Auditory cuing, switch words, and a 14 year-old girl who can probably do more chin-ups than you…
I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of coordinating and teaching some strength and conditioning drills at the George Mason University Baseball and Softball summer camps throughout the week. It’s been a welcomed challenge attempting to coordinate 60-70 baseball and softball players through 45 minutes of drills in about 100 degree heat. As with any coaching scenario I immerse myself in, it is always my goal to elicit a positive response in the athlete that I’m coaching; in short, when they leave my guidance I want them to have learned something, and I want them to have gotten better, no matter the circumstances. Now, 100 degree heat, 7-7min stations of 10, 8-12 year-olds, may not be the most conducive situation, or my most comfortable setting, for eliciting the responses I’ve mentioned above. However, that just meant I had to get a little more creative, concise, and entertaining with my delivery. What I found to be most helpful was the usage of auditory cuing and switch words (I learned these techniques from Brian Grasso, so there, I’m not passing these ideas off as my own).
Auditory cuing is helpful for many reasons. One, it forces everyone in the group to be quite and attentive as they listen for the cue (a moment of solace amongst a pack of 10 year old girls is hard to come by). Two, it excites the athlete as it becomes a game to see who can react to the cue the fastest, thus yielding a more focused athlete.
Switch words come in handy as you try to elicit the effort in which you want the drill executed. Remember, 100 degree heat…who really wants to jump high or run fast. Switch words, and I’ll quote Brian Grasso, “are one-word declarations that enable the subconscious minds to literally “flip a switch’ thereby causing a particular behavior pattern or thought process to ensue.”
Below is how I ran a drill the other afternoon, auditory cues and switch words are labeled:
“Ladies, good afternoon, when I clap twice, I need you to clap twice and give me your attention. (Practice the clap response, and BAM you have their undivided attention).
Our first drill will begin on our stomach, when I say ‘ready’ (cue/switch) we’ll get to the half-kneeling position as fast as we can. When I say ‘hit’ (switch) you’ll run as fast as you can through me (repeat ‘hit’ loudly as they run to elicit the effort you want). Let me hear you clap twice if you understand the drill.”
These simple little techniques will allow your message to be less muddled and better received amongst your younger athletes. Being creative, but concise, with your instructions will make a world of difference.
And now, I give you a 14 year old girl that’s probably stronger than you…she could barely do one of these when she first started with us about 19-weeks ago…
When you see the word "click," the next time in this sentence, click it and you'll be on your way to getting stronger...clap twice if you hear me.
Romo
Q & A:60-Yard Dash Improvement
Question: My son has excellent speed stealing bases, but only has a 7.56 60-yard dash speed. Looking for training specific to increasing that speed. Tips on start/end of run, running technique, etc., not just strength training. Thanks While the answer to this question is definitely multifaceted, I'll do my best to summarize some of the main points:
1) Avoid large volumes of long distance running. This one should be obvious, but I continue to be astounded at the number of coaches who require their athletes to perform steady state cardio, even when the training goal is increased speed and power. Apart from the fact that distance running will negatively affect the stretch-shortening cycle (a key component in sprinting) and decrease strength and power output (again, critical to sprint acceleration and top speed), you also have mobility concerns to think about. Distance running doesn't allow sufficient hip flexion to truly activate all of the hip flexors (especially the psoas, which is responsible for hip flexion above 90 degrees). You also receive little to no hip extension during steady state cardio. By using a repetitive motion (like jogging) over a long period of time, where you're not bringing your lower extremity through a full range of motion, you're losing mobility at the hip joint - the very same mobility depended upon to generate stride length, and, in turn, velocity!
The psoas.
2) Train the first 10 yards of the sprint. When we evaluate a test like the 60 yard dash, we are really measuring a test of acceleration as much as we are a test of speed. Now, this will depend largely on the training age of the athlete, as world-class sprinters accelerate for up to sixty meters (each ten-yard split continues to get lower up to sixty meters). Novice sprinters will reach peak velocity much earlier than an advanced sprinter.
Anyway, whether you are an advanced or a novice athlete, it is going to improve your 60 yard dash if you learn to accelerate faster. Work on increasing power and decreasing steps for those first ten yards. The first ten-yard increment takes the longest to complete and thus is the easiest to impact in training. Shoot for three steps during the first five-yard segment, and about five steps for ten yards. Do this by teaching PUSHING, not overreaching (don't tell the athlete to cut down steps, either; telling an athlete you're counting steps may cause over-striding). Tell the athlete to push the ground as hard as possible! Push the ground away from you as hard as you can, and minimize stutter steps. Here's a good indicator of a powerful start: the foot taking the second step does not touch the ground while the front foot is still on the line (after step one you shouldn't see two feet in contact with the ground).
**Another bonus for training the first ten yards:** the chance of injury is greatly decreased! Heading out to the track and running 60-yard repeats, especially if the athlete does not have good mechanics for sprinting AND hasn't had much running training prior, is a recipe for injury. How well do you think the athlete will perform in a timed 60-yard dash if he or she has a pulled hamstring, hip flexor, or adductor from training? You can train ten yard increments (focusing on increasing power and decreasing steps) with little to no risk of injury.
3) Get Stronger. This should really be at the top of the list. I hate to break it to you, but your child just isn't strong enough. I know that the answer to your question was to include techniques "besides just strength training," but honestly this (resistance training) will be one of the greatest additions to your son's training. Proper strength training, utilizing progressive overload on both bilateral and unilateral lower body lifts, will help your athlete run faster. Quite simply, the stronger the athlete is, the more force he or she will be able to exert into the ground.
This is nothing more than physics. Those who can produce the greatest force into the ground (the action), will yield the greatest benefit from the ground (the reaction). In fact, The Journal of Applied Physiology published research in the year 2000 in an article called Mechanical Basis of Human Running Speed. The article synopsis begins with the line, "Faster top running speeds are achieved with greater ground forces, not more rapid leg movements."
How do you achieve greater ground forces? Increase strength.
This is a concept that many would benefit from if they embraced it and ceased looking for the token silver bullet speed drill. All other things equal, the stronger athlete is going to be faster.
4) Improve Conditioning. More specifically, improve efficiency of the anaerobic alactic energy system ("the first 10 seconds") and the anaerobic lactic energy system (the "feel the burn" energy system). This will help the athlete maintain peak velocity for as long as possible during the sprint. Remember that, depending on the race distance, the winner will be the one who slows down the least at the end. There are many ways to improve conditioning for this, but one would be to begin with linear drills (ex. 110-yard dash at 80% intensity), and progress to 150-yard shuttle runs (divided into 25-yard increments). I'm a huge fan of shuttle runs as they also play a great role in injury prevention by incorporating acceleration, deceleration, and direction change. As Mike Boyle says, injuries are most often associated with the muscular stresses caused by speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction. Shuttle runs add a muscular component to the energy system program. However, note that you really don't need to do many of these prior to the season, as the glycolytic energy system can be trained pretty quickly, and many people will not even need to train it for the 60.
Some heavy sled pushing/pulling will work well in a conditioning program, too, as they also work on sprint-specific leg mechanics and are relatively easy on the joints. Keep the "work" duration to 30 seconds and below during the aforementioned drills.
5. Improve Sprint Technique. Keep in mind that attaining perfect sprint technique is much more in depth than many think and it takes years to master. It is beyond the scope of this post to teach proper sprint mechanics, but a few tweaks in your running form can drastically improve your efficiently of movement.
6. "Count Your Blessings." Recognize that your son possesses a great sport-specific skill!! If he is proficient at stealing bases, that will go a long way! Technique in base-stealing is a completely different skill set from a timed 60-yard dash in front of recruiters (not to mention the mental acuity needed during live gameplay to successfully steal a base). While improving his 60-yard dash time will certainly aid his baseball career, don't overlook the techniques he already possesses that will make him a valuable asset to a team.
One last note: remember that training for sprint speed is not a "get your sweat on" session. A proper understanding of the energy systems utilized in a max-effort sprint will go a long way in ensuring effective training sessions. If your athlete is breaking a sweat, or breathing heavily, during his sprint sessions (unless it's hot outside or he's finishing up a dynamic warm-up), this is a decent indicator he isn't resting enough between sets.
Tips on Training for a Hike
Irony of all ironies, I had planned on writing a post about hiking for today (I’ve been getting requests) and what did Steve do yesterday?!? A hiking post… unbelievable! Maybe this week will be SAPT's unofficial training for a hike week or something. So, I'm sticking with my post for today and felt is was appropriate to post a picture of one of the hikes I went on last week - this one is in Red Rock State Park. Tips on Training for a Hike
- Single Leg Strength Work is Essential! A large percentage of training should be dedicated to Step-up and Step-down variations. This is pretty much what a hike is after all. The step-up will help you get up to the peak, but what about when you’re on your return trip and your legs are fried? That’s when the step-downs will become crucial. Having exceptional eccentric strength in a fatigued state will not only allow you to return safely, but more quickly, too! I’m afraid I may sound like I’m hopping on Mike Boyle’s anti-bilateral movement crusade with this, but I think ditching the squats and deads may be a great move for a focused time leading up to an important hike.
- Bracing Variations. As Steve pointed out in his post yesterday, hikers will usually be loaded up with all kinds of gear (think added weight) and they need to be able to easily brace and stabilize to carry the loads without undue fatigue. How can you train this in the gym? Give BB Squat Hold Variations, Mis-Loaded BB Hold Variations, Plank Hold Variations, and Band Swing Hold Variations a try. Notice the theme word for these exercises is “hold” a.k.a. isometric – a hiker needs to have an extremely strong “core” (gasp, I can’t believe I just used that word) to ensure the muscle groups that should be doing the bracing do their jobs.
- Mobility Work. This will be critical for the entire body. Especially considering that hikers often stay in a fairly upright position, so when they need to call on some extreme hip mobility to traverse certain terrain you want that mobility to be present. Otherwise, injuries will pop up.
- Lastly, if I seriously wanted to show my hiking prowess off, I would implement Steve’s HICT training. Add this in twice a week plus a long hike on the weekend.
***I'm going to get some videos up this evening, so please check back if you want to see some of the variations I mentioned!
Don't forget, if you're out of the DC/NoVA area, we can still get you prepared to destroy your next competition, event, or just life. Find out more by requesting information on our distance coaching program!
Suitcase Carry: An Exercise I like (and you should, too).
This past weekend I decided, spur-of-the-moment, to take a backpacking trip with a couple good friends of mine. It was incredible, to put it mildly. We loaded up our packs and took them for a 2-day journey along the Appalachian Trail in the Shenandoah. As evening approached, we found a great place near an overlook to pitch our tents. The picture at the top is a photo I snapped of our view of the sunset. As I was hiking along, I was quickly made aware that walking for two days - over uneven terrain with a 40lb pack on your back - makes for a pretty awesome workout. My traps, glutes, hamstrings, and cardiovascular system were all telling me that, just because I was away from the gym for a weekend, didn't mean I was going to get away with time off. To left is a picture snapped just before the start of the journey.
However, the point of this blog post isn't to tell you about my hike, the bears I slayed with my bare hands (they made the first move and attacked first, ok), or the damsels in distress I rescued along the trail. The point of this post is to give you a phenomenal exercise you can do in just about any gym. It isn't anything new, but my hike over the weekend reminded me just how much I love carry variations (due to the pack I carried throughout the trip), and how great they are for you.
The Exercise
Enter the Suitcase Carry. This will hammer your core (emphasis on the obliques and quadratus lumborum), along with your traps, deltoids, forearms, and ankles. Yes, the ankles.
It's tough to truly appreciate this exercise until you try it. See the video below of Ron performing the exercise:
How to Do It
You won't reap or feel the benefits of this exercise unless you walk with as perfect posture as you can. The key is to stand TALL. Your hips are going to naturally drift toward the weight, so do as best as you can to keep the hips from shifting. Shoulders "back and down," and stick your chest out as if your flaunting your stuff at the beach.
Why I Like It
One of the reasons I like this exercise so much is that most of you can do it in nearly any gym, and it kills multiple birds with one stone (see the benefits listed above the video). Just grab a heavy dumbbell, stand straight, and walk for 50-100 yards. Then switch sides. Even if you only have ten yards of space to work with, you can walk back and forth until you reach your target distance. You can use a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell for this. Yes, in the video, Ron has two kettlebells tied together with a towel because we're cool like that.
How much weight or how far should you go? As Dan John put it: You can either carry light weight for long distances, or heavy weight for short distances. I prefer heavy weight for long distances.
We've been doing this exercise for a few years but primarily using a "towel grip," during which you hold a towel looped through the kettlebell. While this is a perfectly good variation, I like tossing in the towel-free version as it takes a bit of stress off the grip (thus your grip will no longer be the limiting factor) and places more of the tension throughout the other areas of the body.
You know when you see people in the airport nearly toppling over to the side because their suitcase is so heavy? It's primarily because their core can't effectively buttress the weaker joints throughout the body. Don't be that guy.
HICT: A "Secret" and Powerful Method of Aerobic Training
Watch the video below to discover a very powerful, yet unconventional, method of developing the aerobic system: (Note: If video is not your thing, I wrote down the bullet points from the video down below.)
This method is referred to as High Intensity Continuous Training, or HICT.
- Great for military folks, wrestlers, fighters, endurance athletes, or anyone that needs to be able to produce a reasonable power output for an extended period of time.
- Start with one, 10-minute set, and gradually work you're way up to two, 20-minute sets (be warned, twenty minutes is a loonggg set).
- It is both high intensity and high volume, which is what makes it so different than other forms of aerobic training.
- The intensity is based on resistance, rather than speed, which is why it allows for such a high volume of stimulus. Most high intensity aerobic intervals are based on speed, ex. a 15-60 second sprint, so you can only maintain that level of effort for so long before you fatigue and have to slow down.
- Your heart rate should stay in the 150s or low 160s during these, which is under most people's anaerobic threshold (for example, mine is about 174bpm).
- Because the heart rate remains under the anaerobic threshold, there is adequate oxygen supply (and thus it's possible to enhance the aerobic abilities of your fast twitch fibers).
- If you're doing step-ups, as I am in the video, the preferred method of loading would be a weight vest. I'm using a backpack in the video because, at the time, I didn't have access to a vest. Don't use a barbell (trust me, I tried it).
- If the weighted step-ups isn't a viable option, you could use a high quality spin bike. Just crank of the resistance on that thing so you're at 20-30rpm (this is very slow). You should literally be coming off the seat a bit on each push of the pedal.
It was 10:15pm - past my preferred bed time - when I filmed this, so forgive me for my tired expression and somewhat scattered thought process in the video.
HICT is an extremely powerful tool when used appropriately.
In-Season Training Programs for Fall Sport Student-Athletes: Retain and Rejuvenate
Scientific research and my own personal experiences have proven to me how critical in-season training is to ensure optimal performance, and ultimately realization of off-season training goals. SAPT in-season training programs aim to deliver the following: -While it’s not uncommon for novice and some intermediate trainees to garner strength and power improvements even while in-season, the focus for most should be on strength and power retention. Studies have shown that within just 2-weeks of training stoppage, one will begin experiencing declining strength levels and power output. Considering that the majority of a season’s most important competitions occur well after the 2-week mark, and you can imagine the competitive advantage one will possess if he or she remains consistent with training through the duration of a season.
Closely managed in-season programming will allow one to peak when the stakes are at their highest. Don’t let the 2”+ vertical jump improvement you worked so hard to attain during the spring and summer months dwindle before your most important competitions!
-Maintain the overall physiological health and well being of the organism. Often overlooked is the asymmetrical nature of sport. The countless, often times one-sided, repetitions one takes during a competitive season can snowball into overuse injuries. In-season training programs should include the mobility drills, corrective exercise, stretching, and soft tissue work necessary to limit restrictions and imbalances caused by sport.
-Rejuvenate the mind and body. An appropriately structured in-season maintenance plan considers both the physiological and psychological demands of a competitive season. Balancing school work, practice, travel, and competitions is friggin’ a grind. A focused, concise training session that incorporates some soft tissue work, total body movements, and some good conversation, will go a long way in ensuring both the mental and structural stability of a student-athlete.
To learn more information about our in-season maintenance training programs, CLICK HERE!!!
Chris
