The consistency of your in-season program can determine the success of an entire season. The quote above is a great example of how we approach our in-season training program. You won’t win every game, but your training plan in-season needs to be consistent with the overall goal of building a great athlete and program that is resilient to bumps on the road throughout the season. Developing a consistent program during the season will allow you to make gains in flexibility, speed, strength, power and recovery. Don’t change your program from week to week and don’t deviate from your initial goals. It helps players and coaches understand that the plan is structured, well thought out and geared towards maintaing the levels of performance needed to survive a grueling season.

Success comes to those who are consistent and persistent. Allow your athletes the opportunity to experience a structured program with individual and team components. During the season you will need to make adjustments, but that doesn’t  mean that you make wholesale changes to the program. Use each day as an opportunity to coach your athletes and build consistent systems to monitor strength and weakness of each individual player. Now go forth and win your championship.

In later articles, we will introduce you to the vast world of training that can be done at your bedside when you wake up in the morning, or at night while watching your favorite television show. For now, here is a preview of the cool new ways to train.

• Resistance Bands: Resistance bands are quickly becoming one of the best ways to train due to their variable resistance and the fact that literally hundreds of exercises from strength training to flexibility, can be done with them.

• Body Weight Training: When you think of using your own body weight for training, the most common preconceived notion is that it doesn’t look very difficult. On the contrary — mastering your own body is a key step on the road to using external forces for resistance such as dumbbell or free weight training.

• Plyometric Training: Also known as jump training, plyometrics is a sure way to boost heart rate and metabolism to the max. Once a base strength foundation has been developed, it has been proven that light to moderate jump training can improve tendon, ligament, and muscle strength of the lower leg.

• Physioball Training: Also known as stability ball, this form of training like band training, has gained enormous attention — and for good reason. It is a very simple, cost-effective tool with which you can perform a plethora of exercises.

• Yoga Exercises: By far, the most relaxing form of the above-mentioned training, yoga focuses on total body relaxation and flexibility. A yoga mat is all that is required, and you will be well on your way to waving good-bye to joint pain, thanks to your newly found flexibility.

For the sake of time, let’s focus on developing strength gains during this period. Start your off-season training from October to December by building a general fitness base, in which adaptation, hypertrophy and strength are the main priorities. Divide this period into training cycles 0f 6-8 weeks with one (1) week rest periods during the end of each cycle. Focus on developing proper technique in each lift. Anatomical adaptation should be the focus during the first several weeks of the off-season phase. Let the tendons. ligaments and muscles adapt to the load before increasing weight in your routine. Follow the progressive overload principle to allow for continuous improvement of strength gains. Make sure you are consistent as you increase the load of the exercises and attack each workout with the greatest of intensity.

 The Pre-season cycle should be from January through February, begin right after the holiday season and last till tryouts in March. This phase will allow the athlete to transfer off-season training to the playing field – developing functional speed, strength, and power. The objective of the pre-season is to acclimate the athlete to the rigors of a playing season through strength training, speed, agility, quickness, position-specific conditioning, baseball-specific movements and drills. The early season phase will get the athlete ready to proceed smoothly into the season. The priority of this phase is to make sure the athletes are recovering properly through adequate hydration and post –workout flexibility. The strength training aspect will take a back seat to fundamental skills and position-specific conditioning. But this does not mean that you should eliminate strength training from your routine. Just make sure that the volume and intensity of your workouts is reduced to allow for total recovery from practices or scrimmages.

 The in-season phase from march to June, is designed to improve performance, reduce the risk of injury, and maintain sports-specific strength, speed, and power that has been developed throughout the off and pre-season. You must strength train 1-2 times a week to allow for off-season gains to be consistent throughout the season and playoffs. Make sure you keep an eye out for players that get banged up or are overused during the season. You will have to adjust programs for individual players that might need one on one attention. Pitchers will need specific programs for the shoulders, low back and lower body in between starts and games. Always remember that an injured body part does not mean an injured body. Adjustments can be made to the program to cover most, if not all injuries.

There are three types of warm-up methods: Passive, active and dynamic. Regardless of the type of warm-up activities used, the general purpose of warming up prior to physical activity is to increase core body and muscle temperature.

Passive Warm-up

Generally, a passive warm-up involves such methods as hot showers, massage or heat pads, but most research has shown that this type of warm-up does not achieve the desired increase in tissue temperature needed to cause a warm-up effect. Due to this, a passive warm-up may be better termed a pre-warm-up and may allow the individual to relieve some muscle pain and stiffness and therefore enhance facilitation of body movements for the general warm-up to follow.

Active Warm-up

The active warm-up is probably the most commonly used technique and employs various movements not directly related to those employed in the activity itself, with the goal being increased tissue temperature and improve the efficiency of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems for the physiological demands and processes that will soon be placed on it. These may start with joint rotations, twisting and bending movements usually followed by jogging, jumping rope or light calisthenics.

Dynamic Flexibility

The final component we will cover in regards to warming up is the dynamic warm-up or sometimes called dynamic flexibility. The dynamic warm-up consists of functional-based exercises that use sport-specific movements to prepare the body for activity. This type of warm-up has been used for some time, but is still not common among most people. While dynamic flexibility is not as commonly used as other types of stretching (static, ballistic, PNF); this type of training has some unique aspects that may warrant its use in a warm-up.

This type of flexibility training has been shown to improve movement flexibility, balance, coordination, proprioception, elasticity of muscles and ligaments. It also has been shown to change the surfaces of joints in the process of long-term flexibility, and increases core body temperature and active muscle temperatures.

The next time you are looking for new ways to spice up your workout routine look to the different types of warm-ups to keep things interesting. General, passive and dynamic flexibility warm-ups will help you increase body and muscle temperature, which help you reduce muscle pain and stiffness, as well as, increase coordination, balance and muscle elasticity.

We will be running the Nike Pre-Combine Mini-Camp at our facility in West Chester Saturday morning from 10am-12pm.  We’ll break down every test into components and cover the techniques that will help you improve your numbers at the combine. This will be an intense two hours of work, so come prepared. If you want more info, post a message and I’ll pass specific information.

Q: What’s the difference between a NIKE Football Combine and SPARQ Mini Camp?

What is your metabolism and how does it affect you? Well, metabolism is just a fancy word to describe the rate at which the body carries out chemical processes, which in turn burns calories. Scientific research has shown that commitment to a resistance training program yields significant results to boosting the metabolism. After any resistance training session, the metabolism operates at a significantly higher rate than cardiovascular training alone. While cardiovascular training should be a part of almost any exercise program, more emphasis needs to be placed on building lean muscle mass. In the battle of resistance training versus cardiovascular training in terms of raising the metabolic rate, resistance training wins.

IT’S ALL ABOUT INTENSITY

It goes without saying that pushing it to the limits every time will yield better and faster results. Some ways to increase intensity in a resistance training workout are to increase reps, sets, tempo (rate at which reps are performed), and range of motion. Another way to increase intensity is to decrease rest time between sets.

INTERVAL TRAINING TO FINISH

Performing interval training on a cardio piece after a resistance training workout is a sure way to attack fat stores in the body. Glucose stores are completely depleted after resistance training which means the next line of defense in energy production is fat. Performing intervals is done by completing a 3:1 active rest to work ratio where the work session is done at 80-95% of the maximum heart rate. 

HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!

Water acts as a catalyst in many chemical reactions in the body. If hydration levels are optimum, the rate at which these processes are carried out (metabolism) will be more efficient meaning more calories will be burned! Divide your weight by 2.2 and that’s how many ounces of water you should have per day.

EAT OFTEN AND SMALL PORTIONS

When the body is deprived of food, it goes into a state of starvation. It is a survival mechanism that will ultimately slow the metabolism and conserve fat. Thus, making sure the body is nourished every two hours with a good protein & carbohydrate source about the size and thickness of one hand will keep the metabolism boosted all day.

The Premier Football Training Academy in the Tri-State Area is starting the inaugural and flagship Linebacker School. This program is designed and administered by Rocky Boiman and will include position specific drill work, film study and position specific strength training. Sessions will begin February 2010, running periodically all spring and summer.

For more information visit:

www.rockyboimanfootballacademy.com

Phone: 513-658-5058

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ — adidas, a global leader in running, today kicked off its worldwide New Year’s Resolution to help you become a better runner with the launch of the miCoach training platform. At a launch event at the company’s Las Vegas Sport Performance store, adidas will unveil one of the only devices in the marketplace to verbally coach an individual during a run. Through live demonstrations with professional coaches Greg McMillan and Terrence Mahon, adidas will show how miCoach simplifies the science of running and showcase the importance of personalized coaching.

The launch event at the adidas Sport Performance Store in Las Vegas begins at 10:30 a.m. and is open to all media attending the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Shuttle service will be provided beginning at 9:50 a.m. from Stop D located outside the Las Vegas Convention Center to the adidas store located at 3791 Las Vegas Boulevard South. In addition, adidas will use CES as a launch pad to educate the more than 110,000 attendees on the features and benefits of the miCoach platform. adidas will host product presentations throughout the show at its booth located in the Meeting Place in South Hall 2 #25336 as well at the adidas Sport Performance Store.

The new miCoach interactive training platform, featured on micoach.com, completes the adidas promise to make you run better. Not only does adidas provide the most innovative footwear and apparel to perform in, the company now offers personal coaching services so athletes of all levels can get fitter, run faster and simply be better in 2010.

The miCoach offering features two separate products:

• The miCoach Pacer – a small, lightweight device that delivers real-time audible coaching as a user exercises via headphones or combined with their own MP3 player. During a run, the miCoach Pacer verbally coaches the runner (i.e. speed up to green zone, slow down to blue zone, etc.) to ensure that they are staying within their targeted heart rate zone and keeps them running at the right personal level.
• The miCoach Zone – an easy to read color-code LED display on a wristband device provides accurate, real-time information making it easy to train at the right intensity with the help of a heart rate monitor.

The miCoach Pacer – a small, lightweight device that delivers real-time audible coaching as a user exercises via headphones or combined with their own MP3 player. During a run, the miCoach Pacer verbally coaches the runner (i.e. speed up to green zone, slow down to blue zone, etc.) to ensure that they are staying within their targeted heart rate zone and keeps them running at the right personal level.

The miCoach Zone – an easy to read color-code LED display on a wristband device provides accurate, real-time information making it easy to train at the right intensity with the help of a heart rate monitor.

“miCoach makes it easy for anyone at any level to get personal coaching. The instant progress reports help you get the most out of your run and achieve your personal goal,” says Bernd Wahler, chief marketing officer of adidas Sport Performance. “The audible coaching feature of the miCoach Pacer provides a new dimension to any workout experience allowing users of any level to discover their true potential. This product is really about offering our consumers a personal way to train.”

The adidas Innovation Team (aIT) began research and development for the current miCoach platform and devices more than two years ago with the objective of creating the most advanced personal training product in the marketplace. adidas also worked with some of the world’s finest athletic trainers in developing the miCoach training methodology, including Mark Verstegen, the founder and director of the Athletes’ Performance Institute (API), an elite training and sport research center based at Arizona State University.

“This is all about reaching your next level, whether you want to improve your personal best time, lose weight or want to train for your first marathon,” said Christian DiBenedetto, program director, digital sports products, adidas Groups’ adidas Innovation Team. “miCoach acts as your own personal coach who is there with you on every run. It practically does all the thinking for you and knows exactly what you want to accomplish and exactly how to help you get there.”

At www.micoach.com, a user can create personalized training plans, set goals and proactively monitor and manage their progress over time. The miCoach platform includes six goal-based categories: Learn to Run; De-Stress; Be Fit; Lose Weight; Run a Race; and Finish Faster. Based on this personal information, miCoach creates an individualized training program that’s tailored to a users heart rate zones and will help them achieve their fitness goals more efficiently than traditional exercise regimens. miCoach listens to a runners heart to determine their personal training zone ranges, each represented by a distinct color for easy-to-understand and effective training – blue, green, yellow and red. miCoach helps runners set goals and then reach them by monitoring their heart rate and telling them when to slow down or speed up to meet their personal goal .

The Suggested Retail Price for the complete miCoach Pacer system is US $139.99 and the Zone is available at a SRP of US $65.99. Both products can be purchased at any adidas Sport Performance Store or online at shopadidas.com

About adidas:

adidas is a global designer, developer and marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and accessories with the mission to be the leading sports brand in the world. Brand adidas is part of the adidas Group, a corporation that includes brands such as Reebok, TaylorMade and Rockport.

For further information and imagery downloads visit www.press.adidas.com or contact: