In Pursuit of Performance, Part #2

May 19, 2014 by gsalinas

*This is part #2 in a 3 part series on how I see the current state of “performance” or “strength and conditioning facilities”. Check back for part 3. Click HERE for Part #1.

40 in 4.38 seconds, 10’8′ broad jump, a crazy 42″ vertical, and a whopping 33 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press. Vernon knows all about performance.

In the previous post we talked about the various aspects of performance that we can aim to increase in both the Athletic and Technical/Tactical realm. While each attribute was explained, we didn’t discuss how you can go about increasing each one specifically. This post will outline how.

Athleticism

This is the group that Strength and Conditioning improves. Before we get to it though, I must stress that many of these strategies will only work once a base level of strength and stability are mastered. I recently read a great article by Eric Cressey on Why We’re losing Athleticism that highlighted America’s failure to keep standards of fitness at an acceptable level. It truly blows my mind how many athletes I have come into my facility who can’t do a pushup, pullup, or squat right off the bat. If that is the case, fix those issues first.

Don’t run before you can walk.

With that said, here we go.

Strength

As we discussed previously this is a large portion of the athleticism equation. If you want to run fast, jump high, and change direction quickly then you must be strong. Now, being strong by itself does not mean you will have those previous attributes, but it is a prerequisite.

[Tweet “Strength doesn’t require speed, but speed always requires strength.”]

How do we get stronger?

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Do your pullups

January 21, 2014 by gsalinas

I recently had a conversation with a prominent researcher in the wrestling community and we both agreed that if you could do only ONE exercise for wrestling, it should be pullups. Weighted, unweighted, neutral grip, overhand, rope, grenade, it doesn’t matter…if you want to be a Stronger Wrestler, you should be doing pullups. Here are a few reasons.

1. Fat, un-athletic people can’t do pull-ups

Great athletes have great relative strength. In other words, a 200 lb athlete who can squat 400lbs is far more impressive than a 300lb athlete that can squat 450lbs. This also holds true with body weight exercises. More often than not, athletes who can do a large amount of pullups tend to be powerful, fast, and quick. This is simply due to the fact that pullups are hard, and you must be strong and not carry a lot of body fat to be able to do pullups.
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I hate long distance running, and so should you

October 29, 2013 by gsalinas

“Have everyone run a mile. The ones who come in last are your best athletes” -Sprint Coach Legend Charlie Francis

Recently I had one of my wrestlers tell me he was getting slower. Obviously that’s never something I want to hear, so I dug deeper to find out what the problem was. “Well, how does your conditioning feel?” I asked. “I feel great” he said. I suddenly recalled hearing how he was beating everyone at his club in sprints just a week prior and asked, “I thought you were beating everyone in sprints?” He replied that he still was beating his peers in sprints and that it was his mile time that had gotten slower; to which I responded “GOOD. That means we’re doing the right things!”

While that may not make tons of sense to you now, let me explain why we want that to happen as athletes, and why long distance running is not only not good for you, but can actually have lifelong detrimental effects.

Running makes you less powerful

Who do you want on your football team?

This one is pretty much a no-brainer. There’s not an athlete in this world who doesn’t want to be more powerful, and running is not the answer! A Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research study put long distance running and sprinting to the test with Division 1 baseball players over the course of the season. Both groups of players strength trained the EXACT SAME, with the only difference being one group sprinted 15-60 meters for conditioning while the other did roughly 45 minutes of aerobic exercise. The result? The sprint group gained an average of 210 Watts of power while the long distance group LOST an average of 39 Watts of power(1)!! For a sport like baseball, which requires speed and power, that is a big deal.

Another study found that strength training alone increased the Rate of Force Development(RFD), considered by many in the field to be the “Holy Grail” of speed and power development, while strength training combined with endurance training did not(2)! The bottom line is, if you want be fast, powerful, and kick some ass on the field, court, mat, or ice, stay away from long distance running!

Running makes you less of a man

Well, that’s my interpretation at least. Numerous studies have shown decreases in testosterone levels associated with long distance running (3,4,5). We all know that low testosterone can cause fatigue, a loss of muscle mass, gain in body fat, lethargy, depression, and many other very unfortunate symptoms. While running makes you less of a man, thankfully sprinting does the opposite. In a 4 week study done on competitive freestyle wrestlers, 2 sessions/week of 6x35M sprints for 4 weeks was all it took to see a significant increase in Total Testosterone as compared to the control group.

Running makes you fatter

Have you ever heard the term “skinny fat”? A very big study in 2006 of almost 13,000 runners found that even those who ran greater than 64km/week still saw an increase in weight AND waist circumference(7)! While hard to imagine that being the case, a large part of it comes from the decrease in testosterone, increased cortisol production, and constant catabolic (muscle wasting) state the body is put in through long distance running. In fact, one study of a running club found that the average body fat percentage was 22%!! If you want to prepare for sport, start sprinting!!

At least he’s honest

The fact is, if you want to be a powerful, explosive, strong, and fast athlete, next time you do your conditioning work, skip the treadmill or running path. Instead, find a hill to sprint up, a prowler to push, or have some Tabata fun. While certainly tougher and more intense than a long jog, it will pay off in the end…Socrates agrees.

1. Non compatibility of power and endurance training among college baseball players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

2. Neuromuscular adaptations during concurrent strength and endurance training versus strength training. European Journal of Applied Physiology.

3. Bone mineral density and serum testosterone in chronically trained, high mileage 40–55 year old male runners. Journal of Sports Medicine.

4. Anthropomorphic, hormonal, and psychologic correlates of semen quality in endurance-trained male athletes.

5. Endurance Training Decreases Serum Testosterone Levels in Men without Change in Luteinizing Hormone Pulsatile Release. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

6. Physiological and Performance changes from the addition of a sprint interval program. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

7. The effects of changing exercise levels on weight and age-related weight gain. International Journal of Obesity.

Why your Kid Sucks at Sports (and how to fix it)

May 20, 2013 by gsalinas

Prior to opening OA, I only worked with Collegiate and Professional Athletes who rarely, if ever had these issues. However, for the past 4 years or so, I have worked with numerous middle school and high school athletes who started out with a lot of the problems listed below. I’d like to share some of the things I have seen over that time that hinder their performance output on the field, court, mat, and ice.

1. Can’t do basic movements

This is a big issue, and unfortunately one of the most prevalent. Young athletes need to LEARN how to move, not just be told to go from point A to point B. When you ask a young athlete to shuffle, sprint, jump, or change direction you can not expect perfection if they have never learned how to do those things!
I believe this responsibility falls squarely on the sport coaches shoulders, and to a lesser extent the parents’ (See #4 and #5). A foundation must be built when it comes to the movement of a young athlete. Sadly, I rarely see one who moves properly, and must address that when I work with new athletes. Here are some of the most prevalent issues (and fixes) I have encountered.

Lateral Movement

Issue: Hips not low enough
Fix: This could be a few things. Athletes who stand up too tall when moving generally are too weak to keep a low, athletic stance for more than a few seconds. Strengthen the low back, glutes, hamstrings, quads and trunk to keep posture. I like movements like the squat, lunge, step-up, back extension, and reverse hyperextension to fix the strength issue. Further, we perform monster walks (with and without bands) to increase the muscular endurance of the athletic stance.
Issue: “Bounces” instead of pushing off the ground.
Fix: I use the analogy of the movie “Fast and the Furious”. When the car is speeding and goes off a jump and is in the air with the wheels turning fast, is it getting faster or slower? The answer is slower! The same principle applies to shuffling feet. If you are pushing off vertically when shuffling instead of pushing off laterally you will be getting slower. Notice how one of the NBA’s great defenders Scottie Pippen shuffles. Hips low with power lateral strides!

Sprinting

Issue: Not taking long strides or keeping a forward lean

Fix: Many athletes don’t understand the value in acceleration in sports. Top end speed rarely matters in team sports, but acceleration does! Athletes must be instructed to never stand upright when accelerating and to take long, powerful strides instead of short choppy ones! An athlete must also have the strength to exert the horizontal force to accelerate so make sure to keep up with the strength exercises listed previously!

Issue: Sprinting with flailing arms and shoulders or a rounded back

Fix: Athletes should always run with arms at 90 degrees, relaxed shoulders and hands, and a flat back. Generally the arm, shoulder, and hand issue can be fixed with the following drill and the flat back may need to be corrected through strength/posture training.

Jumping

Issue: Not jumping with your arms

Fix: Surprisingly I see a lot of young athletes jump without using their arms, or jump using their arms but throwing them down instead of up. Not only is this important to help jump higher, but rarely will an athlete jump without using their arms!

Issue: Inability to absorb force when landing

Fix: Many young athletes are too weak to absorb the force from jumping when landing and are slowed because of it. Again, strengthening the entire body and also teaching an athlete to absorb force is important here. Focus on strengthening the “weak link” here. Some may be able to handle the force with their glutes, quads, and hamstrings but not their lower back or vice versa.

Changing direction

Issues: Not taking stutter/deceleration steps

Fix: Many times athletes will jump or “float” into a cut/change of direction. While this will make one slower, it also puts a tremendous amount of force on the knee as well. Unfortunately many sport (and even some strength) coaches do not understand this and don’t teach the proper mechanics. Make sure athletes know how to keep the hips low and take stutter steps when changing direction. Further, many times the inability to decelerate fast is due to poor eccentric strength in an athletes lower body. Be sure to focus on the eccentric portion (lowering) of lifts at times as well as the concentric (raising)!

2. Gets away with cheating

Unfortunately, our society keeps getting softer and softer. From participation trophies, players being given their starting spots (due to parents donations, angry emails, etc) instead of earning them, and allowing losing to be “ok”, parents and coaches have given improper ideals.

Too often I hear of coaches who would rather their athletes be comfortable and happy than getting better. I see athletes who come to the gym who’ve gotten away with improper pushups, or pullups their entire life, who don’t run through the line, and who quit when they are tired. Those athletes coaches have failed them! Young or old, athletes need to be pushed to see what limits they can reach that their mind did not believe possible before. When you push through pain, you discover your mind is much stronger and that there is “more in you” this breeds confidence and confidence breeds success on the field/court/mat/ice. Furthermore, I believe it goes beyond the playing field and teaches the young athlete valuable life lessons. I can say that in all my years of coaching I have noticed that the athletes who are babied by their parents/coaches are the worst ones.

Fix:Iron Sharpens Iron. Make sure your athletes are around coaches and teammates who take pride in what they do and don’t cut corners.

3. Doesn’t have any relative strength

Unfortunately this needs to be addressed although it shouldn’t be. If your child cannot do a pushup, pullup, or squat without looking like he/she is having a seizure, then mark my words…they will suck at sports! Athletes of all kinds need a high level of relative strength in order to be strong, lean, fast, and powerful.

Bo did 1,000 pushups and situps a day. You should too. Why, you ask? Because Bo Knows

Fix: Do your body weight exercises! I give all of my athletes “homework” when they first come to my gym. Any athlete who would like to graduate to the next level must first develop a baseline strength level in bodyweight exercises.

4. Specializes too early.

Look, I get it. Every parent wants their child to be the next Michael, Tiger, Kobe, or Jordan Burroughs, and they want it now. Too bad though. Studies, both anecdotal and scientific have shown that the best athletes peak in high school/college, not grade school! 2 studies (Harre, 1982; Nagorni, 1978) examining youth athletes over long periods of time found that the ones who specialized in one sport and peaked at a young age, rarely kept that level up and were eventually passed up by their multi-sport playing counterparts. Furthermore, the instances of overuse injury and burnout were far greater in the early specializer’s.

Need more proof? In a great blog post (1) by Elsbeth Vaino, she noted that out of the top 10 athletes in each of the 4 major sports leagues, only 7 out of the 40 did not play another sport. If it’s good enough for Kobe (soccer), Lebron(football), Adrian Peterson(track), and Sidney Crosby(baseball)…it should be good enough for your kid.

Fix: Give your child the opportunity to play multiple sports. Generalize at an early age and specialize in high school and beyond when it actually matters. Lay a solid foundation filled with numerous movement patterns, general strength, and a love for the sport they play. Besides, when was the last time a 12 year old was offered a college scholarship?

5. Parents’ desire encourages over-training/burnout.

‘Just because you’re good at something does that mean you have to do it?’ -Todd Marinovich

Todd Marinovich never realized his true potential, in large part due to his father.

Too often I see parents’ who want their children to succeed in sport so much that there is a tremendous pressure on them. In fact, at OA Athletics, and many other club sports facilities, parents are not allowed to watch their children practice due to that fact. When young athletes carry the burden of pressure and success their parents put on them at such a young age, many times they will crack.

Marv Marinovich was the definition of an overbearing father. His son, Todd, was bred to play football the minute he was born. From only feeding him vegetables, fruits, and raw milk, to stretching his hamstrings before he could walk, Marv Marinovich did all he could to ensure his son would be the next big thing in football and he was…for a brief period of time.

Todd made it to USC as a starting QB, and even played in the NFL for the Raiders, both teams his father had played for as well. Unfortunately, his career was cut short due to drug use. In the documentary “The Marinovich Project”, Todd speaks about the intense pressure on him to be the athlete he was molded to be, and ultimately how it played a large part in his inability to fulfill those ideals.

Fix: Don’t treat your child like the Russian in the movie Rocky. Give him/her a few weeks away from sport every year and give them the opportunity to play multiple sports as well. Let THEM love their sport and want to succeed in it, not you.

Every athlete is different. Some work too hard and need time off, while some don’t know what hard work is, and need to be pushed. The most important years as an athlete are NOT elementary and middle school. Let your young athletes enjoy playing sports and getting better at them instead of trying to turn them into a machine.

1. http://elsbethvaino.com/2012/06/does-early-specialization-help/