Monday, November 24, 2014



Speed And agility training

I have started training my athletes in writing, agility, and speed drills as early as Kindergarten. Many of them run with students  who are at the high school level and they're able to keep up and run through the drills.

While they may not be able to do the specific skill at the same level as a high school player they can still start to learn to move and stop and start at that level.   And I don't care what sport you play you can never be too fast or too quick. And there's nothing tougher than playing a player that can get back every ball or is constantly on the move from the start of the game till the end of the game

And I believe as long as they're going to run the drills they might as will be catching, hitting, or throwing a ball from their sport at the same time they're doing it.   That way they are getting sports specific skills as well as strength and conditioning at the same time

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Train at the speed of your sport

I cannot tell you the number of athletes I have worked with who train incorrectly for the sport they have chosen to play. 

With the advances in strength and conditioning over the past 10 years any athlete must create a scientifically designed workout routine is put together to address the sport they play. 

That means if you are playing tennis basketball or football you do not have and a running routine that has you running in a straight line or distances of a half mile or mile,

You are not going to run in a straight line using a long flowing stride when you play these sports. Instead you are going to be making quick steps, costly changing direction, and pushing off your outside leg to go the other direction as quick as you can. In other words you'll be shuffling moving parallel to your opponent and the quicker you can then change directions and maintain your balance the more effective you will be. 

You are not just born with this movement you need. You must develop it in your workouts. Therefore your workouts must include agility drills where you are constantly changing directions over a short period of space. That means you may run 10 to 20 yards change directions, run another 20 yards, change directions again and run another 20 yards. Whatever the movement that your sport will require is how you should be running when you were practicing.

The three sports I mentioned require fast twitch muscles and explosive movement. Yes you still must have endurance but it be far better development running a series of sprints or you are starting and stopping just like you will be in your sport. 

I like to use cones and my training where we are running forwards sideways backwards and diagonally in between and around those cones. We strive each week to move faster and to have better balance as we do these agility drills. Let me assure you any professional athlete you admire has ran through these cones over 1 million times. 

So if you want to perform at your optimal level I suggest you do to.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Can short-term high intensity interval training show results in children ages 8-11 

This article is based on a report from the Strength and Conditioning Research


Researchers in France recently investigated the effects of short-term interval training on fitness in prepubertal children. The investigators were interested in the effects on the children's aerobic performance and explosive strength.

They tested one hundred boys and girls aged 8 - 11 years. This group was comprised of 46 boys and 54 girlswho volunteers for the study, with the consent and approval of the parents. The same physician evaluated the sexual maturity of each child prior to the onset of training. There was a control group was comprised of 25 boys and 28 girls, and an experimental group involving 21 boys and 26 girls. Five field tests were performed at the beginning of the study to establish a baseline of fitness for the children. The tests included the standing broad jump, the 10 x 5-m shuttle run, the sit-and-reach, the 30-second sit-up test, and the 20-m shuttle run test.

The experimental group followed an interval-training program for 7 weeks. This group performed high-intensity, intermittent-running exercises 2 sessions per week for a period of 30 minutes per session. These exercises ranged from 10 - 20 seconds at 80 to 100% of their maximal aerobic speed. A recovery period of 10 ? 20 seconds followed each run. All exercises were performed on a short track and the children were placed in lanes corresponding to their maximal aerobic speed.

Results reveled that there was no significant difference at tests which were done at the start of the testing between the experimental and control groups. However once the experimental group started their training they did experience a significant improvement in their standing broad jump values and their maximal shuttle run velocity. These improvements were observed to be independent of gender and growth. No improvement was found in the control group which did not training at all. .

These results suggest that high-intensity, short-term interval training can elicit an improvement in some aspects of fitness for prepubertal children. It must be noted that children will perform better in a physical education environment when they are having fun within a group setting and when the instructions remain simple

So simply put children ages 8-11 can start training, train with high intensity, and get sigificant results from this training. But make sure you make their training enjoyable(by varying the exercises and routines) and in a group setting if you can!   

Personally I have seen tremendous results from students as early as  ages six and seven.  What I do is shortening the training time and always make sure all of the sports and strength and conditioning training we do is fun for them.  Do not expect a six-year-old athlete to go through a full 30 or 60 minute workout that will not happen.  Start with 10 to 15 minute training times maybe a then go up to 30 minutes.  Remember all of that time will add up each week and month and after six months you can see tremendous results

Baquet G, Guinhouya C, Dupont G, Nourry C, Berthoin S. (2004). Effects of a short-terminterval training program on physical fitness in prepubertal children. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 18(4): 708 ? 713.
Cook Healthy Meals For Your Children 


At Manhattan's Private Calhoun School Chef Robert Surles cooks healthy meals for his Kids. "Chef Bobo " as he is called, cooks from scratch, keeps the portion sizes small, and provides healthy food instead of the preservative loaded, high sugar junk that most students are asked to consume. 

He states that " studies have shown that it may take up to 15 times of tasting something before a child will like it." So rather than give in, Chef Bobo, will keep putting out his healthy food dishes until his students find the particular dishes they like. 

He also tries to avoid any food that has corn syrup in it. He feels this is one of main reason that diabetes is running rampant in our children is that corn syrup is so prevelant in all of our foods. One of his examples is ketchup. Ketchup has more sugar in it than ice cream and he will not serve it to his students. 

One of his recipes is for Rutabaga fries, which are tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, and then cooked in a convection oven. 

So you parents need to get on the bandwagon. You need to buy healthy foods from the grocery store, like lean meats, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit each week. You need to cook your meals from scratch and avoid the frozen prepared meals in the freezer aisles, which are pumped full of preservatives and sugars. You need to take the time and effort to plan and out and prepare healthy meals each day. 

I would not only recommend that you eat most of your meals together as a family,  but also did you get your children involved in cooking and preparing the meal.  This will give them the routine of cooking and of preparing healthy meals,  and they should carry this routine for the rest of their life

Give your child the gift of health! All of your effort will be worth it, and they will be able to carry this habit of health with them when they go out on their own . 

Training on the Beach


Do you live near the beach, or are you traveling on vacation and will be near a beach

 I love beach exercises. You get create resistance work and you also get very little impact and stress places on your when training and exercising. 

These are some of the exercises I use beach training 

1) Place four cones in a square pattern, about 5 years apart. Now run short step sprint drills using different routes such as:


  • Forward to the first cone and backwards and sideways to the back cone and the forward to the first cones and backwards and sideways to back cone again. Do this four times each
  • Now run forward from the left back cone to the front right cone and then backwards to the back right cone and then forward to front left cone and then backwards to the back left cone, thus completing the entire circuit.  Do this four times each.


Make up your own routes but make sure that you go forwards, backwards, and sideways etc.

You want SHORTS STEPS, KEEPING YOUR BALANCE, AND DEVELOPING QUICK FEET ON THESE DRILLS! Do not let FORM GET SLOPPY. When YOU stop and change directions. You must learn how to plant your outside foot, bend your outside leg at the knee, and then push off with your outside foot. This means you were pushing off and powering off your outside leg into the turn while leaning your body towards the turn.  You then shift your weight to the inside leg and foot as you proceed in the opposite direction. They whole body must work together as one unit when doing this.

I use plyometric jumping boxes on the beach for  it is an excellent surface to practice your vertical leap on for the sand will cushion the impact upon landing.  

Any type of hill you can find on the beach will also give you great results.  The extra effort it takes to run uphill in the sand is going to make your body or twice as hard and also get twice the results.  In fact there's a I feel in Manhattan Beach that's so popular that only the residents can run on.  And even they have to make a reservation to run on the hill on their own beach.  So if you can find any form of hill on a beach or sandy area take advantage of it

So incorporate some beach or sand training into your workouts and I guarantee you will see some great results. 

Monday, March 17, 2014

How much protein do you need to compete

Read my new article at my new bodybuilding site

http://bodybuilderkent.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-much-protein-do-you-need-to-compete.html

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Speed versus Distance Training 


So you want to increase your speed for your sport (tennis, football, track, etc). So you go to the track and jog a few lapswith other people who are running there, or you go to the gym and
run on the treadmill with the other gym members beside you, or you get on the bike or other device at the gym and exercise right along  with the other gym members.You then go to play your sport and find out that:

1) You are not as fast as the other players you are competing
against.
2) You are tired after a few minutes.
3) You start cramping after a few minutes of competition.

So you are now wondering how can this be happening after all of
the "training" you did.

Well yes, you did train and you did accomplish a level of basic
fitness and health, which is very important starting base for
training.

But you will not be able to compete at any sport requiring speed
while you are running at the comfortable stride and speed that you
jog around the track at, or worked out at the gym at. And those
other gym members you are exercising with are training just to be
healthy, and most of them are not trying compete at any sport.

In sport competition you need to replicate the kind of running you
will do in the sport itself. That means a series of short sprints
intermixed with jogging and walking. You are trying to develop your
fast twitch muscles for these sports, not your slow twitch muscles.
You MUST be able to sprint, rest, sprint, rest, over a period of
time to be successful.

So for tennis you would mark off a 15X15 year area and run sprints
forwards, backwards, side to side and diagonally for period of 20-30
seconds, followed by a rest period of walking for 15 seconds, and
then repeated again, again, again ,etc.

For football the same kind of training would be done except your
would mark of the area for the postion your play ( ex. lineman a 5-
15 year area, linebacker 10-20 year area, receiver 20-45 yard area.
Make sure your run-walk-run-walk for your training period.

The stride you take- the muscles you use- and the balance you need to 
play a sport that requires speed are very different from the
muscles you will develop by doing a easy jogging stride for distance running.

So whatever your sport is make sure you train at the speed of that
sport. This will ensure you will perform at 100% of your capability
when you compete.

Bio



I have been training and training bodybuilders and athletes for over 35 years. That includes playing 4 sports( football for 9 years). boxing for 6 years, competing in full contact karate, and wrestling.

I trained in Golds Gym for 20 years at 4AM and my best lifts were 350lb bench press 5 times, 400 lb squat 12 times, 100 pullups, over press 175 8 times.

But now the training methods have changed. We now move with the weights, and incorporate developing our muscles in way builds them up and still increases our speed, power, and flexibility.

My goal is to bring the latest training technology to athletes worldwide. 

Monday, March 10, 2014

Speed versus Distance Trainin

So you want to increase your speed for your sport (tennis, football, track, etc). So you go to the track and jog a few laps
with other people who are running there, or you go to the gym and
run on the treadmill with the other gym members beside you, or you
get on the bike or other device at the gym and exercise right along
with the other gym members.
You then go to play your sport and find out that:

1) You are not as fast as the other players you are competing
against.
2) You are tired after a few minutes.
3) You start cramping after a few minutes of competition.

So you are now wondering how can this be happening after all of
the "training" you did.

Well yes, you did train and you did accomplish a level of basic
fitness and health, which is very important starting base for
training.

But you will not be able to compete at any sport requiring speed
while you are running at the comfortable stride and speed that you
jog around the track at, or worked out at the gym at. And those
other gym members you are exercising with are training just to be
healthy, and most of them are not trying compete at any sport.

In sport competition you need to replicate the kind of running you
will do in the sport itself. That means a series of short sprints
intermixed with jogging and walking. You are trying to develop your
fast twitch muscles for these sports, not your slow twitch muscles.
You MUST be able to sprint, rest, sprint, rest, over a period of
time to be successful.

So for tennis you would mark off a 15X15 year area and run sprints
forwards, backwards, side to side and diagonally for period of 20-30
seconds, followed by a rest period of walking for 15 seconds, and
then repeated again, again, again ,etc.

For football the same kind of training would be done except your
would mark of the area for the postion your play ( ex. lineman a 5-
15 year area, linebacker 10-20 year area, receiver 20-45 yard area.
Make sure your run-walk-run-walk for your training period.

The stride you take- the muscles you use- and the balance you need to play a sport that requires speed are very different from the
muscles you will develop by doing a easy jogging stride for distance running.

So whatever your sport is make sure you train at the speed of that
sport. This will ensure you will perform at 100% of your capability
when you compete.

Plyometric Training to Prevent Injuries



I use the steel raised platform boxes for my plyometric exercises routines. I have my athletes do exercises featuring jumping on the boxes and also jumping off of them. ( See the picture of my Daughter Kendra jumping off of one of my Plyometric boxes.

When you jump or simply drop down you need to land with your feet together and for your female bodybuilders you need to make sure you land evenly and in balance. Ladies injure their ACL's 8 times more than males.

For jumping up make sure you bend your knees, come forward, take a deep breath, explode from feet all the way up through your legs, blow your breath out, and launch yourself up to the box.

For Drop jumping from the box to the ground, this involves the athlete dropping to the ground from a raised platform or box, and then immediately jumping up. Do not jump down simply drop to the ground. The drop down gives pre-stretch to the leg muscles, and make sure your jump up immediately when you touch the ground. This is a high-impact form of plyometric training so make sure you have done some sort of jumping or bounding exercises before you attempt these.

I also like step-ups done with each leg using the higher boxes and eventually done holding weights (dumbells in each hand when doing these). Step up and down in a controlled movement - streching the entire leg as you do so keeping your back as straight as possible.



Increase your speed on the tennis court


One of the key components for playing tennis is the ability to get to the ball in time to hit it. 

 To be more precise you need to be able to get to the ball and be in position to hit it correctly. If you get there to late you will either hit the ball out, or hit back a weak return that your opponent will easily put away. In order to get to and hit tennis ball correctly you need to shuffle, your feet while keeping your body parallel to the net. 

This position will enable you to change directions in a instant and immediately be heading the opposite direction in a instant.

If you run in a straight line to get a ball when turning sideway to the net you will need to take least two steps to change direction after you hit it.   and this will slow you down immensely so that you will be out of position for the next ball. 

So always practice your shuffle run while changing direction.   This will build up your speed, agility, and balance.