Athletic Performance Toolbox

Training for Power and Explosiveness

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Regardless of the sport, an athlete can greatly enhance their performance if they can improve their ability to generate power and explosion. In the video clip below Gary Calcagno, Oklahoma State Wrestling Strength and Conditioning Coach;Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist; a certified Level I, Level II, and Sports Performance Coach through USA Weightlifting; shows you the basics of two similar exercises that he uses to improve an athletes triple extension and ultimately their power and explosiveness.

The two exercises are the Hang Clean Grip Jump Shrug and Snatch Grip Hang Clean. The focus of both are to the extension of the ankle, knee and hip. The two differ only in the grip. The hang clean grip should be about shoulder width, while the snatch grip should be approximately two inches outside the rings.

The key coaching points for both Jump Shrugs are as follows;
1. Feet hip width apart
2. Hips should be hinged
3. Butt back
4. Chest up and out over the bar
5. Small amount of knee bend
6. Back flat
7. Look straight ahead (approx. six feet)
8. Arms tight
9. Elbows rolled
10. Knuckles down
11. jump straight up.
12. keep the bar close to the body
13. Don’t go back
14. Use hips not arms
15. Feel the bar “picking you up”

The video is just a sample from Coach Calcagno’s Instructional DVD. For more information about the DVD click the link Training for Power and Explosiveness. Coach Calcagno shares six different series of movements (with over 40 exercises) that are the core of his program. The lifts cover:

lifts for the core including Cleans, Snatches and Combination lifts
lifts for chest and arms
lifts for leg strength
plyometric exercises

The YouTube video below has sound,  so please make sure that your sound is turned on and that you have access to the site. Some schools block access to YouTube

Cluster Training

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By Chris Beardsley

Chris Beardsley  graduated from Durham University with a Masters Degree in 2001. He since contributed to the fields of sports science and sports medicine by working alongside researchers from Team GB boxing, the School of Sport and Recreation at Auckland University of Technology, the Faculty of Sport at the University of Ljubljana, the Department of Sport at Staffordshire University, and the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. He is also a Director at Strength and Conditioning Research Limited 

For more great information regarding strength and conditioning follow Chris on Twitter and Instagram

Cluster training can involve as little as one intra-set rest period. It can also involve an inter-repetition rest after every single rep.

Short-term studies show us that using short rests after every single rep can completely remove the effects of fatigue on bar speed.

In this way, it is just like velocity-based training. So cluster training could be valuable for athletes who compete in strength and power sports.

And while just a couple of intra-set rest periods can reduce the effects of fatigue on bar speed, it seems to be better to use more frequent rests (every 2 reps) than less frequent ones (every 4 reps).

Interestingly, force production doesn’t seem affected by intra-set rests at all. That observation probably deserves some more investigation! The maintenance of force production in multi-joint movements despite reductions in bar speed when performing straight sets could partly reflect changes in movement patterns due to fatigue.

Long-term studies on cluster training are slightly conflicting.

They all agree that cluster training is superior for improving power and velocity, which is in line with the idea of velocity-based training. However, some also show a benefit for strength gains, but others show the reverse.

So how does this tie together?

Straight sets are likely superior for hypertrophy compared to cluster training, because of the closer proximity to muscular failure.

On the other hand, cluster training allows for higher average bar speeds, which makes them superior for power and velocity. This may happen either through the retention of more type IIX fiber area, or through other velocity-related adaptations.

The impact on strength may be small, or down to the individual, as force production seems to be similar across both straight sets and clusters. The extent to which an individual has potential to achieve a meaningful degree of hypertrophy may be the deciding factor.

So cluster training may be a great way of training when power is most important, such as in-season. It is perhaps less optimal when hypertrophy is key, such as in the off-season.

Training Teams and Individuals

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This article was provided by Coaches Network

By Patrick McHenry

One of the most challenging aspects of training high school athletes is balancing the needs of an entire team with individual players. Utilizing the Four Step Method provides a solution.

The Four Step Method covers these critical areas: testing, evaluating, setting goals, and developing a program. Below is a closer look at each one.

1. Testing refers to assessing the athletic levels of your team members. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of student-athletes individually and as a team, and enables the coach to design a strength and conditioning program that is specific to the needs of each student-athlete.

The three recommended tests are the Vertical Jump, Pro-Agility Run, and 10-Yard Dash. Other tests that can be included are the Long Jump, the Medicine Ball Throw, and the Three Cone Drill. (You can find more detailed instructions on these tests in this previous article.) Note that these tests are for “power” sports, not endurance sports. They also fit into a combine style set up so I can perform multiple tests in a time efficient manner.

Testing should be performed at several different times:

• Before developing a training program

• To assess progress at regular intervals throughout training

• As a way to have your athletes compete against each other in the off season, which helps keep them motivated.

The great thing about performance testing is that you can see how well your athlete is progressing without undo stress and potential injury. Ask any professional strength coach how often they require their athletes to perform one rep maxes and they will say the same thing: NEVER. If a professional athlete gets hurt maxing, the coach will lose their job. The risk is too great.

There is no reason to risk an injury at the high school level by performing a one rep max. Many of our athletes have a training age of one to five years, which suggests their lifting technique may not be as high quality as a college or pro athlete. What about doing multi-rep maxes? A multi repetition maximum may be safer, but it will not give the same performance measure as we can get from a vertical jump, pro agility run, and 10-yard dash.

2. Evaluation entails analyzing the test results of each student-athlete and the team as a whole. This is a vital step so you know specifically what weaknesses each individual needs to work on and what weaknesses the team has. It will then help you design the most effective program.

After testing I have each athlete graph their results and then chart them so they can compare their scores to athletes who are the same age and gender from all over the county. I use the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA.com) Performance Assessment package (free to members)

3. Goal Setting requires athletes and their coaches to identify a reasonable time or score to achieve within a certain time period. Setting performance goals allows coaches and student-athletes to have a focus point to strive for every time they come into a workout. This helps each athlete stay motivated to improve, not only individually but also for the team.

I like to talk to each athlete about goal-setting so they understand its importance. I explain how their lifting and work effort will help achieve their goals if they use the program correctly. Then each athlete has an opportunity to write up their own goals.

Goals should never be set too high or too low. They should be challenging, yet realistic, and allow for the student-athlete to see improvements each time they test. They should also be specific. “I want to improve my vertical jump” does not tell me much. “I want to improve my vertical jump by two inches before the end of the second term” would be a good goal.

A vital step in goal setting is to not only write down goals, but the steps for achieving them. For the athlete who wants to improve their vertical jump, steps might be: working on their cleans, focusing on their squat technique, and putting all their effort into plyometric days.

4. Program Design refers to the training regimen that the coach designs to help the student-athlete achieve his or her goals. Ultimately, effective training programs will result in an improvement in athletic performance.

The program should be designed (or modified) depending on the athlete’s goal. If an athlete is trying to improve their vertical jump, we will focus on cleans, jumps and squats, for example.

Before we start the lifting program, we make sure the athlete is using good technique. We check over the athlete’s knees to make sure they are positioned properly. We look at arm mechanics and assess if they are using their core fully and going through full range of motion. One area that is often overlooked is the deceleration (or eccentric) phase of a lift. We will go down slowly in the eccentric phase of the lift and then explode up in the concentric phase.

One note of caution is that eccentric loading will break the athlete down. So only do this in the off season. If an athlete wants to work on speed, we will use the same lifts and work on technique.

 

Patrick McHenry, CSCS*D, is the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Castle View (Colo.) High School. He has presented to sport coaches, strength coaches, and physical education teachers at state, national, and international conferences. He is the former Colorado state director for the NSCA, was the chairman for the NSCA High School Special Interest Group, and is currently on the NSCA Board of Directors and Coaching Performance Committee. 

Speed Groups

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This article was provided by Training and Conditioning.
 
By Dr. Jay Dawes
 
Jay Dawes, PhD, CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT,*D, USAW, FNSCA, is an Assistant Professor of Strength and Conditioning and the head strength coach for women’s soccer at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. Jay has worked as a strength/performance coach, educator and post-rehabilitation specialist for over 15 years, and continues to act as a performance consultant for a wide-variety athletes, law enforcement officers and those in physically demanding occupations. Jay was recognized as a Fellow of the NSCA (FNSCA) in 2009.

As coaches, one of the major challenges we face is determining how to maximize speed performance in a team setting. Often coaches design programs that address the majority of the athletes. The challenge with this is those that are faster tend to get undertrained, whereas slower athletes tend to get overtrained. Subsequently, the only athletes that really get what they need to improve are those in the middle of the pack. Another challenge is the specific speed quality that should be trained to improve performance may be different for each athlete. For instance, linear speed over short distances can be broken down into three major areas.

1.)Acceleration- 5-20 meters
2.)Top-end speed- 20-40 meters
3.)Speed Endurance- greater than 40 meters or the ability to repeat sprints with minimal loss of speed over a match or competition.While research shows that all of these variables are related and interrelated they are still distinct qualities and should be trained differently. Thus, to get the most benefits from a speed training program we would aim to improve on deficiencies. For the purpose of this post we will focus on the first two areas: acceleration and top end speed.

One way to divide your athletes based on need is to perform a simple 30-meter sprint test with split times. To perform this test you will need a couple of stopwatches (a testing partner, a measuring tape, a track or large open area, and markers/cones.

Procedures:

  • Begin by marking the starting line with a cone
  • Place another cone directly in line with the starting cone at both 10 and 30 meters.
  • The athlete should stand behind the starting line in a two or three-point athletic stance depending on their sport.
  • If using a stopwatch, one coach should be positioned just to the side of the 10-meter mark and one coach will need to be at the 30-meter mark.

NOTE: While stopwatches can be used, a laser timer can significantly improve the validity and reliability of these tests. Additionally, when pressing the button on the stopwatch the coach should use the index finger, rather than the thumb to improve the accuracy of the measure.

  • On the “go” command, or on first movement, the coach will start the stopwatch. The coach positioned at the 10-meter mark (i.e., acceleration time) will stop the stopwatch when the athlete crosses this line, whereas the coach at the 30-meter mark will stop their timer as the athlete crosses the 30-meter mark (e.g., top-end speed). Time to the nearest 0.10 sec should be recorded
  • Allow up to three sprints with a minimum of 3-5 minutes’ rest between sprints to allow recovery and minimize the effects of fatigue
  • The best time for the 30-meter sprint should be recorded as the individual’s final score (NOTE: Take both 10 meter and 30 meter times for the best score).

Analysis:

Once this information has been collected the coach can then identify which speed attribute(s) (i.e. acceleration or top-end speed) are in most need of improvement. Athletes who have below average acceleration speeds compared to the team, but are above average from the 20-30 meter marks would likely benefit most from training their ability to accelerate in the first 0-10 meters. For athletes who accelerate quickly, then are unable to maintain their speed between 20 to 30 meters, they may benefit from longer distance (20-60 m) sprints. Athletes who fall below the averages in both categories will need to improve both acceleration and top-end speed.

Conclusion:

By determining which speed attributes your players need to develop a coach is better able to design speed training programs to meet the athlete’s individual needs. Furthermore, by classifying athletes into different groups each athlete on the team can truly focus on becoming their personal best rather than being lumped into the middle.

This article was originally published on the website of Elite Sports University (ESU) and is being used with permission from the organization. ESU is an online university that offers the latest scientific courses on strength and conditioning, speed agility, nutrition, and specialty classes for tactical coaches, LTAD, and personal trainers. ESU classes can be taken to fulfill CEU requirements, college credits, or to improve your knowledge base. More information is at: elitesportsuniversity.com.

Mental Training Enhances Strength Training

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By Chris Beardsley

Chris Beardsley  graduated from Durham University with a Masters Degree in 2001. He since contributed to the fields of sports science and sports medicine by working alongside researchers from Team GB boxing, the School of Sport and Recreation at Auckland University of Technology, the Faculty of Sport at the University of Ljubljana, the Department of Sport at Staffordshire University, and the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. He is also a Director at Strength and Conditioning Research Limited 

For more great information regarding strength and conditioning follow Chris on Twitter ,Instagram, and Linkedin

Only a small amount of research has assessed how deliberate changes in psychological factors through “mental training” programs can affect force production, and thereby help prepare athletes for sport.

Mental training programs can involve either the development of valuable psychological skills, such as controlling self-talk, or the immediate application of simple methods, such as mental imagery and/or modelling.

Mental imagery is often (but not always) done by simply visualising performing an exercise in-between sets of normal strength training with the same exercise. In such training programs, adding mental imagery training on top of normal strength training produces superior results.

Recently, new research found that it was possible to produce strength gains in a multi-joint lower body exercise in a group of subjects who already had experience in performing that exercise, by using mental imagery training.

What is more, these strength gains occurred in just 3 days, in which the subjects did no strength training at all.

Interestingly, in many studies investigating mental imagery (like this one), the changes in strength seem to occur alongside increases in self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is a key psychological quality that determines how confident an individual is at succeeding at a task or exercise. Mental imagery (visualization) training seems to be effective at improving self-efficacy, thereby changing the way in which athletes approach a task.

Mental toughness has also been identified as a key quality that determines strength, athletic performance, and even predicts success in the sport itself, among high-level athletes.

Although mental toughness is anecdotally believed to be either innate, or developed by gruelling workouts, the evidence suggests that even a very low volume of psychological skills training (including self-talk) can improve measures of mental toughness in high-level athletes.

This suggests that mental toughness is also trainable with the right approach, and does not require strength coaches to use otherwise unhelpful physical training methods in an attempt to encourage that psychological trait.

Overall, there seem to be very close relationships between key psychological qualities like self-efficacy and mental toughness, and athletic performance.

Given the evidence suggesting that these qualities can be enhanced by mental training, strength coaches will likely benefit from devoting time to understanding these methods and liaising with sports psychologists, so that they can be implemented with their athletes.