Dear Those Who “Don’t Have Time” for Exercise,
It’s no breaking news that exercise is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. However, despite much of the population knowing that the benefits of exercise range from decreases in depression and anxiety, to improved cognition, to weight loss, to a decreased risk of chronic illness (1), over 75% of Americans do not get the recommended amount of exercise (2). As a strength and conditioning coach, I’m passionate about exercise. Despite my love and appreciation for training and moving my body, combined with four years of learning the importance of exercise
Plyometric Drills For Athletes & Preventing ACL Injury
Plyometric exercises are an important piece to the puzzle when training athletes. They increase power, speed, and explosiveness. Most importantly, learning how to decelerate and absorb force through plyometric training is one of the best ways to prevent ACL injuries. As important as it is to train these movements, it is just as significant to monitor the quality and quantity of such drills. If an athlete lacks stability or strength, especially in the muscles surrounding the knee, they put themselves at a higher risk for ACL injury during sport. Plyometric
Spend Less Time on Your Sport, and More on Being an Athlete
Being in the private sector of the strength and conditioning field, we have the privilege of talking to many different coaches and the parents of many young athletes. In doing so, I’ve started to notice a promising trend from talking to them; they feel like their kids are doing too much of the same. In recent years we’ve seen the money making machine of AAU sports and sport-specific coaching take off, and at this point it’s become borderline ridiculous. Why does any 10-year-old need to be throwing a baseball in December
Goal Setting and Testing for Conditioning
Whether an athlete enjoys working on it or not, conditioning needs to be a top priority for nearly all athletes. It’s impossible to compete at the highest level that an athlete can without being highly conditioned. In order to reach that high level, athletes need to set goals and have proper program to help them achieve them. Setting Goals Goals need to be specific to each sport. A 400m runner should have a different goal compared to a basketball or soccer player. The runner may have a goal of running a sub