Internships: Part 1 Virginia Tech
If you're cracking into the field of strength and conditioning, chances are you'll be enrolling in an internship at some point soon. If you're serious about the profession and truly want to succeed as a strength and conditioning coach, you better be making the most of these experiences, because if you don't, you're letting valuable time and knowledge pass you by. Let me tell you a little bit about my experience as an intern. Hopefully, you'll learn something and it will help you in your next endeavor. My Internships
I've completed two internships (so far) in the field of strength and conditioning, and 2 in other sports-medicine related fields. As a Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise major at Virginia Tech, I was required to complete 2 field studies to earn my degree. The first took place at The Jackson Clinics shadowing a physical therapist. I completed the second as a student athletic trainer at VT. Both were fantastic opportunities, and I learned an incredible amount during those semesters. One of my long-term goals is get my doctorate in physical therapy, and these two experiences played an instrumental role in forming that vision. I really enjoyed the fact that both professions use exercise as medicine. Although you don't often see a knee replacement or ACL repair patient performing Romanian Deadlifts, a good PT or Athletic Trainer will ensure that, by the time that patient is finished with their rehab, they've been taught how to execute a proper hip hinge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lHamIPidrc
If my memory serves me correctly, I started these internships right about the time that I had "recovered" from my own back surgery. My family has been plagued with disc herniations, and I was determined to not repeat the experience. I became obsessed with weight lifting. Pouring over strength and conditioning blogs, rehabilitation studies, etc. I decided that the most effective method of preventing future back injury was taking the initiative to strengthen my body and make it as resilient as I possibly could. During my time as a student athletic trainer, I began developing a growing interest for what these athletes were doing in the weight room. Were they still training with these injuries? How were the strength coaches modifying their workouts in order to prevent re-injury from occurring? How were the coaches progressing them back to the core compound movements that make up the bulk of a proper strength and conditioning program? I had to know.
Virginia Tech Strength and Conditioning
Near the end of that semester, I walked up to the weight room and sought out the first authority figure I could find. He was a massive human being, and little did I know, he would be one of the most influential people in my life thus far, although he may not even know it. I introduced himself, and told him my intentions. The next semester, I was a strength and conditioning intern for Virginia Tech.
I interned for Olympic Sports, under coaches Ryan Shuman, Terry Mitchell, and Megan Evan, and it changed my life. Growing up as a competitive swimmer, I had absolutely no formal weight training experience. In high school, I tagged along with a friend a handful of times and he showed me a couple of very basic things, but that was it. I was lucky that I had found some fantastic resources online. Eric Cressey, Kelly Starrett, and Mike Boyle to name a few. I read EliteFTS and T-Nation like it was my job. In class, after class, before bed. I was always reading, but being an intern that weight room is what really helped me grow.
Most of the other interns needed a certain amount of hours to be filled for class and they all had assigned hours, but I was a volunteer. I wasn't interning for school credit, so I had no benchmarks to hit. Coach Mitchell left it up to me for when I wanted to come in. I ended up spending upwards of 15-20 hours a week in that weight room. At least 2 days a week I would be up at 5:00 AM and in the weight room for the baseball lift at 5:30. I'd stay through tennis, stay through wrestling, and go to class around 8:30. I would get out of class around 3:00, and head right back to the gym for more sessions. They couldn't keep me out if they tried.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG-WIZ9heX8
Now keep in mind that I had no real expectations from a supervisor, no papers to write or assignments to complete, no one to really report my experiences to. How did I keep myself busy, you might ask? I asked questions. I remember on the first day of my internship I asked Coach Evans about how she plans the season of training for her softball team. She took me into her office and spent at least 30 minutes breaking down the entire year. It was awesome. Obviously she couldn't cover everything, but I was so grateful that she took the time to talk to me that I didn't care. This conversation led to five more questions, and then five more. I ended up keeping notecards in my backpack at all times, and I'd scribble questions down as they popped into my head. Almost every day I was knocking on Coach Mitchell's door with another question, usually more then one. I bet I was probably pretty annoying, but at least I wanted to learn. It got to the point where Coach Mitchell was surprised if I wasn't the one knocking on his door.
Looking back, my only regret is not volunteering in the weight room sooner. I only had the pleasure of spending 1 semester with VT Strength and Conditioning. If I could travel back in time and give the Charlie of 2009 one piece of advice, it would be to skip that stupid ice-breaker you're forced to do during freshmen orientation, and head straight to that weight room. That's where I belonged, and I'm so fortunate that I was able to spend that small amount of time shadowing those incredible coaches.
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As you all have probably realized right now, I'm pretty long-winded. I like telling stories, and this post is no exception. Unfortunately for you all, you'll have to wait until next week to see how this particular story unfolds. Until then, I'll leave you with this...
"The most important days of your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why." -- Mark Twain
NSCA MD Clinic Recap
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to stop by the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) Maryland State Clinic at the University of Maryland in College Park. The event was a first rate workshop headlined by John Philbin, Head Strength and Coach for the Washington Nationals and the Maryland state representative for the NSCA. Coach Philbin spoke about the some of the unique exercises and techniques that comprise the Nationals strength & conditioning program during the off -season, spring training, and in-season. Look for some of these exercises to be discussed in future posts. Later on Kyle Tarp, the Director of Basketball Strength and Conditioning at the University of Maryland took the stand to discuss lateral speed development in the sport of basketball. Throughout the talk, Coach Tarp constantly hammered on the importance of an athlete’s ability to get a solid athletic position. This position is marked by a flexed hip, knee, and ankle and allows the athlete to rapidly perform a variety of basketball related maneuvers to control their area of the court.
One key point of this position is to note that the ankles must be wider than the knees, which must be wider than the hips. This places your center of mass (your torso) within your base of support (your feet) for added stability. Additional stability can be provided by dropping your center of mass and getting in a lower position. When this stability is not found you ankles get broken in a manner similar to the video below.
http://youtu.be/goDrdfxZGQo
http://youtu.be/dTZA0dzv3FM
This clinic turned out to be an excellent event and I think any trainer or coach in the DC area could learn something next year as the event looks to grow.
The Art of Pull Ups: Conquering Rep Numero Uno
Pull ups are fantastic. Not just because they're an efficient upper body strength builder, but because they simultaneously make me feel like a super hero and a wimp.
Performing pull ups is a feat that showcases upper body strength and control, like a superhero. Pull ups are also annoyingly difficult that after just a few, I can feel my strength reserves dropping faster than Harry Potter performing a Wronski Feint diving for the Snitch, and I battle for each rep.
Typically, the first rep is the most difficult to achieve. Once rep numero uno is under a trainee's belt, accumulating subsequent reps comes a lot faster. Today we'll go over SAPT's progression for teaching pull ups, and part 2 will cover how to increase the number of pull ups you can do. To be clear, pull ups utilize an overhand grip while chin ups are underhand. And, a true pull up is not eeking your chin up to the bar by craning the neck like a giraffe, but the chin is over the bar and the bar touches the top of your sternum.
First, the exercises:
Barbell Pull Up Progression
Alternately, Suspension Strap Pull Up Progression (you can use either piece of equipment, but for sake of space I'm going to stick to the Barbell since it's more like a pull up bar.)
Barbell Pull Up, Eccentric Only
Barbell Pull Up, ISO hold at top
I usually start athletes with these variations. I like the fact that they can use their feet as much as they need to (but, I tell them, as little as possible). It helps a) teach them the form of the pull up (i.e. don't squinch the shoulders and how to use their lats) and b) builds strength in all the pull-uppy muscles. That was a terribly scientific statement, but I think you all know what I mean.
During this stage, I typically keep the reps in the 5-8 range since the higher volume increase muscle mass. I should also note that throughout this process, if an athlete is training 2x/week, he/she will have a pull up variation on each day. The best way to get better at pull ups is to do more pull ups! (Or rather, the progressions leading up to one.)
After the athlete becomes proficient at the pull up progressions on the barbell, I'll move him/her to a pull up bar with some band-assistance. There are some coaches who don't like the band-assisted pull up as much- and I agree with their logic- because it doesn't help the athlete at the top of the pull up, which is usually the hardest part. That said, I really like to use eccentric-only pull ups with band assistance.
Training the eccentric teaches control over the movement. I also like it for this because it increases time-under-tension which will elicit gains in muscle and tendon strength. By taking out the concentric (the pulling up part), I think it's a bit easier for athletes to mentally tackle the exercise.
I like to intersperse athletes' training with regular band-assisted pull ups because I think there's something that goes on mentally when an athlete is on the actual pull up bar that encourages him/her that they can actually do this exercise. Over time, I gradually decrease the reps (1-3) and decrease the band tension which, theoretically at this point, should lead them to a body weight pull up.
Success!
This post has already exceeded the length I intended it to be. Check back next week for part two on increasing pull up max.
Putting Some Pep into Your Softball Pitch
It's finally February and Spring athletes are gearing up for their seasons. This means that their training should have transitioned from focusing on broad movements that increase strength, speed and power to more sport-specific programming to really help the athlete to utilize the attributes that they've spent the Winter trying to improve. This is especially important in different styles of pitching as the means of power output is so unique. Today, we're going to tackle how to do this with the softball pitch.
Many articles dive into this for baseball, but few address it in softball and a common mistake that many coaches will make is assuming that the same drills will have just as much carryover for both positions. This is true with most movements between the two sports, but when it comes to pitching, I would strongly disagree. Though they both take advantage of the same muscle groups, you can watch and see that the joint sequencing, rotational mechanics, and force transmissions are entirely different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5X86nD_WS4
Unlike a baseball pitch, which heavily relies on frontal and transverse plane force production, the softball pitch is more based off of sagital and transverse force production as seen above.
Drills for Force Development in Windup to 3 O'clock
You'll notice in the video that the initial push off gives her the majority of her momentum and is done with her hips completely square to the plate. This is a very important movement that can easily be improved and strengthened through the correct drills. Obviously, a good broad jump and strong deadlift will give the athlete the base power she needs to power her hips through, but as the season draws near, single leg variations should be administered for maximal carryover. My favorite power exercises for this would have to be Single leg broad jumps, Bounds and Sprint variations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9aKgJHalrQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cgU_qehEWI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VR4qdoQ6YE
**My goal for these would be to cover as much ground as possible for pitchers. Keep in mind that for other athletes in may be more advantageous to put an emphasis on distance AND height.
For strength, I think it's important to continue with traditional deadlifting, but to also putting a large emphasis on any single leg deadlift variation or single leg glute bridge. Below are my favorite variations of each:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RHLwEnpj3w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JAsPbbN_E0
Drills for Force Development/Transfer in 12 O'clock to Release
The next stage of the pitch that can receive more emphasis within the weight room would be the transition from 12 O'clock to ball release. It is here where the athlete is going to generate the rotary forces AS WELL AS transfer the force that was already generated from the initial push-off into the throw. This means that the athlete will need to not only have strength and stability through the lumbo-pelvic rotation, but will also need to effectively create an anchor point with the lead leg in which this centripetal force can revolve around so that the ball receives maximal force transfer.
These attributes are a bit more specific to train. The lumbo-pelvic rotation should of course be addressed through general rotary stability means, however the force transfer through the dynamic systems is a little trickier. Simply put, the athlete should get a healthy dose of transverse power production while the lead leg is decelerating in the frontal plane. My favorite exercises for this are: Hop-Back MB Side throws and Cross Behind MB Side Throws.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtESn9uRkcE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiTKEiM-jr4
Of course, if the athlete lacks the strength or ability to keep good mechanics during frontal plane deceleration, lateral lunge variations would be a wise choice before trying to add another element to the movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG6IfvnckX4
Quick Notes On Specificity of Training
You'll notice that all of these movements only mimic certain elements of the pitch and do not attempt to fully replicate it. This is extremely important as once you become too specific, you run the risk of messing with the schema of the pitch. It's clear that the powerful hip extension of push off and the rotation from 12 O'clock to ball release are two different elements that can be easily supported in the weight room. But any attempt to combine these elements into one training movement runs the risk of having your pitchers throw the pitch like a med ball rather than actually improving their force development.
It's also worth noting that the more sport-specific training you do, the greater risk for injury you will see. The repetitive movements on the field coupled with improving those specific movements in the weight room can drive over-use injuries. It's for this reason that S&C professionals (should) only focus on the sport-specific training once it's time for the athletes to compete and even then should closely monitor them to determine what they need in their movements to stay injury free. Especially since softball pitchers have a tendency towards developing TOS as I discussed in A Trainer's Guide to TOS.
Knowledge is POWER! Part 2
Piggybacking off of my previous post (ta-da!), here are some more great reads to quench that thirst for knowledge that has been digging at you all week long.____________________________________________________________________________________________
Baseball/Softball season is right around the corner! Read these two posts by Eric Cressey on common injuries and how to keep them at bay.
- Baseball Injuries: What to Expect in the Next Few Months
- Oblique Strains in Baseball: 2011 Update
Do you ever sit there, enjoy a nice cup of coffee, and think about your dysfunctional movements patterns and the best way to fix them? I know I sure do! Here's a great post out of the Personal Trainer Development Center on how to use the FMS (Functional Movement Screen) to devise more effective corrective methods. Afterwards, schedule an appointment with one of our evaluation specialists so SAPT can help you get back to painless functional movement!
- How to Simplify Corrective Exercise Training with the Functional Movement Screen
It simply wouldn't be right if I didn't include a great read on periodization techniques for all your powerlifters out there. It's not always as easy as "Pick it up. Put it down. Repeat."
- A Practical Guide for Implementing Block Periodization for Powerlifting
Do you know what Prilepin's Chart is? Well, you do now.
Last, but not least, here are a couple of in-house articles by your excellent coaches at SAPT
- One highlighting a very special athlete of ours: Amanda!
- One urging you to think critically when it comes to nutrition. (P.S. Did you know that SAPT offers nutritional coaching?? Our very own Kelsey Reed is an absolute whiz when it comes to fueling your body for optimal performance. Schedule an appointment today!)
- One introducing you to the multitude of benefits from kettlebell swings!
Oh wait, I almost forgot! Here's another awesome video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5JIqrx0roE
If she can do it, so can you!
Super Pear Smoothie
It’s February, which everyone knows marks the beginning of pear season. Today I will bring you a delicious smoothie recipe guaranteed to make your taste buds smile. Pears are tasty, nutritious, and a great source of fiber and vitamin C. These fruits also just happen to be free of sodium, fat, and cholesterol. . . . Winning. In this recipe we unite an all-star lineup of fruits and veggies to deliver a rock star snack. Drink up and enjoy!!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 Pears
- 1 Cup Whole Strawberries
- 2 Cups Fresh Spinach or Kale
- 1 Celery Stalk
- 1 Cup of Water or Coconut Water
DIRECTIONS:
- Put all ingredients into blender
- Blend
- Drink
