Be sure to check out last weeks on-air interview on KHTS about sports performance and the ASAP Baseball Academy. http://hometownstation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18658:lifestyle-fitness-december1-2009&catid=100:lifestyle-fitness&Itemid=173
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If you are an athlete or coach, analyze your entire training program to make sure it is sport specific. Check out this key sentence from Tudor Bompa and Gregory Haff’s book Periodization – Theory and Methodology of Training:
“The concept of movement pattern specificity reveals that the type of muscle action, kinematic characteristics (ie. movement patterns), kinetic characteristics (ie. forces, rate of force development, power output), muscle groups activated, and acceleration or velocity characteristics of the movement all contribute to the exercise’s ability to transfer to the sporting activity.”
Your movements in the weight room should never try to replicate sports movements (check out this blog for more on this topic). However, the exercises you choice should have characteristics similar to your sport. You want the exercises to carry over to the playing field otherwise why would you waste your time in the weight room to begin with. Once you begin to understand these scientific principles, it makes sense to incorporate ground-based training (exercises performed in standing positions), Olympic lifts and other high power output exercises, exercises in the full range of motion, and exercises in all planes motion. At the same time, it should begin to make sense why it is not as beneficial to train on machines that control only one movement and usually control the speed of the movement. Not to mention that most machines require the athlete to sit or lay on their back/stomach – that doesn’t look anything like sport!
Train Hard-Train Smart –> it’s not just important to train with intensity, it’s important to train with the correct knowledge too!
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Fancy term, but an easy concept to understand. Athletes should train to develop the appropriate energy systems for their sport. I still see way too many athletes (usually instructed by the coach) do aerobic exercise to “get in shape” for their sport (usually in the form of running laps or riding the stationary bike). The coaches’ philosophy is that this type of training will improve their endurance and help them during the latter stages of their match or competition. However, this is the furthest thing from what really happens. Remember – Your body adapts to the type of training stimulus you provide it. With aerobic training you are teaching your athletes to be really good slow runners. This would make a terrible baseball, football, tennis, volleyball, basketball, soccer or softball athlete (just to name a few sports). In fact, aerobic training has been shown to decrease anaerobic power output. Any high intensity/change of pace sport would suffer from aerobic training (on a regular basis).
Intervals is where it’s at:
High intensity interval training has been show to increase metabolic enzyme activity (both aerobic and anaerobic), improve short-term power output, and increase maximal aerobic power. In other words, you will get all the aerobic benefits you need from high intensity interval training and important benefits needed for quick/high intensity movements.
Until I see this switch in training philosophy from coaches and players, I will continue to write posts on this topic.
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Many times core resistance training looks like this:
However, it should look something like this:
Read my previous post on core training for other great functional core exercises with medicine balls. Notice how the cable and medicine ball exercises have something in common – you use your entire body and you are in a standing position.
Take a look at these athletic movements below and notice the commonalities between each movement. With exception to the volleyball player, they are all standing on either two feet or one foot (however, remember the volleyball player jumped off two feet or one foot to get in the air). It is important to notice the amount of torque (rotation) throughout their core during these movements. Their core is not working in isolation – the big powerful muscles of the legs and hips or working. The muscles in the back, shoulders, chest and arms are also involved in the movement. If you are an athlete or coach looking to strengthen or enhance the power of these movements, I would suggest the exercises I demonstrated in the video or the medicine ball exercises. The medicine ball exercises are great because the athlete must generate force throughout the entire movement – even during the release of the ball which is extremely sport specific.
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As an trainer who works with a large number of youth baseball players I know the story. Your son takes pitching lessons and now has amazing delivery on the mound. He is also apart of sports performance program to increase his relative strength and flexibility. Here’s the thing…it doesn’t matter your son still has to be on a strict pitch count. Because if he is not, he is increasing the risk of injury to his elbow or shoulder (scientifically proven!). Here are a few amazing stats from this article I’m recommending all parents and coaches should read. Here’s the article. Here’s the facts according to this article:
In a study by Andrews and Fleisig (1999) 476 youth pitchers between the ages of 9 and 14 were closely examined. “Over the course of the season, more than half of the pitchers experienced shoulder or elbow pain. For each increment of 25 pitches thrown after 50 pitches, the percentage of pitchers experiencing pain increased as fatigue set in. Those who threw curveballs were 52% more likely to feel shoulder pain. Those who threw sliders were 86% more likely to endure elbow pain.”
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Control the eccentric phase of your exercise (the lengthening phase). This will force you to keep constant tension on your muscles throughout the full range of motion. If you stick to these tips you will be doing twice work with each of these exercises, instead of allowing gravity to do all the work. Here are a few examples:
To control the eccentric phase of a lift you need to maintain core stability. During the squat your core and torso should be stable and solid. During the push up or shoulder press your core and leg muscle should be active.
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The NSCA is the leading authority in the US on sports performance. They recently came out with a new position statement regarding youth resistance training. This paper includes more than 250 cited references on this topic. The paper made many interesting points, and also validated the benefits associated with youth resistance and sports performance training.
Here are few key points I took from this paper that apply directly to the training programs I implement.
Injuries
Effectiveness of Training
Reasons for Strength Gains
Benefits of Strength Training
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I 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!!”
Train Hard-Train Smart
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This last weekend I attended an amazing training conference that covered a variety of fitness and sport specific topics. When I get a chance to digest all the information in the next few days I will discuss some of the interesting ideas/concepts I learned. For information about the conference check out – Functional Training Summit.
Stay tuned for the information.
Train Hard-Train Smart
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This is probably one of the most common questions I get from the average gym-goer. It seems like many individuals who work out at the gym and even do cardiovascular exercise outside get bored easily with their exercise program. I always explain to these individuals how they should be doing interval training to spice things up and the benefits associated with interval training. Many of them find this more exciting then their regular routine, but still look for alternatives for burning calories.
You do not have to do traditional cardiovascular exercises (run, bike, elliptical, stairs, swim) to get a great conditioning workout. You can get just as great of a conditioning/metabolic workout by alternating high intensity exercises. If you have access to kettlebells, medicine balls, agility ladders, TRXs, or other free weights you can easily put together a great high intensity circuit. This is great for athletes who are looking to improve their conditioning for sport or a housewives looking to shred fat.
Here is an example of a basic conditioning circuit:
This workout would take you about 15-20 minutes to complete. It’s a great alternative to typical cardio training.
