Dynamic balance is one of the greatest physical predictors of athletic success (athletic power would be the other). Static balance, which can be maintained with minimal movement, should be distinguished from dynamic balance.
Your ability to maintain a center of gravity over a constantly changing base of support is critical to success and is the essence of dynamic balance. Postural strength and control is also necessary to achieve dynamic balance.
You should participate in exercises that progressively challenge her or his dynamic balance and postural control. Exercises that require use of different surfaces (firm to unstable) will work to accomplish this. One-armed and one-legged exercises also work well. Experts don't always agree on the specific balance exercises to be performed, but research proves that changes in both sensory and motor systems influence balance performance.
Balance exercises should be specific to the sport in which the athlete competes to increase the chances of success and minimize the risk of injury. For example, football and soccer players often compete with cleated shoes on grass surfaces or with flat shoes on artificial surfaces.
Gymnasts must perform with moves that incorporate tumbling and leaping. Those same gymnasts must also perform many moves demonstrating high levels of static balance. A balance training program should incorporate dynamic and static exercises where appropriate. The athlete's sport movements should also be trained as much as possible.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Sports Fitness Hut
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Recovery From Intense Athletic Competition
A study from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia found that recovery times from intense workouts are the same for old and young athletes.
This is true even though muscles weaken with aging because of decreased muscle fibers (the remaining muscle fibers work as well as those for a younger athlete). The tests were performed using two groups of experienced cyclists racing in 30-minute time trials on three consecutive days. The first group had an average age of 24 while the second group's average age was 45.
Both groups maintained their average power, had the same amount of muscle damage and had the same drop in their maximal heart rate during the third time trial.
Loss of muscle fibers may be part of the reason why older athletes must work harder to stay even with younger athletes.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
This is true even though muscles weaken with aging because of decreased muscle fibers (the remaining muscle fibers work as well as those for a younger athlete). The tests were performed using two groups of experienced cyclists racing in 30-minute time trials on three consecutive days. The first group had an average age of 24 while the second group's average age was 45.
Both groups maintained their average power, had the same amount of muscle damage and had the same drop in their maximal heart rate during the third time trial.
Loss of muscle fibers may be part of the reason why older athletes must work harder to stay even with younger athletes.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Know The Warning Signs Of Heatstroke
In the heat, you should always stop competing during practice or a game if you feel sick, have chills, headache, severe muscle burning or aching, dizziness or blurred vision.
If your symptoms don't subside in a few minutes, you could be headed for a heat stroke that can kill you. During athletic competition lasting 2-4 hours, fatigue, dehydration, muscle weakness/cramps and decreased coordination is caused by low levels of fluids, salt or glycogen (fuel from carbohydrate calories). It is important to keep your fluids, salt and glycogen levels adequate during competition because it is often too late once the symptoms show up.
Endurance sports require your heart to efficiently pump oxygen in your bloodstream from your lungs into your muscles. A study from the University of Connecticut shows that with dehydration, your heart beats with far less force, so it pumps far less blood with each beat. Therefore, an inadequate amount of oxygen reaches your muscles.
Don't depend on thirst to tell you when you lack fluids. When you are going to exercise for more than a couple hours, especially in hot weather, drink small amounts of water frequently and eat salted snacks or consume a sports drink.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
If your symptoms don't subside in a few minutes, you could be headed for a heat stroke that can kill you. During athletic competition lasting 2-4 hours, fatigue, dehydration, muscle weakness/cramps and decreased coordination is caused by low levels of fluids, salt or glycogen (fuel from carbohydrate calories). It is important to keep your fluids, salt and glycogen levels adequate during competition because it is often too late once the symptoms show up.
Endurance sports require your heart to efficiently pump oxygen in your bloodstream from your lungs into your muscles. A study from the University of Connecticut shows that with dehydration, your heart beats with far less force, so it pumps far less blood with each beat. Therefore, an inadequate amount of oxygen reaches your muscles.
Don't depend on thirst to tell you when you lack fluids. When you are going to exercise for more than a couple hours, especially in hot weather, drink small amounts of water frequently and eat salted snacks or consume a sports drink.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Friday, September 14, 2007
Carbohydrates and Sports Performance
Carbohydrates are your body's preferred source for fuel during exercise or competition. Your body stores carbohydrates, in the form of glycogen, in the liver and muscles.
Your body uses glycogen as fuel for any exercise more intense than a gentle jog or run. Glycogen can be broken down to provide energy more quickly than fat, which is the body's other major energy source. Since only limited amounts of glycogen can be stored, depletion of glycogen stores is a concern for athletes.
You can keep your glycogen stores adequate by carbohydrate loading one week prior to competition, having a high carbohydrate diet during training and consuming carbohydrates during competitions lasting more than 1 hour.
If you are training every one or two days, then replenishing your glycogen stores within 1 hour after exercise is important (200-400 carb calories). If you don't like to eat within 1 hour after exercising, a carb-rich drink will work great. You should also eat another 200-400 carb calories 2-3 hours later.
Your daily diet should consist of 60%-70% carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pasta and brown rice. If you increase carb intake to 70% (close to competition time), then cut back on fats in your diet. Fats (mainly unsaturated) would normally need to be about 20% of your diet, so cutting fats back to 15% would work.
Download your Free Book, "What to Never Eat After You Workout."
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Your body uses glycogen as fuel for any exercise more intense than a gentle jog or run. Glycogen can be broken down to provide energy more quickly than fat, which is the body's other major energy source. Since only limited amounts of glycogen can be stored, depletion of glycogen stores is a concern for athletes.
You can keep your glycogen stores adequate by carbohydrate loading one week prior to competition, having a high carbohydrate diet during training and consuming carbohydrates during competitions lasting more than 1 hour.
If you are training every one or two days, then replenishing your glycogen stores within 1 hour after exercise is important (200-400 carb calories). If you don't like to eat within 1 hour after exercising, a carb-rich drink will work great. You should also eat another 200-400 carb calories 2-3 hours later.
Your daily diet should consist of 60%-70% carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pasta and brown rice. If you increase carb intake to 70% (close to competition time), then cut back on fats in your diet. Fats (mainly unsaturated) would normally need to be about 20% of your diet, so cutting fats back to 15% would work.
Download your Free Book, "What to Never Eat After You Workout."
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Thursday, September 13, 2007
How To Prevent Shoulder Injuries
It takes an integrated training program to lessen the chances of sports shoulder injuries. There are no guarantees, but taking the following steps can help keep your shoulder injury-free:
1) Poor Technique: Bad throwing/motion habits will certainly lead to shoulder problems. When fatigue sets in, the shoulder problems increase. It is critical to learn proper throwing/motion technique in your sport.
2) Flexibility: Adequate flexibility is important for every part of the body and especially so for the shoulder. Freedom of movement for the pelvis, trunk, scapula, and humerus are important. For the rotator cuff, balancing the forces centering the head of the humerus and freedom of movement is critical.
The rotator cuff muscles are dependent on good positioning of the scapula for effective control. Bad positioning of the scapula results in decreased ability of the shoulder muscles to produce power. Static stretching for flexibility should not be done prior to training or athletic competition (a dynamic flexibility routine prepares the entire body best for competition).
Core Strength and Stability: All movement begins with the core, so it is essential to strenghen and stabilize it. For the shoulder, the important areas are the lumbar spine, cervical spine and the scapulothoracic joint. If these areas are not stable, extra loading and strain is passed on to the shoulder joint.
General Muscle Strength: Once the body's core is adequately strengthened and stabilized, the body's limbs should then be strengthened. A strong core maximizes limb strength and power.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
1) Poor Technique: Bad throwing/motion habits will certainly lead to shoulder problems. When fatigue sets in, the shoulder problems increase. It is critical to learn proper throwing/motion technique in your sport.
2) Flexibility: Adequate flexibility is important for every part of the body and especially so for the shoulder. Freedom of movement for the pelvis, trunk, scapula, and humerus are important. For the rotator cuff, balancing the forces centering the head of the humerus and freedom of movement is critical.
The rotator cuff muscles are dependent on good positioning of the scapula for effective control. Bad positioning of the scapula results in decreased ability of the shoulder muscles to produce power. Static stretching for flexibility should not be done prior to training or athletic competition (a dynamic flexibility routine prepares the entire body best for competition).
Core Strength and Stability: All movement begins with the core, so it is essential to strenghen and stabilize it. For the shoulder, the important areas are the lumbar spine, cervical spine and the scapulothoracic joint. If these areas are not stable, extra loading and strain is passed on to the shoulder joint.
General Muscle Strength: Once the body's core is adequately strengthened and stabilized, the body's limbs should then be strengthened. A strong core maximizes limb strength and power.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Friday, September 7, 2007
Laying A Solid Strength Foundation For Young Athletes
When training young people for sports activities, it is important to lay a solid foundation before progressing to heavier weight lifting exercises. The following exercises are great for preparing the young athlete for more intense training:
--body weight (squats, lunges, push ups)
--medicine ball (throwing exercises)
--light dumbbell (total body exercises)
--stability ball (great for core exercises)
--low boxes (jumping exercises and step exercises)
The focus for the young athlete should be to gain core strength, overall strength and postural control. Learning how to do the exercises correctly should be a priority.
Keep the training fun for young athletes by mixing in exercises such as jump rope games, climbing games, cone drills and pulling/pushing games. Young athletes can safely begin some basic strength training when they are old enough to participate in team sports,which is usually 5 or 6 years old.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
--body weight (squats, lunges, push ups)
--medicine ball (throwing exercises)
--light dumbbell (total body exercises)
--stability ball (great for core exercises)
--low boxes (jumping exercises and step exercises)
The focus for the young athlete should be to gain core strength, overall strength and postural control. Learning how to do the exercises correctly should be a priority.
Keep the training fun for young athletes by mixing in exercises such as jump rope games, climbing games, cone drills and pulling/pushing games. Young athletes can safely begin some basic strength training when they are old enough to participate in team sports,which is usually 5 or 6 years old.
Download your FREE 10-Minute Strength and Power Workouts now!
Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower or skinny, weaker athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Caffeine's Effect On Exercise and Sports Performance
Caffeine is a part of most people's daily diets. It is found in many foods and drinks. Research has shown that one cup of coffee has positive effects on decision-making, alertness and reaction time. But, how does caffeine affect your exercise and sports performance? First, more caffeine is not necessarily better. One or two cups of coffee will help your performance.
Researchers from the University of Luton reviewed 39 published caffeine studies. They found that caffeine users improved endurance exercise performance and short/high intensity exercise performance by 12.4% when compared to groups using placebos.
Also, researchers from the Australian Institute of Sport found significant improvements in cyclists time trial tests when they consumed a couple of cans of cola. The risks associated with moderate caffeine use are pretty small. If caffeine is part of your diet, use it wisely to help your exercise and sports performance.
Download your Free Book, "What to Never Eat After You Workout."
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Researchers from the University of Luton reviewed 39 published caffeine studies. They found that caffeine users improved endurance exercise performance and short/high intensity exercise performance by 12.4% when compared to groups using placebos.
Also, researchers from the Australian Institute of Sport found significant improvements in cyclists time trial tests when they consumed a couple of cans of cola. The risks associated with moderate caffeine use are pretty small. If caffeine is part of your diet, use it wisely to help your exercise and sports performance.
Download your Free Book, "What to Never Eat After You Workout."
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)