The Workout Partner » Athletic Performance

Become a Better Athlete

Josh — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:47:19 +0000

What is one thing that can always be noticed by watching professional athletes in their respective sports? Speed. Something you often hear athletes say when moving up a level in their sport is how much faster the game is. Sure the athletes are usually bigger and stronger at the next level, but a major difference is the speed of the athletes. A fast athlete can often control a game because speed is a high impact tool. On the baseball field, a fast player can take over the game by making exceptional defensive plays, stealing bases, and collect some “bang-bang” hits. In basketball, a fast player is tough to defend and also disrupts the opposing team’s offense by jumping passing lanes. In football, a fast player always has to be accounted for as they can turn a simple play into a game changer. Whether it’s one of these major sports or any other athletic activity, speed ALWAYS kills. However, many athletes neglect speed training. This may be the result of a lack of time, lack of motivation, or the athlete may have been blessed with some good, natural speed and doesn’t feel they need to improve. Everyone can improve their speed. It just requires the right training program. If a lack of time is the issue, try to work some speed training days into your schedule. If lack of motivation is the issue, think about how much your game could improve if you were faster.

Speed is the distance an individual can travel in a certain time. To improve speed, three main components must be addressed. These components are your stride length, stride frequency, and exerted force. Your goal with stride length should be to increase it. This will allow you to cover more distance with each stride–ultimately lowering the time it takes you to sprint a certain distance. The best way to increase your stride length is to increase flexibility. The more flexible your muscles are, the longer your stride will be. Other ways to increase your stride length are to perform form running drills.

With stride frequency, your goal should be to increase the frequency at which you strike the ground. The faster your legs fire, the faster you will be. To improve your stride frequency, you want to do some agility and quickness exercises. These include exercises like mini hurdles, speed ladder, or anything that forces you to use quick footwork. Another way to increase your stride frequency and explosiveness is with olympic lifts. An example of an olympic lift is the power clean.

Finally, to the force you exert when pushing off the ground with each stride is equally important as stride frequency and length. The more force you can exert, the faster you will be. To increase your force exertion, you NEED to weight lift and perform powerful sprinting exercises like a sled drag or prowler push. By working to improve all three of these aspects, your speed will increase and your athletic ability will be enhanced. Then there’s only one thing left to do: DOMINATE!

See the video below of Luol Deng performing a workout to increase his athletic performance with trainer Elias Karras at EFT Sports Performance:

Off-Season Baseball Conditioning Program

Josh — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:39:37 +0000

It’s official. The World Series is over and the baseball off-season has begun. When starting to train for the upcoming spring, it is essential that every player has a plan. Training without a plan is inefficient and not as productive as training with one. To help the baseball players who are struggling to lock down a program, I am here to help. When developing an off-season program, it is first important to set some goals. Some goals may include adding muscle, losing weight, building speed, developing power, and injury prevention. This off season program that I am going to outline doesn’t include specific workouts, it just lays out what I believe to be the most effective plan. Later on, in a future article, I will highlight some exercises and workouts to include in this off-season program.

Today is November 13th. Hopefully many of you baseball players have already begun training and developed a nice base. I always suggest taking two to three weeks off after the season ends to rejuvenate the body.

August: school starts and summer baseball is finishing up for most players
Mid September: Training starts

Off-Season Baseball Conditioning Program Outline (6 days per week)

Mid September – October: Basic Weight Lifting Program (3 days per week) and Cardiovascular Endurance Program (3 days per week) This should give you a good base for when you hit the crucial off-season months.

November – December: More Intense Weight Lifting Program (4 days per week) and start building towards more anaerobic conditioning (2 days per week). Also begin to lift heavier weights to add muscular strength.

January – February: Perform Fast Twitch Fiber Muscle Training (i.e. Dynamic Workouts and Olympic Lifts) 3 days per week. Speed and agility work (3 days per week).

March: Season begins. Weight Lifting should be decreased to 2 full body workouts twice per week. Conditioning should be done at the field (i.e. sprints, poles, etc.)

I also want to note that it is very important to work on increasing flexibility throughout the off-season. Warm up before every workout and stretch after. Not only do you want to be strong and fit for your season, but you also want to be able to maintain your health for an entire season.

Devoting an hour each day (6 days per week) to your fitness will definitely help your performance when the season arrives. Hopefully this off-season conditioning program layout will give you the guidance you need to having the best season of your career. Good luck and train hard.

Anaerobic Testing | The 300 Yard Shuttle

Josh — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:35:17 +0000

The dreaded 300 yard shuttle– many collegiate athletes know exactly what I’m talking about. The 300 yard shuttle is a conditioning test conducted by many athletic programs across the country. It is a great way to measure the anaerobic capacity of an athlete. For the newbies, anaerobic literally means “without air.” An anaerobic test measures how well an individual can perform while lacking oxygen (i.e. breathing extremely heavy and working near full potential.)

Personally, I have seen this test conducted in two different ways. The first, an individual was required to run 25 yards down and back 6 times (a total of 300 yards). This had to be completed twice with three minutes of rest in between each set. The next way I saw this test conducted was an individual had to run 5o yards down and back 3 times (a total of 300 yards). This had to be completed three times with three minutes of rest in between each set. I would say that the 25 yard increments is more difficult because the individual has to stop and start more frequently; however, the individual also only had to complete one less shuttle. It’s a toss up to me.

The score (time) of the individual is an average of their times for the two or three sets (depending on how the test was conducted). The best average time that I have seen on the 25 yard increment shuttle was 51 seconds by a member of the Purdue University baseball team. I have trouble recalling the best time on the 50 yard increment shuttle.

Regardless for individuals looking to challenge themselves, go out and run a few 300 yard shuttles. I guarantee you will feel extra wobbly after you completed them and will be sore the next day. The test seems a lot easier than it really is. In a future post, I will explain how to train for a 300 yard shuttle. In the meantime, just get out there and run!