Just Another Case for Getting Stronger

One of my college softball clients came into the gym the other day with the kind of news that I love to hear.

 Her:  Guess What?

Me:  What?

Her:   I ran the fastest 20 yard sprint time on the team the other day at testing.

Me:  Not surprising  - but nice work!


So what did I have her do this summer that brought about this increase in speed?

Mondays  -    run 50's 100s and 200s

Tuesdays -  Total body strength circuit

Wednesdays   -  Run Stadium Stairs until her legs felt like they would fall off

Thursdays  - Core

Fridays  - Long distance running


If you believe that, then surely you have never read my blogs thoroughly before.   That would be a recipe for being the slowest and weakest girl on the team.  Unfortunately there are way too many female athletes training like that for power sports just as softball.


Not hitting many homeruns this season!


What did I really have one of my longest standing clients do this summer?

First of all, she had a lot of conflicts with work this summer that shortened  our sessions.   There were some weeks that we didn't have any time for speed work  (if time is an issue, I always go for strength work over speed.)   For the most part, she made it to the gym 3x per week from June to mid - September.   Here is a overview of what her weekly workouts looked like:

-   Full Dynamic Warm up each day

- Linear, vertical and lateral plyometrics

- Sled pushes, sled resisted sprints and short burst sprints  (when we had time).   At no point did she sprint over 20yards.

- MB throws, weighted jumps and snatchs

-  Dead lifts and squats  - both max effort and dynamic

-Single leg lifts and posterior chain  exercises

- Upper body presses and pulls.

-  Core work  (bridging, chops and other necessities)

  This is just another case of an athlete maximizing their training time in the off-season by getting stronger.  The strength and power that she gained transferred right onto the field for fall ball. What's great about this case is that we have all winter to get even stronger and more powerful!

Are you a coach looking for the same results for your team in the off -season? 

Are you unsure of how to put together a proper strength and power program for your team?


Look no further than Soar Team Strength!   

Imagine if you had all our exercises and programs at your fingertips.   The best part is that all workouts can be performed in any high school or college weight room.

Here is an example of a Soar Team Strength video from our exercise library.

 

If you know any team that needs to gain strength and power, then they probably need a complete overhaul of their off -season program.   Please pass this blog onto any coach that is willing to make a change for the better.

Soar Team Strength

Improving Your Bench Press

It's no secret  - every man that lifts weights wants to get stronger at the bench.   Almost every high school kid I train is obsessed with their bench press max.   I have said it before  - bench press max determined who suited up for varsity football at my high school!

As a strength and conditioning coach, I am fully aware that bench press does not have a whole lot to do with performance on the field or court.  Vertical leap, sprint time, conditioning shuttles, pull ups and squat/deadlift max are probably much better indicators of who the best athletes are.   However, it is never a bad thing to be really strong in the upper body.   Even if you are a weekend warrior or a fitness enthusiast   - getting stronger should always be your focus in the gym.

The video below will show you a few basic mistakes that I see most kids and adults make when they bench press.   If you are looking for specific power lifting advice, I would seek advice elsewhere from the many power lifting experts available on line.   If you have been benching the same weight for the last two years and have never addressed your technique  - definitely watch this video.

3 Questions Any Legit Trainer Should Answer Easily

 Walk into any large indoor sports complex and I guarantee that you will find some sort of SAQ or Sport Performance program.  Search online and you will find any person who was ever fast or big and they will give you their expertise for a price.   When I started this business 10 years ago, I could count on my hand the number of Strength and Conditioning businesses in Central OH.  In 2012, I can't count on my hand the number of Strength and Conditioning programs within 10 miles of me!

On top of that, more and more high school sport coaches are now providing strength and conditioning programs for their athletes.   I have heard of everything from popping in P90X DVDs to hiring sound Strength and Conditioning coaches.   I give any coach credit for taking time to try to help their athletes get stronger and faster.   Not all families can afford expert training and as a result the coach has to have something in place at the school. 

I am not saying this growth is a bad thing  - it definitely means that the fitness industry is growing by leaps and bounds.   However, there are a lot of pretenders out there.   A LOT!!!!  

I will give you a very simple analogy. 

I used to play baseball and I was pretty good.   I know how to hold a bat and swing it.   HOWEVER, I would be flat out stealing money from clients if I started giving hitting lessons in here.   Why?   Because I am a Strength Coach, not a Baseball Coach.

The opposite also applies.   There are a ton of coaches/trainers who were great athletes, ran fast and used to lift weights.   They have bench pressed and squatted before.   But, have they performed over 10,000 hours worth of research in the Strength and Conditioning field?

  In my opinion, ANYONE who is in charge of supervising lifting and conditioning sessions is a trainer.  It might not be there full time gig, but if they are training athletes a few times a week, they are a trainer to some degree.  

How can you tell if your trainer is legit?    Here are 3 very simple questions that any knowledgeable strength coach or trainer should be able to answer with ease.

1.   What is your warm up?

Acceptable answers:   Anything that has to do with mobility and elevating body temperature or heart rate.
Unacceptable answers:    Nothing,  jogging, static stretching or they are already warm from open gym 

A good trainer has a very sound warm up system.   If they can't tell you about it, they don't have one.

2. What is the template for your program?

There are a lot of right answers here.    It could be as simple as Upper body on Monday, Legs on Wednesday  and Total Body on Friday.   Whatever it is, the trainer should be able to lay it out for you and demonstrate balance in program design.  The template should allow for progression and will include a combination of strength and explosive exercises.   Here are few things to look for:

Upper body pulling volume should at the very least equal pressing volume.

Sets and reps should change from week to week.

There should be a progression of exercises that are rotated every couple of weeks.

There must be posterior chain exercises  (butt, hamstrings).

Here is an example of a typical dry erase board workout I have seen in a lot of high school weight rooms.

Bench 3x10
Lunge 3x10
Chin ups 3x10
Curls 3x10
Dips 3x10

This workout is not bad, but it would be if it was your workout every Monday for 8 weeks.   Anyone, and I mean ANYONE can write a workout on the board for 30 kids to follow. 

3.  How to Assess Squat Technique

The squat is a crucial exercise.   Do it correctly with the right amount of weight will most definitely lead to increases in speed, strength and power.   Doing squats with shitty technique will lead to weakness and probably aches and pains.   It is that cut and dry.   A good strength coach will tell you exactly what they look for when watching an athlete squat  (back flat, sit back, push knees out, breathing, ect).  They also know the progressions to take with a young athlete who struggles with their squatting.    A pretend trainer will allow mediocre or shitty technique to slide over and over again.


 I have said it before, Quality reps breed quality athletes.    Shitty reps breed..........


If you are concerned about the level of training your young athlete is receiving either at school or in a private setting, try asking these questions to the coach or trainer.   Don't look for elaborate scientific answers.   Do look for confident answers that make sense and show knowledge.    If they can't answer these 3 questions, they are pretending!

Fictitious Maxes and the Percentage Problem

Maxing out to some degree, whether it is a 1 rep max, 3 rep max or just max reps at a certain load is a staple in just about every high school and college weight room.  Some strength coaches live and die by percentage charts that spit out the weights each athlete should lift for a a number of reps based on their "Max".  A typical strength day could be 5 x5 with weights ranging from 80 - 88% of each athlete's 1 rep max.  If you lift dynamically (for speed) then the percentage could be as low as 30 - 50% for a rep scheme of  10 x 2.  

All of these percentages, charts and rep schemes are great if one very golden rule is followed.   THE MAX MUST BE PERFORMED WITH SOLID TECHNIQUE.  Solid does not have to be perfect, but it can't be mediocre and it most certainly under any circumstance can't be shitty.   If the strength coach, sport coach or whoever is chosen to supervise the weight room allows shitty technique for maxes, then the whole thing is a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME!

In my 10 years of strength and conditioning, I have had many kids tell me their max on squat was over 400 lbs but couldn't correctly squat 200lbs in front of me.  Sadly, some of these kids are college athletes from big time universities.   This poses 2 major problems.

1.  The obvious.......Lifting heavy weight with bad technique adds strength to dysfunctional movement which will eventually lead to injury.   I won't even get into the implications of allowing bad technique for adolescents that are still growing.  If you read my blog or have heard me speak, you know my thoughts on that topic.  Common sense  - Lifting with good technique gets you big and strong.  Lifting with bad technique will leave you weak and probably injured.

2. If your maxes are fictitious, the use of percentage charts and dynamic lifts are useless.   Think about this.

Lets take a 16 year old kid who has a true squat max  (done in front of me and probably estimated) of 200.   His max at school is 300 and that number is used for percentages.    Let's say on a dynamic day (again - lifting for speed) he is to perform 10 sets of 2 reps at 70% of his 1 RM (300). 

First of all, in my research, dynamic should be 30 - 50%, not 70%.   But, for some reason 70% is the number most of my high school clients give me so that is what I am using in this example.

70% of 300 is 210.

210 is 10 lbs. higher than the correct max that I assigned him.

Do you think he is moving 210 for speed?   UGH ABSOLUTELY FREAKING NOT!  Its more than his actual freaking max!

Even at 50%  - the number is 150.   That is 75% of his actual max.   That is still not going to be lifted for speed.

Let's use the same maxes now for a strength workout.  To keep it simple, lets use 5x5 at 80%.

80% of 300 is 240.    240 is 40 lbs. higher than his actual max.  That would 5 sets of 5 reps at a weight higher than his actual 1 rep max.  That would be 25 shitty reps.   That my friend is not how you get strong.

Hopefully this blog helps you see how detrimental bad lifting form during maxes can be to the growth of a young athlete.   If you let it happen, it will screw up your entire training process.   Please let common sense prevail!

Progressing into "True Plyometrics"

I have written a few articles before in regards to proper jump training or plyometric progressions for young athletes. Click here to read about our beginner plyometric progressions.

As I have stated before, we must work on proper landing mechanics before we start working towards reducing ground contact time. Young athletes have to learn how to absorb the force of landing before trying to produce force in a repetitive and quick fashion.  Elasticity, stretch shortening cycle and amortization phase are all fancy terms used when talking about true plyometrics.   To keep it simple, the goal of a true plyometric is to jump as high as you can while being as quick as you can off the ground. 

The thing is that most growing 12 - 16 year olds are not ready for the kind of impact that true plyometrics bring to the body. If they still struggle with landing a box jump, they definitely are not ready to do tuck jumps. I know jumping seems simple and harmless, but have you ever watched a big 12 year jump and land? Sometimes it makes my knees hurt just watching them.

Is there middle ground? I would like to think that there is. A few months ago I started to have my more advanced younger clients do plyometric jumps in reps of 3 - 5. The video below will give you a good idea of what I am talking about.

We are still working on being quick off the ground without trying to jump over hurdles or dropping off boxes. Proper landing mechanics are still being enforced after the 3rd jump of each rep. I have the athletes perform 9 jumps, broken down into 3 short sets of 3 reps.

This is this just one example of intermediate plyometrics that I use with my athletes that are ready for this kinds of training.

College Football Conditioning - Week 1 at a Glance

We are winding down Week 1 of Summer Football Conditioning at Soar.   On Monday, the guys ran some times 10's and then finished with a lower body strength and power lift.   On Tuesday, the focus was Upper Body lifting and core.

On Wednesday, we shifted focus to position drills and conditioning.  Below are some video clips.

This is a clip of a sled push and sprint interval. Each 5 yard sled push was followed immediately by a 10 yard sprint. Rest was 25 - 35 seconds between reps. This is a lineman specific agility drill. We performed 8 reps of drills with 30 seconds rest in between. We then headed outside to the hill. We ended our hill workout with a series of 10 hurry up sprints. The sprints were about 7 yards in length with 15 seconds of rest in between. On Friday, the workout began with 8 sets of 3 MB throws paired with 8 sets of 10 yard sled pushes. Rest was 30 seconds after the throws and then 45 seconds after the pushes. The second "quarter" of Friday's workout consisted of crossover sled drags. The athletes performed 4 sets of 15 yard drags in each direction with 30 seconds rest. We then finished Friday off with some conditioning shuttles and then some hip extension and knee prehab work.

Get Jacked Revisited

I dug up a blog from 2 years ago entitled "Get Jacked!"   Click here to read it.

Since 2 years has past since I wrote it, there are a few small things that I felt like I needed to add to it.  Besides, I don't train any male athletes that are not looking to put lots of lean mass on.  Just watch any football, basketball or baseball game.  There aren't many skinny fat guys running around out there.

The bulk of this information is for the skinny guy who is looking to put mass on.  If you are carrying too much fat, there are some steps we need to take to lean you out so some of this does not apply to you.

1.  If you want to be slow, skinny and weak, keep going for long runs.   If you want to be jacked up, start sprinting.   If you are an athlete, you are probably getting enough calorie burn from your practices and game regimen.  

2.  Get every rep of every set with good technique.  If your lifting partner is pulling 3 reps of every set off your chest, then you are spinning your wheels in the mud.   Check your ego and make sure that you get every rep cleanly.

3. Drink Real Gains from Universal Nutrition.  Its the only shake that I have sold for 10 years.   It works.  Drink it post workout and drink it before bed.   Also add fish oil supplement, vitamin D and multi - vitamin.  Save your money and avoid gimmicky pre - workout drinks.  Look to solid sleeping habits to promote energy and have a small coffee before your workouts if you feel the need.

4.  Squat, press, dead lift, jump and pull.   Those are the staple lifts and the one that bring about the most gains.   If you are not sure how to squat or deadlift, consult a professional like myself.  Add biceps, triceps and shoulder raises at the end of your workouts for 2 - 4 sets.

If you think I am possible full of it, check out these before and after shots.   This is Adam in November of 2011 at 118 lbs.

This is Adam 6 months later at 145lbs.  3 to 4 day a week of intense lifting and a solid diet will do that do you!