Archive for the ‘Speed/Agility’ Category

Muscle Fiber Adaptations

Monday, January 11th, 2010

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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Sunday Morning Performance Training Sessions

Monday, January 11th, 2010

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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ASAP On The Radio

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

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

khts_christmaslogo_greenoverred

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Bioenergetic Specificity

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

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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Interesting Research Articles – Part II

Monday, October 19th, 2009

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:

  1. Work with a sports performance specialist or an individual who understands sprinting mechanics to develop basic technique – leg action, torso position, and arm action.  Then practice this technique over and over again.
  2. Get stronger!  This can start a young age by doing body weight strength training exercises.  By the time an athlete is in 7th/8th grade they should be doing resistance training with weights.  The emphasis is always on the movement patterns though.

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Interesting Research Articles – Part I

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

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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Just Run to Get Faster

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

If you are currently doing very little sprinting and then decide to begin a sprint routine on a regular basis you should improve you conditioning and work capacity but not necessarily your absolute speed.  Running is a movement that requires a certain amount of skill if you wish to be great at it.  Think about it…would you tell your kid to just go swing the bat in the cage to be a better hitter or throw the ball at the basket to be a better shooter.  It would be much more beneficial to correct and perfect their technique with an expert coach before you have them do high volumes of repetitions.  Perfect practice makes perfect!  This concept holds true with movement training.

Most athletes I train have zero sprint training experience.  It would be extremely beneficial to teach these athletes the correct sprinting technique before I tell them to go out there and run.  Just like any other sports skill I implement remedial drills to emphasize form and technique.  One drill that is great for demonstrating correct sprinting mechanics is the wall drill.

wall drill

Once the athletes understand this body position and how the legs and arms move in space, then it is appropriate to say, “Go out there and run to get faster.”

You can teach kids to be faster – check out a previous post on this topic – http://blog.matthank.com/2008/10/03/mlb-leader-in-stolen-bases/

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Summer Sports Performance Training

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Be sure to check out the Santa Clarita Seasons Summer Catalog (page 52).  It was a great time last year and the kids benefited tremendously.

Summer Catalog

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Training with Rubber Band Resistance

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Strength 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.

vertimax

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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Images of a Few Training Sessions

Friday, April 24th, 2009

Uploaded a set of action shots for you to check out.  Valencia Girls Volleyball, Hart Girls Volleyball, and Hart Boys Volleyball.

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