessarily a sign of great workout.  Anyone can make an athlete sore (literally anyone that knows how to talk – just say “run 100 sprints uphill” or “do 500 push ups and sit ups”).  I love to hear athletes say things like “my coach has the hardest workouts” or the “the training sessions are so intense”.  I ask the athlete what they did during the training session and usually their response is something like this “first we did a mile run, 100 sit ups, bench press and lat pull downs and finished with the leg press/leg extensions/leg curl for 5 sets.  I couldn’t move my legs for 3 days”.   There are definitely ways to make the training routine more sport specific.   If an athlete only has only X number of training sessions before the season starts, the coach should make the workouts as sport specific as possible.  There are times to work on general fitness and conditioning, but make sure it follows your yearly plan.  Every training session should follow the game plan and help the team/athletes accomplish their ultimate goals.

Remember “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.

Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com

Other forms of recovery are just as important and beneficial.  Proactive recovery methods would also include stretching, massage, myofascial release (self-massage), hot or cold bath, and proper nutrition strategies.  These methods also help with lactate removal, muscle soreness, and improving future performance.

Passive recovery (no exercise) is important and worth discussing.  I am specifically speaking about quality and quantity of sleep.  Athletes require more sleep than the average person who sits around all day and does not push their body to their limits.  All other recovery strategies do not mean anything if an athlete is not getting enough quality sleep.

Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com