Here is another dual Breaking Muscle post on best methods to prepare for a specific event and the truth about peaking for Maximal Performance!
Take a look here!
Speed & Power
Working with Athletes
I primarily Coach athletes and especially youth athletes. As a result of the majority group that I work with, before and after pictures are few and far between. Rather, the accolades that my athletes collect are our before and after success stories. Although my athletes and I are often confined to a gym setting, with minimal space and the right tools, we don’t need a field and a ball to improve significantly. In my training, I promote the necessity to move well before all else. Moving well consists of being able to control the body through acceleration and deceleration, jumping and landing, agility, balance, and strength and stability in many planes. We then work to build strength so that we can build a base to control and create all movement; as a result, building a base of strength, even with children through body weight exercise, is important. Power is an expression of strength in a rapid manner and therefore a base of strength can become even more vital. Many youth volleyball and basketball coaches often search for the ultimate vertical jump building guide, finding that they either don’t help or work for a short period and progress stalls. With proper strength and power development, athletes can make long term improvements; just as Kaizen states: constant and never ending improvement. Early this week, one of my new female soccer athletes relayed to me that she had played significantly better than she had ever in her weekend tournament, leading her coach to name her team captain for the week. Although this isn’t exactly being named league MVP, it proves in the power of proper athletic development and confidence building that this form of training can provide. To make things even more impressive, I have only had the opportunity to see her one time a week for the last four weeks, including this one.
With proper supervision, planning, development and progression, any athlete with the right drive can be developed into a faster, stronger, more confident and dominant one. Find a great Athletic Performance Coach near you at the National Strength & Conditioning Association’s site. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, contact me at (818) 726-2362!
Never stop improving!
Developing Power the Easy Way!
A great alternative to the power clean that can help develop explosive power just as efficiently. If you haven't taken a look at my previous post on why it is important to develop strength before power, please take a look there first! Otherwise, be prepared to see minimal results!
Speed & Power Development
Speed and power are intricate abilities and should be progressively introduced and developed. Tools such as the “speed ladder,” also known as the “agility ladder” provide false hopes to those looking to develop a quick first step.
Many sport coaches, especially in the field of volleyball, search for programs that will help their athletes jump higher and move faster, when these programs do not bother to take into consideration individual athlete differences and needs. On top of this point, power is an expression of strength and in order to develop power to the greatest extent possible, it is highly important to have a great strength base. Searching for programs online that promote an incredible amount of extra jumping and running when athletes are already performing these movements dozens of times during practice and competition, create extreme amounts of stress on the athletes that only further increase risk of injury.
A vast majority of power is produced by the posterior chain complex (gluteal muscles and hamstrings in particular), so it is important that these muscles are strengthened through exercises such as deadlifts and hip thrusters. After long seasons in many sports, such as hockey and skiing, the quadriceps muscles receive a majority of stress, which can diminish strength and power of the hamstring fibers; in order to prevent injuries, it is necessary to redevelop these muscles.
Search for the best Strength & Conditioning near you that can help you accomplish your specific goals at places such as the National Strength & Conditioning Association’s web site!
Kaizen Athletic Performance 