Check out a training sessions with the women’s volleyball team at Pierce College. They are getting ready for the upcoming fall season by out working all other JC volleyball programs in the weight room and on the court.
I use the workout tracks by Workout Muse – make sure to check them out.
Train Hard – Train Smart
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I have heard some strength and conditioning coaches question the effectiveness of ladder training. They feel like doing ladder drills only gets you better at ladders drills – it does not improve sport performance. I think this is completely ridiculous. If ladder drills are executed properly athletes are improving their foot work, coordination, center of gravity management/control, speed, quickness, running technique, and explosiveness (if performing plyometric drills).
I do see some coaches abusing the ladder – it is the only training tool they use to improve athletic performance for their athletes. For myself, the ladder is simply a tool in my big box of tools just like kettlebells, Olympic lifts, medicine balls, TRX’s, body weight training, hurdles, agility rings, etc. The ladder has proven to be a great training tool for younger athletes to learn movement control and coordination. For my advanced athletes I use the ladders to improve foot work. Most times I have athletes perform ladder drills to a sprint or other agility drill. The ladder alone is just a tool.
Make sure to use the right tool for the job.
A few things I have noticed since training with the Vibram Five Fingers for about a week and a half during workouts (strength training and running):
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One of the hottest trends in the fitness world is barefoot training. This concept has blown up since the release of Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. I just finished the book and thought it was an amazing read. It really gave insight into the world of long distance running and how the body was designed to run great distances. One part of the book that has really hit the fitness world is the idea of training barefoot or with Vibram Five Fingers. The benefits of training barefoot or with the Five Fingers includes improved balance and stability, increased strength and power, improved range of motion at the foot and ankle, and improved athletic performance.
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.
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This is a follow up to one of my recent posts titled Purely Genetic or Hard Work & Dedication.
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
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I will be holding sports performance training sessions at College of The Canyons track/football field on Sunday mornings. One training group is specifically for baseball athletes. All athletes are also welcome to join other training sessions, either before or after the baseball group. Training sessions will be one hour in length and always in morning. Exact time slots will be determined before the weekend so athletes can plan their schedules accordingly. Cost is $20 per session and athletes are not required to purchase a package of training sessions ahead of time. If you are interested in training or know other Jr. High, High School, or College athletes that are interested in training send me an email or give me a call.
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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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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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Researchers at Appalachian State University looked into the possible relationship between maximal leg strength and sprint speed. Most strength coaches would assume that lower body strength training ( this study investigated back squats) would have a positive affect on sprinting speed. This study confirms this the relationship between maximal strength and speed. (It’s always great to see when science supports real world application)
This is important for youth athletes to understand as well. If you want to get faster there a few things to do on a regular basis:
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Researchers at the University of Idaho looked into the effects of doing two specific activities before performing maximal sprints. The two preconditioning activities they looked into were power cleans and whole-body vibration. (Check out this article on Vibration Plates if you are not fimilar with them – overpriced machines that don’t need to be included in an athletic setting if you ask me). The idea behind performing either of these two activities before sprinting is that they will heighten or excite the neuromuscular system which would positively effect your sprint time. With a relatively low sample size, the researchers found that neither of these techniques were beneficial for improving your sprint times. (Of course incorporating Power Cleans and other Olympic Lifts over an entire training period would be extrememly beneficial for improving your lower body and thus sprint time. However, doing a couple sets right before a sprint doesn’t help your performance). The best explanation they gave for these results was that the preconditioning activities were not specific enough to the actually activity (sprinting). Standing on a vibration plate or doing a couple sets of power cleans looks nothing like sprinting. The researchers suggested that doing a preconditioning activity such as “overspeed training” may be more beneficial for decreasing sprint times. “Overspeed training is where an athlete is towed behind another runner in an attempt to achieve sprint speeds greater than those obtained via regular sprinting.” This would obviously be much more specific than vibration training or Olympic Lifting.
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