Archive for “Ups” Tag

Using Complexes In Warm Ups to Improve The Skills Of Young Athletes

Posted on: June 21st, 2012 by IYCA 9 Comments

Young Athletes weightlifting specific warm-ups

Young athletes olympic lifts warm up tips

By Wil Fleming

When your program is full of barbell strength training , in particular the Olympic lifts, it is important to sharpen the skills of your young athletes with a weightlifting specific warm-up.

A general warm-up is necessary for young athletes to increase mobility and activation, prior to training. Once the athlete is warmed up in general however, a specific warm-up for the days activities should be used to prepare.

In all sports the general warm-up is followed by a specific warm-up, baseball players should touch a ball before actually throwing out the first pitch, basketball players should take a couple shots before the buzzer sounds, just as in those scenarios, in strength training it is important to use some external loading before the training of the day.

A complex is the perfect way to do that.

Complexes are multiple movements done sequentially without rest in between movements. In order to complete a complex it is important to complete all the prescribed reps of one particular movement before moving on to the next drill.

Complexes can be a tremendous tool for conditioning as well, but in this case I would like to think of them for warm-up only.

The great thing about complexes is that they can really include whatever it is that you want for a given day. For my athletes I think that they are a great source of variation in the program, and a great way to challenge them on a given day.

I typically design complexes around what the movements of the day will be, if our athletes are to be cleaning in the session ahead, I will design a complex that includes clean movements. If we are snatching, then the complex will include the snatch.

Designing a complex

Limiting factors:

Athletes should be able to complete the complex without a severe break in proper technique. Complexes will have one movement typically that will be the limiting factor in the amount of weight that is on the bar.

For example: A complex of 5 exercises- Hang Clean, Front Squat, Push Press, RDL and Bent over row. In this complex , for nearly all athletes the bent over row will be the movement on which they will struggle the most with a given weight. In this instance the weight that an athlete can use for the prescribed reps on a bent over row

Selecting Exercises

Selection of exercises should mimic what the athletes will be asked to do in the training session later in the day. It is also important to use the LIGHTER weight of a complex to work on areas in which many athletes struggle. In the clean or snatch that is the pull around the knee area, and with extension of the hips. Including a movement that will specifically work on that area of the lifts is important.

Exercises should be selected in an order that moves logically for the athletes. This means that the starting points of each movement should be similar to the previous one.

For example: A complex that includes Front squats, to RDL’s, to Push Press becomes much more difficult due to the fact that the bar has go from resting on the shoulders, to the hands and back to resting on the shoulders. Changing the order from Front Squat, to Push Press, to RDL keeps the bar in the same position as long as needed.

Importance of Exercises

Explosive movement should be prioritized in complexes. This does not however mean that all complexes have to start out with a full clean or snatch, it does mean that a clean pull, or full clean should precede front squats.

Explosive movement requires a greater level of technical proficiency young athletes need to be fresher to complete these movements.

Examples of Complexes

Clean Complex:
2 to 3 sets of 5 -7 reps of each of the following:
Clean pull from above knee, Clean High Pull from Mid Thigh, Hang clean from Mid thigh, Power Jerk, Front Squat, RDL, Bent Row

Snatch Complex:
2 to 3 sets of 5-7 reps of each of the following:
Snatch Pull from below knee, Snatch High Pull from Above Knee, Hang Snatch from Mid Thigh, , Snatch Jerk behind neck, Overhead Squat, Snatch Grip RDL.

These same complexes could be used with Dumbbells or even Kettlebells. Try implementing them before your young athletes next session.

Change Lives Today

Wil

The Olympic lifts are the most explosive and dynamic demonstration of force in which an athlete can participate. It is important to have established, an effective, efficient, and safe way to teach athletes to Olympic lift. Athletes can be taught at any stage to lift well, with proper technique using the methods outlined in this course. Learn more on Olympic Lifting with young athletes here…

Teaching The Perfect Push Up To A Younger Athlete

Posted on: April 10th, 2012 by IYCA 1 Comment

Younger Athlete Push Ups Exercise

By Dave Gleason

Teaching the push up to a younger athlete can be arduous and complicated depending on physical maturity, body awareness, current skill and or experience. Let’s face it, in most scenarios the younger athlete has had no instruction, incomplete instruction or instruction with incorrect information. Once more, the opportunity to perform a push up is usually at the end of a practice, as a form of punishment or as an element of a timed standardized testing protocol. We know none of these story lines are optimal for any young athlete to achieve true success.

Creating a foundation where a younger athlete can progress to a push up worthy of actually performing as part of any training program is where we need to start.

In this video Dave Gleason, 2010 IYCA Trainer of the Year and owner of Athletic Revolution in Pembroke MA, shows you the progressions he uses with a younger athlete 10-13 years old.

How to Create a Strength Training Program For Young Athletes

Posted on: April 5th, 2012 by IYCA 15 Comments

Strength Training Program For Young Athletes

Strength training program design can get very complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. The bottom line is that you need to develop a well-rounded, comprehensive program that encourages hard work and progressive overload of the musculature. If those components are in place, you are well on your way to helping your athletes reap the benefits of a strength training program for young athletes. Keep in mind that “young athletes” can mean just about anyone under 18 years old. In this case, the program is mainly geared toward athletes 12-18 years old.

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #1: Comprehensive

A strength training program for young athletes should address every major muscle group in the body: chest, upper back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, neck (for collision sports), abdominals, lower back, hips & glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Certain sports will focus more on a particular body part or require specialized work on smaller muscle groups (i.e. baseball pitchers will train the rotator cuff extensively), but all major muscle groups should be addressed. In general, an equal amount of work should be done on each side of a joint.

A strength training program for young athletes should address every major muscle group in the body.

Deficiencies can be overcome through a strength training program, but it generally takes specialized assessment to determine which muscles are deficient, and that is beyond the scope of this article.

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #2: Progressive

Strength Training Program for Young Athletes

In order for any program to be effective, there must be a systematic and progressive overload of the musculature. In other words, athletes should systematically attempt to perform more work on a given exercise. For example, an athlete who can perform a maximum of 10 push-ups today should attempt to perform 11 repetitions at some point. When 11 can be performed, 12 should be attempted, and so on.

Progress can be made through any of the following: increasing the number of repetitions, increasing the amount of weight, increasing the number of sets, increasing the number of training days per week, decreasing the amount of rest time between sets, or a combination of any of these.

One of the easiest approaches is called “double progression.” To use this method, start by determining a range of repetitions you are going to use, for example 6-10 reps. If the athlete is unable to perform at least 6 reps, the weight is too heavy. If more than 10 reps can be performed, the weight is too light. During each workout, one more rep should be attempted until the top of the range (10 reps in this case) can be performed. When the top of the range is achieved, the weight will be increased at the next workout by the smallest amount possible.

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #3: How many sets?

The number of sets used on an exercise or within a complete workout can vary greatly, but the following guidelines can be used. In most cases, 1-3 sets will be performed for each exercise and 15-20 working sets (not including warm-up sets) will be performed in the entire workout.

If fewer sets are used, each set should be performed with maximum intensity. In other words, the set should be taken to the point of momentary muscular fatigue, or no more reps can be performed. If the athletes are unable to perform with maximal intensity, it is generally a good idea to complete multiple sets of an exercise.

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #4: How many reps?

While there is great debate of the number of repetitions that should be used in a set, it really should not be confusing. In general, it is recommended that 6-20 reps be performed on each set. While this is a large range, it offers a guideline in which to create smaller rep ranges from. It is best to choose smaller ranges such as 6-10, 8-12, 10-15, or 15-20.

As long as your program continually challenges the athlete to perform a greater amount of work, strength gains will be made. Any rep range will work. There are, however, some subtle differences between the benefits of each rep range.

Lower rep ranges (i.e. under 6 reps) will stimulate the nervous system to a greater extent, but actual tissue changes may be more limited. Very heavy weight (relative to the athlete’s strength) must be used, which can be potentially dangerous because athlete may have a tendency to use improper technique to lift the weight.

In general, it is unnecessary for any middle-school or high school athlete to use weights that cannot be lifted at least 6 times with good form. Prepubescent athletes should generally use weights that allow for at least 10 reps. This allows more repetitions with good form to solidify proficiency at the exercise.

Medium rep ranges (i.e. 6-10, 8-12, 10-15) offer the benefits of increasing strength, eliciting positive tissue changes, and allow for greater safety than very heavy weights. These rep ranges are recommended for most sets with young athletes.

Higher rep ranges (i.e. 15-20) offer the greatest results when muscular endurance is the goal. Endurance athletes may want to consider higher rep ranges. Young athletes or beginners may also consider higher rep ranges because it offers the opportunity to practice good technique. Strength will still be gained with higher rep ranges.

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #5: How much weight?

Once a rep range is determined (for example 8-12 reps), selecting a weight is fairly easy. Have the athlete perform a set of as many reps as possible. If the athlete cannot perform at least 8 reps, the weight is too heavy and should be decreased at the next workout. If the athlete can perform more than 12 reps, the weight is too light and should be increased at the next workout.

Within 2-4 workouts, the optimal weight will be selected. This selection process gives the athletes the opportunity to practice technique and experiment with different resistances without having to go through maximal or sub-maximal testing.

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #6: How often should you train?

Selecting the number of training sessions per week is dependent upon many outside factors such as practice time, game schedule, outside activities, facility availability, etc. Generally, there will be more time available for strength training during the off-season than during a competitive season.

The following are some guidelines for the number of training days per week during different phases of the competitive cycle, with routine ideas in parenthesis:

Off-season: 2-4 days/week (2 or 3 total-body workouts per week T & Th, 2 upper & 2 lower body workouts/week M-T-Th-F or 3 days/week alternating upper & lower body routines M-W-F)
Pre-season: 2-3 days/week (2 or 3 total-body workouts per week, or 3 days/week alternating upper & lower body routines M-W-F)
In-season: 1-3 days/week (1- 3 total-body workouts per week, or 2-3 days/week alternating upper & lower body routines)

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #7: How long should the workout take?

Each strength training session should last 20-60 minutes. There is no reason for any high school strength workout to last more than 60 minutes.

Rest between sets should last about 1-2 minutes. This allows time for a partner to complete his/her set and the next exercise to be set up.

Work large muscles first.

In general, the order of exercises should begin with the largest muscle groups and move to smaller muscle groups.

Large muscle groups include the chest, upper back, and hips & quads. Smaller muscle groups include the shoulders, arms, hamstrings, calves and abdominals. An example of the order of a total body routine would be:

Explosive/plyometric Exercise
Hips & Quads (squatting-type movement)
Chest (upper body push)
Upper back (upper body pull)
Shoulders
Hamstrings
Arms
Calves
Abdominals
Neck

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #8: Variation

A workout routine should be changed every 6-12 weeks to offer new stressors to the body. A change can be very small such as changing the rep range, changing the number of sets per exercise, adding a new exercise or two, or changing the order of exercises. Change can also consist of a completely new routine. Small changes are all the body needs to continually make progress so don’t feel that it is necessary to create brand new programs.

The process of changing the workout routine is called periodization. This can get very complicated, and there are entire books written on the subject. To get started on a strength training program, it is not necessary to understand the intricacies of periodization. This workout is for beginner lifters, so for now, all that is important is to modify the workout every 6-12 weeks. More advanced programming should be reserved for athletes with much more lifting experience.

Changing the routine too often does not allow the muscular tissue time to gradually adapt to the stress. If the routine is changed too quickly, it is difficult to determine whether or not the routine is working. Building strength requires a great deal of patience and persistence, so encourage athletes to be diligent.

Variety, however, can often keep athletes engaged, so it is encouraged to offer something slightly different every couple of weeks. All this means is that every 2-3 weeks, you change one or two things about the program for that day. You can increase or decrease the number of reps on an exercise, add additional sets of an exercise, add 1-2 new exercises, or give an unexpected day off. Anything to make the workout a little different for the day in an effort to keep the athletes engaged.

Strength Training for Young Athletes Component #9: Off-season vs. Pre-season vs. In-season

The time of the year is going to create more differences in your strength training program for young athletes design than just about anything else. While this can get very complicated, once again you are encouraged to keep it simple. The major differences between the programs you will design for each “season” are as follows:

Off-season: The off-season is the best time to make strength gains because fewer physical demands are placed on the body at this time. Overall training volume will generally be increased during the off-season. This means that more days per week may be used, more sets of each exercise and more energy overall will be spent on strength than any other time of the year. In general young athletes will train 2-4 days per week and use 15-20 total working sets per workout. Aerobic and anaerobic conditioning is generally de-emphasized during the off-season to allow more energy to be spent on gaining strength or the improvement of other deficiencies. Developing speed is another common priority during the off-season.
Pre-season: Strength training will continue through the pre-season, but the overall volume will gradually decrease as more time and energy are spent on conditioning or fitness. In general, strength training will consist of 2-3 days per week and 12-15 total sets per workout. The intensity of each set may be increased as the volume of work is decreased.
In-season: It is absolutely imperative that strength training be continued through the competitive season. The total volume of work will be reduced, so the relative intensity can be increased. The workouts will be less frequent and shorter in duration. Athletes should strength train at least one day per week, and no more than three days. Workouts will take 20-40 minutes with a total of 10-14 working sets per workout.

The number of training days per week and volume of each workout will depend upon the competitive schedule and physical demands of the sport.

Decide what time of year it is, think about the facilities available, and consider which exercises you feel are most appropriate for you to teach and for your young athletes to perform.

Below is a partial list of exercises for each body-part. By choosing exercises from each group, you will begin to create a comprehensive, well-rounded program. Balance all sides of a joint by performing equal work on each side. For example, if you two sets of upper body pushing, you should balance it with two sets of upper body pulling. This is a basic guideline to follow when getting started with young athletes.

Quads & Hips: Pick 1-4 Exercises

Squat, Goblet Squat or Front Squat
Deadlift or Trap Bar Squat
Leg Press
Lunges DB
3-D Lunges
Leg Extension
Glute Ham Raise
Airball Squat
Hip Thrust/Glute Bridge

Hamstrings: Pick 1-2 Exercises

Leg Curl
Airball Leg Curl
RDL/Hip-hinge
Glute-Ham Raise/Hyperextension
Kettlebell Swing

Calves: Pick 0-1 Exercise

Standing Calf Raise
Seated Calf Raise
1-Leg Calf Raise

Upper Body Push: Pick 1-3 Exercises

Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Decline Bench Press
DB Bench Press, Incline DB Bench Press, Decline DB Bench Press
Machine Press
Dips
Push Ups

Upper Body Pull: Pick 1-3 Exercises

Chin-Ups/Pull-Ups
Pulldown
DB Row
Cable/Machine Row
Close Grip Pulldown
DB Pullover
Inverted Row
Shrugs

Shoulders: Pick 1-3 Exercises

Overhead Press, Seated/Standing with DBs or Barbell
Machine Military Press
DB Lateral Raise/Front Raise/Bent Over Raise
Band Pull-a-parts
Internal Rotation External Rotation

Biceps: Pick 0-1 Exercise

Barbell Curl
DB Curl
Hammer Curl

Triceps: Pick 0-1 Exercise

Dips
Close Grip Press
Skullcrushers
Pushdowns
DB Overhead Extensions

Forearms/Hands: Pick 0-2 Exercises

Wrist Curl
Wrist Extension
Reverse Curl
Wrist Roller
Farmers Walk
Towel Chins
Plate Pinch

Abdominals/Low Back: Pick 1-3 Exercises

Sit-Ups
Hanging Leg Raise
Russian Twists
Plank Variations
Side Planks
Back Extension
Superman
Ab Rockers

Neck: Pick 1-3 Exercises

Machine or Manual Resistance Neck Flexion, Extension or Lateral Flexion
Shrugs

And There You Have The Building Blocks of a Strength Training Program For Young Athletes.

Let me know what you think!

Want to help make sure your athletes are prepared to perform for the long-run and not just for next week’s big game?

Download our FREE Prepared to Perform Video to hear youth coaching expert Wil Fleming break down critical aspects of the long-term athlete model.

About the Author

Jim Kielbaso is currently the director of the Total Performance Training Center in Wixom, Michigan where he still trains athletes every day. He went to Michigan State University for a BS in Exercise Science and became a traitor when he went to the University of Michigan for his M.S. in Kinesiology. Jim got his NSCA-CSCS back in 1995, and did the NASM Certified Personal Fitness Trainer certification back in 1993 when you actually had to go to Chicago and do the whole thing live, in-person. Jim was the Strength & Conditioning Coach at the University of Detroit Mercy from 1996-2002 and earned the distinction of NSCA Strength & Conditioning Professional of the Year for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now the Horizon League) in 1998. Jim was also an adjunct faculty member at UDM, teaching several courses in the Department of Sports Medicine. He also served as the State Director for the National Strength & Conditioning Association for six years, and Regional Coordinator for four years. He has written several books and contributes regularly to the IYCA.

Training for Power: The Top 5 Exercises for Athletes to Dominate the Game

Posted on: February 20th, 2012 by IYCA No Comments

Training for Power with Young Athletes

By Wil Fleming

My young athletes are known for explosive power, from middle school volleyball players to football players preparing for the combine all of them out class the competition when it comes to quick bursts of power. Recently I put together a presentation outlining my favorite exercises to do just that. I have shared a brief outline of the topics covered in that seminar in the list below.

1. Hang Clean and Snatch-

You will notice that I did not say the Power Clean or Power Snatch. Power cleans are the staple of most training programs, but the key is by doing this movement from the hang position i.e. with the bar just above your knees. This position is much closer to ones athletes actually use in athetics and athletes have a much greater potential for technically sound lifts.

The snatch must be included because it is such a powerful movement as well and can lend diversity to the program.

2. CHAOS agility drills

Much of the need for power in football comes in the reaction to a movement of the ball or of the defensive player, because of this football players must also have the mental awareness to make explosive movements as a reaction. Credit Coach Robert Dos Remedios for this one, but my favorite training tool for this are CHAOS agility drills (it stands for Conscious to unconscious Have unpredictability Active to Reactive Open drills Slow to Fast). The idea behind it is to have athletes mirror one another in specific patterns first and then to open ended drills with many different movement patterns, more closely replicating the actions of actual game play.

3. Kettlebell Swings

This is a foundation movement for any athlete looking to develop more power. The action in the kettlebell swing is founded on the idea of a hip hinge, this is important because most athletes need to gain better control of the ability to hinge at the hips. Most athletes are very much Quad dominant and are losing out on the potential of their backside. The Kettlebell Swing does a great job of teaching these motions effectively.

4. MB Throws

Using medicine balls in throwing motions (chest pass, Side throws, Throws for distance) is a great way to develop power in the upperbody for young athletes while incorporating the important parts of hang cleans, hang snatches, and Kettlebell swings (hip hinging). Delivering a Medicine ball with force is a great way to engage the core in explosive activities as well, generating force with the lower body must require active core control to deliver the ball with the arms, This transfer of power is important to all sports.

5. Plyometrics

Athletes need to be adept at accelerating and decelerating their own body at maximum speeds. Plyometrics are the first way that athletes can learn to do so. Maximal jumps with a stuck landing will help athletes develop resistance to injury and will simulate many movements in sport.

There is a lot more than just power that goes into becoming athlete. It takes general strength, resistance to injury, proper conditioning and a well prepared mind.

Focusing on power will take athletes a long way towards getting to where they want to be.

Multi-Planar Warm-ups with Young Athletes: PNF in Your Movement

Posted on: February 16th, 2012 by IYCA No Comments

PNF Warm-ups With Young Athletes

By Wil Fleming

Ask coaches what their program should include and invariably the answer sounds like this “Strength, speed, agility, power and oh yeah warm-up“. The warm-up is always tossed in there, but not with much enthusiasm.

All too often our warm-ups occur in singular planes of motion, typically sagittal or frontal, and for certain joints this will not do. The hip and shoulder, in particular require motion that does not only go through these single planes, and in truth requires more than just the addition of motion through the transverse plane.

A great solution to this is to use PNF patterns of movement to truly warm-up the athlete. In using PNF patterns we are able to use patterns that efficiently recruit the most relevant muscle.

PNF or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, is commonly thought of as only a type of stretching pattern done by athletic trainers but is actually an entire system of movement.

In the great book Supertraining, Mel Siff described PNF movement patterns in this way “The importance of these patterns cannot be overestimated, since they can enhance the effectiveness of any training session.”

While the unloaded movement of a “warm-up” cannot satisfy all the necessary pieces to be considered PNF the important foundations of PNF which must be considered are as follows.

-The motion must use spiral and diagonal movement patterns

-The motion must cross the sagittal midline of the body.

-The motion must recruit all movement patterns including, flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, and internal/external rotation.

To use the techniques of PNF in our warm-up we use a lunge matrix and corresponding “reaches”.

Lateral Hip Rotator Lunge w/ Contralateral Reach

Have the athlete stand perpendicular to a start line, flex at the hip and knee with the lead leg. First internally rotate at the hip, move towards external rotation with the lead hip as they step outward as far as possible. Once the lead foot reaches the ground they will raise their opposite arm overhead and come across the midline of the body to reach the instep of their lead leg, the young athletes should follow this movement with their eyes until completion.

Reverse Lunge w/ X Reach

Have the athlete make a reverse lunge movement (that part is simple). While in this split stance they should reach with one hand to their opposite front pocket, move this arm across the midline of the body to an overhead position and rotate the torso. Again the athlete should follow the movement of their arms with their eyes. Do the same movement with the opposite arm and then reverse lunge with the other leg.

These modifications on traditional lunges will add multi direction skill and a more complete neuromuscular warm-up to your young athletes programs.

Hybrid Movements for Killer 6-13 Year Old Programming

Posted on: January 23rd, 2012 by IYCA No Comments

Hybrid Movements For Young Athletes

By Dave Gleason

Creating fun, imaginative and challenging activities for 6-9, and 10-13 year old can be a difficult task. Keeping in mind that 6-9 year old athletes are still discovering movement and 10-13 year old athletes are exploring movement will help. Combining 2 or more ‘traditional’ exercises to generate new, hybrid movements will put your programming over the top!

Lunge walks (monster walks) combined with bear crawls for discovering balance, systemic strength, contra lateral coordination and with a progression even reactivity. Log rolls and push up holds (progressed to push ups) will cover a variety of training factors including core strength, upper extremity strength, spacial awareness and more.

Watch this short video below to see exactly how to put these hybrid movements together with progressions!

Making Your High School Athletes Better

Posted on: January 23rd, 2012 by IYCA No Comments

High School Athletes Programming

By Wil Fleming

Recently I gave some thought to how many questions arise when putting
together programming for high school athletes. Questions about general strength
training practices, how to prioritize training goals, and what to do for speed and
agility are all important, but the most basic of questions that need to be asked by
any coach is:

What should be included in the program for your high school athletes?

As coaches we are all probably very familiar with the elements of a successful high school program in their entirety, but what are the finer points that can take your program for high school over the top?

Allow me to share with you the best ways to differentiate your program from all the others by looking at each phase of a high school training session:

SMR:A place to impact the health of athletes

A pre-workout program should do the job of preparing the athlete for the coming training and to some extent helping them recover from their prior training or practices. Foam rolling or other form of self-myofascial release should be included and should be mandatory prior to beginning that day’s session. High school programs and other coaches are doing SMR as an afterthought, by clearly laying out expectations for your athletes they will get more out of this part of the workout and be healthier.

Warm-Up:Continuity creates a great environment

Continuity in warm-ups creates the atmosphere at AR Bloomington, so
we stick with one for 2 months or so before altering it. In this way athletes
have very clear expectations of them and nearly all are able to achieve
some level of mastery within the warm-up period. I have also found that
a consistent warm-up is one of the single best times to create a fun and
exciting environment for the athletes through lively and interactive conversation.

Specific Mobility:Individualization

Specific mobility and activation should be differentiated by sport, position,
or athlete. We should take into account common movement patterns within
the sport, assessment results and injury history when designing this for each
athlete or group. No matter the size of the group, it is important that this time
be differentiated to keep athletes healthy, this touch of individualization even
in a large group goes a long way to insuring your athletes know that you took
into account their needs

Dynamic and Explosive Training:A difference maker

Dynamic and explosive training should consist of plyometrics and medicine
ball throws. This is a time for athletes to train their nervous system and train
fast twitch muscle fiber. In a lot of settings dynamic training gets thrown together
as an afterthought and sometimes looks like no more than “box jumps”. Smart
programming with progressions moving from: single response, to multiple
response, to shock, and unilateral work can greatly improve results for your
champions.

Speed and Agility:Basics first

Training for speed and agility can be the biggest opportunity for your AR to
be successful but so many programs go about it in the wrong way. Remember
that as with any other form of training, a foundation of technique should form
the basis of your training. Running mindless drills with no foundation will not
lead to success for your AR. Start with static drills, move to dynamic, and
finally move to randomization. Equip your athletes with the knowledge of
how to sprint, and how to change direction and they will be far better off than
any dot drill can make them.

Strength training:Choose to be different

Typically our high school athletes will be training with us concurrently with
a program run by their high school so we must take this into account. At most
high schools, athletes are trained predominantly through pushing movements
(squats, bench press etc), like the bench press and squat leaving their entire
posterior chain at a deficit to their front-side musculature. Balance your athletes
out by programming more “pulling” than “pushing”.

Energy Systems Training: So much more than just running

Athletes are very familiar with running mile after mile or “gasser” after “gasser”.
Exposing athletes to innovative energy systems training by using different
implements e.g. kettlebells or medicine balls, and by using exact intervals to
elicit particular responses, shows creativity on your part, allows you to use
your space more efficiently, and will make you a savior to your champions.

Flexibility:A final time to teach

Whether from the coach or the athlete flexibility gets a bad rap. Although
not as buzzworthy as mobility, training athletes for flexibility will undoubtedly
be to their benefit, if only for its use as a cool down. As a coach the time for
flexibility is a time for a wrap up of the days events and reminders for
upcoming events. It is your final time to connect with athletes in that given
day. Use it well.

Using this framework for how you approach the programming of your
high school athletes will help you get them more invested and excited to be a
part of your High School Athletes, and make them better.
Remember that we are here to Change Lives!

Cross Fit Kids vs. IYCA

Posted on: December 30th, 2009 by IYCA 18 Comments

Kids Fitness Programming

by Dr. Kwame M. Brown

I had the pleasure today of observing an hour of a kids fitness’ program that, with a little work, could develop into a great program.

The Kids Fitness Program

There were about 8 kids, aged about 6 – 11. The program was written on a board ahead of time, and the instructors discussed it and made changes ahead of time. They started out with some of the standard fare warm ups (jumping jacks, high knees, butt kicks). The kids then moved to an “animal” based relay around cones. They moved like bears, crabs, bunnies, and frogs. From here, there was a 10 minute section of skill development, with instruction on bodyweight squats and shoulder presses (using light plastic sticks). This was followed by a game called Cross Fit baseball, which amounted to themed stations: burpees, box jumps, squats, shoulder presses (the two instructed exercises). The kids went through several rounds of reps according to age (to make it fun). Then there was a game called Four Corners where one child was blindfolded, picked a number, and pointed to a corner. In each corner there were stations denoting a particular exercise, and the kids basically did a musical chairs type thing to get to random stations. They stopped when the one who was choosing pointed to a corner. The exercise was performed for the number of reps chosen, and it would start over.

(more…)

Steroids in Youth Sports

Posted on: March 16th, 2009 by IYCA 7 Comments

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Youth Sports and Performance Enhancing Drugs

Should we just say enough?

Legalize steroid use at the professional and Olympic level
of sport.

They’re going to be used anyway.

Just make it legal and stop the madness of masking agents,
scandals and cover-ups.

What do I really think?

Not a chance.

Kids deserve mentors who speak with a degree of common
sense.

We make it "okay" at one level, the connotation is that it’s
"okay" in general.

Yeah, it’s a headache and, quite frankly, a topic I’m growing
weary of having to deal with.

But to me, kids are MORE than worth it.

What do you think about steroids in Youth Sports?

Leave your thoughts and comments below –