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Know The Principles of Speed Training

by SHELTON STEVENS

Know the Principles of Speed Training“Can speed be coached?” This refrain is heard over and over in the strength and conditioning realm, and it is time we took a look at whether it is true. Speed can be defined as the ability to cover a certain distance in the shortest time possible. Every athlete wants to be fast and every coach is looking for fast athletes. There are few things more intimidating to an opponent than aggressive, fast, scrappy team. Speed allows you to beat your opponent to the goal. Speed can demolish your opponent. SPEED KILLS!

So let’s dive a little deeper…

Genetics are a major factor in the development of speed; they determine muscle properties and fiber type, limb length and mechanical advantage, and energy system capabilities. However, genetics is not the only factor that plays a role in developing speed, and in fact there are many more, if coached correctly.

Strength & Power

Strength and Power Speed is directly related to the amount of force we put into the ground. We develop this in the weight room.

See “Developing Speed: Explosive Power Required.”

Be it the foot applying force into the ground or the hip flexor driving the swing leg forward, violent actions must happen blindingly fast when running. In order to accelerate your bodyweight in a positive direction, you must be strong enough to exert the force needed to do so — this is where strength training plays a huge role. The ability to move the body and all of its segments through space quickly is directly controlled by coordination and strength. Running fast is all about applying force as quickly as possible (power).

Functional Movement

Functional training will help improve posture (how we hold our body’s weight in order to maintain our positioning) and dynamic balance (maintaining equilibrium while changing direction rapidly while on one foot). This includes any sport that involves running, jumping, or kicking. Stabilization of the joints, tendons, and ligaments are very important when trying to prevent injury. Functional training challenges a joint’s ability to withstand shocks and movements without becoming displaced. Mobility is key in all movements of functional training because it focuses on full range of motion about every joint in our body, and especially around the core of the body. It is very important to make sure full range of motion is being covered through all movements and directions.

Before heading out the door to start running to develop your speed, do yourself a favor and read “Getting Ready to Run: The Warm-Up.”

Biomechanics

BiomechanicsSpeed training is extremely technical and involves the use and coordination of your entire body. Olympic sprinters finely tune the biomechanics of their sprint running form for years to reduce their times by fractions of a second. There are several phases involved with a sprint that the athlete must concentrate on in order to reach his/her full maximal potential. Speed is the product of a comprehensive system. The bones, ligaments, muscles, and tendons must all be working together to produce movement.

Energy Systems

If you want to be fast, you have to train fast. But also as a coach, you must have knowledge of what energy systems to train. ATP-PC (Anaerobic System) provides most of the energy that it takes for speed training and is used only for very short durations of up to 10 seconds. The ATP-PC system neither uses oxygen nor produces lactic acid; thus it is said to be alactic anaerobic.

Change of Direction/Deceleration

This is obviously a very important skill, as most sports consist of repeated starts and stops rather than one long continuous sprint. An agile athlete will be able to change directions without loss of speed and control. Training for and improving agility is a complicated task, as there are many factors that contribute to an athlete’s ability to change directions. Balance, joint mobility, joint integrity, eccentric strength, explosive power, coordination, and reaction/response time must all be addressed. This type of training will yield benefits that include improved quickness, improved body control and a reduction in injuries. An often-overlooked part of agility is deceleration or the ability to slow down/stop. Think of it as a very fast car with no brake — an out-of-control athlete is useless. Eccentric strength, in addition to balance & body control, is what allows an athlete to stop on a dime.

Sport-Specific Movement

Sport-Specific MovementJust because an athlete can run 100m at a blazing speed doesn’t necessarily mean s/he can quickly swivel their hips and accelerate in the opposite direction. These skills must be trained accordingly , based on the demands of the sport. I often use the term “train the skill, not the drill.” Coaches often forget about the variety of physical demands of their sport, each of which requires specific training and practice. One must concentrate on body positioning, hip movement, shin angle, deceleration mechanics, etc.

Central Nervous System/Recovery

Your CNS fatigue is based on the following: Emotion>Breathing>Nutrition>Hydration>Exercise>Sleep. When speed training, athletes should be working at 95% to 100%. When doing this, it fatigues your CNS in such a way that most athletes require at least 48 hours of full rest in order for max recovery. All of the key aspects mentioned above must be a priority because if not, chances of injury are high and speed gains are low.

For more on CNS fatigue, read “When To Say When: Overtraining Syndrome and CNS Fatigue” and “Goodbye Overtraining Syndrome and CNS Fatigue.” Follow Coach Stevens on Twitter & Facebook. 

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CrossFit? Yes, CrossFit: A Strength Coach’s Perspective

Originally posted on Tabata Times
by SHELTON STEVENS

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If you were to go around and ask your everyday college/professional strength coach what they think about CrossFit, they’d probably turn the other cheek and shake their head at you. Trust me, I know because I was one of those coaches and refused to look outside the box on why CrossFit has and still is helping our profession and the weightlifting industry. Well, that has changed. I never would have thought I would be talking to my friends from high school about how much they can Clean & Jerk. It’s AWESOME! [pullquote align=”right”]I never would have thought I would be talking to my friends from high school about how much they can Clean & Jerk. It’s AWESOME! [/pullquote] CrossFit has brought the weightlifting world to the surface and may be just what we need in this country. It has helped bring in more coaches, athletes, gyms, bumpers, bars, weightlifting apparel, and everything else that helps improve this profession. For example, when I was coaching at Louisiana State University, we had athletes using the Nike Romaleos (weightlifting shoes) which were hard to come by and couldn’t be found anywhere, but now you seem them all over the place for sale. I personally believe this is why Nike and the United States of America Weightlifting Association teamed up; the USAW isn’t stupid and saw what is happening. A lot of other renowned coaches out there are starting to see the bigger picture as well.

CrossFit+Olympic Weightlifting = A Symbiotic Relationship

If you aren’t convinced that these two sports are building a strong connection, I have collected a few examples and perspectives from other well-known coaches below. Gayle Hatch 2004 USA Olympic Weightlifting Coach is now offering classes and Olympic Weightlifting Seminars to a lot of CrossFit gyms to help better educate coaches and athletes on technique. The phrase “TEAM” Together Everyone Achieves More is playing a big part with what Coach Hatch is doing.

Follow Coach Gayle Hatch on Facebook __________________________________________________________

Glenn Pendlay, renowned Olympic Weightlifting coach, recently wrote this in a forum post:

As weightlifters, or those that use weightlifting movements in training, squat deep, and worry more about lifting more weight than about how defined our arms are (I would guess this describes most on this board)… what did we used to complain about? 1. No place to train with bumpers and chalk. 2. Getting hassled about dropping weight. 3. “Trainers” at the local globo gym telling us squatting deep was gonna ruin our knees. 4. Girlfriends not wanting to squat because she is afraid she will get “bulky.” 5. For the competitive weightlifters among us, getting asked “how much ya bench?” after telling someone you are a weightlifter. 6. Trying to explain what a snatch is to someone, usually ending with a pantomime then the words “you know, like they do in the Olympics.” 7. If you ever tell someone, hey you should try it it’s fun, being told “oh no, I could never do that.” 8. Being surrounded in any gym by folks that think eating red meat or fat is the enemy of good health or a good looking body. 9. Curls in the squat rack. 10. Pink dumbbells. So with CrossFit you get… 1. 2000 + more gyms around the country with bumpers and chalk. 2. Most Crossfitters would think you were weird if you DIDN’T drop weights. 3. They may debate where to put the bar on their backs, but they all squat deep. 4. CrossFit girls squat heavy and are proud of getting a rounder butt from it. 5. Most CrossFitters don’t bench press; they might ask you how much you squat instead. 6. Most CrossFitter’s snatch; those that dont certainly know what it is. 7. CrossFit is filled with people people who not only want to try new things, but are willing to work hard to learn and won’t be put off by falling on their butt a few times. 8. CrossFitters, as a whole, seem to be proud that they not only eat meat, but are able to eat GOOD (meaning eat a LOT) and still look good because they train so hard. A couple cookouts at CrossFit boxes remain the only two times I have seen women bragging about how many ribs they ate. And not fatties. Young, in shape women. 9. CrossFitters are the ones who will make fun of YOU, if YOU do curls in the squat rack. 10. CrossFitters only use pink kettlebells.

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Coach Donnell Boucher – Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at The Citadel, also made some great points during a Facebook debate on this subject. He states (slightly edited):

“I always hear: Every CrossFit box I’ve been to I see all this god awful stuff” —— Well I must just be lucky, because every one I’ve been to (less than 10, in 2 different states) has been pretty solid. A matter of fact, the programs look more like what we do in College than most other facilities. On another note, I can’t seem to wrap my head around how people get tripped on CrossFit as a “method” and want to vilify it because “IT” has no place in real sports…Yet, we’ve got Strength Coaches who employ an “Olympic” program, or a “West Side” program. I can’t help but laugh because, NO you DON’T run an Olympic program, because if you did, your football players would C&J, Snatch, Back Squat, Front Squat 6 days/week, sometimes 2-3 times/day. And NO You DONT run “West Side” program because if you did, you’d Bench/Squat and you’d hit it so hard & heavy that your guys would get hurt within 10 minutes of agilities.”

Go Follow Coach Bouchers Program!

As you can see, there are QUALITY strength coaches out there who are realizing the positive effects that CrossFit brings to the table. In case you need further support for this argument, however, even the National Strength and Conditioning Association (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research) published a recent article on how CrossFit-based high- intensity power training improves maximal aerobic fitness and body composition. Link below:

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=9000&issue=00000&article=97874&type=abstract

How the “Bad” Leads to the Good

CrossFit obviously introduces weightlifting to thousands of non-athletes who have never played a sport before, or even athletes who have never had a strength and conditioning coach. People around the world are starting to see what coaching as a whole is all about and what it feels like to be trained properly. It’s no longer just about athletes or programming around a problem; rather, it’s about addressing and fixing the problem we see right in front of us. Sometimes at the collegiate and professional levels this can be hidden because of the freakish athleticism or lack of knowledge from the coach’s perspective, but eventually something has to give. With the average Joe wanting to do CrossFit, the movement dysfunctions come to the surface. It really lets the world see how bad we are underdeveloped as well as how much potential is out there for us. [pullquote align=”left”]The seeking of quality coaching is slowly but surely on the rise, and CrossFit is helping bring more of this to the profession.[/pullquote]The “GET BIG!” meathead mentality is great for some, but that doesn’t amount to shit if your athlete is broken. Relentless cueing and visual stimulus can only help to a certain degree. Every person is wired differently, moves differently, and is built differently, so this means our coaching style needs to be adjusted to the athletes’ specific needs. So what I am saying is that all the BAD we are seeing in CrossFit is turning out to be GOOD for coaches, athletes and the general population involved. The seeking of quality coaching is slowly but surely on the rise, and CrossFit is helping bring more of this to the profession.

CrossFit vs. Obesity

Everyone knows that obesity is a BIG problem in the United States; a recent study showed that 35.7% of America is obese. Since CrossFit has started, there have been thousands of gyms that have opened to help people of all ages with the problem we face in our daily lives. I’ve seen videos and pictures of kids learning proper movement mechanics, Olympic technique with a stick or PVC pipe, and just staying active. Just look at these awesome photos, which all are from CrossFit gyms around the world.

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Final Thoughts

Being a strength coach is all about doing the research and trying new things. We need to keep the stuff that works, trash the stuff that doesn’t, and always adapt to the athletes’ specific needs. Every profession has its flaws and boneheads that work in it, and most of the time these are the people who talk more than listen or don’t know enough to contribute to the matter.  CrossFit has brought a fan base to the weightlifting world and I’m not complaining because this helps open up many other opportunities for the sport. Would we have ever thought we would see thousands of people watching two athletes compete literally face-to-face like this 5 years ago? (picture below) I don’t think so. Keep doing what you are doing, CrossFit World!

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Photo Courtesy of The Crossfit Games Follow Coach Shelton Stevens

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Female Athletes & Anorexia

Originally posted by Santa Clara University Wellness Center


Female athletes who have anorexia nervosa are similar to female non-athletes with that disorder, but there are some important additional factors at work also.


 

Athletics used to “legitimize” an eating disorder


The current climate in athletics includes an emphasis on low body fat and thinness. That emphasis, and the dedication and discipline required to comply, make it relatively easy for a female athlete to hide an eating disorder. Indeed, she may even receive praise and admiration for her self-control and denial of appetite.

 

An illusion of virtue


Emphasis on thinness and demands for self-discipline invite the female athlete to believe that she is being “good” when she restricts food. She also believes that if she is “good” for a long enough period of time, she will improve her performance, win more often, and achieve more glory. She equates weight loss with becoming quicker, faster, and stronger. Research indicates just the opposite, but she will not believe that dieting could make her weak and slow. Unfortunately, some coaches encourage the thinner-is-better delusion.

 

Denial of reality


Some female athletes with anorexia nervosa are able to compete remarkably well in spite of the disorder. They use their awards, medals, and personal best achievements to dispute the claims of worried friends and family members that they are in danger. How, they say, could I be sick and still do so well in my sport?  Eventually performance will suffer, but the athlete, instead of admitting that undernourishment is to blame, will insist that she needs to lose even more weight to achieve previous levels of success.

 

Athletics used as an excuse not to eat


The female athlete has an extensive repertoire of excuses why she cannot eat: Because of all the competitions, her training schedule, practice sessions, skull sessions, and traveling, she does not have time to eat. Eating before practice or competition is impossible because she is nervous, because it will make her feel heavy and slow, because it will leave her bloated, because it will make her sick to her stomach. Eating afterwards leaves her nauseated. She cannot eat fat because she must lower her body fat percentage. With this last excuse, in one fell swoop, she removes many foods from her diet, including meat, which in moderate amounts is an excellent source of high quality protein.

 

Athletics used as an excuse to burn calories


The anorexic female athlete may be a compulsive exerciser and use workouts as one way of purging calories. She may believe that a serious athlete can never work too hard or too much, that “no pain, no gain” must be taken literally, to the point that pain is sought as a marker for achievement.  When confronted about excessive workouts, she may insist that if she were easier on herself, she would gain weight and then lose her ranking or her position on the team. She believes that even the smallest omission from her exercise regimen will cause her to “blimp up.” In her mind, the gain of even a pound or two would cause her performance to suffer.

 

Athletics used to create or maintain a fragile identity


The anorexic female non-athlete wants to be thin but may not have a well-defined picture of how her life will be better if she manages to lose weight. She insists, somewhat vaguely, that, “I’ll feel better and be happier when I’m thinner.” In contrast, the anorexic female athlete, who may share this general sentiment, also believes that losing weight will help her achieve specific sports goals.

She uses her performance to define who she is, to create at least part of her identity. In too many cases, her role as an athlete is the only part of her life where she feels at least minimally competent and effective. If she is not able to participate in her sport, or if she is kept out of play by coaches who fear for her safety, she will feel diminished and experience great loss and distress.

Identity issues may be of primary importance when the athlete has trained for her sport since childhood. Gymnasts and ballet dancers have a higher incidence of eating disorders than that found in general populations. These individuals see themselves as gymnasts and dancers only, and anything, like weight gain, that is perceived to threaten performance is experienced with terror as a danger to a fragile and underdeveloped identity.


 

 

How Anorexia Nervosa effect the whole body

 Brain and Nerves

Can’t think right, fear of gaining weight, sad, moody, irritable, bad memory, fainting, and changes in brain chemistry

 

Hair

Hair thins and gets brittle

 

Teeth

Chance of severe teeth loss

 

Heart

Low blood pressure, slow heart rate, fluttering of the heart, heart failure

 

Blood

Anemia and other blood problems

 

Muscle, Joints, and Bones

Weak muscles, swollen joints, bone loss, fractures, osteoporosis

 

Kidneys

Kidney stones, Kidney failure

 

Body fluids

Low potassium, magnesium, and sodium

 

Intestines

Constipation, bloating

 

Hormones

Periods stop, problems with growth, trouble getting pregnant, higher chance of miscarriage, having a baby with the dangers of low bodyweight

 

Skin

Bruise easily, dry skin, growth of fine hair all over body, get cold easily, yellow skin, nails get brittle

 

 

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Character Determines Your Success

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LIFE IS DIFFICULT

 Things don’t always go the way we want them to go. So how will you as a person overcome adversity? It is human nature to tuck your tail and run, its human nature to be average. This post is about being special and what it takes to be successful now and in the future.

Who you are is way more important than what you do; it’s your character. Your character is an accumulation of your thoughts, your habits, and your priorities on a day-to-day basis. Those three things determine the decisions we make, and it makes whom we are. Rather that is good guy, bad guy, hard worker, lazy, responsible, irresponsible, etc. All this takes a certain amount of discipline to do what you’re supposed to do, when you’re supposed to do it, and the way it’s supposed to be done.

GOAL SETTING (THE PROCESS)

 All the choices and decisions we make have consequences, and one must have enough foresight sometimes to understand how our choices can affect our future and others around us. Knowing what you really want to do in life helps with these decisions. It’s about having goals and buying into the process of what it takes to reach those goals. Now make sure your goal isn’t a result, because there is a big difference.

If you know what you want in life, commit to it, and have the passion for it. Then you are going to be willing to invest your time in it and have the work ethic and desire to accomplish anything.

INVEST YOUR TIME, DON’T SPEND IT

 Think about the time you spend and exactly what you’ve done today with your particular goal in mind. How much time was spent? And how much time was invested in reaching your goal? Also think about how positive was your attitude in trying to accomplish that goal? Because when someone has high expectations and those expectations are not met, you tend to get frustrated.  Stay focused, stay positive and stay in the eye of the storm.

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Muhammad Ali said it perfectly in this quote, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses-behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights”.

It’s all about the preparation and the hard work it takes to reach your goal. You’re only going to get what you put in. So if you spend more of your time instead of investing your time, you will only get half ass results.

COMMUNICATION  (ITS NOT ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME)

 Communication is key to success, because having goals isn’t all about YOU. It also involves the people we come in contact with on a day-to-day basis. A lot of goals fail because of this reason:

“Mediocre people don’t like high achievers, and high achievers don’t like mediocre people.

 If everyone doesn’t buy into the same principles and values at the same high standard, the organization or team will not be successful. So one must choose if they are going to be the mediocre worker everyone wants to get off the bus, or the high achiever that is trying to organize the bus and have everyone traveling in the same direction. This means communicate the expectations you have for yourself, others, and the organization.

Again, it’s not about YOU, one must work with others and also serve others while trying to reach an individual goal. You may be motivated with the details of what you personally are all about, but sometimes we have to deal with things we don’t usually agree with and stay positive in the process. You must create positive energy that affects other people in a positive way. So putting that positive brand on yourself is very important for your future.

           

PERSEVERANCE

 This is what makes great things feel even greater. The things we overcome to accomplish our goals all starts with having tremendous adversity.  It usually goes like this

  • You have a goal
  • Your working towards that goal
  • You make mistakes and have setbacks
  • Then you learn from each and every mistake. That’s PERSEVERANCE
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Michael Jordan says it best here:

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

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Never Be Satisfied

“If you’re satisfied with where you’re at, that is where you will always be” - My Father

 This is a quote my father has said to me ever since I was a little boy and it had stuck with me ever since. And I want to go in more detail about what this means


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I think we all need to strive to be grateful for what we have such as our families, friends and our relationship with God. But that doesn’t mean that you need to be satisfied with everything and stop striving to improve your life and the lives of those around you.

 I will never be satisfied and that’s how I will continue to live my life. Hell, I even have “Never Satisfied” tattooed across my chest to remind me everyday. I truly believe if one is satisfied in their life, they have not set the bar high enough. You’ve given in to the temptation to accept mediocrity. You’ve settled for being good rather than striving to be great. I encourage you to not allow yourself to be completely satisfied with your life. The only time you should allow yourself to stop striving to be better is when you’re six feet under.

 

 The video below basically motivated me to write this quick blog. Most people can’t stand Nick Saban (Head Football Coach for the University of Alabama) but I deeply admire his leadership and relentless pursuit for success at work and in life. This short video basically sums it up on how he is “Never Satisfied” and always looking forward to the next challenge.

 

His team plays for the College Football National Championship Monday night.


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Don’t Neglect The Neck


If neck training may help prevent brain damage and there are no negative effects, why not include it as part of your training?

Reasons I have heard why strength coaches neglect it:

  • Not enough time
  •  Not enough time
  • Not enough time

Football is not the only sport that benefits from Neck Training/Strengthening. Any sport that involves contact could benefit from different variations this type of training. Time is an issue when working with our kids but it is something that could be added in a warm-up, recovery day, or even after and during the workout. 10 to 15 minutes a week could drop concussion rates dramatically.

But, concussions are only part of the equation.  Injuries to the neck are some of the most devastating and debilitating of all.  Pain, discomfort, loss of motion, herniated and bulging disks, arthritis, spasms and even paralysis are all part of the picture.  Thousands of surgeries are performed each year, and who knows how many could have been prevented by properly training the neck.  If you’ve ever experienced problems with your neck or known someone with neck injuries or pain, you understand how all-encompassing and life-altering it can be.

While many people are interested in neck training for injury prevention or concussion prevention, there are also a lot of people who simply want a bigger or stronger neck.  Some people want this for sports performance purposes, others want it for aesthetic reasons and others simply enjoy strengthening their entire body


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 Charles Poliquin posted a great article introducing come great information on Neck Training, see below:

 

4D Neck Training

From a training perspective, the neck muscles have four major functions: flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation. Let’s look at each in turn, and how each movement can be strengthened.

 

Flexion

 This refers to the action of tilting your head down and moving your chin to your sternum. The primary muscles responsible for this movement are the longus colli, longus capitis, and infrahyoids. To work these muscles using a neck machine, you would face the machine and rest your forehead in the middle of the head pad. Most neck machines have seats that can be adjusted vertically. The most precise units use a hydraulic cylinder, such as the version offered by Atlantis, while others use a pop-pin mechanism with holes in the vertical shaft. It’s important to be properly aligned in the machine to ensure that you can perform the exercises throughout a full range of motion.

 

 

Extension

 Also known as hyperextension, this refers to the action of moving your chin away from your sternum. The muscles primarily responsible for this movement are the splenius capitis, semispinalis capitis, suboccipitals and trapezius. On a neck machine, you would face away from the machine and rest the back of your head on the head pad. Using just your neck muscles and avoiding the tendency to lean backward, tilt your head backward as far as possible. Again, a tempo of 1211 would be appropriate.Try shoulder shrugs for the trapezius, a triangle-shaped back muscle that starts in the middle of the back and fans out to the top of the shoulder. Shoulder shrugs are excellent for isolating this muscle action – as are the movements used in the pulling phases of the snatch and clean. As a result, many Olympic lifters have tremendous trapezius development. One who comes to mind is Russia’s Anatoly Pisarenko, a weightlifter who clean and jerked 584 pounds and reportedly did a 617-pound clean in training.
 
For the shoulder shrugs, Atlantis makes a great shoulder shrug machine (which also can be used for deadlifts). Hex bar and trap bar shoulder shrugs are also valuable; with these two exercises the hands can be positioned at the side, as opposed to a straight bar, where the weight is out front. Having your hands at your sides provides a more direct line of pull, enabling you to use more weight and thereby increase the training effect.
 


 

Lateral Flexion

 Lateral flexion refers to the action of cocking your head to the side. The primary muscles used for this action are the scalenes. With a neck machine, you would sit on the machine sideways and place the side of your head on the head pad. Without tilting your upper body, flex your neck, moving your ear close to your shoulder. Use a 1211 tempo.
 


 

Rotation

 This refers to the action of twisting your head side-to-side. The primary muscles that perform this action are the splenius capitis, sternocleidomastoid, levator scapula, and suboccipital. There are very few neck machines on the market I like, as it is difficult to get the head pad to fit securely. Arthur Jones made a nice one as part of his medical line, but I believe the price tag was about $75,000. Probably the best way to perform rotation is with manual resistance.
 
As it is very difficult for a trainer to apply the appropriate resistance, and because these muscles are relatively weak, you can often get a good workout with manual resistance. Manual resistance neck training involves applying resistance with the hands to the head. Because it would take a skilled training partner to safely perform this method, it would be best to perform it by yourself. With those precautions, here’s how to do it.
 
Sit down and turn your head to the side, trying to look over your shoulder. Using your opposite hand and keeping your shoulders square, apply gentle pressure to your chin and slowly turn your head toward the other shoulder. Switch hands and repeat for the other side. A tempo of 1211 will also work on this exercise.
 


 

Sets, Reps and a Word about Neck Bridging

 

Although neck bridging is popular with wrestlers, it may be too intense for beginners, even when performed without additional resistance (such as by holding a weight plate on your waist during the supine version of this exercise). Also, expert instruction is needed to perform these exercises properly, and the potential for injury from neck bridging is, in my opinion, too high to take the risk.
 
Regarding sets and reps, you need to know that recovery from neck training takes about 72 hours, with as many as seven days for those with especially weak or imbalanced neck muscles – and possibly for women.In one study published in Physical Therapy in Sport in 2010, participants completed three exercises (neck extension, flexion and rotation) for 3 sets of 8 repetitions, each at 60 to 70 percent of their 1RM. The men in the study regained pre-training strength levels within three days after the workout, while it took most of the women as many as seven days to recover. Further, the participants had greater strength levels by the seventh day after training, indicating the benefits of one to two workouts a week.
 
Developing your neck will help you to improve overall strength and to develop a more rugged physique – along with helping to prevent chronic neck pain. You can get these benefits relatively quickly by doing specialized neck training twice a week, working the four major functions of the neck. It’s a great investment.
 


Below are videos of ways to train your neck both Machine and Manually. Manual training is great and is used by a lot of Strength Programs around the country due to lack of equipment and number of athletes on a team. Great video on explaining how it should be done in a safe manner. 

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Do you have “IT”? Are you a G.A.M.E.R.?

(Video Courtesy to the TCU Baseball and Athletic Staff)


Article written and originally posted by Joe DeFranco

Game On 

 

“It” is hard to define. But get to know enough people with “it” and you begin to see a pattern emerge.

 

I call people who have “it” gamers.

 

Earlier in my coaching career, I didn’t bother to define what that meant. I just knew that some people had the ability to step up when it was time to step up. These are guys that other people want to be around. People just want to listen to them and be on their team.

 

Guys who have “it” share the same attributes as all the other people who have “it.” When I realized that all these athletes have the same traits in common, I came up with the G.A.M.E.R. acronym.

 

People who have “it” are:

 

G: Goal Oriented

 

A: Accountable

 

M: Motivated

 

E: Exact

 

R: Resilient

 

 

Are you a G.A.M.E.R.? Let’s break it down and find out.

 

G: Goal Oriented

 You can’t get to where you’re going without knowing what the hell you want.

 

Guys who have “it” know what they want. They have goals, and this exudes from them in the form of confidence. They know where they’re going, and they’ll do what it takes to get there.

 

If you can’t clearly define what your goals are when asked, then it’s time you sit down and figure them out. A guy who knows his goals bleeds ”it”.


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A: Accountable

 People with “it” are accountable for their own actions. Whether you’re an athlete, an entrepreneur, or just a guy aspiring to own a warehouse gym, if you have “it” then you don’t blame other people. Period.

If these guys suck one day, then they’re going to say, “I suck today.” They don’t make excuses. You’ll never hear, “Oh, well, I didn’t sleep good last night” or “My ride from school was late.” They are accountable for themselves. Always.

These people know, intrinsically, that they’re solely accountable for reaching their goals or not. If they screw up, they’ll take responsibly and move on. No blame, no excuses.

 

 

M: Motivated

 Self-motivated, to be specific.

If you have “it” then you don’t need anyone else to motivate you. You’re not the guy that needs the pre-game pep talk. 

 

 

E: Exact

 Winners are exact. To get to a high level, you have to make sure you’re doing certain things to get there. This is where a coach or mentor comes in to help mold you. Some guys have “it” but they need to be steered in the right direction.

If you want to be an NFL football player, you don’t need to work on running a marathon, or even a mile. Don’t focus your training on things that don’t matter, things that don’t carryover in your sport. You have to be precise and do exactly the things that will help you improve.

 

R: Resilient

This may be the most important element. The first four things don’t mean shit if you don’t finish.

Men and women who have “it” go to the end. You can be goal-oriented, accountable, motivated, and doing exactly the right training, but if you quit when the going gets tough, then you never had “it” to begin with.

People with “it” lose games. People with “it” get injured too. The difference in them and others is that they don’t shut down.

I’ve worked with countless athletes in a multitude of sports, and I can tell you that most people with “it” have a story. They come off like they’ve got the world by the balls, but talk to them and you’ll learn they’ve been through rough times. They might have had family problems or gotten injured, but they stayed positive and were resilient enough to come through.

That resilience becomes their biggest attribute.



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Olympic lifting and its relation to sport


Explosive power is the number one attribute required to be a good athlete. Having such power means one is capable of many things such as speed, power, strength, agility but one must be able to control these attribute in three-dimensional space. The ability to generate high amounts of force is necessary to the sport. Cleans, Snatches, and Jerk with their variations are all executed with high velocity, which make them excellent exercises for the development of power.

 

THIS IS POWER!!! - Chinese Weightlifter performing 2 reps of the Hang Snatch. Try to pause the video at the :02sec mark and notice the Hip and Knee extension. Then notice how FAST he drops under the bar while controlling the weight over his head.

 

 

 

Here is a list of the classic lifts I use in my program:

 *Note – The technique of these lifts are VERY important, so my athletes perform these exercises with a stick, empty bar, or VERY light weight. Once I feel they are ready to progress I slowly load weight on the bar. I NEVER SACRIFICE TECHNIQUE FOR WEIGHT!!! There are to many bone- head strength coaches out there worried more about numbers than technique and keeping their athletes on the field. STOP IT!

 

-Snatch

-Clean & Jerk

-Clean

-Split Jerk

-Power Snatch

-Hang Snatch

-Hang Power Snatch

-Power Clean

-Hang Clean

-Hang Power Clean

-Clean Pulls (with pulls from different positions)

-Snatch Pulls (with pulls from different positions)

-Front Squat

-Back Squat

-Overhead Squat

-Push Press

-Press

 

These lifts are the meat and potatoes of my program, depending on the sport demand will determine how I design my program. Also this doesn’t mean all athletes are ready to perform these lifts when they first get to me. Due to mobility/flexibility issues there are major adjustments and prehab/rehab exercises that are performed. Also accessory work is performed (ex. Horizontal and Vertical Push/Pulls, Unilateral/Bilateral work just to name a few)

 

The three key elements of WHY Olympic lifts benefit sport


1. Explosive Power, which comes from the improvement of knee and hip extension 

2. The improvement of an athlete’s ability to safely and effectively absorb force to decelerate. Basic strength work such a squatting variations can help with this element as well. But the receiving the barbell in the Olympic lifts is far more ballistic and more similar to the demands on ground-based athletes with regard to deceleration, changing direction or absorbing force.

3. Improvement of kinesthetic awareness, fundamental motor skills centered around the hips and legs, and also the precise and consistent control of the body in different positions and movements.

No other exercises provide training for these things to the same degree, particularly so efficiently.

Reference: Olympic Lifting for Sports - Greg Everett