How To Run Faster

Posted: 27th December 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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Athletes and coaches often ask me questions about how to run faster.  Because I’ve written a lot about the subject, I understand why they’re asking, but the answer can get a little complicated.  Some athletes spend years working on speed development, and there are so many factors that it’s difficult to answer the question quickly.  If a person wants all the details, I love getting into the science behind speed development.  But, most of the time, they just want simple tips on how to run faster instead of reading a research literature review and going through a 6-week program.

If you want some simple tips on how to run faster, here are the top 3 easiest ways to get it done:

  1.  Get off your heels and strike the ground through the ball of your foot.  I see athletes with messed up mechanics all the time, and there are plenty of things to mess up – arm swing, knee drive, foot placement, body lean, etc.  But, the most common mistake in kids who are slow is that they run on their heels.

It sounds very simple to run on the ball of your foot, but it’s not always an easy correction to make.  Patience and coaching are required here because it’s going to take some time to adjust to this new style of running.  A lot of athletes start running on their toes when they hear this coaching cue, so you have to be very clear on what part of the foot to land on.  The heel will only be a couple of millimeters off the ground, so the weight is on the ball of the foot, not the toes.  In this position, the ankle should be “locked” or “cocked and loaded” so that it’s rigid instead of loose.  If the ankle is rigid, all of the force produced by the hips can be transferred into the ground.  If the ankle is loose, all of that force will dissipate through the foot/ankle before it goes into the ground.

The reason this is usually the best correction is that running on the ball of your foot usually forces a better knee drive as well.  The knee drive allows you to travel farther on each step, increasing your stride length.  It also allows you to take advantage of the strength you’re going to gain in tip #2.

  1. Get stronger.  This doesn’t mean that the strongest person in the world is the fastest.  It’s not even close.  But, most people who ask how to run faster are weak, especially in the glutes and hamstrings.  Hitting the weight room is usually a great place to start if you want to increase your speed.  Like I said, this is ALWAYS true, but it’s usually a piece of the puzzle that’s missing.

I don’t typically recommend spending a ton of time lifting because you also need to focus on running, but a solid total-body workout only needs to take 45 minutes, 2-3 days a week.  Don’t turn this into a quest to squat 600 lbs. or anything.  If your goal is to run faster, then do what it takes to get stronger without taking away from your other training.

Be sure to develop your posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, calves, low back) with exercises like the glute/ham raise, Nordic hamstrings, back extensions, RDLs, hip thrusts/bridges, etc. in addition to more traditional lifts like a squat or Bulgarian split squat.

  1. Run fast and jump high.  If you want your body to run faster, you have to run fast.  What the heck does that mean?  I can’t tell you how many times I hear someone ask how to run faster, then they tell me they mainly do technique drills.  Technique is a huge component of speed, but you’re going to have to run as fast as you can fairly often if you plan on improving.  You’ll typically want to run at top speed 2-3 days a week with long rest periods between sets.  You don’t have to do a million sprints either.  5-10 shorts sprints, with long rest periods, is sufficient as long as the intensity is high.  Most people can get away with 10-20 sprints if they are in good shape.  You just want to make sure you’re able to perform all of your high-speed sprints at high speeds.  Once you feel yourself getting tired or slowing down, it’s time to shut that portion of the workout down for the day.

The jumping portion of this one is referring to plyometric training.  Plyos (like running fast) train your muscles, but they also train the nervous system to contract those muscles harder and in a more beneficial sequence.  Of course, you need to be using good mechanics for plyos and sprints, but the key message here is that you need to be doing some fast, explosive work to optimize your nervous system and take advantage of the strength your building in the weight room.

These are simply some basic tips on how to run faster, and they are a good starting point when planning a training program.  Once you have these three components covered, you can move on to more advanced programming considerations.  Just be sure not to rush your training.  Everyone wants to get faster immediately, but it’s well worth the time to take a couple of steps back to correct some things.  In the end, you’ll enjoy great benefits and the result will be you running faster than you’ve ever run before.

Concussion Prevention: A Pro-Active Approach

Posted: 23rd October 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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The concussion problem in sports has reached epidemic proportions.  The NFL is spending millions on awareness and just instituted new practice rules to reduce the number of blows the players are exposed to during practices.  Several high school athletic associations are also implementing new rules to deal with the issue.  So far, everything has focused on how to deal with the athlete after the concussion, but there is now a movement to help educate athletes, parents and coaches about sports concussions and what can be done to prevent or avoid them.  We’ll never be able to eliminate concussions from sports, but there are certainly things we can do to help reduce the forces our brain encounters.

There are really four basic components of neck injury and concussion prevention:

1.  Protective equipment – In most sports, this means properly fit, quality helmets and mouth pieces.  Unfortunately, no equipment or training currently known to us will eliminate concussions.  “The best helmet on the market can still lead to injuries of the head including concussions,” said Scott Peck, a certified athletic trainer in Washington state.  “To decrease concussions, athletes need to practice good technique in tackling and blocking by keeping their heads away from contact.”

2.  Technique – Some sports include more contact than others.  Good coaches always teach athletes not to initiate contact with the head, but we still see a lot of young athletes using poor form when tackling or hitting.

3.  Awareness – It seems crazy, but there are still a lot of coaches, parents and coaches who simply do not understand how dangerous a concussion can be or that there is inherent risk involved in participating in most sports.  This site was set up to help heighten awareness at the same time we discuss prevention options and proper treatment.

4.  Neck Training or Neck Strengthening – This component is just now picking up momentum, but some coaches have known about this concept for years.  This is also the least publicized aspect of concussion prevention for several reasons.

First, most people don’t know how to safely and effectively train the head and neck musculature.  Second, it would be next to impossible to produce scientific evidence to show that training will help prevent concussions because you would have to use real human beings and expose them to potentially life-threatening blows.  This would never pass any collegiate ethics committee, so the research probably cannot be done.

Still, the automotive industry has known for years that a stronger and stiffer neck significantly reduces the G-forces encountered by crash test dummies in crash research.  It seems obvious that a stronger neck would be extremely helpful during a blow to the head, but most doctors aren’t yet ready to admit that.  That could be because:

a.  Doctors won’t make any money from the prevention side of this issue.

b.  Doctors probably have no idea how to train.

c.  Doctors typically refer to the scientific literature, but we already established that this evidence will probably never be published in any scientific journal.

We have to understand that no amount of training or equipment will eliminate all injuries, but that is not the point.  Ten years ago, ACL prevention programs were virtually non-existent.  Today, female athletes all over the country understand that proper training will limit their risk of sustaining an injury.  Yet, ACL injury rates haven’t slowed down.  It doesn’t mean that the training has not helped.  And, going through a training program does not mean you will never hurt yourself.  Training is meant to reduce risk or severity of an injury.

The same goes for properly training the neck & head to reduce the risk of concussions and serious neck injuries.  The training does not eliminate the injuries, but it can help to lessen the risk or severity of neck and head injuries.

The leading researcher on neck training, Ph.D. candidate Ralph Cornwell, put it best when he said “If we know that it might help, and it’s not going to hurt, why wouldn’t you want to do this kind of training?  People do ACL prevention programs all the time.  This is like an ACL prevention program for your brain and neck.  You can replace your ACL, but as far as I know, you only have one brain.  It just makes sense to protect it.”

Research done by the NFL is now revealing that the repetitive sub-concussive blows – the hits that don’t knock you out, but just ring your bell a little – are the main culprit behind the long-term brain damage seen in many former athletes.  Many of these athletes are now suing major sports organizations because they are mentally and physically disabled due to these blows.  It seems that every brain has a certain number of hits it can take before long-term damage sets in.  The more G-forces the brain encounter, the worse it gets.

Training can reduce the G-forces encountered on these sub-concussive blows, raising the bar on the number of hits it will take before the long-term damage sets in.  This is some of the best news ever presented on this topic, because it gives us hope that we may be able to combat this problem.

Major sports organizations like USA Hockey and the NFL are recognizing that something must be done, so rules are changing quickly.  Even Dr. Robert Cantu, who is considered one of the leading experts on the subject, has said that he thinks young athletes should wait until they are stronger and more mature before they engaging in intense contact/hitting sports.  This means that the leading authority on concussions understands that being stronger will have a positive affect and is part of the concussion prevention equation.

With the knowledge that training can help prevent injuries and, when done properly, can cause no harm, why would we NOT strengthen the muscles surrounding the head and neck?  We will continue to bring you information on safe training and concussion prevention.

Former Soccer Player to Congress: Concussion is ‘Not Minor Injury’

Posted: 21st October 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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Alexis Ball, a La Cueva High school valedictorian and former University of New Mexico soccer standout, once was unstoppable on the playing field and in the classroom.

After earning top scholastic honors and being named New Mexico’s Gatorade Player of the Year at Albuquerque’s La Cueva in 2007, the speedy midfielder went on to become the University of New Mexico’s leading goal scorer in 2007 and 2008 and earned all-conference honors. But a series of 10 concussions in high school and college eventually took their toll, and she began suffering debilitating headaches, dizziness and depression.

In 2009, Ball was forced to hang up her cleats and retire from soccer for good.

Ball, now a senior at UNM, on Wednesday urged members of Congress – and the general public – to take concussions seriously and asserted that “most coaches and athletes do not truly understand the long-term ramifications of concussions.

“”Concussions adversely impacted my life,” Ball testified during a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee that included medical experts and a spokesman for a national committee on sports equipment. “I hope from my story you have learned that concussions and brain injury are not a minor injury.”Ball said she decided to retire from soccer after consulting with her doctors about the long-term damage she could sustain if she suffered another concussion.

Read the rest of the article at http://athleticbusiness.com/articles/lexisnexis.aspx?lnarticleid=1525504532&lntopicid=136030023

For more information on neck training and sports concussions, visit http://PreventConcussions.com

Weighted Sleds for Acceleration Training

Posted: 22nd September 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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There are plenty of toys out there designed for speed development or acceleration training, but one of the most effective and easiest to use is a weighted sled.  The research on resisted sprinting using these sleds is way behind the actual use of the device, but that’s usually how it goes.  More recent information has shown that proper use of these sleds can have a positive effect on an athlete’s ability to accelerate – one of the most important aspects of speed in many sports.

Most of the early research on resisted sprinting was focused on kinematics.  They wanted to see if using a sled would change sprinting mechanics significantly enough to cause problems.  Through experimentation of different loads, it turns out that using a relatively low weight (8-20% of bodyweight) will not have a significantly negative impact on mechanics.

The old research also focused on maximal velocity running instead of acceleration training.  The conclusions drawn from this research showed that resisted sprinting at maximal velocity (top speed) did not have a positive training effect and could actually have a slightly detrimental effect.  Most of this was seen because the resistance caused longer ground contact times at top speed.  The studies showed that maximal velocity training with no resistance may be better than using resistance.

A more recent study by Harrison and Bourke out of Limerick, Ireland showed that training with the weighted sled significantly improved scores on the time to 5 meters test, which is common in acceleration training.  The study had subjects perform two resisted sprinting sessions per week for six weeks, using 13% of their bodyweight as the load.  This load was based on an earlier study by Lockie et al that recommended using 12.6-13% of bodyweight.  All subjects had experience with resisted sprinting and all were competitive rugby players.  They weren’t using untrained individuals, making this much more useful information for sports performance coaches.

After warming up, subjects performed six 20-meter sprints with 4 minutes of rest between bouts.  They did this acceleration training twice a week for 6 weeks and had significantly positive results on their ability to accelerate.

This study, along with the experience of many coaches, provides evidence that use of a weighted sled may be beneficial for improving an athlete’s ability to accelerate.  Of course, one of the keys to this kind of training is adequate coaching in the mechanics involved in accelerating.  We often see athletes trying to accelerate without a proper forward lean or taking small, lower-power steps.  The sled can be a helpful tool in the learning/coaching process because it can help an athlete get into a steeper forward lean without falling.  It can also help an athlete alter his/her turnover slightly in favor of producing as much power as possible on the first 2-8 steps of a sprint.

An extremely important aspect of acceleration training is the use of proper mechanics.  Without quality instruction and the plenty of reps with optimal mechanics, the use of weighted sleds or any other type of acceleration training will be marginalized.  A qualified coach who can analyze the athlete’s movements and utilize individualized cues and feedback to improve mechanics is absolutely essential to this process.  Lower-quality instruction will yield lower-quality results no matter what kind of apparatus, toy or method is used.

Knee drive is another important aspect of acceleration, and information from another study by Alcaraz et al suggests that a weighted sled may help athletes exaggerate knee drive.  This could be a result of having to pull extra weight or the additional forward lean they observed.  Either way, it’s a good thing and can benefit athletes who want to increase their acceleration performance.

Based on the scientific evidence and years of coaching experience, use of a weighted sled for improving acceleration performance is recommended as long as adequate coaching is available so mechanics are optimized during the process.  I recommend focusing your efforts on the first 5-10 yards of a sprint during your acceleration training since this is where the most benefit is seen.

We’re still kind of guessing in regards to the optimal load used, but you certainly want to keep it fairly low for most people.  The research does not take into account the abilities of each athlete, so a more powerful athlete may be able to use higher loads than 13% of bodyweight and still reap the benefits.  Since the research suggests that resisted sprinting somehow strengthens the musculature at high velocities, using the heaviest weight possible without a negative effect on mechanics or joint rotational velocities seems to be the goal.

I also highly encourage the use of contrast training when using a sled for acceleration training.  First, do a few reps without a sled, then perform 5-10 reps with the sled.  Be sure to always perform 2-4 more reps without the sled to give the athlete the opportunity to “feel” the difference and allow the nervous system to adapt.  This could simply be a trick, but it has been suggested that this kind of contrast training can actually get the nervous system to “up-regulate” with consistent training over time.  When using resistance, the body is forced to fire harder on each step.  Over time, using contrast training, the athlete’s nervous system may learn to fire harder all the time, not just directly after use of the weighted sled.  This is still a theory, but the recent research suggests it may be exactly what is occurring.

Other professionals, including well-respected trainer Mike Boyle, use weighted sleds with much higher loads as more of a movement-specific strength training exercise.  You can load the sled up and have athletes “march” forward, driving the knees upward, pushing backward as hard as possible and getting into a steep forward-lean position.  There is no real scientific evidence that this works, but the principle of specificity would suggest that this could be a good way to add strength when the goal is to improve acceleration speed.

There seems to be enough evidence that a weighted sled works to warrant its use in any acceleration training program.  Because there is limited research available, we’re still searching for the optimal training volume and loads, but some guidelines are being created through the literature and experience.

  • 2-3 days/week
  • 8-20% bodyweight as the load
  • 4-10 short-distance sprints (5-20 yards) per workout
  • Relatively long rest periods between bouts (1 – 4 minutes)
  • Utilize contrast training
  • Possibly use the sled as a strength training exercise

Try using a weighted sled with your athletes, and be sure to focus on mechanics.  While it is just one tool in a trainer’s toolbox, it does seem to have merit.  As long as the athlete is giving high effort, using appropriate loads and practicing proper mechanics, you should enjoy the results of your acceleration training program.

Speed Training Program Tips

Posted: 20th September 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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Coaches are constantly asking me what can be done to make their in-house speed training program more effective. After talking with hundreds of coaches and looking at what is happening all over the country, I have come up with six keys to increasing the effectiveness of any speed training program.
  1. Educate the athletes. If your athletes don’t have an understanding of why they are doing a drill, there is a good chance they are thinking of it as torture or punishment. It is up to you to explain the purpose of a drill so the athletes fully understand how it impacts performance. Typically, this will motivate an athlete to work harder because they will understand how their hard work will pay off in the game. It also helps you, the coach, choose drills that will actually benefit the athletes.
I can’t tell you how often I see coaches lining up cones, ladders and boxes and calling it a speed training program, but the movements used in the drills have absolutely nothing to do with the movements used in the sport. If you have to explain how it will help the athlete, you are more likely to choose appropriate speed drills.
  1. Focus on mechanics. Allowing your athletes to do speed drills with faulty movement patterns is like a golf pro watching his student hit ball after ball with terrible flaws in his swing, and never providing any corrective feedback. Athletes practice sport skills and play games all the time, but they are rarely taught how to move properly; they are just expected to know how. But, if a kid has never been shown how to do something, how can you expect him/her to do it correctly?
It is up to you to teach your athletes some of the most basic movement concepts in sports – running, cutting, shuffling, pivoting, jumping, etc. Begin by teaching them like they have never performed these movements in their lives. In my writing and seminars, I refer to this as Movement Training, and by implementing Movement Training concepts into your speed training program your athletes will always end up farther ahead.
  1. Quality not quantity. Too often, speed workouts turn into conditioning sessions. Remember, the goal is improving speed and agility, not aerobic fitness. Keep the work periods short and the rest periods long so the athletes can give 100% effort on each drill. You are trying to teach the nervous system how to work more efficiently, so the athletes need to be fresh. If the rest periods are too short, the work periods too long, or the athletes are simply fatigued from previous work, mechanics will disintegrate and the same old faulty movement patterns will ultimately be reinforced.
For optimal speed development results, keep the work periods to 2-10 seconds and the rest periods as long as 20-60 seconds or even longer if the intensity is extremely high. Explain that you will be giving long rest periods so the drills can be done with maximum intensity, and stick to your word.
  1. Sport specificity. As long as you are trying to teach your athletes to move more efficiently, it makes sense to practice movements that will actually be used in a game. Sprinting and cutting are used in just about every sport, but don’t forget about the very specific skills your athletes need to perform on the field or court. These movements include shuffling, stopping, pivoting, faking, spinning, cross-over running, backpedaling, etc.
As much as possible, include these movements into your speed training program. Baseball and softball players should practice starting sprints like they are stealing a base. Volleyball players should incorporate lunging, approach steps and jumps into their drills. Football receivers should practice their routes. Quarterbacks should incorporate drop steps and linemen should start drills from 2-, 3-, or 4-point starting positions. Use your imagination to create drills that mimic competition.
Ladder drills and plyos are great general training methods, but if you don’t make your athletes practice their most important movements you should never wonder why they don’t perform them well in a game.
  1. Consistency. As I stated earlier, speed training programs are meant to train the nervous system. The best way to make this happen is to consistently practice sport specific skills so the nervous system learns the optimal movement patterns. 5-20 minutes, 2-3 days per week is all it takes.
You can make this happen by adding two short speed drills to your warm-up routine, or including one or two sport-specific drills into the beginning of each strength and conditioning session. This does not mean strength movements that “resemble” the sport movements – I’m talking about actually doing a couple of sprints or agility drills before each workout.  As long as technique is emphasized, this brief, consistent practice will add up and allow your athletes to perform these skills perfectly on the field or court without any thought.
  1. Long-term development. Another major problem I see in a lot of speed training programs is implementing them just a few weeks before the season, hoping for a miracle. Starting these drills 2-3 weeks before your first game is simply too late for major benefits to be seen.
You will certainly see benefits from doing speed drills during your pre-season, but working the drills into your year-round speed training program will elicit maximum results. Pre-season training should focus on technical/tactical skills and conditioning. Too often, though, I see coaches conditioning the athletes during the off-season; this is a waste of time and energy. If you have contact with your athletes during the off-season, work on strength, movement training and technical skill development for the greatest long-term results.
If you can teach your freshmen how to move, and include a few minutes of practice before every strength training session, imagine what a difference that will make by the time they are juniors and seniors. It’s never too early to teach kids how to move. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Introduce changes gradually, and continually attempt to make improvements.  Speed and agility training will have a positive impact on any team, and incorporating these six keys will help you run the most effective speed training program possible.

Thoughts On Strength & Conditioning Research

Posted: 15th September 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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I read a lot of strength and conditioning research. Sometimes it gets frustrating because the questions I have rarely get answered. One of the biggest problems with strength and conditioning research is that is has to be incredibly narrow, and is rarely “practical” if you look at just one study. You usually have to collect several studies before you can apply anything because each article is like a single brick in a wall. If you don’t delve deep into a topic, your “wall” has holes all over it.

I’ve also heard the saying that “research never proves anything, it only provides evidence.” This is very important to remember, because I see a lot of people read a study and think the conclusions that are drawn are now set in stone. That’s not the case at all. A study simply provides evidence for a theory – it doesn’t prove that theory to be true.

I’ve also heard researchers say that one contradictory study blows a theory. If something can’t be replicated over and over with the same results, it’s not that solid. In our field, you often find studies on the same topic with different results, making it very difficult to know what to really believe.

Most of the time, implementation is the key, and many training programs in studies are not implemented very well – at least not as well as most strength programs are implemented by experienced coaches.

There is also the huge problem of really not being able to do studies on many things because there are too many uncontrollable variables. For example, it would be great to do a study to find out what improves speed more – the clean, the squat, leg press or just sprinting – but that study will NEVER be done. There’s no way to properly implement it and control for everything. Even if it were done, there would probably be so many holes in it, that it wouldn’t really provide us with good information. So, we’re kind of forced to go back into the research, find things that are “kind of similar” and make some inferences. In many cases, that’s about as good as it gets. It can be frustrating, but it’s not going to stop any of us (including me) from reading the studies. We just have to be careful what kinds of decisions we make based off of what we read.

I really like reading strength and conditioning research, and I really like hearing what is actually happening in the trenches. It’s even better when there is a little science to back up what is happening in the real world. I definitely can’t stand listening to people making stuff up – which seems to happen all the time on the internet – but I also don’t want to wait for studies to validate everything we do, because it will never happen.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this so we can discuss the pros and cons of strength and conditioning research as well as the pros and cons of simply listening to what “experts” have to say.

How Much Strength Is Enough?

Posted: 10th September 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much strength is “enough” for athletes and how much time should we spend developing it. Obviously, different sports/positions have different requirements, but the basic question is always the same – how much time and effort should be put into developing huge amounts of strength compared to working on other physical abilities such as speed, endurance, flexibility, agility, footwork, or sport-specific skill work.I’ve talked to several coaches about this, and I haven’t really found a perfect answer. Probably the most intriguing thought was to spend as little time as possible while still getting results. That really struck something in my mind, and took me back to listening to Mike Gittleson talk while I was in graduate school at Michigan. He talked a lot about the dose:response relationship, and how applying the minimum dosage is always prudent as long as the results are there. That makes a lot of sense, especially when you consider all of the other stuff that athletes need to work on. Unless we’re talking about powerlifting or weightlifting, strength is almost never the most important attribute of a successful athlete. Yes, there is a baseline level of strength that seems to be needed, but enormous amounts of strength are usually not requisites for athletic success. (Keep in mind that I don’t train competitive weightlifters or powerlifters. If you do, then you probably have a very different perspective.)Yet, we as strength coaches often get caught up in the “numbers” game. We want to have our athletes bench, squat and clean (or any other lift) a lot of weight. But, if a football, basketball, or baseball player can already squat 400 lbs, is it really necessary to shoot for 420? Is it worth the time and energy that is required to continue progressing? Is it worth the risk?

Of course, most people aren’t at that point, but trying to lift really heavy weights may not be completely necessary for everyone. I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to get stronger. I’m not in that camp at all. I think every athlete should be on a strength program of some sort. I just wonder if we over-emphasize max strength and spend (relatively) too little time on other things compared to the time we spend on strength.

Then I started thinking about what the most important qualities in athletes are. Of course, sport skills are always going to be king. After that, there’s quite a bit of variety depending on the sport, but there aren’t too many sports where speed, agility or “explosiveness” aren’t important. Being in excellent shape is also usually a key component to many sports. Mobility and injury prevention are also areas that we should probably spend some time on. Core strength has gotten a lot of attention lately, and athletes should probably work on that to some degree. Muscle “stiffness” has also been talked about a lot and should certainly be addressed in a S & C program. The point is that there are a lot of different factors that go into athleticism.

Strength is related to many of these qualities, but I feel like we often put more of an emphasis on this quality than all of the others. Sure, there’s good reason to strength train, but why are we so enthralled with big numbers? Why not spend a little less time on strength and a little more on the other factors listed above? Why do many coaches list their powerlifting numbers on their resumes? Are the numbers really THAT important?

Any coach who brushes over that other stuff and has an athlete spend all of their time on strength work is missing the target. I believe coaches who do this are probably doing it because they don’t know how to do anything else, which is pretty sad.

I agree that most young athletes could really benefit from additional strength. Most high school athletes are not overly strong, so there’s certainly plenty of room for improvement. In most cases, they haven’t hit that “strong enough” point…..whatever that point may be.

In college, a lot of athletes with a decent strength coach probably hit that point somewhere along the way, and most professional athletes have probably hit it. Not always, but usually. They’ve obviously enjoyed a lot of success in their sport, so you’d assume that they are “strong enough” for that endeavor or they wouldn’t have gotten to where they are.

So, the conversation that really got me thinking was when I was talking to WVU S & C Coach Darl Bauer (no I didn’t mis-spell his name…it’s spelled that way) about all of this. At the time, San Diego Chargers TE Antonio Gates was working out with me, and he told me that he hadn’t hit the weights that hard in years. He said that he lifts, but not that hard, and that he’s not that worried about strength. He wanted to focus on other things he felt were more important. Now, Antonio is a very gifted athlete with plenty of speed, strength and size, so it’s not like I’m talking about some genetic trash can here. He’s a stud. But, it hit me that if a Hall of Fame football player wasn’t that worried about his strength, then was it really that important?

So, I asked Darl about his TE at WVU at the time. He said the guy was a freak – amazing strength, speed, everything. Really, really strong and puts up huge numbers in the weight room. I asked him if he was starting his own team, would he take this kid or Antonio Gates? He laughed, and said Gates (no offense to the kid at WVU, but we’re talking about Antonio Gates here). When I told him about Antonio’s lifting habits, he kind of paused. Then, he responded with the age old argument “Just think how much better he might be if he lifted harder.”

I told him that might be true, but then I asked how much better than Hall of Fame can you get?

We both laughed and went back and forth on the topic for a while, but this whole thing really put things into perspective for me.

I also looked into Usain Bolt a bit while I was thinking about this. From what I can tell, Bolt lifts weights, but he’s not that “strong” and doesn’t put up big numbers. I even saw a photo of him doing leg extensions, so I assume he’s not doing anything terribly heavy. Based on the thoughts of Jeremy Lawson, I assume that Bolt is very “strong” in some way but it doesn’t necessarily show in the weight room. He can demonstrate strength on the track, but not on traditional lifts like the squat, deadlift or clean.

So, if the fastest man in the world and one of the greatest tight ends in the NFL aren’t overly strong on those lifts, should we really be putting a huge emphasis on them? To take it one step further, think about the strongest person you know. I know a guy in my area who squatted over 1000 lbs. Can he run fast? Jump high? Move quickly or athletically? NO! Not at all. He’s good at lifting weights, which is awesome, but it hasn’t helped him in other areas. The transfer seems pretty limited.

You see, spending all of your time working on big numbers takes away a lot of time and energy from improving athleticism. Even the Olympic lifts do this in my opinion. I’ve seen a TON of great athletes who don’t clean much at all. Most of them won’t even think about snatching. I’ve also seen a lot of athletes who can pull a ton of weight, but they can’t get it done on the field.

I guess this whole thought process has just created more questions than answers for me. I don’t know how much strength is “enough” and I’m not going to stop athletes from lifting. I guess I’m going to continue to look for ways that elicit good results in minimal time with an emphasis on safety. I don’t ever want to get an athlete hurt, and I’ve injured myself enough to recognize that it’s not worth it.

This discussion will definitely continue, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to respond below and let me know what you’ve discovered in your own training.

In-Season Strength & Conditioning

Posted: 29th August 2011 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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Something I didn’t have to deal with in the college setting that’s pretty frustrating when working with high school athletes is in-season training. It’s discouraging to see kids work their butts off for several months, only to have their sport coach not take the time to schedule in-season strength and conditioning workouts. A few weeks off, and all the progress that was made in the off-season begins to deteriorate rapidly. When you consider the fact that all it takes is 20-30 minutes, 1-2 days a week and you can maintain or even improve strength levels during a season, this should be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

Row ExerciseI have been fortunate to work closely with a lot of great high school coaches who understand the importance of in-season training, but I still come across many (and even work with some) who don’t buy into scheduling regular workouts during the season. Ignorance is one thing, but I know that some of these coaches have been educated on the benefits of in-season training. If you know the benefits and asked kids to put in the time/effort during the off-season to train, why would you not set aside the time during the season to maintain strength? That doesn’t make sense to me.

Strength training DOES NOT have a negative effect on skill sports. That kind of thinking is very out-dated, but I still hear about baseball and basketball coaches not wanting their players to “bulk up.” Most kids try for years to bulk up, and it doesn’t happen. Lifting 1-2 days a week for 30 minutes is not nearly enough time to bulk up. The added strength will do nothing but help an athlete.

Hands down, the most successful teams I’ve worked with (no matter what the sport) have continued their strength training through the season.

There are a couple of different approaches that I’ve found work. The first approach is to simply continue to lift hard through the season, but cut down the number of training days/week and manipulate the schedule to accommodate for competitions. In this case, you’ll typically want to give an athlete adequate rest after a strength session before competition. If he/she has been lifting consistently, they are usually capable of lifting one day and competing the next as long as you don’t trash their legs. If they haven’t been lifting consistently, this approach doesn’t work as well because they will not have the work capacity to handle it.

If you’re training football players, it’s pretty easy to schedule training sessions because the games are usually on the same day each week. Sports like basketball, baseball, soccer or track require a little more flexibility in the schedule because the competition days change more often.

The second approach is to continue lifting, but decrease the volume considerably and increase the intensity (i.e. use relatively heavy weight). This works especially well with the lower body. We’ve had success with this format using weights that are 80-90% 1RM and doing low reps during the season. The legs don’t feel nearly as fatigued or jell-o like after doing 3-4 reps with 80-85% 1RM compared to doing higher rep sets, and the heavier weight seems to maintain max strength a lot longer.

For track and field, you would absolutely want to continue training through the season, but strength training seems to be incredibly mis-understood by many high school track coaches. I’ve talked to a lot of coaches who don’t even lift with their team, which doesn’t make any sense to me. Speed and power are directly influenced by strength (not that more strength necessarily means faster athletes as I talked about in my last post), and most high school track athletes are not that strong. It would be very appropriate to substitute one track practice each week with lifting and plyos. In some cases, you might even do that twice a week. It’s not necessary to run hard 5-6 days/week. In fact, I would argue that would lead to over-training and over-use injuries. I’ve seen it happen a million times (well, maybe not a million, but a lot more than is necessary).

I’ve talked to college strength coaches who have reported strength GAINS in-season, and they attribute it to lower volume training done with slow progression. Hmmmm. What a concept! Why aren’t we doing that more often?

These are just some of my thoughts, and I’ve talked about this on www.UltimateStrengthAndConditioning.com before.  I’d like to hear your opinions.  Let me know what you think.

My Strength and Conditioning Blog

Posted: 26th August 2009 by kielbaso in Uncategorized
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Welcome to my strength and conditioning blog.  As the name suggest, I plan on talking about everything related to strength and conditioning.  I’ve done a lot of writing and speaking about speed training, so there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be sharing a lot of that on here.  A very good chance.

Something I’ve noticed, after nearly 20 years in this game, is that the more you learn about strength and conditioning, the more you see things in shades of gray instead of black and white.  When I was just getting into the profession, I really thought there was a right way and a wrong way to do just about everything.  I would pour over research for hours and hours to “prove” there was a right and wrong.  It’s funny, but the more I learned, the more I realized that A LOT of stuff works….and it works well.

I used to get really bothered by seeing or reading about other coaches doing stuff I disagreed with.  It used to grind the hell out of me.  Well, now that I’ve accumulated more experience (that’s just a nice way of saying I’m getting old), I really don’t care about what other people are doing enough to get upset about it.  Of course, I often spend WAY too much time reading ignorant posts on different boards, but I’m working really hard on letting go. Deep breath.

Don’t get me wrong, I still think a lot of coaches are missing the boat on different things – there will be posts all over this blog on them – but if what you’re doing is working for you, good for you.

I hope you enjoy this blog and get something out of it.  I’ll try to keep it updated and provide entertaining information.  Keep posting on here and let me know what you think.