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Strengthcoach.com Top 10 From the home office in Reading, MA we bring you our first informal, reader recommended top 10 articles list. These are articles that our readers feel fall in the must read category. If you are new to the site, start here. . . . keep reading
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Training Rowers Michael Boyle On Sept 29th one of our readers, David Hare from Ireland, posted a question about training rowers. I have been meaning to write an article on training rowers for a while and had an outline done. With the help of Catherine Infantino, a client and elite rower, I quickly finished today's article. . . . keep reading
Are We Always Concurrent in Performance Training? Michael Boyle I really struggle with the concepts of periodization. Linear? Undulating? Concurrent? Conjugate? Much of the periodization confusion comes from the fascination of many in our industry with the Westside Barbell philosophy. Westside advocates conjugate periodization, a term many, including me, don't seem to truly understand. The one large differentiating factor for me is that training athletes is not like training powerlifters. This is the basic problem. Powerlifters are athletes but, athletes are not powerlifters. Trying to integrate the concepts used in training by elite powerlifters into the training of athletes is difficult. . . . keep reading
Five Questions Every Athlete Should Ask Themselves Jonathan Conneely How bad do you want to be a great athlete? So many people talk about it but very few actually do it. I once heard a quote that I will never forget and that I use on a weekly basis while working with athletes: "A great athlete does every day what a good athlete does occasionally." You see, a great athlete does whatever it takes on a daily basis, while a good athlete does it when it is convenient. A great athlete trains every day, while a good athlete trains when it's comfortable. A great athlete goes out of his or her way to eat right so that his or her body recovers faster, while a good athlete eats whenever and whatever is available. . . . keep reading
Episode 21- Strength Coach Podcast Anthony Renna Highlights Jeff Oliver from the College of the Holy Cross Coach Boyle, Gray Cook and new Kettlebells from Perform Better . . . keep reading
Understanding Sports Hernia
Part 2 Michael Boyle Prevention and Rehabilitation of Sports Hernia Sports Hernia Prevention A big key in prevention of any injury is to use appropriate screening techniques. For screening athletes I am a proponent of Gray Cook's Functional Movement Screen ( www.functionalmovement.com) The FMS is a seven part screen designed to predict risk of injury and should be done in it's entirety on every athlete at least once. Of particular interest in the sports hernia area is the FMS- Hurdle Step (a test of the hip flexion pattern). An impaired hip flexion pattern usually demonstrates a lateral shift of the pelvis when attempting to flex the hip. This would indicate an impaired hip flexion pattern. In the impaired hip flexion pattern it is theorized that the deep flexors (psoas and iliacus) are weak or inhibited. This forces the athlete to use quadratus lumborum to hip hike to create the illusion of hip flexion. In essence, lateral flexion of the pelvis on the spine raises the hip. Cook advocates not focusing on individual muscles but rather on fixing the pattern. To fix the pattern we have adopted a "top down" approach to attempt to recruit the deep hip flexors. . . . keep reading
Box Hip Flexor Stretch Stretching the psoas and iliacus can be difficult without a partner and a table. The other day I came up with this idea to get all the things we need in a good hip flexor stretch. . . . keep reading
Be A Coach, Not A Cheerleader Mike Cruickshank It was at 6 a.m. one morning about six weeks ago. There I sat all bleary eyed, waiting for my green tea to kick in. When, all of a sudden, I saw it. The worst pushup I had ever seen; head/shoulders/hips all dancing to the beat of a different drum, a core that couldn't hold stiff simply because it didn't know how to and a drop to the mat, or better yet a plop to the mat, chest first, with an arched core and a butt popping straight up into the Exosphere. This goes to speak nothing of his head and neck, which craned forward so much like a chicken's, I thought the guy was going to pop a Grade A large one out of the seat of his pants. . . . keep reading
Does It Hurt? Michael Boyle I get asked rehab questions all the time. I have rehabilitated athletes in almost every major sport who were told they were "all done" by a doctor or a team trainer. Because people know my background, they often ask for advice. Most of the time they ignore the advice because the advice does not contain the answer they want. They say "it only hurts when I run", I say things like "don't run". . . . keep reading
Does the Implementation of the FMS Screen Prevent Injuries? Robb Rogers Does using the FMS screen as a part of your training and preparation process prevent injuries? In a word -- no. The screen is one part of the three part equation to prevent injury. The FMS screen is the first part of the process and it measures and observes patterns. The key to the process is the volume, variety and dosage of corrective exercise that is prescribed as well as the compliance and effort/technique that is used in executing the exercises. All that being said, the question of "does the screen prevent injury" is a flawed thesis. . . . keep reading
John Berardi, PhD, CSCS Dr. John Berardi is one of North America's most popular and respected authorities on fitness and nutrition. He has made his mark as a leading researcher in the field of exercise and nutritional science, as a widely read author and writer, and as a coach and trainer who has helped thousands of men and women, from soccer moms to Olympic athletes, achieve their health, fitness and performance goals. . . . keep reading
Anthony Renna Anthony Renna is a Level 3 Certified Golf Fitness Instructor (Titleist), a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA), and a Sports Performance Coach (USAW) who works with elite and recreational golfers at his studio Five Iron Fitness, in White Plains, NY. . . . keep reading
Charlie Weingroff Charlie Weingroff MSPT, ATC, CSCS is currently the Director of Sports Performance and Physical Therapy at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, NJ as well as the Director of Clinical Education for the Vibraflex Whole-Body Vibration platform. . . . keep reading
Making Gains with Pain Nick Tumminello You've probably heard this phrase: "World records are broken by athletes who are in pain." Even if you haven't, it's no surprise to coaches, athletes, or serious sports fans. We all know athletes play with pain. . . . keep reading
How Do I Get Faster? Justin Levine The beloved question most trainers get all the time. If people only knew the answer you were about to give them before hand, they might not ask. I have had the typical overbearing father walk into my office and demand a 4 week program to get their son or daughter faster and quicker. Four weeks! I usually chuckle when he says this and then I go into my lecture of what it takes to become a better athlete. People are always amazed when I start talking about work ethic, consistency and years of work of nutritional habits and discipline. You would think they are basic principles but people do not understand. They want quick results. I always ask that same father, "Does your son/daughter want this as much as you do?" When children are children (17 and under), it is so crucial to get them to understand the more important reasons they should be working out: Instill healthy lifestyle habits and hard work ethic traits. Ok, I know there are two goals there, but you get the point. Once those goals are understood then increasing performance, becoming a stronger athlete, or getting faster all can be looked at. . . . keep reading
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