Categoriescoaching Female Training

Building Strong Women Starts With You, Coach

Today’s EPIC guest post comes courtesy of TG.com regular (and fav), Erica Suter. Working with young female athletes isn’t solely about Q-angles and the x’s and o’s of a proper depth jump landing.

It’s also about recognizing that they’re not delicate snowflakes and that they very much can train just like the boys (and oftentimes excel exponentially). Too, coaching young, impressionable female athletes is about recognizing our own biases and being more in-tune with the words & phrases we use around them.

This is a stellar piece from Erica and I encourage every coach to read it in its entirety.

SIDE NOTE: Erica just released her latest resource, Total Youth Female Athlete Fitness, today.

It’s a 15 module video course on training the young female athlete to perform at her best, as well as be resilient to injury.

The video modules include proper warm-up, nutrition and the menstrual cycle, growth and maturation considerations, and LIVE training sessions on movement quality, plyometrics, total body strength, speed, and agility with coaching cues and break down of technique.

To get it on sale for $100 off regular price, go HERE.
Copyright: serezniy / 123RF Stock Photo

If You Are a Coach to Female Athletes, You Need to be Walking the Walk Right Now

No one cares how many wins you have, trophies you’ve stacked, Twitter followers you’ve acquired, coaching licenses you’ve gotten, and acronyms you laid out like the alphabet behind your name.

What young female athletes need is coaching.

This encompasses more than the x’s and o’s, the tactics and the formations, the wins and the rankings, the certifications, the strength and conditioning programs, and the ACL reduction training.

Speaking of ACL, I don’t want to write a dissertation on it in this article.

Of course, ACL reduction is a serious issue that you need to understand and be able to execute in a practical setting.

But what you need to know is coaching the female athlete extends far beyond the ‘oh, well females just have wider hips’ comment.

Yes, anatomy and physiology play a role when customizing strength and conditioning and programming, there are multiple layers, mental and emotional, when working with girls.

With that said, I’m going to gloss over the tip of the iceberg, so here is what you need to know as far as physical training for the female athlete:

1. Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle is something to be aware of in terms of oscillations in sleep quality and energy levels. An excellent tracking app to use is FitrWoman that helps you to understand what phase of the cycle they are in, and if they need an extra push to recover harder and dial in on nutrition, as well as sprinkle in any extra supplementation.

To that end, training won’t necessarily have to change, but I recommend finding ways to optimize their physical and mental recovery during the pinnacle times of fatigue, depletion of iron, and oscillation of hormone levels.

Meditation is just one way to navigate the hormonal storm, and ensure there is physical recovery as well as mental clarity.

 

What is so cool about this app, is individual athletes can track their cycle and take notes on consistent symptoms they experience during each phase.

It bodes well to help girls be more aware of how their bodies are feeling, and provide guidance as far as recovery strategies, whether it’s through better sleep, or recovery methods like extra meditation or nourishing with more calories during times of fatigue and depleted focus.

The menstrual cycle is something you shouldn’t shy away from, but rather, a conversation we should be open about to better serve your female athletes.

Period.  See what I did there? ;-O

2. Girls Grow Too

Studies say the growth spurt can happen as early as age 10, so female athletes can begin to learn movement patterns and progress with strength training monitored by a professional.

 

According to Stracciolini et al, such programs will enhance muscular fitness, improve sport performance and reduce the chance of sports-related injuries.

Ensure to expose young female athletes to a variety of movement during this time to develop basic motor skills, such as balance, coordination, and stability. Executing a program with a diverse template also inspires development of the neo-cortex, tapping into the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

 

Since I work with mainly soccer players, the more I can get them to use their upper bodies so they aren’t over-training their lower extremities, the better.

Strength of the upper body, from the back, to the shoulders, to the torso, creates a chain reaction to how the lower body operates. If the shoulders and back are weak, the glutes are inhibited, thus making the knee joint more unstable. If the chest is tight, the hip flexors are tight, causing more anterior loading the patella tendon.

Growing pains, anyone?

Remember: During the growth spurt, female athletes need their entire muscular system to be built.

3. Growth Spurt Continued

The time when females are growing the most rapidly in terms of height can cause disturbances in coordination. The growth spurt can be a tough time for young athletes, as accelerated growth leads to disturbances in coordination and overall movement, and can impact performance negatively (Quatman-Yates, Quatman, Meszaros, Paterono, et al. 2012).

You as the coach must be patient when this happens, and be careful not to program a practice with full field squat jumps and suicides, or worse yet, endless high impact runs on the concrete stadium steps.1

Joint kinematics tend to be more precarious during the growth spurt, so when it comes to more technical movements like single leg training and plyometrics, be sure to not get wild.

Focus on technique and quality reps.

 

Then add speed as they get more advanced

4. Growth Spurt & Body Image

After the growth spurt (PHV), female athletes experience more weight gain and an increase in fat mass (Peak Weight Velocity). It is critical coaches understand this as it can hinder speed and other factors of performance.

A study done by Tønnessen et al. states it may be beneficial for female athletes to have a greater focus on neuromuscular training during this period. Things like movement patterns (i.e. Squat), balance, mobility and stability are nice to revisit during each session.

 

Increases in fat mass and reductions in relative strength often occur alongside reductions in coordination and neuromuscular control (Tønnessen 2015).

So here’s a hint: Be patient and meet them where they are, focus on the controllables, and fill them with empowering phrases that don’t allude to body image. (i.e. “you’re not fit and need to drop weight” can be turned into “let’s make you even faster and stronger!”)

Check out this article on female athlete body image HERE, and how you can encourage them to chase performance and not the number on the scale.

Girls are just as competitive as boys, so reinforcing things like change of direction ability, speed development, and acceleration empower them to be their most explosive selves on the field.

5. Girls Won’t Break

Generally speaking, female athletes have similar strength and conditioning programs to boys. Yes, you want to consider differences in physiology and look at athlete assessments before writing their programs, and tweak with accessory movements accordingly.

But I will say this: Just because they are females doesn’t mean you tip-toe around their fitness programming and treat them like fragile little snowflakes.

Female athletes will also lift weights like the boys.

  • They will strengthen their bodies.
  • They will do explosive work.
  • They will do push-ups.
  • They will do pull-ups.

6. Focus On What You Can Control

Telling young girls, “yeah, you have wider hips, so you’re more susceptible to ACL” is defeatist, and doesn’t present a solution.

Since anatomy is out of a girl’s control, it’s best to empower her and focus on what she can control to reduce chance of knee injury.

You can mention things like working on core stability to handle high forces in the game, the ability to pump the brakes for better deceleration and rapid change of direction, building powerful hamstrings and gluteals for speed production, or bolstering explosiveness through the hips with Olympic lifts.

Let’s Talk Emotions

Now that the physical training is out of the way 1,000 words later, let’s dive into the meat and potatoes of this article.

Here’s the thing: I love teaching physical training, writing strength and conditioning programs, understanding the impact of physiology on performance, and solving the ACL injury puzzle.

Truthfully, though, these all should be a bare minimum requirement for anyone working with female athletes – strength coaches and team coaches alike.

If you’re a team coach, you don’t need to have a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist slapped behind your job title…you just need a passion for executing the basics of injury reduction. Too, you need to show great care for putting your girls’ health first.

After all, being an athlete is truly a lifetime pursuit. We want these girls to put their bodies in the best position possible so they can go through their career unscathed.

Even when the final whistle blows, these girls are athletes for life who will want to be resilient for new, adventurous hobbies down the road.

You have the opportunity to inspire the power of movement and health with your words, your actions and example.

Here are some skills that are non-negotiable:

– Active listening
– Empathy
– Relationship building
– Respect
– Trust
– Encouragement
– Human and character development

Let me say this: It’s a blessing to be a coach to female athletes – to be able to inspire the next generation of girls, and turn them into women as confident as Beyonce, as fearless as Sansa Stark, and as strong as Serena Williams.

You have the opportunity to empower, Coach.

 

 

I’d be remiss not to mention what I’ve found over the past eight years of being a strength and conditioning coach to female athletes is, I play a pivotal role in their lives mentally and emotionally.

The girls who have been with me the longest, who fell in love with the process, and who still, are hungry to be better women today physically, mentally and spiritually, are the ones who I connected with beyond the pitch and weight room.

Truthfully, I don’t believe sports teach life lessons.

Coaches do.

With that said, here’s a friendly reminder:

You are in the human business.

How Well Do you Know Your Female Athletes?

Do you know how their grades are in school? Do you know what other talents they have? Do you know if they have siblings? Do you know if they had a solo at the band concert? Do you know if they are president of the student government at school? Do you know if they love baking? Do you know if they have good or bad sleep habits? Do you know what their stress level is before training begins?

This stuff matters.

Things like stress, sleep, hormonal oscillations from the menstrual cycle, relationships, family life and so forth impact how they show up for you at practice and in games.

Whether this is on the pitch, in the weight room, or outside of sports, are you amplifying their talents? Let alone, are you encouraging them to dig out the gems inside of them and believe in themselves? Are you showing them the light of lifetime health and fitness? Are you allowing them to vent about school stress so they have more focus at training?

I’m passionate about the soft skills of coaching, to say the least.

My cat, Sergio, is too.

So soften up.

It pains me to still see abusive coaching run rampant today. Worse yet, it’s terrifying to know girls are in the hands of leaders who are narcissistic and downright un-empathetic, who say “f this!” and “f that” and “you suck” and “you’re messing up!”

To add, these same people claim they love coaching girls because “girls are easier to coach!” or “girls do whatever you say!”

Let’s unpack these dangerous quotes for a second.

For one, be careful when you utter that girls are easier to coach and will listen to everything you demand of them.

As Krista Stoker from S2 Breakthrough Performance alludes to in this webinar, your words matter, given the woman you’re trying to build.

This brings me to a profound question: Do you want to build strong, empowered women?

Because if so, the last thing you want to say out loud is “girls do whatever you say!” which implies you’re creating doormats who don’t stand up for themselves, who don’t set boundaries, and who say “yes” to everything.

As these girls blossom into professional women, it’s critically important they know to stand up for themselves in the work place, set boundaries with colleagues, and stand confident in their crafts.

Your words, your actions, your habits must be in alignment with the type of women you want to build.

Even when you speak to other women, especially a female colleague or coach, are you treating them in a way that comes from love and respect?

Your young female athletes are watching.

Are you undermining her, or uplifting her as a professional?

Your young female athletes are observing.

Are you berating here, or encouraging her?

Your young female athletes are analyzing. 

Taking the conversation back to the opening line, if you’re a coach to female athletes, you need to be walking the walk right now.

And this doesn’t just go for male coaches. It goes for everyone across the board.

Women must build other women up, too.

I’m a female coach and in no way am I exempt from this discussion. 

I, too, have to uplift my female colleagues and share their work not just because they’re women, but because they are excellent at what they do.

I, too, have to re-evaluate the way I behave, talk and listen to young girls.

I’m not perfect, in fact far, far from it.

Being a coach to hundreds of female athletes is a job as hard as destroying the Ring of Power. It’s a burden you definitely don’t want to screw up, but there’s bound to be battles along the way.

With that said, the art of coaching female athletes is a journey that lasts a lifetime – to deeply understand what ignites them, what inspires them to fall in love with the process, and more importantly, what they need from you to become the best human they can be.

Maybe it’s an ear.

Maybe it’s encouragement.

Maybe it’s telling them you believe in them.

Maybe it’s discussing the Hayley and Justin Bieber wedding.

Admittedly, I remain critical of myself, which is why I have an insatiable desire to study human psychology, behavior change, leadership theory and motivation. (Motivational Interviewing and Inside Out Coaching are my favorite books I recommend for all coaches).

Becoming deeply self aware of my actions and words isn’t an easy pursuit, but it makes me a more authentic, inspiring leader with a growth mindset.

Expounding further, taking inventory of my actions off the pitch, and ensuring I build other women up in my respected field is a behavior that translates onto the field in a leadership role.

Who Are You When No One is Watching?

Though it can be a punch to the gut when you examine yourself and how you’ve fallen short, your young female athletes need you to grow, too.

Evolve and do better, Coach.

Indeed, self awareness is a wonderful thing…

If you aren’t a good listener and offer unwanted advice when a girl is crying, can you listen and make sure she feels heard without saying a word?

If you are treating other women in your life with disrespect and asking them for favors in return, can you treat them like professionals and promote them as talented at their crafts regardless of if they give something in return or not?

If you show other women in your life jealousy, can you show them support and come from a place of love?

If you are scared of other women becoming too powerful and successful at what they do, can you stop operating out of a place of fear, and work on pouring love into yourself and mastering your craft first?

If you aren’t empathetic and are quick to dismiss others’ feelings, can you hold space for your young female athletes to express their worries and frustrations?

If you are shouting profanity and talking down to adolescent girls at 120 decibels, can you act like a professional who can speak eloquently and calmly?

If you are only focused on the wins and rankings and the numbers, can you find a way to develop the character of your girls who will blossom to be driven, confident and empowered professionals one day?

What is your end goal as a coach to female athletes?

Last I looked, no one remembered a coach only for their rolling list of wins and championships.

They also remembered them for their impact and life lessons beyond the game.

The memories infused with laughter and joy.

The training sessions that were competitive and taught grit.

The drills that were fun and taught levity and inspired creativity.

The workouts that allowed them to battle and push each other into becoming strong women.

 

Female athletes need human-centered coaching.

They need you to set the example, be a leader, and have your actions speak louder than words.

As I alluded to earlier, it’s a blessing to be able to bring out the jewels of the next generation of young girls – to show them that they are multi-dimensional, amazing humans with beauty and strength.

And too, to show them that they are capable of so much magic in sports, school, and career.

I urge you, let your female athletes shine, as you cheer them on in the shadows. Sure, you won’t get the limelight, but you’ll allow them to sparkle.

So continue to learn.

Master your craft of coaching girls, both physically and mentally.

Be a constant student.

Admit your faults.

And do better.

Most critically, though, leave your ego at the door because building strong women starts with you, Coach.

About the Author

Erica Suter is a certified strength and conditioning coach in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as online for thousands of youth soccer players. She works with kids starting at the elementary level and going all the way up to the college level.

She believes in long-term athletic development and the gradual progression of physical training for safe and effective results. She helps youth master the basic skills of balance, coordination, and stability, and ensures they blossom into powerful, fast and strong athlete when they’re older. She has written two books on youth strength and conditioning, Total Youth Soccer Fitness, and Total Youth Soccer Fitness 365, a year-round program for young soccer players to develop their speed, strength and conditioning.

She also just launched a coaching education course on training the young female athlete, Total Youth Female Athlete Fitness, a video course on performance and injury reduction in a practical setting

Follow Erica on Twitter and Instagram

Categoriesyouth/sports training

Why Kids Should Cheat the Deadlift

Today’s guest post come courtesy of Dan Edelman of The Brand X Method, which is a wonderful institution dedicated to improving youth sport(s) and fitness through professional youth coach education.

I love what they stand for and what the strive to instill in their coaches and athletes.

There’s no ONE set way to train anyone – youth athletes included – and oftentimes the larger, more pertinent approach is adopting methodologies for LONG-TERM health and fitness.

Not for ego.

Enjoy the read (and be sure to download the FREE guide “How to Reduce the Risk of Injury in Youth Athletes” below).

Copyright: spotpoint74 / 123RF Stock Photo

Why Kids Should “Cheat” the Deadlift

Sumo is cheating.

We hear that a lot. Mostly from a certain uppity corner of the powerlifting community and mostly owing to its shortened range of motion compared to the conventional deadlift.

Well, we love it. The Brand X Method™ loves the sumo deadlift.

And we’re often asked about this great love affair.

So yeah, why sumo?

  • When was the last time you set up in a conventional stance to pick up a cinder block, sack of dog food, a child? Never. The sumo stance is how we pick up stuff in the real world.
  • Over the course of 15 years, we have found that kids can learn a safe sumo setup more quickly and maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement more consistently. Could it be because our bodies are designed to pick up heavy stuff in this position?
  • The conventional stance requires more work from the spinal erectors (see, e.g., here). Should the erectors fatigue or fail under load—or be left holding the bag so to speak by primary mover fatigue or poor technique—the spine is at risk of injury. We train kids, which by definition means we’re training mostly beginner and intermediate lifters. The responsible approach is to minimize that risk.
  • Powerlifting guru Louie Simmons has said that training wide supports narrow applications but not the opposite. At Brand X – The Lab, we’ve seen people improve their conventional deadlift after training exclusively sumo—but, yeah, you guessed it—not the opposite.

To say the sumo stance is functional is to lose its significance in all the buzz around that overused label.

But it is functional.

Profoundly so.

The sumo stance is everywhere in the everyday world, from the backyard to the ball field, from the garage to the library.

When we train sumo, we enhance physical literacy, we improve our ability to engage with the environment. The more we are able to interact with the world and others around us in positive and rewarding ways, the healthier and happier we—and everyone around us—can be.

Imagine a world like that.

We do.

Never Say Never

So am I saying that we never train conventional?

Of course not.

We program conventional deadlift variations all of the time for our experienced lifters:

Single-leg dumbbell, deficits, rack pulls, RDLs… Conventional deadlifts make for great accessory and supplemental work.

Some of our experienced kids are committed competitive powerlifters. Our sports-specific programming includes conventional deadlifts because it makes sense to identify which position the kid best pulls from.

Is this a contradiction?

No.

We’re talking sport.

We’re talking kids who want to lift the most weight possible. That doesn’t mean we simply let the kid pull conventional. A TBXM™ program for a kid who can stand up with more weight in the conventional stance than in the sumo position also includes exercises that support the conventional stance to ensure that safety and efficiency are maximized during training and competition.

The conventional stance deadlift transfers to the power clean, a staple power-building exercise for The Brand X Method™.

Let’s optimize.

Occasionally anthropometry such as long femurs, long torso, and comparatively short arms call for us to explore a conventional stance for plateau-busting insights.

Individualizing our program is essential to our mission.

Frankly, variation is a fairly conventional strength training principle. And therein lies one of the great things about The Brand X Method™—our principles are sound; they are long-established, evidence-based, and proven. With that kind of foundation, we can forever explore and evolve best practices for teaching kids how to move more safely and efficiently for fitness, sport, and life.

If You Ain’t Cheating You Ain’t Trying

The Brand X Method™ wrangles with the constant tension between the goals of youth sport and the goals of our program.

The former wants high performance at all times (e.g., lifting the most weight, throwing the hardest, running the fastest) while we want to see the discovery, participation, and enjoyment of sport and other physical activities for all time.Thing is, the tension seems to come from the sports side and is almost entirely driven by an over-reliance on sports-specific training and a lack of knowledge about how our program should be viewed as essential to sports-specific training rather than some kind of extraneous “activity.”

We know that high performance and lifelong physical activity based on consistently good movement don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Our proof is in the USA Powerlifting—California state record book where our kids and teens (and even some adults) hold more than 100 records.

Imagine that—prioritizing safety and efficiency in the form of consistently excellent (and natural) movement yields record holders, champions, and national qualifiers, most of whom stepped onto the platform just for kicks.

High performance is a by-product of The Brand X Method™.

Sumo. What they call cheating, we call common sense.

What they snicker at, we find advantageous.

Efficient.

Safe.

Long-term.

We want our kids able to lift when they’re 40 50, 60, beyond.

A youth fitness program that is not thinking about lifetime fitness is not thinking period.

We’ll continue to train the most efficient, safest movement built on naturally intended, functional motor patterns and positions. We’ll continue to encourage kids to try different sports and then provide them the best strength and conditioning we can to keep them strong, fast, and durable. We’ll continue to imagine a better future for our kids. And we’ll continue to gather the medals, trophies, and records that come with it.

They say cheating. We say scoreboard, baby.

About the Author

Dan Edelman is a Brand X Youth Coach and has been a member of The Brand X Method staff for nearly a decade, principally as staff writer and editor. He is the current Director of Marketing & Communications and is co-owner of R Town Strength & Wellness – A Brand X Method Training Center in San Diego County, California.

About the The Brand X Method

Since 2004, we have been driven by a relentless pursuit of best practices in youth training. Our focus on motor pattern training and physical literacy enhancement optimizes kids’ fitness and elevates their athleticism. We help protect kids and teens against sports injury, boost their sports performance, and push back against the forces behind obesity.

The mastery, confidence, and motivation that kids develop in our gyms are the ingredients of freedom and fearlessness. The Brand X Method™ instills the essence of adventure, passion, and joy in kids and teens when playing their favorite sports, trying new things, and tackling life’s challenges so they can step out of our gyms knowing they can do whatever they set out to do.

Free Download: Brand X Youth Coaches Guide & Assessment

Contact Email: [email protected]

Categoriescoaching Conditioning

The Problems With Youth Fitness. With Solutions

I’ve got a guest post from Baltimore based strength & conditioning coach, Erica Suter today. She’s someone I respect a lot not only for her writing prowess (she gives me a run for my money with Lord of the Rings references), but also for her steadfastness in sticking to her guns.

She could easily train professional athletes given her own athletic background, but more to the point because she’s a gifted coach.

However, her preference is to work with youth athletes

And she crushes.

I am always impressed with Erica’s content and commitment to serving our younger generation of athletes. She’s recently released her first product – Total Youth Soccer Fitness – and it’s fantastic.

It’s really a manual for all young athletes and not just soccer, and I think it does a superb job at bringing the pendulum back to the middle. It provides a detailed strength & conditioning component, of course, but emphasizes something sorely lacking in today’s culture…

….fun!

It’s on sale for $67 for the next three days and then jumps to it’s full price of $97. Coaches, parents, Nazguls, act quickly. You won’t be disappointed. Get it HERE.

Copyright: matimix / 123RF Stock Photo

The Problems With Youth Fitness (With Solutions)

Besides J.R.R. Tolkien book themes, snowboarding trips, and triple shots of espresso, nothing lights me up more than youth fitness.

After seven years of coaching kids, I guess I have a lot to say on the topic. As a self-proclaimed introvert, my extrovert side certainly shines through any time strength and conditioning for youth athletes comes up. Here’s a common conversation I’ve had countless times:

Parent: “Can you do conditioning for my 10-year-old?”
Me: “Like take them to the playground?”
Parent: “No, like suicides, laps, timed miles.”
Me: “Find another coach.”

(hangs up phone abruptly)

via GIPHY

Okay, okay, maybe it’s not this dramatic, but you get my point.

Look. I love working with kids. There’s something magical about teaching a beginner the ropes of training and seeing them all the way through their athletic development to college and beyond.

But what I love more is teaching everyone involved in youth fitness that there are safe, fun, and effective ways to get kids better at their sport.

Still, some of these kids are in the wrong training hands. With overuse injuries, sports drop-out rates, lack of passion for sport, and sedentary lifestyles on the rise, I fear the future of the youth athlete.

More often than not, kids are trained wrong.

Whether a coach is misinformed, parents are Googling Messi workouts for their 10-year-old too much, or a new trainer wants to grow his social media following, kids are doing some ridiculous things (most that are unsafe) in the gym and on the field.

With that said, besides sitting at the DMV, there’s nothing worse than perusing Instagram and seeing these things:

– an 8-year-old sprinting up a hill carrying a medicine ball.
– a 10-year-old attached to a sled while dribbling through cones.
– a team of 8-year-olds running sprints around the field as punishment.
– a high school kid doing CrossFit box jumps without mastering jumping and landing mechanics.

Of course, I could make a laundry list here, but instead of complaining, I want to shed light on some of the biggest problems in youth fitness as well as provide actionable solutions.

Let’s do this:

1. People Aren’t Keeping Youth Fitness Simple.

When it comes to training kids, I like to be guided by this mantra: keep it simple, stupid.

A training session with kids should focus on 1-2 skills or performance components you want them to improve, then progress from there. There’s no need to be all over the place and complicate things. If you’re a coach who is trying to teach speed and jumps right into the speed resistance bands, harnesses, sleds, and unicorns to look flashy, who the hell are you?

Worse yet, the kid’s reps are terrible, form is weak, and coordination is non-existent.

So.

I have an idea: tell kids to skip or march and see the whacky coordination show. If they can’t do these simple tasks, what makes you think their linear and multi-directional mechanics will be clean?

Besides asking yourself what skill you want to teach that day, I’d also argue you should ask yourself: “am I developing athletes or social media stars?” before you jump to posting flashy videos on your Instagram.

*drops mic*

2. Youth Athletes Don’t Learn the Basic Motor Skills Enough.

Speaking of keeping it simple, always start with the basics.

Here are some staples to my youth fitness programs:

– Balance
– Contralateral Coordination
– Core Stability
– Jumping and Landing Mechanics
– Athletic Stance

What’s funny is, these basics set youth athletes up for the “cool” things they get to do later on in their development, like power cleans, deadlifts, pull-ups, lunge variations, and more. Behind every healthy, athletic youth athlete is someone who masters the basics.

Relentlessly.

Vertical Jump Tutorial

 

Because this much I know: motor skill learning is REAL. Like anything else in life, such as learning math, an instrument, or a soccer skill, this stuff takes a long time frame to master. Like as long as it took Frodo to trek across Middle Earth time frame.

Reflexive Strength

 

Being able to be coordinated (contralateral) is critical for not only developing optimal speed mechanics, but also for blending the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Kids who can connect across their bodies through movements like Bird Dogs, Crawls, and Marches can tap into their logical and creative sides. A great book to check out on the benefits of coordination for brain development in youth is Smart Moves.

Here is a fun drill that touches on coordination, balance, and core stability to try:

 

3. Youth Athletes Aren’t Strength Training Enough.

Let’s get this out of the way: youth strength training does not mean throwing a kid under a barbell right off the bat.

Here are several things that could mean “strength training” for kids:

– Bodyweight
– Resistance Bands
– Free Weights (dumbbells, kettlebells)
– Barbells
– Prowlers
– Peg Boards

Now that you see you don’t have to sign your kid up for CrossFit to become the next Lebron, how should we gingerly go about strength training?

Taking the conversation back to the basics, always start with bodyweight first to ensure the kid can move well and execute good form.

Split Squat

 

Then, once bodyweight looks as pretty as a Starbuck’s peppermint mocha, you can progress to more crazy shenanigans like this:

Bulgarian Split Squat

 

Here’s a rough template I like to use as far as when to strength train:

– Girls 11-years-old and up
– Boys 12-years-old and up
– However, this may vary based on physical maturity and mental readiness.

How do we know a kid is mentally ready to enter a gym setting with clanking barbells?

– Ask them why they want to go in the gym.
– Notice their body language (proud, head up upon leaving gym)
– If they can’t stop talking about how awesome Coach Erica’s Pull-Up competitions were, they’re a green light. ;-O

4. Youth Athletes Aren’t Having Fun.

While structured training and coaching should done in a controlled environment, sometimes we need to set the seriousness aside and have some fun.

After all, don’t we want kids to fall in love with fitness?

Not just to get better for their sport, but to be inspired to move for a lifetime. In the midst of today’s Fortnite culture, it’s pretty freaking scary how little kids move nowadays.

Think about it: most sports teams practice a few times a week, amounting to a total of 2-4 hours a week of activity. This is meager compared to what we did back in my day. By “my day” I mean the 90s.

Shout out to those of you who played Dodgeball, Capture the Flag, Four Square, and Tether Ball.

Alas, I digress.

We don’t see this anymore. So to inspire kids to move, let’s lean into our creativity as coaches and make fitness fun. Here are several examples of games I’ve come up with over the years:

Example #1

 

Example #2

 

Example #3

 

Of course, these are just glossing over the tip of the iceberg. The good news for coaches is that yes, keep things simple, but sprinkle in creativity as you go to keep kids passionate and engaged.

Teaching must be done to some degree so kids learn, but we have to be cognizant of peppering in the fun.

To that end, let kids be kids.

Total Youth Soccer Fitness

If you’re a coach of young athletes this is for you.

If you’re a parent of young athletes this is for you.

Kids aren’t professional athletes and they should NOT be treated as such. Erica has provided a stellar resource that will help guide you step by step on how to build a well-rounded athlete, but remain cognizant that kids are kids.

Take advantage of $30 off the regular price HERE.

Categoriesyouth/sports training

4 Things to Consider When Training Youth Athletes

Youth training is a can of worms and hotly debated topic to say the least – right up there with GMOs, gun reform, and who’s the better wizard: Dumbledore or Gandalf?

I’ve been training youth athletes for the better portion of my career, working with kids ranging from 9-16 from every sport imaginable, and their parents (<— said with a hint of shade), so I’m fairly confident I have the requisite experience (15+ years) and knowledge (physiology, programming, and 80’s cartoon trivia) to chime in on the topic.

Lets do this.

Copyright: matimix / 123RF Stock Photo

5 Things to Consider When Training Youth Athletes

1. Early Sports Specialization Sucks

There, I said it.

I, and many other prominent and/or experienced coaches, am pretty adamant on this point.

Nothing derails a young athlete’s development more – both physiologically and athletically –  than playing one sport year round.

When I was kid growing up I played a sport for every season. I one hundred percent believe that playing a variety of sports throughout the year allowed me to excel in baseball, which is what I ended up playing in college.

Playing several sports helped me to develop a multitude of athletic abilities and made not just a better baseball player but a better athlete. Moreover, it kept me healthy and prevented me from developing pattern overload injuries that are quite common in sports like baseball, gymnastics and hockey, to name a few.

I stress these points with every young athlete I work with.

It saddens me when I start working with an athlete and I ask him or her which sports he or she plays, and they respond with “tennis” or “football” or lacrosse” or “ninja’ing.”

The stats don’t lie: 92% of NFL Draft – rounds 1-3 – were multiple sport athletes in high-school.

And I have to assume that that stat mirrors other leagues such as MLB, NBA, and the NHL.

2. Kids Aren’t Professional Athletes

Weird, right?

There’s zero need to get fancy or ornate with kids in the weight-room. They need to learn how to throw, sprint, lift, and jump.

There’s a great analogy I heard strength coach Chad Wesley Smith use once when discussing the training habits of elite athletes and lifters.

Many people are quick to ask how “so and so (referring to any elite level athlete or lifter) trains?” or “what program is he or she using?”

The implication being….do what they’re doing and you’ll get the same results.

Choosing the right parents aside, it doesn’t work like that.

As Chad noted:

“The better question isn’t “what are they doing NOW, but rather what did they do 10, 15, 20 years ago to help set the foundation that allowed them to succeed further down the road?”

I can’t tell you how many times a parent would bring their kid to Cressey Sports Performance when I was there and ask if or when their kid would be doing speed work or more advanced agility drills?

My inner dialog would go something like this:

“Dude, your kid can’t perform a walking lunge without looking like he’s going to dislocate his knee cap.

The fuck outta here.”

What I’d actually say:

“Speed work and agility drills at this stage are kinda like giving a Ford Focus a sweet paint job and rims to give the appearance of being fast. However, until we address the horsepower – I.e., work on the basics & getting stronger – it’s still going to be a Ford Focus.”

Youth athletes need Goblet Squats and how to learn to perform a push-up well (or hell, to be told to go climb a tree), not parachute resisted sprints and CrossFit.

3. Sport-Specific Training Doesn’t Exist

There’s no such thing as a “baseball-specific program” or a “football-specific exercise.” I understand there are some exceptions to the rule and a degree of semantics here, but for all intents and purposes the statement is true.

As I noted above, the end goal is to make someone a better athlete and to immerse he or she in an environment that allows them to explore all facets of movement and locomotion.

Not to create a one-trick pony.

What’s more, the weight-room – and strength training in particular – shouldn’t go out of it’s way to emulate what’s accomplished on the field or court. Athletes get enough “sport specific training” playing their respective sport(s).

No, the weight-room should be used as a tool to marinate kids in movements and exercises they’re not accustomed to; to address weaknesses and build resiliency; to help build confidence and self-esteem; and, you know, to make their competition cry….;o)

4. Kids Aren’t Delicate Flowers. Strength Training Won’t Stunt Their Growth

This popular fallacy is NOT supported by research or clinical findings.

In his book Facts and Fallacies of Fitness, renowned exercise physiologist and bio-mechanist, Mel Siff, notes that force plate analysis shows even fairly heavy squats (exceeding body-mass) do not impose as great a load on the body as fairly casual running or jumping, which can impose joint loading which is greater than SIX TIMES bodyweight.

Thus, if resistance training is to be eliminated to promote growth plate safety, then all children must be forbidden to run and jump.

Good luck with that.

Besides, kids are like miniature Terminators. Outside of being lowered into a vat of molten metal they bounce back from nicks and falls all the time.

Furthermore, and I believe this is a point Eric Cressey has brought up before, the weight-room is a very controlled environment compared to anything that’s experienced in competitive sports.

To that end, assuming appropriate loading and exercise progressions are taken into account, the weight-room is a very safe space for a young athlete.

Complete Youth Training

Coaches, trainers – and maybe more importantly PARENTS – will love this new resource from strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle.

One of the main goals of Complete Youth Training is to educate parents and coaches on both the correct ways to train youth athletes as well as to highlight the training methods currently being used that may be detrimental to youth athletes.

All youth training methods and principles discussed and demonstrated in Complete Youth Training are backed by a multitude of scientific research.

Coach Boyle covers E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G from lack of parent education and the importance of fun and free play for children to appropriate strength training protocols for youth athletes and much of the (mis) information surrounding it.

There are few resources I refer to as “must have’s,” but this one ranks right up there.

It’s offered in both digital and physical format, CEUs are available, and it’s currently on sale through this Friday, May 18th.

Go….go…..GO.

—> Complete Youth Training <—

Categoriesyoung athletes youth sports training youth training

What Youth Athletes Need To Get Better

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of strength coach Erica Suter. She discusses a topic that sometimes makes me want to throw my face into an ax: youth athletes and how they should train.

FYI: I agree with everything she says in this post. It’s excellent.

Full Disclosure: I’m an 80’s baby who suffers from childhood nostalgia.

We moved. We played. We frolicked. We skipped. We sprinted.

Gone are the days when we played Capture the Flag, dodgeball, and Hide n’ Seek with our neighbors. And gone are days when we played tether ball at recess, or drew lines of chalk into a four square ball game on our driveways.

Copyright: nadezhda1906 / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Oh, and how about Hopskotch?

Such. A. Throwback.

If this is happening still, however, hit me up. I’d love to come out to your neighborhood. I’ll be sure to bring my Oshkosh B Gosh overalls too. ;-O

All the memories I reminisce on “back in the day” happened because the times we lived in promoted getting outside, running around, and actually meeting up with friends.

In person.

We called their home landlines and left a voicemail for a play date. And we’d meet on the playground.

Nowadays, we send a convenient text, only to find out our friends would rather stay in playing FIFA and not see us in real life.

To that end, youth activity has gone down to some degree. Whether that is in school or at home, kids aren’t moving as much as they could or should.

I wrote this post because I truly believe strength and conditioning coaches and team coaches have the opportunity to teach kids to move freely and safely again, in the gym, on the field, and at home.

So what do our youth athletes need? Let’s dive right in:

1) Coordination Drills

It’s amazing the lack of coordination I’ll see from kids these days.

As an example, most new athletes who come into our facility are introduced to basic drills, such as skipping, back pedaling, and marching. Most of the time, I will see ipsilateral (same arm, same leg) movement patterns, and then I’ll hear them say something like, “that felt awkward.”

If skipping, running, shuffling, or back pedaling feels awkward, then it’s being done wrong.

Simple movements like these should feel smooth and natural.

Nailing down contralateral patterns early on (ages 8-12) ensures kids are set up for smooth and efficient running mechanics when they get to middle and high school.

Just like acquiring skills with a soccer ball, it’s never too early to teach kids key cognitive skills to improve coordination before it’s too late.

Ladder drills could be a good start, but they’re useless if kids just tap their feet and ignore opposite arm, opposite leg action. Don’t be lazy. Do them with precision and arm movement:

 

Please keep in mind though: Ladders will not develop maximal speed.

I like to use them as a movement prep warm up or as a fun introduction. Every time I whip out a ladder kids get excited, so it does have its time and place. The world will not go up in flames if you do ladder drills for 5-10 minutes, but don’t make them the entire workout.

Other options to start beginners with could be marching, lateral marching, skipping, and crawling:

 

2) Strength Training

Strength can be an intimidating component in the youth training world. What most parents envision is their child getting under a barbell, signing up for a CrossFit class, and getting injured.

Rest assured, strength training doesn’t have to mean lifting weights. Let’s teach them to crawl, carry, squat, hinge, pull, push, or hollow hold with core tension and proper belly breathing.

 

These are all bodyweight movements that can eventually be progressed when ready.

Strength coach Justin Ochoa wrote an excellent article on this HERE.

Since neurological factors play the biggest role in a young athletes’ development, they have to learn to move their bodies first. So you’re better off focusing on form rather than load.

Sure, an 8 year old attached to a weighted sled with an altitude mask may get Instagram likes, but is it effective?

Moreover, is it SAFE?

Note From TG: What’s next…parachute jumping jacks? Bounding over a live volcano?

Needless to say, starting simple goes a long way. If kids master motor patterns young, then once they move into high school, they’ll be the strong badass in the weight room. At this age (14-18), hormonal factors are now the major influencers for muscle hypertrophy.

Now, they’ll be better prepared to gain strength and lift heavier loads:

 

To this day, Brenna in the video above still crawls, squats, and lunges with bodyweight (as warm up) because it hones in on inter-muscular coordination and allows the body to work as a unit.

The coordination and basics never stop.

3) Proper Landing Mechanics

Hopping, jumping, bounding, and a plethora of other power exercises that involve landing are very popular with youth athletes.

But more often than not, these are butchered.

Secret: No one cares if your kids can jump a 36” box. And no one cares if you can do this:

Photo Credit: Athletes Acceleration

If your goals are slouched posture, inhibited core and glutes, or dying, then sure, have them give this a go.

I can’t reiterate enough how critical it is to hammer home safe and proper landing mechanics. So please: lower the height of the box, check your ego, and care for your youth athletes.

Here is a video that talks about proper countermovement and landing technique (which should look the same):

 

4) Variety

Since we want to ensure our kids are learning as many motor patterns as possible, periodization that reflects a more concurrent style would be best. This way, they’re learning a variety of exercises such as how to squat, hinge, crawl, push, pull, and lunge.

Additionally, they will be doing strength, agility, endurance, and power drills in all planes of motion.

A multi-faceted approach allows kids to learn technique, work multiple muscle groups, evade boredom, and stay excited about performance training without burning out. It’s similar to the early specialization argument when kids should not choose one sport before age 12. The same goes for the gym.

At our facility, we go as far as designing obstacle courses. Kids will crawl under hurdles, climb up ropes, sprint, or dodge cones for the heck of it.

 

Whether this is for strength based or skills based exercises, cognition is always a must for this population. Strength coach Jeremy Frisch does some cool things with youth athletes to the point it looks like an American Ninja Warrior episode.

Go check him out HERE.

If you have any fun ideas on how you train your youth athletes, or other components you feel are necessary, I would love to hear. My favorite part about working with this population is the sky is the limit in terms of programming, and we as coaches have wiggle room to get creative.

About the Author

Erica Suter is a certified strength and conditioning coach, soccer trainer, and fitness blogger who has worked with athletes and non-athletes for over 5 years. She is currently a strength coach at JDyer Strength and Conditioning, and also runs her own technical soccer training business in Baltimore, MD. Her interests include writing, snowboarding, and reciting Lord of the Rings quotes to her athletes and clients.
Categoriesyouth sports training

Why You Shouldn’t Specialize In One Sport Too Soon

Before I get to the meat and potatoes of today’s post I first wanted to thank everyone one who came out to CrossFit 714 in Anaheim, CA for mine and Dean’s workshop. We had 30 trainers and coaches from all over the Western portion of the country attend (even from Utah and Hawaii) and I think it was a massive success. I mean, no one asked for a refund or screamed “YOU HATE DIPS AND KIPPING PULL-UPS!?!?!? YOU’RE RUINING MY LIFE TONY GENTILCORE!!!”

So win-win.

And let me just say that the traffic in LA is NO JOKE! I read about how much of a nightmare it is and how it’s the worst thing ever, and honestly, having lived in Boston for eight years – where traffic isn’t exactly a cake walk – I always thought to myself “how bad can it really be?”

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “Traffic? What traffic? We’ll be there in ten minutes!” and 10 being “I’d rather walk on broken glass.” traffic in LA is the equivalent of Graham’s Number in sucktitude.

I made it back, I had a day to recover and catch up on some sleep, and now it’s back to business as usual.

I’m about five minutes away from heading out to the facility, but I wanted to share an article I had published on Stack.com recently.

It deals with a topic we have to teeter-totter with a lot at Cressey Sports Performance and it’s also a question I receive often in various places I speak:

Should a young athlete specialize in one sport, and if so, how early?

Truth be told: I’m not a fan of athlete’s specializing before a certain age. I feel it causes more harm than good and handicaps more athletes than it helps from developing their full spectrum of athleticism.

Too, nothing makes me cringe more – outside of maybe a botched rendition of the National Anthem – than when I ask a 13 year old kid what sports (s)he plays and their response is “x sport” and nothing else.

Adding to that point, we’ve also had parents with children as young as 7-8 years old contact us for our services, and while it’s always a compliment, we always tactfully say no.

As Mike Boyle has stated in the past, “your kid doesn’t need a strength coach, he needs a bike.”

Nevertheless I had a few more things to say on the topic and I hope you take a few minutes to check it out as I feel it’s a very important message.

–> Why You Shouldn’t Specialize In One Sport Too Soon <–

CategoriesUncategorized

Are Speed and Agility Drills Necessary to Get Faster?

“I need my kid to be faster!”

It’s a statement that I hear on an almost daily basis at the facility from numerous parents whenever I ask what their (and their kid’s) goals are moving forward.

My business partner, Eric Cressey, wrote a fantastic blog post last year titled “Make My Kid Faster” so I won’t belabor many of the same points here because he already did most of the work.  And, speaking truthfully, there really isn’t much more I can add to what he already said.

That said, I recently wrote an article for Stack Magazine which tackles the same question – albeit in the context of a young baseball player asking how he can go about lowering his 60 time.

I wanted to make sure that my answer addressed the fact that GETTING STRONGER is a sure-fire way to get faster.  For me, many of the “speed drills” that are popular in today’s youth athletics are nothing but smoke and mirrors designed to look cool and to give the illusion that something is happening.

It all comes down to how well (and efficient) one is at developing force.  If an athlete is weak, it’s going to be hard to develop any force regardless of how many ladder drills are done.

Force production is all about how much of it one is able to generate into the ground.  Sure, there are a multitude of exercises we can implement that will help and will undoubtedly get the ball rolling in the right direction, but if an athlete is weak from the start (has no horsepower), there’s really no reason to get cute programming.

What good is it going to do to tell little Jonny to work on his foot speed if, once he’s out on the playing field, he can’t even change direction without crumbling to the ground like a Jenga game gone awry?

How is a ladder drill going to help someone throw a ball harder? Or run faster?

Now, I’m not throwing all these types of drills under the bus – there is a time and place for them, of course.  But when we’re talking about young athletes and even upwards on up to the high school and collegiate ranks (and yes, even the pros), learning how to squat or how to perform a push-up properly takes more precedence in my eyes than running against a parachute.

But I digress.

In the article linked to below I give some further insight on my thought process on the matter, but I also throw a bone and offer some “speed” drills that I find efficacious for baseball players on improving their 60 time.

And, as always, whenever I link to an article I’ve written on another site, I’d really appreciate if you’d “Like” the article (on the actual site) and share it on your social media if you so choose. Anything that helps spread the word would be great, and if I ever meet you in person you’re totally getting a hug.  Thanks!

—> Tony, Make Me Faster! <—-

CategoriesStrength Training

Spectrums of Absolute Strength vs. Absolute Speed

Today’s guest post comes to you via strength coach, Adam Rees, owner of GRITGym located in Iowa City, Iowa (the home state of one Capt. James T. Kirk, thank you very much).

I’ve long championed the notion that strength is the foundation for everything else.  You can’t have power, agility, endurance, a great hair day, without first having a solid base of strength of which to “pool” your resources from.

In today’s post Adam dives into that very topic and helps break down why strength is so important.

Enjoy!

Strength and Conditioning could be fairly well simplified with:

-Lift heavy loads slow.

-Lift light loads fast.

-Jump and run.

However it gets more complicated when we take on an individual’s age, training age, demands of their sport, the time of year, and shear physical and mental capabilities.

This is the Absolute Strength vs Absolute Speed Spectrum of which all of Strength and Conditioning programs are based and how it applies to the programming for athletes.

This is more reasoning for why we should be doing less Olympic lifting or training for power in general. As well as a guide to when and where we want more or less emphasis on sprint and agility work throughout the year. Basically, we need more strength.

There is no speed without power, and no power without strength.

So emphasize strength first, then we can start thinking about the stuff that gets kids noticed, like 40-yd dash times and pitching velocities (of which neither can be trusted simply because of the human thumb, and cheap radar guns lie), not to mention the ‘fishing story’ principle.

I should also mention that getting noticed and getting recruited are two different things. A kid that throws a legit 85 MPH (emphasis on legit) in high school but gets taken yard three times a game because he’s throwing belt high and down the middle every pitch or he’s so weak and has such little lower body strength that he’s incapable of lasting more then four innings….won’t be setting off any recruiting alarms anytime soon, even though there’s untapped potential.

A fast 40-yd time is similar if a player is unable to put a hit on anyone because he crumbles every time he tries. There’s no use in a guy who looks like Tarzan but plays like Jane.

Absolute Strength vs. Speed

In Season

During the competitive season athletes are already getting enough running and jumping during practice and competition, there is little to no need to program extra.

They need to work more towards the opposite end of the spectrum because they are spending a large amount time on the absolute speed end of the spectrum. In season training should consist of controlled reps of 70-90% 1RM, much further towards the Absolute STRENGTH end of the spectrum and away from the already satisfied absolute speed end.

Post Season:

After the season athlete’s bodies are in shambles. They’ve just torched themselves for a few months and it’s time to take a more rehabilitative/corrective approach to training and promote recovery.

There’s little need for plyo and sprints, but increasing med ball work as well as power movements is beneficial as they aren’t performing nearly as much now that the season is over. This portion of the year is simply to bridge the gap to their off season and prepare the body for it, which in many ways will be just as stressful on their bodies as their season, but in a much more controlled and supervised manor.

This portion will only last 3-5weeks.

Off Season:

Now that the body has recovered and is ready to perform we need a balance of the entire spectrum.

This is the fun part of training.

Note from TG:  Of course, if you’re Kansas City relief pitcher (and long time CP athlete), Tim Collins, off-season training includes riding your unicycle around

In the offseason we can tailor workouts daily with grip and vertical jump measurements (auto-regulation) as well having a more “open” schedule to work with, which is where we can make huge gains.

This is where we spend quite a bit of time at BOTH ends of the spectrum. The idea of spectrums is that if we ‘master’ both ends, we’ve mastered everything in between. During the offseason we’re spending the majority of our time at the two ends with this very thing in mind. We still bridge the distance with some power work such as using speed pulls and kettlebells, but the majority of our time is spent on both opposing ends.

Pre Season:

During pre season we’re starting to move more towards the specificity of the sport, which outside of long endurance races, means more speed and more skill work.

This means we’re going to be spending more time towards the absolute speed end of the spectrum. Not necessarily moving away from the absolute strength, however we’re not going to be trying for a 1RM during this time.

Wrestlers start getting more mat time; football players need more running and ball handling or pumbling work; baseball players start throwing and hitting.

** Baseball gets interesting due to it’s unilateral nature, so we need to program in extra arm care and med ball work as well as certain core exercises for an athlete’s opposing side, so a right  handed thrower and hitter typically may need more shot puts and hip tosses on his/her left side.

Here we’re tailoring workouts based off an athlete’s needs and specificity of their respective sport.

Youth Training:

Train for Strength first.

Youth athletes should already be getting enough speed work during their PLAY that needs to be coming from an assortment of activities such as: Wrestling, Football, Baseball, basketball (but only for the hand eye, the rest of this sport is sickeningly awful for athletic development, especially the mental side), Swim, Snow Board, Rollerblade, Dodgeball, Skateboard, TAG, Soccer, Boxing/Martial Arts, Gymnastics/parkour (although it’s not always kind to the spine), Rock Climb, Fishing, Etc.

This is why youth athletes do NOT need these speed camps that are becoming increasingly popular(or the kettlebell movement that’s taken hold, kettlebells are a power movement).

Strength first, not speed, and not power, but strength.

Note from TG:  for those interested, HERE’s my take on whether or not youth athletes need power or speed training.

Hint:  they need it about as much as much as we need another Kardashian spin-off.

Training for anything else is a waste of time, and a huge waste of money for parents. Speed will take care of itself with more strength. Besides that, from a psychological perspective, the less a kid “thinks” about his running form….the better.

Keep it FUN, get strong (farmers walks, prowler pushes, monkey bars, climb ropes, bail hay-meaning deadlift, beat stuff with a sledge hammer), then go play around, be a kid.

More NON-competitive action and unorganized play like this is better as well. Participate in ONLY ONE season at a time, make sure to get some down time, and get outdoors to do something fun at some point too: rock climb somewhere real, go fishing, canoe/kayak, maybe even hiking.  And for the love of all that’s holy, turn off the tv!

About the Author

Adam Rees is Founder of GRIT GYM, a gym based on results, creating a culture and lifestyle of performance, strength, health and freedom to live life on your own terms.

Adam attended Wartburg College, worked under nationally recognized Strength Coach Matt McGettigan at ISU and is generally a glutton to information and improvement in all forms.

Feel free to email questions to [email protected] and/or visit his blog at AdamRees.blogspot.com, Facebook.com/gritgym, or Twitter.com/adamrees.

 

 

CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Samurai, Youth Training, and I Need an Assistant!

1. So you know how I mentioned on Friday that we’re hosting a young female from Colombia for the next three weeks?

FYI:  Lisa and I are hosting a teenager for three weeks.

She made it here safely on Friday night and Lisa and I spent the entire weekend showing her the sights and sounds of Boston.

While I was at work Saturday morning and early afternoon, the two of them got some serious shopping down on Newbury and Boylston St, which worked out perfectly because I’d rather jump into a shark’s mouth than go shopping.

Saturday night the three of is hit up the North End for some Italian cuisine.

Yesterday, after completing our normal morning errands (laundry, grocery shopping, and food prep), we decided to get all cultural and visit the Museum of Fine Arts.

Now as I guy the idea of spending an afternoon gazing at works by Monet, van Gogh, Renoir, Singer Sargeant, and the like sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry. But as luck would have it, the stars aligned in my favor and the MFA had what could arguably be the most manly exhibition on display outside of tanks or maybe even beards.

Freaking Samurai!!!!!

To put it mildly – it was pretty sick.  I could have easily spent hours in there reading every display, and pretending I was Tom Cruise from The Last Samurai, but alas, there were plenty of other things to see, and the ladies wanted to take a peek at all the European art.

Pffffft, whatever…..;o)

2. We announced it about six days ago and the workshop that both Dean Somerset and I are hosting at Cressey Performance the weekend of JULY 27th is already 1/3 of the way filled up!  Woo-hoo.

We’re both really excited about this opportunity and while we have a set theme which serves as the “umbrella” of the weekend, we’re still in the process of organizing the flow of each day.

What I can tell you is that we’re going to place a heavy emphasis on ASSESSMENT as well as programming, coaching cues, and increasing people’s general level of badassery.

The early bird rate is still on until the end of June, and as I noted space is filling up quickly, so get on it while you can.

===> Come hang out with Dean and Tony <===

3.  Back in April I had the honor of being invited back to my alma mater – State University of New York at Cortland – to speak to the around 60-70 undergrad and graduate exercise physiology, kinesiology, fitness training majors on my experiences in the industry. If anything it was an opportunity to give some sage advice and to give them a bit of a dose of tough love and let them know that they’re not going to walk into a six-figure job coaching professional athletes on day one.

It was an amazing weekend to say the least, and I was just forwarded THIS story which was published on the school’s website.

4.  I was asked a really simple question over the weekend as it relates to youth athletics and athletes:

What would be 1-2 tips you’d give youth athletes? This can be anything from training, fitness, playing, nutrition, parenting, directed toward youth organizations, etc. Anything you feel would be important for a youth athlete and their parent to hear.

1.  I’m sorry but your kid is most likely not going to be the next Roger Clemens, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, and the list can go on and on and on.

At eight, nine, ten, eleven, even twelve years old they don’t need a strength coach. They need to be a kid. In this scenario I can’t help but think back to a quote I heard Mike Boyle say once:

Your kid doesn’t need a strength coach, he needs a bike.

I’m often amazed at how “aggressive” some (not all) parents can be when it comes to their child’s athletic development. I’m generally reticent to have any kid under the age of thirteen start a dedicated strength and conditioning program.  Not because I think it would be detrimental or stunt growth or any other number of fallacies like that.  But rather I think it’s important for them to be a kid!

To ride their bike, play tag, duck-duck-goose, kickball, wiffleball, hide-n-seek, tennis, basketball, climb trees, swing on the monkey bars, call girls “icky,” you name it.

2.  Along those same lines:  when working with young athletes, and especially right out of the gate, it’s ALWAYS about teaching the basics.

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve had a parent come in and tell me that we need to make their kid “faster,” and they have visions of all these cute agility ladder drills, speed cones, parachutes, 40 times, etc.

That IS NOT what their kid need 99.99% of the time.  Speed, agility, power, and any other “quality” you can come up with has its base in strength.  You can’t have any of those things without first have a foundation of strength.

To that end, teaching things like a proper squat pattern, hip hinge pattern, push-up, row, lunge pattern, and core stability (to name a few) – and MASTERING those patterns – are paramount.

That’s my two cents.

5.  At some point or another, everyone needs a coach. I’ve reached out to other coaches in the past to help me get out of training ruts, and as it happens CP coach, Chris Howard, recently joined the masses in the Scrawny to Brawny program.

Even coaches need coaches sometimes.

Likewise, Precision Nutrition’s Lean Eating program is equally as popular and they’ve just released a FREE 5-day fat loss video course for MEN and WOMEN that is bound to be the bomb.

We’re all busy, and we’re all always looking for more efficient ways to reach our goals.  Why not let someone else do the thinking for you and help you weed through the madness?

6.  And finally a little house cleaning on my end.  I’m looking for an assistant!  Basically, I need someone who’s a little more savvy in the organization department and who can help me on the back-end side of things like helping me set-up a newsletter, blogging research, distance coaching scheduling, and maybe making me a meatloaf from to time.

Kidding.

But not really.

Anyways, it’s nothing major and nothing that would be too time consuming, but I suck at organizing.  I’m pretty good at writing programs, and I’d be willing to trade barter with anyone who’s interested.

If that seems to peak your interest, please send me an email at [email protected] and we can discuss some more of the details.

Thanks!