Resistance training improves performance markers in youth athletes

A common misconception regarding resistance training is that it is unsafe and ineffective for youth athletes. Provided that the training program is implemented and supervised by a qualified coach, the risk of injury is actually quite minimal. Additionally, while it is true that young athletes are unable to build substantial amounts of lean body mass …

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Relationship between maximal strength and reactive ability in athletes

A major reason why coaches want to make their athletes stronger is because strength underpins performance in numerous athletic movement skills such as running, jumping and change of direction. Essentially, the more force an athlete can produce into the ground, the better. There is also increasing evidence to suggest that stronger athletes are less likely …

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What can we learn from a vertical jump test?

What can we learn about an athlete from a vertical jump test? The first thought that may have jumped in your mind is “explosiveness” or more specifically, “lower body power”. This is a correct answer. However, this is only one of a variety of pieces of information that a coach can garner from a simple …

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Do stronger athletes recover faster after competition?

Monitoring fatigue in athletes enables coaches to make appropriate alterations in training load prescription to facilitate sufficient recovery between training sessions. This is especially important during the in-season when full recovery is desired leading up to competitions. Recovered athletes will better be able to express their fitness and perform skills during matches in addition to …

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Aim for Maintenance or Development during In-Season?

A general overview of a competitive training year is typically broken up into three distinct periods: the off-season, pre-season and in-season. The off-season is typically used to build muscular size and strength and in some cases, enhancement of general work capacity. The pre-season tends to have more focus on conditioning and sport specific abilities (change …

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Injury Risk During High Academic Stress in Collegiate Football Players

Coaches often fail to account for non-training related stressors when planning training for their athletes. This is problematic because things like psychological stress, travel stress, lack of sleep and chemical stress (poor nutrition, alcohol, etc.) all impact training adaptations. For example, in one of our most recent blogs we discussed how perceived psychological stress was …

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Sensitivity of various monitoring variables to fatigue

There are several variables that coaches have the option to monitor when it comes to tracking fatigue and training status in their athletes. Though it can get quite complex and sophisticated, we can categorize monitoring variables into three groups listed below with a brief list of examples for each: Physiological Heart rate variability (HRV) Heart …

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Perceived stress levels affect training adaptations

One of the most interesting aspects of sport physiology is the inter-individual differences in training responses observed in athletes that are exposed to standardized programs. You can put a team of athletes through the same conditioning program and end up with some athletes showing no change or a tremendous increase in fitness (~40% at post-testing). …

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When NOT to perform the Nordic hamstring curl

Those who coach younger athletes often to do not have access to strength and conditioning facilities, nor do they have designated training sessions dedicated to physical preparation outside of regular practice times. With these limitations set in place, it is common for coaches to budget sections of practice time to work on strength and power …

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Predictors of change of direction performance

As coaches, one of our primary objectives in the training facility is to select and utilize exercises that have the greatest transfer or carry-over to sporting actions. Dynamic correspondence is a term used in Siff and Verkhoshansky’s classic text, “Supertraining”. This term captures the essence of the SAID principle where training must be specific enough …

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