Categoriesspeed training Strength Training

Getting My Athleticism Back

The saying “if you don’t use it, you lose it” can be applied to many facets of life. Vacation time for some people applies here. Within some companies here in the U.S, if you don’t use your vacation time, you lose it.

Which is BS.

And, of course, I could easily toss in an obligatory dick joke here.

But I won’t.

Because I’m mature.

 

Athleticism is another one of those “things” we tend to lose when we don’t use it. In fact, I’d garner a guess that athleticism is one of the first attributes that diminishes once many of us enter into adulthood.1

But for the sake of brevity, and legally speaking, lets just say adulthood is when someone hits the age of 18.

At this age, unless you’re a high-level athlete and offered/recruited to play a sport at the next level (college), you typically either:

1. Go to college, stop playing sports, and discover beer.

2. Not go to college, stop playing sports, and get a boring desk job. Or, live in your parent’s basement and play World of Warcraft.

OR

3. If you’re me: go to college, play sports, watch way too much 90210, not hang out with chicks, stay active (even after college), still not hang out with chicks (at this point watch way too much Alias), eventually get a job in the fitness industry, get jacked, playing “sports” gets diluted to slow-pitch softball leagues, start working with high-level athletes, still stay jacked though, finally find a chick that will hang out with me, and eventually realize that, while certainly not un-athletic, I’m not close to where I once was.

That sound like you too?

Now, I’m not insinuating athleticism in this case means you’re ready to enter the NFL Combine or that you could win American Ninja Warrior.

Understandably, athleticism can mean different things to different people. But again, for the sake of brevity, lets just say athleticism can equate to the ability to do several things such as sprint, jump, hop, skip, punch a zombie in the throat, change direction, shuffle, accelerate, decelerate, and just move without looking like a drunk pirate.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Many people confuse athleticism with conditioning

And that’s not what I am referring to.

Yes, athletic drills can be a form of conditioning…however, that’s not their main objective. There’s a lot of technical proficiency and skill involved with developing specific athletic skills and athleticism in general.

Too, athleticism favors those who started at an early age. We’re motor learning sponges when we’re young. Not so much as adults when motor patterns and CNS pathways have been engrained for far too long.

Elite athletes and people who stay active their entire lives can do stuff without even thinking about it.

They can change direction on a dime or catch a frisbee with pulling a hamstring.

They can react.

They have to work at it, of course, and they’ve accumulated hours upon hours of “purposeful practice,” (in the form of actual practice and casual recreational activity) but they make athleticism look easy and seamless.

You don’t become more athletic by incessantly accumulating more and more fatigue. Mind you: the most successful athletes in the world are able to perform at a high-level – repeatedly – in the presence of fatigue. They do need to develop conditioning and endurance amongst many other abilities.

However, I feel many people operate under the assumption that conditioning (or getting tired) is equivalent to athleticism. 

And it’s not.

Hitting up your local CrossFit joint is cool. I think that’s amazing. There are many amazing athletes involved with it.

But don’t assume that just because you’re completing some crazy WOD 3x per week, gasping for air by the end, and are thiiiiis close to shitting a spleen, that you’re somehow improving your athleticism.

Getting My Athleticism Back

Make no mistake: I can still move well. I haven’t turned into the Tin Man or anything (although, lets be honest: dude could dance).

I still participate in athletic endeavors and sometimes look athletic when I demonstrate exercises and drills. However, as a former athlete (and as someone who trains athletes) I’d be lying if I said I was happy with my current situation.

Slight abject disdain would seem more fitting

Which is why I was so happy to see Jen Sinkler type these words the other day:

“I missed feeling athletic in almost any situation. I missed it lot.

So, I told my friends Angie Brambley Moyer and Tim Moyer, both world-class strength-and-sport coaches, that I wanted to get it back. That I wanted to get it allllll back.

I ALSO told them that I wanted to invite others who were in the same boat — former athletes, not-yet athletes, or current athletes who wanted to level up their game — to join me in my quest.

I was positive there were others who, like me, wanted to become lean, mean, athletic machines. Again, or for the very first time.

I was right.”

I’m Not Alone!!

I think many fitness professionals feel the same way I do. We’re in an industry where we often put other’s health, well-being, and goals before our own.

Likewise, there are many people reading who, despite being former athletes themselves, don’t have as much pep in their step as they used to.  Or, maybe there are some reading who have never played a sport in their life, but would like to be able to perform a pro-agility without breaking their hip?

I’m taking some initiative and putting myself through the Lighting & Thunder program. I’m even setting my ego aside and starting with the beginner program.

Here’s what I did today:

5 Yd Starts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TklqD8uN_Ds

 

  • Objective here is to drop down into a proper starting “athletic” position (weight forward, CoG low).
  • Think long backside (toss back arm back as aggressively as possible)
  • Push away as fast as you can (aggressive first step).

5 Yd Jog to 10 Yd Sprint (With Stop Within 10 Yds)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM-BPJKTslg

 

  • Objective here is more or less the same as above (except without the athletic start position).
  • When you transition into sprint, you should get low and have an aggressive lean with positive shin angle.
  • You still want an aggressive backside.
  • Also, you want to “stutter step” to a stop within 10 yds, which works on deceleration and better emulates athletic activities.

5 Yd Jog to 10 Yd Sprint (To Coast)

  • I didn’t take a video of this.
  • Just imagine the same video as above, except me without a shirt on or something. Or pants.
  • Also, no need for aggressive deceleration…just a “coast” to finish.

Up 2, Down 1 Drill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSFDp1QSA2w

 

My sock game is ON-POINT!!!

  • This drill helps to hammer home the start/stop/start/stop nature of athletic activities and sport.
  • Performing this drill with hands touching the floor helps to cue weight forward and low (you’d obviously not do this in a REAL sport).
  • Important to note that if you stop with right foot forward, you’d want to tap floor with left hand (and vice versa).
  • Rest is 1:3 ratio. Rest for 3x as long as it takes to to complete the drill. This ensures ample recovery for top performance with each set.

It’s nothing fancy, but it doesn’t need to be.

I’ll be doing this program 1-2x per week all summer. If day 1 is any indication, I’m going to be Carl Lewis by September.

You Should Join Me

Lightning & Thunder is on sale now for HALf-OFF until Friday, June 3.

On top of being a top-rate speed/agility program, what’s great about it is that it can easily compliment any strength program.

It comes with a strength program in fact.

However, for those who purchase Lighting & Thunder via the links provided by the end of June 3rd, I’m going to offer you a FREE month of my Group Training Membership on Exercise.com.

NOTE: I’m only going to email the discount codes out to the exact same email address you use to purchase L&T.

You get two killer programs for one!

So, to review:

1. It was bullshit when Kelly chose Brandon over Dylan on 90210. I mean, it’s freakin Dylan McKay. How do you say no to someone like that?

2. The Lighting & Thunder program is pretty baller.

3. I’m doing the entire thing myself, even starting with the beginner program cause I’m cool like that.

4. You should totally do it with me.

5. As incentive…go HERE, and then I’ll send you a code for a FREE month in my Group Training Membership.

6. We’ll be BFFs.

Categoriescoaching Conditioning speed training

When Going Backwards Is a Good Thing: The Up Two, Back One Drill

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of one of my most favorite people in the world, Jen Sinkler. She, along with strength & conditioning coaches Angie Brambley-Moyer and Tim Moyer are releasing their new strength, speed, & agility training product Lightning & Thunder.

I’ve just started playing with the program myself (my wife and I went to BU on Sunday to move around a a bit, photo evidence HERE), and I gotta say…I really, really like it.

It’s elegant in its simplicity, and will compliment pretty much anyone’s training whether they’re an athlete or not.

Check out Jen’s gleaning example below…

When Going Backwards Is a Good Thing

When it comes to training for speed and agility — a worthy endeavor whether you’re an athlete or not, in terms of power and movement efficiency — you may think about zig-zagging from side to side explosively and working on your go-forward locomotion, but just as important is the ability to quickly transition from forward to backward and vice versa.

“Forward-to-backward movement is what athletes do poorly at first. It’s the most likely skill to be untrained and un-coached,” says Angie Brambley-Moyer, MS, MSCC, assistant director of strength and conditioning for Princeton University.

This is a critical error.

In many sports, the ability to switch from offense to defense and back again is paramount, adds Angie’s husband, Tim Moyer, MS, CPT, head volleyball coach of Philadelphia University and longtime strength and conditioning coach.

“Agility is the ability to perform a series of explosive power movements in opposing directions in rapid succession, and unless you’re training these key movement patterns by focusing on movement quality over speed at first, breaking down skills into smaller parts, and getting feedback (from a coach, a video, or motor recognition) from rep to rep, your mechanics will remain slow and sloppy,” Moyer says.

“Form equals function. The better your form the better you will function.” That means patterning proper mechanics from the get-go.

“From an injury prevention standpoint, you are only going to be as fast as you can stop and change direction,” says Brambley-Moyer. “In many sports, you have to change direction every three to five steps, and the ‘Up Two Back One’ drill closely mimics that. It’s important to master these short direction changes before increasing the distance (which increases intensity).”

This is one of Brambley-Moyer’s favorite drills for working on forward-to-backward-to-forward agility. Incorporate it at the very beginning of any conditioning work you do, performing three total sets and using a 1:3 work-to-rest ratio. Start slowly and focus on really nailing the mechanics of footwork and body position, picking up speed only as your form improves.

Moyer refers to one of the special forces’ mottos, saying, “Remember: Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”

Up Two, Back One: Forward Sprint to Backpedal Instructions:

The Up Two, Back One drill is performed like it sounds: You will first run forward to the second cone, come to a stop, backpedal one cone and then repeat by running up two more cones before backpedaling again. You will sprint and backpedal a total of three times before transitioning to your last sprint and coasting to a stop.

For the set up, place five cones three yards apart in line with one another. Completing the drill as outlined above counts as one set. To ensure you’re performing each set with the proper intensity and technique, take three times the rest as it takes you to run the drill, in a 1:3 work-to-rest ratio.

Coaching Points:

To start, use a staggered stance (with one foot slightly in front of the other) as your starting position for the drill. Direct your head and shoulders toward your target by leaning forward, and then take off into a sprint.

Decelerating at each cone starts by lowering your center of gravity toward your base of support (your feet). You will also increase the length of your ground contact time by taking a number of smaller, choppier steps until you come to a complete stop next to each cone.

This drill’s focus is accelerating quickly, decelerating quickly, and then transitioning into the backpedal before moving forward into another sprint. To ensure you’re staying low and using proper acceleration and deceleration mechanics, touch the ground at each cone when performing this drill.

Ideally, you will touch the ground with the opposite hand as the foot that’s in front. Meaning, if your left foot is the front foot at the transition point (sprint to backpedal or backpedal to sprint), your right hand should touch the ground.

After your last backpedal, focus on proper arm- and leg-drive mechanics through the final cone and coast to a stop.

Lightning & Thunder will help you become a force of nature.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…you don’t have to be an athlete in order to train like one.

Athleticism is one of those things where the saying “if you don’t use it, you lose it” becomes inevitable. As adults we often become more enamored with adult-like things. Things like balancing checkbooks, going to bed early, and binge watching Netflix.

Too, in the context of training, as adults we sometimes (not always) tend to “pump the brakes,” and training goes from this:

To this:

And the most athletic thing many people do on a day-to-day basis is chase down the 66 Bus after work.

That being said: athleticism is important yet it is something that intimidates a lot of people; especially for those who participate in more fantasy sports than actual sports.

However, you don’t need any fancy equipment or complicated periodization schemes in order to train athleticism.

Lightning & Thunder is a brand new strength, speed, and agility program written by Tim Moyer, MS, CPT, and Angie Brambley-Moyer, MS, MSCC, with Jen Sinkler, personal trainer, fitness writer, and former U.S. national team rugby player.

 

Moyer, Brambley-Moyer, and Sinkler have teamed up to get you stronger, faster, and more agile. You don’t have to have any experience playing sports, and you don’t have to play any in the future, either, if you don’t have the inclination. You only need to be interested in training like an athlete, in moving like one and looking like one.

Make no mistake, though: this program is perfect for athletes too.

In it, you’ll get:

  • A comprehensive training manual that lays the groundwork for this philosophy of training for both the strength and the speed and agility (SAQ) programs.
  • Both beginner and intermediate 12-week SAQ programs.
  • Both beginner and intermediate 12-week strength programs, with an explanation and calendar on how to combine the strength work with the speed work.
  • A complete exercise glossary with written coaching cues and images for every single strength and SAQ movement. This detailed description of 180 moves is a resource in and of itself!
  • A streamable video library of more than 25 speed and agility demonstration videos. In the videos, Tim and Angie coach the athlete through the fundamentals of their SAQ patterns and drills, allowing them to know what they need work on whether they are watching from home or watching it as they hit the gym.

Here’s the best part. To celebrate its release, Lightning & Thunder is on sale for HALF OFF now through midnight Friday, June 3rd. For more information click HERE.

About Jen Sinkler

Jen Sinkler is a longtime fitness writer and personal trainer who talks about all things strength related at her website, UnapologeticallyStrong.com. The former editorial director of fitness for Experience Life magazine, she writes regularly for a variety of national health magazines. She’s a certified RKC 2 kettlebell instructor, and a powerlifting coach through USA Powerlifting. She also holds coaching certs through Ground Force Method, Progressive Calisthenics, Onnit Academy, and DVRT (Ultimate Sandbag).

A lifelong competitive athlete, Jen played rugby for 13 years, many of those on the U.S. women’s national 7s and 15s teams. She co-owns The Movement Minneapolis with her husband, David Dellanave.

CategoriesUncategorized

2 Things to Check Out. Because I Said So

Lisa and I are currently on a really fast moving train en route to Stockholm (<– that’s in Sweden) to embark on leg #2 of what I’ve been referring to as the “Scandinavian Triangle,” Trademark pending.

  • Leg #1 = Oslo, Norway.
  • Leg #2 = Stockholm, Sweden
  • Leg #3 = Copenhagen, Denmark

(And then back to Oslo, to complete the triangle, and to catch our flight back home to Boston).

It’s been an amazing trip thus far, starting in Prague well over a week ago and now spilling into Scandinavian territory.

NOTE: If you haven’t already, check out Lisa’s travel blog – HERE – which has been growing in popularity over course of our trip. I’m starting to get the feeling everyone wants Lisa to start taking over the website permanently.

I hope everyone’s been enjoying all the guest posts I’ve had lined up in my absence. Not to brag or anything, but Travis Hansen’s article, 5 More Scientific Reasons Athletes Should Eat Carbs, was named “Top Nutrition Article of the Week” on the PTDC’s weekly reading list.

Congrats Travis!

I have a few more posts lined up for later this week, but in the meantime I wanted to take the opportunity to direct towards some other content.

1) New Podcast – Respect the Process, Not the Outcome

I had the pleasure of being invited onto Joe DeLeo’s podcast recently. Joe’s a trainer located in the Providence, RI area and we took an hour or so talking about the industry, my reasons for leaving Cressey Sports Performance, and, of course, deadlifts…among other things.

If you have some time to kill or would rather listen to my silky, sexy voice rather than the people on the train or the person you share a cubicle with…than have it. I’d be honored!

2) 6 Posture Drills That Will Change the Way You Do Absolutely Everything

Jen Sinkler is back with some more killer (FREE) video content for the promotion of the upcoming Lightning & Thunder project.

All six are simple to implement, provide a lot of bang-for-your-training-buck, and are the perfect fit for those with limited time in the gym.

The video is free. There’s no spamming (because Jen’s not an a-hole), and don’t forget to check out and download the PDF attached too!

For those who missed it, you can also check out THIS video from Jen showcasing some awesome partner drills to help improve reaction time. Includes hilarity.