For athletes new to GP, physical preparation is a term that is unfamiliar to them. Sure they are familiar with “strength and conditioning” or “speed and strength” programs. Many of these athletes come from high schools and colleges that have a strength and conditioning (S&C) coach. If they do not have the luxury of having a S&C coach at their high school, they are often familiar with the “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” programs that many coaches hand out to their players, especially our football players.

There is a movement within the S&C industry that has more and more coaches referring to themselves as coaches of “physical preparation”. The concept of physical preparation, as it pertains to athletes, incorporates much more than simply strength and conditioning. Buddy Morris, current Head Strength/Physical Preparation Coach for the Arizona Cardinals, has said:

“We're coaches of physical preparation. What we do encompasses more than just conditioning and strength. There are a lot of variables we have to look at it with each individual athlete and each individual group. In this country, I think if anything, we place too much emphasis on strength. I'm not downplaying the importance of strength, but I think we put too much emphasis on it and too much volume."

Physical preparation accounts for both performance enhancement as well as injury reduction measures. It's important to us that our athletes understand the concepts of physical preparation and why the services and training they are receiving at GP have only one goal in mind: to prepare each individual athlete to meet the demands of their sport and competitive season.

From an outsider’s viewpoint, our programs may look very simple. And depending on the athlete’s age and training experience, our programs can be very oriented on the fundamentals. But the biggest mistake our athletes can make is assuming simple means easy. Our programs are very demanding.

Physical preparation is one area where many programs fall short in their attempt to develop athletes. Young, well-intentioned athletes want to improve their current fitness and/or strength levels. This is all well and good, but what some coaches and athletes must understand is there is a difference between fitness and preparation. It's one thing to be "fit", it's an entirely different story when it comes to be prepared for sport competition.

Preparation vs Fitness
I recently was given the privilege of developing and coordinating the off-season strength/physical preparation program for the Franklin Regional ice hockey teams. To say I am honored would be an understatement and it is a huge compliment to our business. This is a tremendous undertaking and one that comes with many challenges. Many of these young hockey players are novices when it comes to strength training, needing a solid foundation of stability, strength, and neuromuscular control. Others have more training experience and also play for other amateur hockey organizations in the Pittsburgh area. Some of these kids play 60+ games a year. Understanding the stress their bodies endured during the competitive calendar and collision nature of the sport must be considered in the development of their training program to promote continual adaptation and proper preparation for the upcoming season.

This is where the development and preparation of the athlete must match the biodynamic and bioenergetic demands of the sport of ice hockey, not merely developing “fitness” or “strength” levels. Considerations of biodynamics (biomechanics, kinematics, and kinetics) will govern what exercises are used in the development of the athlete. Bioenergetics characterizes the nature and contribution of the human bioenergy systems towards training and competitive actions.

The development of physical abilities and specialized work-capacity will be specific to the training stimulus. This follows the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands). To help us understand the concept of specialized work capacity and how truly specific the development of “fitness” levels can be, let’s consider the nature of most team sports.

When considering the physical abilities that make an athlete successful in sports such as hockey, soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, what comes to mind is speed, power, strength and anaerobic-alactic capacity. To achieve athletic potential, all these abilities are necessary to train and develop so that physical abilities match the demands of sport.

What is not listed above and often a missing component in many S&C programs is developing the athlete’s ability to accelerate or how quickly an athlete can increase their speed. It is a rare occurrence in hockey, as with other team sports, that an athlete reaches top speed and must sustain that for an extended period of time. What you see far more often is that the ability to accelerate is a constant factor in athletic success.

Charlie Francis stated that most 100m sprinters do not reach top speed until 60m into the race. In other words, these athletes are accelerating for the first 60m of the race. This is not just true of sprinters, but the majority of other athletes as well and this has implications on their training.

According to Coach Francis, the major requirements for the 100m race are broken down as follows:

• Start/acceleration: 0-30m
• Speed/maximum velocity: 30-60m
• Speed endurance: 60-100m

Training Implications
In this day and age, the marketing of gimmick products or programs towards athletes is driving much of the training industry. High-speed treadmills, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) programs, speed/agility schools are designed to increase pocket books, yet often can fail to deliver promises on performance enhancement when it comes to speed, acceleration, power, strength, or energy system development as they relate to a specific sport.

The ability to accelerate has major implications for explosive, alactic-aerobic sports. Athletes participating in these sports must have the ability to perform repeated bouts of acceleration and recover quickly. Acceleration ability is trained through plyometrics, acceleration training, and strength training. The ability to recover quickly is developed through proper energy system development of both the aerobic and alactic components. This doesn’t mean that an athlete needs a separate and specialized program for each of these components to be trained. Rather it means a well-organized and structured program must account for biodynamic elements, acceleration/speed, plyometrics, strength training, and an understanding of the positional bioenergetic (energy system) demands of the sport. These attributes must be understood and trained accordingly.

 
Related Articles:

Are You in Need of More Intelligent Training?
Why Athletes Should Avoid HIIT Programs
Common Mistakes in Developing Young Athletes
Don't Fall for the Speed Trap

The number one priority of any coach or trainer should be the health of your athletes. At GP, we look at any and all entities that should be addressed to increase the wellness of each of our athletes. This takes into account biomechanical/movement quality considerations, exposure to inappropriate training, the compatibility of current training loads and parameters, nutritional considerations, and the coordination of therapy and restoration techniques.

The process of developing athletes and ensuring they remain healthy in the process can present a major problem and one that could be remedied with both higher coaching education standards and the utilization of performance-based therapy.

1. Raising Coaching Education and Qualification Standards
To ensure the health of our athletes while realizing their athletic potential, we spend countless hours on improving movement efficiency as well as balancing workload compatibility during each training session and block. Statistics consistently demonstrate the more mechanically efficient you are, the less injuries you have. Movement efficiency also translates into athletes having higher levels of performance while expending less energy in the process. Expending less energy means less fatigue. This is important since athletes are more likely to get injured in a fatigued state.

Workload compatibility refers to the importance of understanding compatible training methods when addressing a dominant physical ability during a phase of training. For example, this demands that the coach/trainer understand if they are trying to develop alactic sprint abilities why glycolytic or anaerobic-lactic training must be restricted or avoided.

In the attempt to improve any number of physical abilities, most coaches/trainers often fall into the trap of pushing their athletes too hard in training. They understand that in order for athletes to perform any number of biomotor abilities (speed, strength, work capacity) at higher levels, they must push them during training to create a specific adaptation. In the process of achieving adaptation, often times they manipulate variables (intensity, frequency, duration, workload, etc.) without any understanding as to why they are making the change. As a result they compromise the athlete’s ability to adapt appropriately and set the stage for injury.

Simply put, more educated coaches understand workload compatibility and the development of specific biomotor abilities as they relate to an athlete’s sport. They have a system of checks and balances that dictate training variables and they are constantly monitoring their athletes to avoid declines in performance standards and injury.

Movement efficiency and the proper management of training loads/parameters is a relatively poorly understood concept by the majority of trainers/coaches when most of them have simply taken weekend certification courses and are under qualified, with no background in sport and exercise science. This is far too common in the US, as trainers with minimal experience and knowledge of these concepts as they relate to sport often find themselves responsible for the coaching and development of athletes.

This approach is in stark contrast to the coaching qualification process in the former Soviet Union, where the development of coaches/trainers was a scientific and well-planned undertaking. Those who wished to become coaches had to be high-level competitive athletes themselves and were required to take entrance exams in subjects such as biochemistry, physics, biology, and physiology. The applicants who made the cut were entered into one of the country’s Physical Culture Institutes to undergo four to five years of a rigorous, scientifically oriented coaching curriculum. Coaching in the former Soviet Union was not something one decided to do a “whim”. Coaching and the development of athletes was viewed as a career that required specialized education, mentorship, and training.

It doesn’t take long to realize why the Soviet Union dominated international athletic competition for as long as they did once you understand the qualification criteria for their coaches was a serious and intellectual process.

Athletes should seek out coaches and therapists who have the competitive sporting background and accomplishments, educational background and accomplishments, as well as clinical competence, methods, and track record to keep athletes healthy and performing at their best. Period. Anything less, and you should be skeptical about what you are getting.

2. Integration of Performance-Based Therapy
In addition to raising coaching education and qualification standards, excellence in therapy is another component that is often missing when it comes to keeping athletes healthy. Unless you have integrated sports medicine and therapy (sports chiropractic, massage, manual therapies, recovery methods), eventually an athlete will need to reduce the overall volume/intensity/frequency of training. What you are able to learn about an athlete in a therapy session is invaluable and can serve to help guide what you do in training.

As Dan Pfaff said best,

“A top athlete is like a formula one car and have you seen how much fine tuning they do with those things? The ability to run your hands over an athlete and know what is restricted gives you immense inside information into their functioning. You cannot expect the athlete to tell you either because they are terrible barometers when it comes to knowing what they are ready for. Just asking “are you ok for today’s workout?” is not enough because their motivation is so high athletes do not necessarily listen to what their own body is telling them.”

Therapy serves to normalize joint and soft tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament) function and promote movement efficiency by removing dysfunctional movement patterns. Similar to training, therapy cannot be randomly applied. Random application always equals random results. Therapy must be strategically implemented during the training plan. It should not be ignored that therapy provides a stimulus/stress to both tissues and the nervous system and, depending upon the athlete’s needs, must be utilized appropriately.

For instance, some forms of therapy can serve to promote recovery and restoration by pushing an athlete into a parasympathetic dominant state. Conversely, other forms of therapy can up-regulate the sympathetic nervous system and will either heighten performance levels or prolong the recovery/regeneration period depending upon when therapy is applied. Another factor that must be consider is how each individual athlete responds to therapy. Some athletes may respond to intensive therapy sessions just as they do to intensive training and therefore proper rest/recovery must be accounted for accordingly during the training week.

Closing Words
Both higher coaching education/qualification standards and performance-based therapy are necessary components in the health and performance of athletes. The more coaches know, the better they are able to serve their athletes and address their needs appropriately. Failure to integrate performance therapy in a complementary manner can be a mistake, as there tends to be an increase in reliance on other forms of therapy that stress rehabilitation and recovery rather than optimizing performance.

Related Articles:

What is Performance Therapy?
Have You Mastered Your Movement?

In the world of athletics and pursuit of elite level performance, injuries are a given. However, the prevention of sports injuries is never as simple as identifying movements or exercises that should be avoided. It would be nice if it was that simple and if we could solve all the injury problems for athletes across the globe by eliminating one particular movement. Unfortunately, the human body is too complex to be solved by one solution that can be applied to everyone.

Rather than debate the role of specific exercises in a training or rehabilitation program, loading parameters and progressions, or whether certain exercises pose greater risk than reward, the purpose of this article is to discuss a much deeper concept that is at the heart of injury prevention and management, the balance between stress and adaptation.

Hello, My Name is Stress
Stress is something each and every one of us is all too familiar with. Whether it’s related to financial struggles, work-related problems, academic pressures, athletic expectations, family or relationship issues, stress is a common theme of the human existence. Now while these forms of mental stress are responsible for many reactions within the human body, for the purposes of this article this is not the kind of stress I am talking about. Rather, we will be discussing what is known as biological stress and how it relates to injury.

What is Biological Stress?

Biological stress accounts for all the physical demands (stress) placed on our bodies, both mechanical stress and metabolic stress.

Mechanical stress is a measure of the force produced and absorbed by the entire neuromusculoskeletal (NMS) system, including components such as nerves, muscle fibers, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and bone.

Metabolic stress is a measure of the demand placed on all the systems responsible for energy production/recovery and involves every major organ system in the body, such as the cardiovascular, nervous, muscular, endocrine, and immune systems.

As you can tell, both mechanical and metabolic stress are highly interrelated. The greater the degree of mechanical stress, the greater the degree of metabolic stress.

Balancing Stress & Adaptation
Training is best defined as, “the targeted application of stress designed to disrupt homeostasis and put the body’s defense mechanisms at work; remodeling, strengthening and improving the efficiency of many different systems throughout the body.”
Factors that Influence Biological Stress:

• Training Volume
• Training Intensity
• Training Frequency
• Exercise Selection

These simple variables are what define individual training sessions and the training block/phase. They will dictate the amount of biological (mechanical and metabolic) stress, its application to the human body, and how much stress is applied. The training goal becomes to apply the correct type of stress in the appropriate dose/amount while targeted to the appropriate areas necessary to improve performance.

Training and biological stress is one side of the coin. The other side takes into consideration factors that influence adaptation. What makes the training process enormously more complex than it appears is what happens in between sessions as our body responds to the stress of the training session or adapts. The complexity stems from how many variables are involved in how we adapt to the stress imposed by training.

Factors that Influence Adaptation:

• Genetics
• Training History
• Nutritional Habits
• Sleep Quality
• Mental Stress

Our genetics, nutritional habits, level of mental stress, training history, and sleep play a critical role in how quickly our body’s systems and tissues are able to rebuild and adapt from the stress of the training process. Get enough sleep, eat well, have better genetics and a long history of training, you will adapt much faster and respond quicker to the same level of training/stress than someone who is experiencing higher levels of mental stress, has poor sleeping habits, a poor diet, and lesser genetics. Even minor differences in any one of these factors can have a major impact on the ability to adapt to your current training.

Out of Balance, Out with Injury
By now, it should be clear that looking at sports injuries solely from the standpoint of the use or misuse of particular exercises or protocols doesn’t paint a very complete picture of why they happen. Even when discussions of injuries extend into the realm of assessing various movement patterns and joint function while trying to predict or minimize risk of injuries purely through improving quality of movement, often times these discussions fail to consider the fundamental concepts of the stress-adaptation balance.

The truth that is rarely discussed is that every athlete and individual is truly different and no two people will ever respond to a given training program or level of stress in the same manner. Recently, the days of individualized training have been replaced with current fitness trends of bootcamps, CrossFit, P90x and other such programs that irrationally encourage anyone and everyone to do the same thing.

Not only do such approaches always fail to consider a person’s individual ability to adapt to stress, they often preach that results are a direct result of nothing more than lots of effort with lots of intensity. The classic American attitude of “more is always better” approach has spilled over into training, training with high intensities at increasingly higher volumes. Now combine that with no individualized considerations and what you have is a recipe for injury. Current fitness trends seem to place a greater importance on the business model rather than having an appreciation and understanding of the complex function of the human body as it relates to developing a quality training program for the individual.

When you consider the stress-adaptation balance, it's not surprising why the injury rates are continually rising in youth sports. Young athletes today are under incredible pressures to specialize in one sport, be it from coaches or parents, and this is why it’s become sadly common to see athletes as young as 12-14 suffering from chronic stress injuries like tendinitis, or the more correct diagnosis of tendinosis. The ‘multi-sport’ athlete has been replaced with the ‘single-sport, all year long’ athlete. A year round competitive schedule, lack of properly constructed sport practice, and lack of time dedicated to physical preparation and athletic development is largely to blame for the huge increase in youth sports injuries in recent years.

I just happened to catch a recent interview with Tommy John on Dan Patrick’s radio show. For those of you who may be familiar with his name, Tommy John is a former MLB pitcher and the “Tommy John” surgery is named after him since he was the first individual to have the medical procedure of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction. When asked about his thoughts as to why the surgery is so common now, Tommy John has this to say,

“I really believe….that sports, high school sports, little league sports, have become year round. And they force these kids at a very young age to pick a sport and that’s the only sport that they play, they train at. And you have these….pitching academies and your kid comes in and pays $2000-$3000 and you go in every Saturday and work on pitching. And I tell parents this, “If the best pitchers in the world don’t pitch year round, then why should your kid pitch year round?”….You have to get all these great surgeons that do Tommy John surgery, or did Tommy John surgery, they cringe when you say ‘year round pitching’ because you must let the arm rest.”

Without knowing exactly why, Tommy John nailed the central issue when it comes to several sports injuries, the lack of appropriate rest to allow the body the chance to recover and adapt to the stress placed upon it. Despite his example of baseball and pitching, the truth is each sport has it own unique injury rates. It truly all comes back to stress and the inability of most coaches and trainers to respect the stress and adaptation process. While some athletes are capable of adapting to stress far more efficiently than others, no one is immune from the effects of a poorly designed training or sport preparation program. Such programs are run by coaches or trainers that chronically stress athletes with little understanding of how to facilitate recovery and adaption, ultimately leading to injury.

Final Words
Regardless of whether you are a doctor, therapist, coach, athlete or simply just train to be healthy and stay in shape, this article was to present you with a more complete view of the role stress and adaptation play in the injury process. There is certainly value in assessing the degree of stress specific exercises may place on particular joints/tissues and whether or not they are appropriate for an individual given their needs or limitations. Failure to consider the role of stress tends to lead to an approach to injury prevention based purely on exercise selection/avoidance rather than one than also places consideration on biological stress and adaptation management.

More related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/ultimate-runners-guide-to-injury-prevention/

https://gallagherperformance.com/3-simple-steps-to-reduce-your-risk-of-sports-injuries/

https://gallagherperformance.com/prevent-re-injury-integrated-training-rehabilitation/

https://gallagherperformance.com/magnesium-for-better-health-athletic-performance/

After completing my Sports Injury and Rehabilitation residency in September 2012, making the decision to start up this business with my brother, Ryan, was one of the most daunting tasks I have ever encountered, including all the efforts to get it started and keep it growing. Considering I had offers for some well paying jobs all over the country, why would I possibly want to take the risk of launching a business? As a sports chiropractor with a specialization in rehabilitation, I had job offers to perform patient rehab in established offices, working as little as 20 hours per week. I could do that along with writing, consulting, and putting on seminars – all while enjoying plenty of free time. However, I saw a huge problem. That wasn’t me. As much as I enjoy what I do as a sports chiropractor, I equally enjoy assessing and evaluating athletes, designing training programs, coaching, being in the gym, training, and helping athletes achieve their goals. There was no way I could find personal fulfillment in my job unless I could be directly involved with both the training and therapy of athletes. More money or less hours didn’t matter to me.

About the time I was wrapping up my residency at Palmer College, Ryan was finishing his massage therapy schooling and working full time as a trainer while residing in Ohio with his wife, TIffany. For years, we had dreamed and talked about starting our own business that integrated not only our services, but our educational and professional backgrounds. We knew we had a unique approach and the desire to provide quality in our sports performance training, chiropractic, massage, and nutritional services. We believed that if we did things for reasons that were in line with our values, the business would grow to provide fulfillment beyond just money. We wanted to measure our success by delivering great results to our clients and athletes.

GP opened in April 2013 and has experienced steady growth every month since our opening. Our sports performance training services have become increasingly popular. With the summer upon us, athletes are coming in looking to capitalize on their off-season by improving their abilities (speed, strength, power, agility, etc). Each athlete we have worked with has seen tremendous results, which speaks to our business model, the individualized approach we use with each athlete, and the character of our athletes. We are receiving large amounts of referrals, which, to us, is the greatest compliment our business can receive. Slowly, GP is gaining the reputation for having an approach that is unlike any athletic development program in the area.

We have seen our sports performance training services utilized by athletes who participate in soccer, cross country, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, hockey, and football. We even have a client who is preparing for military special operations in hopes of becoming a Navy SEAL. With that said, our training services have especially become popular among football and hockey players (high school, college, amateur, and junior level).

Reflecting back on the past year, there have been lessons learned and constant reminders of why we do what we do at GP. To begin with, we are consistently reminded that regardless of sport or competitive endeavor, the primary goal of any physical preparation program is to prepare the athlete for the demands of the competitive season and/or higher levels of competition. This sounds simple in nature, but is incredibly complex at times as an overwhelming majority of our young athletes need to master the fundamentals of general calisthenics and body weight exercises before introducing the execution of movements with either increasing resistance using external loads or at increasing velocities.  Some of our programs may not seem “advanced” and it’s for a good reason. Too many young athletes, and sometimes their parents, have bought into the idea that they should be training “like the pros”. Kids need the basics, and a lot of them, before more advanced training can be introduced.

Another lesson we continually learn at GP is the importance of promoting structural balance and recovery for our athletes. At any age or level of competition, it’s imperative to recognize the stress an athlete’s body experiences during their competitive season(s). Often a number of precautions and considerations must be made from the onset of training and throughout the duration of the off-season to restore balance to an athlete’s body and facilitate recovery. This becomes increasingly important as an athlete ages and progresses through higher levels of competition, as they accumulate greater amounts of wear and tear. The recovery and regeneration protocols used at GP have been a welcomed addition to our athletes’ programs, since many of them have never been introduced to approaches that keep them healthy and their performance levels more consistent. We do whatever it takes to keep our athletes healthy and injury-free as they seek to improve specific performance markers.

Something else we have come to appreciate more and more is how valuable the education our athletes receive is to them. In talking with our athletes, we have consistently discovered that they do not understand how or why an athlete must train according to the demands of their sport. This is a foreign concept to many of them. The educational process provides our athletes with the knowledge they need to understand how an athletic development model is applied to their sport. This has proven to be invaluable because our athletes truly appreciate understanding the mistakes they have made and understanding they are receiving guidance that has their best interest in mind, based solely on their needs.

The educational process and witnessing the development/results each of our clients and athletes achieve, to me, has been the most fulfilling part about what we do at GP. The smile a young kid gets when they step on the scale and see that they are 10 pounds heavier or the high-five and genuine enthusiasm shared when they set a new personal best in strength, jumping, or speed makes it all worth it. And as for our clients who are training to lose fat and/or improve general fitness levels, we love to get feedback that their body feels great, they are training pain-free, and are able to enjoy the training process while maximizing the benefits of their efforts.

The vision for GP was an easy one to establish. Ryan and I made the choice to build a business that was fulfilling both personally and professionally. The process has not been an easy one, but it has been rewarding and we are enjoying it.

We also acknowledge that GP would not be what it is without the consistent support we receive. A sincere thank you goes out to all you – clients/athletes, parents, family, friends, social media followers, and professional colleagues – for your continual support over the past year. Without you, GP would not be what is today, and we look forward to many more years to come.

More related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/why-we-arent-popular/

https://gallagherperformance.com/two-years-at-gallagher-performance/

 
 

At Gallagher Performance, every client and athlete begins with a comprehensive physical assessment. The process includes looking at how you move through your entire body and is tailored based upon what the individual is capable of performing. Our physical assessment is not simply a standard movement screening process. Similar to our training process, our assessments are customized to the individual, thus providing us the greatest insight into the current abilities of our clients and athletes. Beyond the physical assessment, we take time to understand  your injury history, training experience, primary sport(s) played, and several other factors. You will also have the chance to meet our staff to ensure that you are comfortable when you return for future training sessions.

The information gathered during your initial assessment is used to design an individualized training program. We take time to ensure that specialized attention is given to each program design. As a result, your individualized training and nutrition materials will be provided upon return for your second visit. Clients are closely coached through the entirety of their program to maximize results.

Gallagher Performance is all about individualizing the training process. You won't find "whiteboard workouts" or "cookie-cutter programs" here! That's because we understand each person responds differently to training due to a multitude of factors that must be accounted for. The goal of any training program at Gallagher Performance is to account for individual differences and use that knowledge to maximize training results. This routinely allows our athletes to experience the best results from their physical training and become a dominant force in their sport.

 WHY Gallagher Performance?

Initial 1-on-1 Assessments

Custom and Individualized Program Design

Supervised Training Sessions

Positive and Supportive Atmosphere

Lack of progress or results in any training or fitness program is a common frustration for many athletes and individuals. Let's take a look at two of the more common reasons why people fail to see results from their training efforts.

#1 – You Aren’t Training Correctly

“I don’t get it. I workout hard. I eat right. I follow advice. I feel like I’m doing everything right, but I just can’t seem to (plug your goal in here)”

At GP, we hear this time and time again. Chances are you have heard these complaints or have experienced the same frustration.

Let’s get this straight: if you aren’t achieving your goals, you aren’t doing EVERYTHING right. Keep it mind, everything makes sense. Don't settle for someone telling you, "I don't know" or "I don't get it". If results aren't happening, there is a good reason for it. If you or your trainer don't understand the reason for your lack of results, chances are it doesn't make sense to you or to them. But it always makes sense.

Something can change.

Something can improve.

There is a solution.

This is why trainers and coaches that have a massive knowledge base and utilize critical thinking are invaluable to the progress of their clients.

As with any problem, to identify the solution you must have a clearly defined goal or outcome. Regardless if your goal is to lose 25lbs, squat 500lbs, or run a faster 5K, your training parameters must be compatible to the desired goal or training result. If your method of training is off, it will have huge implications on why you aren’t progressing or seeing results. Sorry, you can't just 'wing it', that will only get you so far.

We could put this into perspective with any number of examples, but let's use a young, high school athlete who is relatively new to lifting. They decide to start following the latest routine out of Muscle & Fitness, wanting to get bigger and stronger. Now if you happen to be a guy looking to build a bigger chest and upper body, maybe this program does the trick for you. But if you are that high school athlete who is more serious about improving their game and athletic abilities, the same routine will likely have little to no carry over into on-field performance. Sure maybe it will help you look good, but last time we checked looking good doesn't make you a better athlete.

Another common training mistake among young or inexperienced trainees is applying advanced training techniques when they aren't necessary. Young athletes often look at elite level athletes and try to follow their training program. The elite are few and the majority of athletes don't need highly specialized training to see results. Especially young athletes. Young athletes can benefit tremendously from focusing on the basics. It's pretty amazing what can be accomplished with appropriate programming of basic movements such as sprints, jumps, medicine ball throws, Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts, presses, pull-ups, rows and any of their variations.

Training programs will do exactly what they are designed to do. That said, if you decide to follow what your buddies do or what some article says your favorite athlete does, be our guest. Chances are those choices will be very limited in their ability to improve you. The mistake here is not having a training program tailored to your goals and needs. Before you decide to train with someone or follow a program, ask yourself these questions:

• Was an assessment performed to understand if my body is prepared for the training ahead?
• Is my injury history accounted for and understood?
• Is this training program tailored to reach my goals?
• Am I going to learn proper lifting technique to minimize my injury risk?

If you answered "no" to any of the above questions, you should seek out better guidance. Just because a training program worked for someone else, doesn't mean it will work equally as well for you. Again, this is why it is so important to identify your goal(s) and have a knowledgable trainer or coach to program them correctly.

And for those athletes who want to get bigger or look better, don't stress about it. It doesn't need to be the focus of your training. As an athlete, if your training, nutrition, and rest is on-point, physique becomes a BY-PRODUCT of your training. There is a reason why NFL tight end, Vernon Davis, and numerous other athletes look the way they do. Their primary training objective is to improve their athletic performance.  The training that is required provides them with their physique.

These considerations have implications for both the athlete looking for improved performance and the individual who simply wants to look better.

#2 – Recovery Isn’t a Priority
If you have read enough of our articles, this will sound like a broken record to you. The importance of recovery can’t be stressed enough. Want to know if you have a great coach or trainer? They will educate you on recovery and it will be planned as part of your training.

The primary goal of training should never be complete exhaustion. If you are gauging the quality of your workout by the level of your fatigue, you are missing the point. And chances are, you are missing out on results. Sure you may be seeing results, but could you be seeing more?

Yes, training may produce soreness and fatigue, but it is not the objective. The goal is improvement and to see results. Contrary to soreness and fatigue, results are less commonly achieved. Results are not achieved during your training session, they occur when you are recovering. Away from the gym, the track, or the field.

This is exactly why your recovery strategies, just like your training, must be planned out from week to week. This not only includes how you plan to monitor work/rest ratios during your training, but how you plan to recover between sessions. With many people, it can be difficult to get them to rest properly. Unfortunately, the majority of us have been essentially brainwashed to believe that MORE exercise is always BETTER. That you need to push yourself harder, and to push yourself to exhaustion.

While yes, there will be times when training will be physically and mentally challenging. It will produce a high degree of fatigue in order to deliver gains, but this cannot be the norm. As a trainer or coach, it is your responsibility to monitor your clients and athletes. To know when to push and when to back off. You must find the right amount of recovery they need, and stress the importance of them sticking to it.

Staying true to guidelines of proper rest and recovery is needed for the body to supercompensate to the stress placed upon it. It’s critically important to realize that progress does not occur when you are working out; rather it occurs when you are recovering after that training.

Your results depend on it.

Today's post takes on a bit of a different focus. It's more thought provoking than informational, but let's just say I had some inspiration to write this.
When I was young, you could say I was considered a decent artist.  I enjoyed drawing. So did my brothers. We preferred drawing mostly comic book characters and athletes. Our parents took notice of this artistic side and being the good parents they are, they signed us up for art classes to help us develop our artistic ability.

Outside of playing hockey, drawing was my main hobby. I did lots of drawings and many of them I still have to this day. It’s interesting to look back and see the progress in the quality of those drawings over the years. How I started out very unimpressive. Many of those early drawings are very amusing. But steadily, I developed my drawing abilities to replicate very detailed, very life-like objects or people.

I recall getting compliments such as, “You’re really talented” or “You have a gift.” I also remember hearing people saying, “I wish I could draw like that.” It was if people assumed I was naturally talented at drawing, that drawing somehow came “easy” to me.

Looking back though, I’m not so sure I was naturally talented when it came to drawing.

Yes, I produced some very realistic drawings. I did great work. But what fails to meet the eye is the understanding of how many hours and years it took for me to produce that very same artwork. Often times, hours were spent just to get a small feature to look the way I wanted it to. I wasn’t churning drawings out with effortless ease by any means. I would sit and study my subject matter. I would study each feature, the shading, the line angles, the negative space – anything and everything that made the object what it was. Then with my pencil and paper, I would work at replicating it until I got every last detail right.

Is that talent? To some, maybe it is. To me, it was not so much about talent as it was my willingness to spend more time at it than most. I wanted to get it right. I wanted my drawing to look just like what I was studying. In my opinion, the end result was the “appearance” of being good at it.

Now let’s fast-forward several years. I was considered a talented hockey player. I was pretty good. I accomplished a lot, but there are several other athletes that accomplished more that I ever did. The same can be said of my time competing as an amateur Strongman. I've won some contests and placed high in others. Yada yada yada.

What does art and all this talk about drawing have to do with my athletic accomplishments?

You see, it’s the exact same effect. I have never consider myself naturally talented as an athlete. It’s simply the attention to detail in the pursuit of my goals. It was spending countless hours skating and developing my puck skills, running sprints and lifting weights, and taking my rest and nutrition seriously.

Perhaps my only real talent is being driven and disciplined enough to achieve my goals, regardless of how long it takes me to realize them.

To sum up, I learned that if I want to be good at something, to be great at something, I needed to immerse myself in it. I learned that I need a high degree of focus and attention to detail. That I can’t waver in my pursuit. That if it takes me five hours to get a single detail right, that’s what I do. Anything less and I won’t improve. I won’t realize my potential.

Maybe you have learned the same lesson about yourself.

After all, who knows how many truly “naturally talented” people exist.

 
 

 

Driven by Business
Speed, Agility, Quickness (SAQ) training has a unique ability to draw larger amounts of young athletes with promises of becoming a faster, more agile version of themselves. These facilities or individual coaches commonly use methods such as high speed treadmills and ladder drills. The SAQ system is terrific for business because they appear to provide athletes with what they need. However, these systems often fail to produce sustainable, long-term adaptations to improve speed.

When you consider what true speed development is all about, you begin to see why these methods do not work. And even why they may carry a high injury risk with them. Sure these methods will work for some athletes, but they are typically athletes that are already slow. Does this justify using less efficient means? Let's take a look.

# 1 -  High Speed Treadmills
The mechanics needed for ground based speed are entirely different from the mechanics utilized on a treadmill. On a treadmill, the surface moves underneath you whereas on land, you must move over the surface. Training on a treadmill does nothing to develop an athlete's acceleration or drive phase, arguably the most important element of speed in sports. High speed treadmill training becomes about who can pick up their feet and put them down the fastest instead of how much force is being applied to the ground. Furthermore, at high speeds it becomes easy for form to breakdown and ingrain poor mechanics.

#2 - Ladder Drills for Foot Quickness
Ladder drills simply make you good at ladder drills. There is no correlation to actual speed development and developing one's ability to have 'quick feet'. Any benefit to speed can be negated by teaching athletes to chop or shorten their strides. These drills are best suited for a dynamic warmup, but if you think you are going to develop Robert Griffin III agility you are only fooling yourself. Agility is developed from improving relative strength and the practice of sport skills.

How True Speed is Developed
The science behind the world's fastest man, Usian Bolt, gives insight into what true speed development is all about. More important than how fast an athlete moves their legs is the power in their stride. An average runner's stride applies about 250kg (550 lbs) of force to the ground in roughly 0.12 seconds of contact. Bolt's stride applies over 1000 lbs of force to the ground in roughly 0.08 seconds of contact. That's a significant difference. High speed treadmills and ladder drills will not develop high level speed because they ultimately fail to train the physical abilities that enable an athlete to realize their true speed potential.

Speed and acceleration should be train through proper technique instruction and developing power-speed qualities such as limit/maximal strength, explosive strength, ground reactive forces, and rate of force production. These abilities train athletes to develop high amounts of force in a brief amount of time, developing the power that enables them to accelerate quickly and achieve top end speed faster.

The process of speed development must also take into consideration the concepts of Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD).  Young athletes, both male and female, have unique time periods during which their speed development is very sensitive. These "windows of optimal trainability" must be capitalized on or else the athlete's true speed potential will never be realized. For the vast majority of youth athletes, they miss these windows of opportunity because of over-competition and under-training that is often seen during the ages of 8-13.

Final Thoughts
As with any physical quality, the critical periods for speed development will vary between each child due to his or her genetic makeup. Each critical period respects the stages of human growth and maturation as scientific evidence demonstrates that children vary considerably in their rate of response to different training stimuli. Some children may show potential for speed at age 10, while others may not display the same potential until years later. Consequently, a long-term approach to speed development is needed to ensure that athletes who respond slowly to training stimuli are not ‘shortchanged’ in their development.

This is why a knowledgable coach who understands LTAD models and is skilled in recognizing "windows of optimal trainability" for speed, strength, stamina, suppleness (flexibility), and skill development should be sought out. If the the trainer or coach who is responsible for training your child does not understand LTAD models, I would think critically about the services you are paying for.

This article was originally published for MPG New England. It has been republished here with permission.

 "The word ‘athlete/athleticism’ is used too loosely amidst the sporting community. It is one thing to participate in a sport and it is another thing entirely to be an athlete."

-James Smith

Athletic development is a long-term pursuit. The organization and implementation of sport training programs can pose many challenges.  Programs should never be a simple concept of various exercises for a given number of sets and reps combined with exhaustive conditioning sessions if individualization in the process of long-term athletic development is of any importance to the coach and athlete.  Athletic development is a process in the mastery of several components. One component of athletic development that is often overlooked (or ignored) by many coaches is proper mechanics as they relate to the acquisition of sport skill. Or in its simplest sense, the concept of movement efficiency. This is especially evident in youth sports, arguably when the instruction and learning of proper mechanics matters most to an athlete.

The training of fundamental athletic qualities should start early in life. These athletic qualities have been described as coordination, mobility, balance, rhythm, relaxation, timing, and kinesthetic sense (awareness of one’s body in space).  It is these qualities or biomotor abilities that separate a true athlete from someone who simply participates in a sport. James Smith wrote, “The word ‘athlete/athleticism’ is used too loosely amidst the sporting community. It is one thing to participate in a sport and it is another thing entirely to be an athlete.”

We all can appreciate this concept. Be it a youth soccer game or an international track and field event, we have seen the ‘superior athletes’. The highest-level athletes standout by their ability to make complex sport movements look effortless due to their high degree of mastery. They simply make things look easy because they have learned to move efficiently.

Whether it is the ability to sprint, jump or throw, several athletes participating within a high level of sport do not demonstrate efficient mechanics. Let’s consider sprinting. Yes, the ability to generate high levels of power and ground reaction forces will allow an athlete to move fast, but speed potential cannot be realized until efficiency of movement is mastered. This often requires the eye of a coach/specialist who understands biomechanics as it relates to sprinting and the ability to instruct what is necessary to the athlete.

The concept of teaching ideal or efficient movement should take priority before increased training loads or demands are implemented. This holds true for sprinting as well as any sport skill or weight room movement. The more a movement or sport skill is practiced at increasing velocities or against greater loads, the more concrete that exact movement pattern becomes programmed at the neuromuscular level.  Meaning that that athletes who perform a specified movement without regard for proper mechanical efficiency only get better at moving inefficiently. This becomes detrimental to their long-term potential as an athlete and elevates their risk of injury. It is the proper mechanical instruction of the sport skill(s) combined with proper management of training load variables that becomes vital in setting the stage for athletic development.

Functional exercise/Functional fitness is one of the more popular trends in the fitness industry today. It seems commerical gyms are offering classes and personal trainers are claiming to be functional exercise 'gurus' in greater numbers by the day. One does not have to spend much time on the worldwide internet to find thousands of articles devoted to functional fitness.

Regardless of the exercise, the majority of these functional exercise 'experts' attempt to combine a variety of movements into one exercise or challenge your balance/coordination. They make the claim these exercises improve your ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) and/or improve athletic performance.

Fact: There is a dramatic difference between what is being advertised by 'experts' as functional exercise and the true principle behind functional exercise.

All exercise can be 'functional', if applied correctly to address the needs of the individual. This takes into account their goals, primary sport form, strengthens/weakness, and imbalances that need correction. If your exercise has no direct transfer into any of these areas, the exercise is not 'functional'. Functional exercise should never be determined by how it looks, but rather what it produces.

It does not take a professional eye to take notice of the frequency of hamstring injuries in sport. Evaluating the injury list for collegiate and professional teams, you will find that hamstring injuries are at the top of non-contact related sport injuries. Even more staggering is that roughly 1/3 of all hamstring injuries will recur, with the majority recurring within the first 2 weeks. Now these statistics mainly reflect sports which involve sprinting, however hamstring issues can create problems for athletes regardless of sport. It is important to understand that hamstring health becomes more critical as increasing loads and demands are placed on them. Given these statistics, one can logically bring into questions if traditional return to play guidelines and rehabilitation programs are truly ideal.

BRIEF ANATOMY
A quick look at the picture above and it becomes clear the hamstring is actually the collection of four muscles. The semimembranosus (SM), semitendinosus (ST), bicep femoris long head (BFLH), and bicep femoris short head (BFSH). Understand that three of the hamstrings are biarticular (SM, ST, and BFLH). This means they are 'two-jointed' and cross the knee and hip, thus influencing both knee and hip movements.  The two primary actions the hamstring produces are hip extension (except for BFSH) and knee flexion (all 4). This brief overview of the hamstrings has implications as to the how and the why behind hamstring treatment, rehab, and training.



INJURY MECHANICS
The act of 'pulling' a hamstring usually occurs at high speed running during the terminal swing phase of the gait cycle. In the picture above, this phase is seen in the athlete's right leg. As the hip is decelerating the forceful momentum as the leg swings forward, the hamstrings are loaded and lengthening as you are finishing the swing phase before foot strike. There are predisposing factors that ultimately cause the hamstring to be compromised such as: poor neuromuscular control or the lumbopelvic region, asymmetries in muscle length and/or hip range of motion, and sacroiliac joint dysfunction. All of these factors need to be and should be considered when devising a treatment and rehab protocol to ultimately reduce the risk of re-injury.

The GP Approach
Effective treatment for a hamstring strain, and for any injury, must address not only the site of pain but ALL possible predisposing factors. As stated above, there are essentially three 'reasons' as to why hamstring injuries occur. Sprinting is not the problem. Focusing on each predisposing factor through progressive treatment and training will best prepare the athlete for return to sport activities.

The utilization of manipulation, massage, soft tissue techniques, and nutritional considerations to support tissue healing become the foundation of early care and recovery from hamstring injury. Everything used to facilitate healing is based on examination and identification of the presence of any predisposing factor(s).

The transition from rehabilitation to return to sport then becomes dependent upon a process that addresses proper tissue healing and exercise progressions to improve structural balance, lumbopelvic control, strength, and coordination of movement required by sport specific demands in output and movement patterns.

 

What you need to know:

• Long term athlete development is a process that occurs over many years. This is not an "8 week program". Rather, it starts at an early age and continues on into adulthood. It is not simply a linear process, but is one that must be highly individualized to assist the athlete in reaching their full potential.
• The greatest challenge to coaches, parents, and athletes is the understanding of how difficult this process is. Athletes are dealing with massive changes in physical attributes, brain function, and sport skill acquisition. These all must be managed simultaneously while stressing the concepts of hard work in a positive environment.
The Case for Long-Term Development
When it comes to athletics, critical development begins at a very early age. As children mature, they progress through important developmental stages during their growth and maturation process. If long-term athletic development is of any importance to the coach, parent, or athlete, certain aspects of these stages must be addressed at appropriate time periods, otherwise the chances of the athlete reaching elite status is reduced.

Similar to other facilities and organizations that place importance on long term athlete development, the model used at Gallagher Performance began with a review of research and methods utilized in child and athletic development around the world. Through the review of current and past research/methods used with elite athletes and even military special operations, it was concluded that to truly address athlete development, a new way of looking at how to properly structure "strength and conditioning" programs must be considered.

Long-term athlete development models are being utilized around the world by more than 100 national sport organizations. For example, within the sport of hockey, there is no doubt that countries like the Czech Republic, Finland, and Sweden produce numerous NHL players. The numbers becoming even more impressive when considering the population of these countries. Each of those countries has placed the primary focus on long-term athlete development models.

Early Specialization in Sports: It's Not Working
Early specialization in sport is becoming increasingly more common among children in the United States. The rationale behind such a decision typically being if a child plays one sport, year round, they will be more advanced than their peers, more likely to be the 'star', get recruited, and/or possibly go on to make millions. Is this all fact or just wishful thinking?

Recent research from UCLA reveals that early specialization in sport has very poor connection with young athletes achieving elite status. A survey of almost 300 NCAA Division I athletes found that 88% played two or three sports as children and 70% did not specialize in one sport until after the age of 12. These findings were already understood in former East Germany and USSR within their youth development programs.

Studies in East Germany and the USSR found that children who went through an early specialization program did have more immediate improvement in their performances. But these children also had their best performances between the ages of 15-16, had greater inconsistencies, many quit or 'burnt out' by the age 18, and they had greater rate of injuries because of forced adaptation compared to children who played multiple sports and specialized later in life.

Now coaches are beginning to recognize the negative impact early specialization has on athletes. Brent Sutter, former NHL player and head coach/GM for the WHL's Red Deer Rebels had this to say about players who focus on hockey 10-12 months out of the year:

“You just don’t have as many players today that are as good athletes as they used to be. Too much today, especially in young players, is focused on hockey 12 months a year ... You really notice the guys who are true athletes and the ones who are not. The ones you can take and play baseball or soccer with them and they get it. This is noticeable even at the NHL level. The true athletes are a little bit further ahead ... I want our scouts to look at athletes not just strictly hockey players."

This is not just a hockey issue. Arguably, the same can be said for athletes in any sport.

Conclusion
Long-term athlete development serves as a framework for athlete development in sports. It is a system that integrates age-appropriate training and recovery programming with competition while maintaining one consistent goal: the development of athletes.

At GP, we take an educated and unique approach to proper youth development in sports, focusing on a wide variety of motor, coordination, and other developmental skills. Athletic development is a process and certainly not one that should be rushed. Don't just take our word for it. Sports science and coaching experts around the globe are endorsing this model and implementing it to ensure the best outcomes for their young athletes.

 

What you need to know:

• Many endurance athletes have exhausted their means of improvement with traditional training.
• Training deficiencies, such as strength, can take your endurance capacity to new levels.

The Problem with Tradition
Similar to any group of competitive athletes, endurance athletes carry their own 'traditional' concepts when it comes to training and program design. Whether they are runners, bikers, swimmers, triathletes, or any combination in between, anyone new to an endurance sport realizes they must improve their aerobic capacity to sustain a specific pace over a specific distance. In order to do this, many people simply take to road and log mile after mile after mile.

After all, this is the accepted way of doing things, right? As a runner, if I have the goal to run a half marathon and I can only run 5 miles, obviously I need to put my time in to improve my running. But, what happens when simply just running or just biking fail to provide you the results you want? For many, this means they decide to start doing more. They think, "I must not be doing enough, so I must do more to improve."

In the endurance community, this type of thinking is the essence of traditional training. But is this training efficient in producing results? Are you wasting your time? What if the reason for your plateau in progress is not your lack of running/biking/endurance, but rather a deficiency, such as strength, that you may not have considered?

Approach enough endurance athletes about strength training and you will hear a lot of myths and misconceptions. However, talk to some of the best endurance athletes in the world and they will acknowledge the benefit strength training has in their performance. With that in mind, let's look at two of the most popular misconceptions.

Misconception #1 - Strength Training is Not Useful
This myth continues to stand the test of time despite the evidence that strength training is beneficial to athletes, regardless of sport. Even to this day, there are endurance sport experts that debate back and forth on whether or not endurance athletes need to lift weights.

Seriously? This is still happening even when we know strength training is a necessity for optimizing sport performance and health? Of special importance to endurance athletes, strength training has been shown to:

• Maintain and/or promote the building of muscle mass. This is a huge benefit because endurance training negatively impacts muscle mass, meaning many athletes lose precious muscle.
• Strengthen the endocrine and immune systems. Yet another big plus since chronic endurance training has a negative impact on both these systems.
• Promote adequate bone density. The importance of this should speak for itself, but this will be of special importance to runners when you consider the risk of stress fracture.

When you take all that into consideration as well as the ability that strength training has to correct imbalances in the body and promote neuromuscular coordination, strength training should be an essential component to your training program.

Misconception #2 - Avoid Heavy Weights and Low Reps
Now that you have considered resistance training as part of your endurance routine, the next misconception to deal with is exactly how an endurance athlete should go about lifting weights. This misconception has its roots in the belief that endurance athletes need to perform high-repetition sets, usually 15-20 or more reps. The idea being high-reps will build muscle endurance, which will have the best carry over to their endurance sport. Again, this may work in the beginning, but as an athlete becomes more experienced and improves, training must adapt accordingly.

Keep in mind that many endurance athletes have exhausted their improvement with traditional training. The key to improvement now becomes identifying any deficiency. For endurance athletes deficient in strength related pathways, they can benefit from maximal strength training. Training for maximal strength requires specialized programming and relies on lifting heavy weights explosively for lower amounts of total reps.

To illustrate this concept, here is an example of a triathlete who utilized maximal strength training in her program with very successful results.

Case Study:

• Triathlete trained is one of the head researchers for PowerBar, has a PhD in nutrition.
• 8-10 lifts were performed per month in the 90-95% range of her 1RM (rep max)
• Special exercises performed were box squats, special deadlifts, good mornings, and a similar variety of pressing movements for upper body.
• No high repetition work was performed to avoid soreness and a high degree of effect on her traditional triathlon training.  Also, very little time is spent training in this manner.
• She was amazed at the results this training was giving her. She said that she “could now look at any hill, use muscles she never had, and was able to dig deeper than ever before, and have a posture that was solid as stone,” which made her much less fatigued at the end of the run. She had shaved 1/2 hour off of her Iron man, and did about 4 hours less work per week of traditional training.  She had gained 2lbs of weight from the beginning as she trained this way for 8 months. Her bodyfat went down about 2%, and she no longer had back pain, neck pain, and less nagging training injuries and setbacks.

Importance of Maximal Strength to the Endurance Athlete
What’s the importance of maximal strength to the endurance athlete?  Let's consider two athletes, athlete A and athlete B.  They are both seasoned runners, but athlete A becomes much stronger, relatively speaking, while athlete B stays the same in strength.  Keeping body weight constant, it will take less effort for the stronger athlete to perform the same amount of work.  This increases endurance through strength conservation.

Clearly, the programming of specialized strength training can be beneficial. Also consider that the athlete in the case study above did almost 4 hours LESS training per week. This concept is known as training economy. Training economy is about achieving the greatest sport result with the less amount of time and energy spent in training. Thomas Kurz said it best in his book, Science of Sport Training:

"Training is efficient if the highest sport result is achieved with the least expense of time and energy".

To highlight this concept even further, research performed in Finland at the Research Institute for Olympic Sports found that replacing almost 1/3 of regular endurance training with explosive strength training not only improved strength and speed tests, but also improved aerobic capacity and running economy.

Take a moment to consider how much of your endurance training is unnecessary and whether your time may be better spent on training your deficiencies.

Final Words
The purpose of this article was to provide some insight into the importance of considering alternatives to traditional endurance training. Integrating resistance training to built specialized strength will only compliment your endurance capacity and provide you with a more efficient training program. To become a complete endurance athlete, addressing deficiencies appropriately can be the difference between a season of frustration and one of personal bests.

  

I have been lifting ever since high school and have been all over the fitness spectrum since then.  In high school it was a simple program 3 sets of 10 for everything.  The programming didn't change much in college.  My results with this left me bulky and with stagnant numbers.  My bench, squat, deadlift max outs never changed no matter how hard I pushed myself with this programming.  So then I decided to leave the strength world and try high intensity interval training or HIIT. I read tons of articles, Internet blogs, etc. for workout ideas.

Fast forward after 5 years of HIIT, 6 days a week, an average workout time of 50 minutes, and the result was a 6’2”, 160 pound weakling with 3% body fat (measured by 7 point pinch test).  I found myself having to force myself to go to the gym. Every workout left me gasping for air and not enjoying it. I was extremely fatigued throughout the day and had difficulty concentrating. When you’re in a Doctorate program, you need all the concentration you can get. I didn't know where to turn because I had scoured the Internet and couldn't figure out how to program. I kept operating on the idea that "more training with higher intensity is better and who needs a deload week".

One day I had enough and set my goal: to get as strong as I possibly can. I heard about GP's training approach, so I went to talk to them to see what they had to offer. If you have read as much as I have on fitness blogs and articles, it is easy to separate those who know what they are talking about from those who don't. After talking with them and even seeing their own performance in the gym, I knew that GP was absolutely the place to turn to.

For the reader who wants to know the results I gained in 2 cycles (24 weeks):

• Deadlift -  went from 425 to 530
• Push Press - went from 165 to 270
• Front squat - went from 175 to 350 (and yes I sat on my heels)

I did this at 235 pounds with 13% body fat (+ 2% for user error).  I also made these gains after 5 years of my own piss-poor programming, i.e. HIIT, which left me with nothing more than diagnosed adrenal fatigue. If that doesn't mean anything to you, Google "adrenal fatigue" and read how hard it is to make gains in the gym or even operate on a functional level throughout the day. For those readers who have been searching for great programming but don’t know where to turn, here you go.

Throughout my cycles I could email them at any time with questions, concerns, or feedback. My workouts were changed based on how my performance was in the gym the week prior. I was excited to go to the gym to see how much I could lift that day.  The new programming translated into better focus at school too. My gains were nothing like they had been before and I absolutely recommend GP's programming to everyone.

- Jared

What you need to know:

• Training for speed is not the same as conditioning. Speed is an entirely separate physical trait than being "in shape".
• Sport-specific speed requires an understanding of the sport and the individual athlete to help maximize their speed potential.

In our opinion, the most misunderstood and poorly implemented aspect of training athletes is definitely speed. Athletes are in need of practical and proven speed training methods. After all, if a player can't keep up with the speed at their current level, they run the risk of being cut or not playing much. Every athlete has the ability to improve their speed if they train the correct way. Below are some simple tips to help take your speed to the next level.

# 1 - Train Powerful Legs NOT Quick Feet

This can be said for any athlete. The world’s fastest athletes don’t have "quick feet". They have powerful legs. Unfortunately, many athletes have been coached to "move their feet quickly" and they now equate quick feet with speed. Ultimately, this creates an athlete who moves their feet quick, but they don't move very fast. It's important to understand the difference between speed/acceleration and quick feet because it will have tremendous implications in your training.

For example, many trainers and players automatically default to using agility ladders as a means of developing quick feet. This is nothing more than a gimmick when it comes to developing true speed and we discussed that here.

Want quick feet? Take up tap dancing. Athletes need powerful legs.

Toss the quick feet exercises in favor of some explosive strength training. As your strength and lower body power development improves, your speed will thank you.

# 2 - Focus on Short Distance Accelerations (10-20 yards)
Most sports are a game of quick, repeated bursts of speed coupled with changes of direction. Outside of track & field, most sports favor acceleration and deceleration over top-end speed. It is important to have top-end speed to stay competitive at any level, but if you aren't able to win the small area battles on the court, field, or ice, the chances of playing regularly are not in your favor.

This means athletes must be explosive and capable of reproducing the same explosiveness during the course of a game. Short distance sprints are an excellent tool to develop acceleration.  This allows for a higher level of transfer to athletics due to higher degree of specificity. Short hill sprints, sled drags, sled pushes, and a variety of acceleration drills will also be highly effective because they will reinforce ideal acceleration mechanics.

# 3 - Speed Work and Conditioning Are Not the Same

"Explosive, not tired." At GP, that is a concept we communicate to all our athletes. Nowadays, young athletes assume conditioning and speed are the same thing or that by improving their conditioning, they will get faster. For many athletes, suicides and gassers come to mind. Players are instructed to sprint with minimal rest, pushed to exhaustion. Sure you want your athletes to last an entire game and not get out worked, but this will not get them faster. Actually, it is counter-productive if speed is the objective since it is physiologically impossible to perform at your maximal effort without adequate rest.

There is a such thing as training parameters and workload capability. These concepts demand consideration when training athletes. Sadly, if you asked the majority of trainers and coaches what those two terms mean, you will get a blank stare in return. True speed is only develop at near maximal effort. Maximal effort depletes energy systems and strains the nervous system. All these need adequate time to recover between sprints. This must be monitored closely to ensure that a speed training session does not become a conditioning workout.

# 4 - Make Lateral Starts and Transition Drills a Priority

Sport, namely team sports, requires movement proficiency in all directions. Most may seem like a linear sport to the observing eye, but watch closely and you will see otherwise. That said, speed training cannot be simply performed in a linear fashion. To make your speed training more specific, use lateral starts and bounds to reinforce explosive leg drive in lateral or diagonal directions. There are a number of lateral start variations that can be effective, such as lateral standing, lateral standing on outside leg, and side lunge position.

Building on the idea of multi-directional movement and explosive direction changes, you can progress your speed training to include transition drill exercises. These will allow you to replicate body positions and transitional movements that will directly impact your speed on the field or ice.

Seal the Deal
Following these tips will help you make more progress in less time and ensure that your training has the best chance to transfer into true speed development.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below.

Gallagher Performance has a proven track record of improving speed time and time again. There is a reason why so many athletes come to us for speed development. If you’re interested in learning more about GP's approach to training athletes, our contact information can be found at www.gallagherperf.wpengine.com.

Many coaches and so called 'strength & conditioning' coaches typically lack an understanding of bio-mechanics and physiology as it relates to sport. The athletes are the one that pay the price for this, as their preparation and performance can be negatively affected.

The program design must carefully monitor all aspects of training. Charlie Francis used a glass of water analogy to describe the delicate nature of balancing sprint/conditioning training with additional CNS intensive loading (lifting, jumping, throwing, etc) in athletic development. Fill up the glass with an abundance of one and you leave little room left for another because CNS resources are finite. What happens if you overflow the glass? The athlete ends up over-trained, performance suffers, and injury becomes more likely.

Athletic development is not a 'quick fix', rather a long-term process. GP applies expert understanding of bio-mechanics and physiology, tailoring these concepts to each client and athlete's program. We want them to understand what it takes to raise their game to the next level.

What you need to know:

• Neural efficiency is the key to becoming a better athlete, this is known as athletic mastery.
• Mastery requires time, intelligent programming, hard work, and dedication to consistency. 

Consistency Matters
The primary goal of any athletic and strength development program should be neural efficiency. Fact of the matter is the nervous system controls and coordinates every movement and every function in your body. The nervous system thus is the regulator of strength and movement coordination. This is why ALL successful athletes have periodization implemented into their programming. Periodization is a fancy word for structured, intelligent programming to address individual needs.

Any athlete that has reached elite status in their sport has used periodization to address their needs and to ultimately promote positive, long-term adaptations from the learning of repeated actions by the nervous system. One observation that can be made of such programs is how little they seem to change or when a change is implemented, it follows a progression based on what the athlete is displaying or what they are capable of from day-to-day, week-to-week, or month-to-month.

Don't Let Fitness Trends Confuse You
Programs and/or trainers that endorse 'muscle confusion', randomized daily workouts, or continual change to exercise without following proper programming will always fail to develop an efficient nervous system. Sure for the ADD crowd and those that get bored easily, this appeals to you. Or maybe you are that person obsessed with 'fitness' and have become convinced workouts of this manner are the Holy Grail. If you are one of these people, be my guest. That's your choice. This article is specific to athletes and those that want to see consistent, sustainable results from their hard work. Not to simply have a workout entertain them.

Randomized workouts may sound interesting, even cool. The marketing placed around these workouts will spin words and science to make them appealing to the masses. Ultimately the end result is not allowing the athlete or individual to properly adapt to their training and achieve mastery.

How can adaptation and mastery be a bad thing when you want to improve? Want to be great?

Mastery is the Goal
For many, the frustration with mastery is it requires time. A lot of time. Mastery is a long-term process. This is exactly why great coaches and great athletes stress fundamentals at any level, from 7 year olds all the way up to the professional ranks. Think about it. Coaches don't just go through random drills at practice and if they do, they likely don't last long or frankly shouldn't be coaching in the first place. Fundamentals are reinforced because the better an athlete is at the fundamentals, the greater chance of success they will have when performing more complex sport skills.

Mastery is a grind. Its prerequisites are consistency and discipline. Mastery takes years to develop and this becomes a problem when the fitness industry wants to sell a 'quick fix'. And most Americans want that 'quick fix'. They want results now, not later. They don't want to put in years of work when they see programs that advertise how they can 'get ripped in 60 days' or 'get faster in 4 weeks'.

That's a Wrap
Athletes should recognize that their goals will not be solved with today's latest fitness trend. The only way to achieve mastery is through consistent, focused effort to become efficient in all fundamentals and sport specific skills. The message should be clear. At GP, this is something we feel strongly about and want to provide you with the information needed to make the best decisions for your goals. Mastery and efficiency are critical to the athlete and we addressed the importance of that in this article.

Is your training program allowing you to develop the mastery needed to achieve your goals?

Early specialization in sport is becoming increasingly more common among children. The rationale behind such a decision typically being if a child plays one sport, year round, they will be more advanced than their peers, more likely to be the 'star', get recruited, and/or possibly go on to make millions. Is this all fact or just wishful thinking?

Recent research from UCLA reveals that early specialization in sport has very poor connection with young athletes achieving elite status. A survey of almost 300 NCAA Division I athletes found that 88% played two or three sports as children and 70% did not specialize in one sport until after the age of 12. These findings were already understood in former East Germany and USSR within their youth development programs.

Studies in East Germany and the USSR found that children who went through an early specialization program did have more immediate improvement in their performances. But these children also had their best performances between the ages of 15-16, had greater inconsistencies, many quit or 'burnt out' by the age 18, and they had greater rate of injuries because of forced adaptation compared to children who played multiple sports and specialized later in life.

At GP, we take an educated and unique approach to proper youth development in sports, focusing on the development of a wide variety of motor and coordination skills. Athletic development is a process and certainly not one that should be rushed.

The Olympic lifts (snatch, clean and jerk) and their variations are often used in the training and preparation of athletes that require explosive strength and power. Although Olympic lifts may be useful for teaching an athlete of low preparation how to rapidly generate force, overall they are not ideal for developing explosive strength for a number of reasons. Of primary importance is the increased risk of orthopedic injury associated with Olympic lifts, namely the overhead portions. So how does one efficiently develop power and explosive strength without undue risk of injury?

If the end goal is to improve explosive strength of the leg and hip musculature, as measured through vertical jump and standing long jump, coaches must select the most efficient and safest means. Charlie Francis placed sprints, jumps, and throws just as high as the Olympic lifts on his motor unit recruitment chart. Sprints, med ball throws, weighted/unweighted jumps all become wiser alternatives for power development as they require far less time to learn and impose less risk of injury.

This is not to say Olympic lifts serve no purpose. They certainly can be useful, but their positive effects are greatly misinterpreted by most coaches. For instance, some coaches utilize various volume and intensity schemes with the Olympic lifts to develop bioenergetic pathways used in acceleration phase of sprinting. Others will use it to develop tremendous starting strength. Keep in mind, there have been Olympic-level weightlifters with remarkable vertical jumps. Some have the ability to keep pace with or beat Olympic-level sprinters in the first 30m out of the blocks.

This sounds like pretty amazing stuff, right? Simply hit some cleans and snatches to get powerful and fast?

However, there's a big problem.

You aren’t as good at the lifts as an Olympic-level weightlifter. Remember, weightlifting is a sport. It is a skill and unless you have a lot of years under your belt, perfecting the lifts, you aren’t even remotely close to having the lifts make a significant impact on your athletic performance.

If you are going to get the most out of training the Olympic lifts, it absolutely matters that you are skilled from a technical viewpoint.

For example, outside of elite status Olympic weightlifters, very few lifters actually achieve full hip extension during the lifts. Meaning, they aren't fully developing powerful hip extension. Full, powerful hip extension is essential to developing explosive athletic qualities seen in sprinting, jumping, and throwing.

So, as an athlete, why would you perform a series of exercises that are ultimately going to take years of practice to learn while reaping little benefit from that effort? Sure, plenty of people think they have "learned" the lifts, but reality is they are far off the mark.

It takes time, a lot of time, to learn how to do the lifts properly. Achieving rapid, full hip extension is not an easy task and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Nobody ever mastered the lifts in a matter of weeks.

So when it comes down to appropriately addressing power-speed development in athletes, it should become clear that there is potentially wasted time and energy in truly learning the Olympic lifts. Similar training results can be achieved with more basic exercises without the high technical demands.

Looking for ways to develop powerful hip extensions? Variations of sprints, jumps, and med ball throws get the job done faster with greater dynamic correspondence. Unless you are competing in weightlifting, the Olympic lifts don't offer much in dynamic correspondence to many athletes. Consider movements specific to your sport. Whether it is skating or shooting in hockey, throwing a baseball, covering a wide receiver, or kicking a soccer ball, there are very few specific connections with the Olympics lifts when you look at the movement patterns.

For an athlete, the Olympic lifts become very general in their ability to train resisted hip extension and reactivity.

As an athlete, your goal is to get better at your sport. Specificity in training matters. You could be wasting valuable time and energy resources on learning lifts that have little impact on your abilities to perform in competition.

Concluding Thoughts
I’m not here to bash on the Olympic lifts. They can serve a purpose in developing explosive hip extension and reactive/plyometric qualities. However, there are problems that exist with their use and implementation in the training programs of athletes. As mentioned previously, outside of competitive weightlifters, the Olympic lifts lack specificity. Specificity and dynamic correspondence are critical for any athlete. The Olympics lifts also impose greater structural risk and this could be considered unnecessary when developing athletes. The goal of athletic development is to maximize training results while minimizing structural risk. Consider variations of sprints, jumps, and throws. These alternatives are easier to implement and progress, thus providing both athletes and coaches the ability to master power-speed qualities specific to the athlete's sport form.

"People are incredibly innovative in their efforts to screw up training."

- Charlie Francis, Canadian Speed Coach

When it comes to sport training and many training systems, there are aspects that are poorly managed or misused in their application. One that is very common is the lack of understanding of physiology as it relates to bioenergetic training parameters and workload compatibility in sport.

Programs and coaches may frequently implement high lactate training loads into their program for a variety of reasons. Exhaustive shuttle runs, suicides, gassers, extended sets, and 'circuit' style workouts are all examples of lactic training. The problem is even though they may be performed with perceived 'maximal effort', in order to accomplish the prescribed work, individuals are training at a medium intensity. This level of intensity is too slow to develop speed. They teach muscles to behave slowly. Furthermore, the recovery requirements are high and thus cut into the ability to perform more intensive work that would directly improve speed and explosive strength.

There is not much justification for the frequent use of lactic training loads when the nature of most field/court based sports is alactic/aerobic with varying degrees of lactate influence. This is illustrated by the influence of bioenergetics on mitochondrial concentration in skeletal muscle. Mitochondria are responsible for energy production and oxidative potential. More mitochondria means greater energy supply and faster recovery. Mitochondrial concentration is elevated in skeletal muscle by anaerobic-alactic and aerobic training, while anaerobic-lactic training results in their destruction. Lactate threshold training must be appropriately prescribed and closely monitored.

This is just one example of why training loads and parameters must have compatibility to ensure the greatest transfer into sport performance improvement. The sports training world has fallen victim to a number of gimmicks in the name of profitability. Gimmicks such as high speed or anti-gravity treadmills, ladder drills, and exhaustive circuit-based training are examples of training that has very little to no carry over into athletic performance. Read more about this here.

For athletes and individuals who take their training and health seriously, your results are too important for someone to 'screw it up'.