Improve Your Running Speed During Team Practices

A middle school athlete and I were talking about football practice and improving running speed.

He asked me about ways to improve his speed and I replied to him to sprint 50 yards with each handoff to him as a running back. That way he gets in speed work during practice and not after practice.

For example, if a coach had players doing speed work at the end of practice, general conditioning would probably be achieved rather than the desired increase in optimum speed development. You must train fast to get faster.



Running backs, defensive backs and receivers should do all speed and agility drills at full speed.

That way, you train your body to play the game as fast as possible (maximum speed is rarely reached during a game). The body and the central nervous system adapts to the way you practice. So, if you practice slow, you will play the game slow!

Here is a real life example. Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice is legendary for his work ethic and practice habits. During practice, he would sprint all the way to the end zone after each catch. The San Francisco 49ers used a lot of short passes in their west coast offense.

Guess what? Jerry Rice turned many short receptions into long gains or touchdowns. I never saw anyone "run him down" during a game and Jerry was not a 4.3 second 40 yard dash guy. But, he played the game faster than the opponents. Why? Because he practiced fast! Yards-after-catch (YAC) became a popular statistic because of guys like Jerry Rice.

You definitely play the game the way you practice it!

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Ankle Sprains Weaken The Athlete's Power Center

Great athletes dominate dynamic movements with the hips, glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. Lateral speed is particularly created and maintained by the strength of the glutes and hips.

An athlete won't compete at a high level when the butt (mainly gluteus maximus) isn't working properly?! It is almost impossible to have a good game when "your butt just isn't in it!"

Research has proven that ankle sprains weaken the neural drive to your gluteus maximus and gluteus medius! Who would have thunk it! Also, the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle of the buttocks, so take care of it!

When it comes to exercise injuries, prevention is critical. And, when injuries can't be prevented, treatment of any soft tissue (tendons, ligaments, muscles) injury during the first 24-72 hours is important to offset any further injury and inflammation. The general rule of thumb is to use the R.I.C.E.R. principle (REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION, REFERRAL FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE).

Ankle sprains can be avoided by learning proper landing/jumping techniques and correct running mechanics.

Faulty footwork used during deceleration (such as coming to a sudden stop) also causes many ankle sprains. If you are moving to your left during a lateral shuffle, the left leg must be in a position wide enough to stop momentum (just wider than the hips).

This is commonly known as the athletic position. The left foot should also be pointed straight ahead and the ankle should be pointed upward (with weight on balls of feet). Pointing the ankle upward will help avoid sprained/rolled ankles and make the push off powerful. The knee should also be aligned inside the plant foot to avoid ankle rolls and to take pressure off the hip.

"Cover your butt" by not spraining your ankles!

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Many Athletes Suffer From Shin Splints

Shin splints are much more than shin soreness. Shin soreness happens through overuse of your shins during training. Soreness can be treated with the R.I.C.E.R. principle (REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION, REFERRAL FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE). Shin splints refer to a medical condition called Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS).

Problems with your tibia (shin bone), fibula and the many muscles that attach to them cause shin splints. There are two main causes of shin splints:



1. Overloading - Exercising on hard or uneven surfaces bring on shin splints. Other common causes of shin splints are exercising with cheap shoes, exercising after a long layoff, a sudden increase in exercise intensity/duration and excessive uphill or downhill running.

2. Biomechanical Problems - The most common biomechanical problem is running with flat feet which lead to over-pronation (foot and ankle roll excessively inward). Poor running mechanics can also lead to shin splints. And, finally tight lower leg muscles contribute to shin splints.

Prevention of shin splints includes the following:

1. Quality footwear is a must. You may need the recommendation of a podiatrist and/or expert footwear salesman.

2. Proper warmup of your lower leg muscles and tendons before your activity.

3. Proper running mechanics will help prevent shin splints.

Treatment of shin splints include:

1. R.I.C.E.R. application during the first 24-72 hours of injury.

2. After 72 hours of ice treatment, use heat and deep tissue massage. You can also massage the shin area before and after exercise activity.

Prevention of shin splints is the best policy!

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I'm Starting To See More Hip And Glute Injuries

I was at a track meet the other day and it happened again: a runner pulled up with a hip flexor injury. The injury was because of tight hip flexor muscles.

Great athletes dominate athletic movements with the hips, glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings. All of these muscle regions need to work properly or you will not compete on a high level.

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body. The anatomy of the gluteal region (gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus) is shown below:



The glutes don't fire properly when the hip flexors (psoas, iliacus, tensor fascia latae, etc.) are overactive or tight. This can happen due to poor flexibility or prolonged sitting. When the hip flexors don't work properly, its antagonist (mainly the gluteus maximus) becomes weak.

This is known as reciprocal inhibition (when muscles on one side of a joint become tight or overactive, it shuts down the muscles on the other side of the joint). When a prime mover (such as the gluteus maximus) becomes weak, other muscles (synergists) take over the function that the prime mover should be doing.

Some injuries that occur because of inactive glutes are hamstring injuries, piriformis syndrome, knee ACL tears and low back injuries. Okay, enough of the technical stuff!


So, what do you need to do to fire up your glutes?! First, you need to understand why your glutes are not firing properly. They are probably not receiving the neural drive from your central nervous system.

So, it is probably not an issue of strength. Their are some exercises you can do to correct this problem. First, you need to lengthen tight muscles. The stretches are listed as follows (use self myofascial release with foam roller before doing these stretches):

1. Hip Flexor Stretch
2. Quadriceps Stretch
3. Bodyweight Lateral Lunges (for adductors)

Then, you need to activate (fire up) your glutes with these exercises:

1. Glute Bridge
2. Opposite Leg Opposite Arm Raise
3. Glute Kickbacks

Lastly, exercise the fired up glutes with these exercises:

1. Bodyweight squats
2. Lateral tube walks
3. Walking Lunges

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Client Sports Fitness Question Of The Week, 4

As a personal trainer, I always look to protect young athletes from injuries! So, this client question is geared toward youth:

Client Q: What is "too young" when it comes to lifting weights?

Mark's A: Some type of resistance training can be started as early as 5-6 years old. The National Strength and Conditioning
Association (NSCA) gives the following general guidelines:

1. If your child is apparently healthy, a medical exam is not
mandatory. An exam is recommended for kids with known or
suspected health problems.

2. The child should be ready to follow instructions and training
guidelines.

3. The exercise environment should be safe and free of hazards.

4. The child should warm-up for 5 to 10 minutes before resistance
training.

5. Children should be encouraged to ask questions about training
and praised for participation.

Bodyweight exercises like squats, crunches, pullups, pushups, reverse crunches, lunges and step ups are safe and build muscle strength and endurance.

I would recommend bodyweight exercises for young athletes ages 5-9. Light dumbbell exercises can be done with athletes ages 10-12. At about age
13, young athletes are ready for heavier workloads.

YOUNG ATHLETES SHOULD NOT DO MAXIMUM LIFTS! CORE STRENGTHING SHOULD ALSO BE STRESSED FOR ALL YOUNG ATHLETES!

On a related subject, A YOUNG ATHLETE SHOULD NOT START A SPORTSTRAINING PROGRAM WITH PLYOMETRICS AND RESISTED SPEED TRAINING TECHNIQUES (WEIGHTED VESTS, SLEDS, ETC.)!

FOUNDATIONAL STRENGTH, CORE STRENGTH AND RUNNING/LANDING/JUMPING MECHANICS SHOULD BE MASTERED FIRST. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE PROGRESSIONS WILL SUBJECT THE YOUNG ATHLETE TO POSTURAL DYSFUNCTIONS AND INJURIES!

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Sports Fitness Hut Featured On Stanford Wellsphere

Wellsphere.com is a leading health and wellness site that focuses on total health and fitness. As I have mentioned before many times----IF YOUR BODY IS A TOTAL WRECK, IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU PERFORM WELL FOR A WHILE! Wellsphere.com seeks to help people achieve great health and great looks! That's why I highly endorse this site!

I am honored to be a featured blogger on Wellsphere.com and Stanford.Wellsphere.com in the sports and exercise communities!

This is a quote by Dr. Geoff Rutledge at Stanford Medical School:

"I was searching for the best medical bloggers when I discovered your blog at sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com. I want to tell you I think your writing is fantastic -- I really liked your post on vision performance, “Athletes Need Excellent Vision Performance”.

My name is Dr. Geoff Rutledge, and I've taught and practiced Internal and Emergency Medicine for over 25 years at Harvard and Stanford medical schools. I'm also the Chief Medical Information Officer at Wellsphere, where we are building a network of the web’s leading health bloggers, and I think you would be a great addition."

Folks, Wellsphere.com and Stanford.Wellsphere.com make up one of the finest sites out there! Bookmark it and visit it often!

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One Of The Best Exercises: Mountain Climbers

Do you need to be challenged more during your workouts? Add the mountain climber exercise to your exercise routine. It is one of the best and toughest exercises out there. Do this exercise full speed for 3 sets of 25 repetitions (each leg).

It is a compound exercise in that it works the calves, quadriceps, glutes, back, chest, triceps, abdominals and shoulders. You will need high levels of core strength to do this exercise the right way for each set.



From a push-up position, keep your back flat (do not let your back bow) and pump your legs as fast as possible like you are running in place. Don't scrape the ground with your shoes as they run forward. And, don't let your glutes "sag to the ground" when you are fatigued.

There it is! Try it the next time you work out!

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Rotational Power Is Needed For Many Sports

Some sports such as baseball, tennis, lacrosse and hockey require explosive levels of rotational core power. The medicine ball rotational throw should be done full speed to train your central nervous system and body to move faster and more explosive.

The medicine ball rotational throw is an advanced exercise and should not be done by those athletes with inadequate body strength and core strength.



1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Place your left foot approximately one foot in front of your right foot.

2. Hold medicine ball with both hands and your arms slightly bent.

3. Swing ball over to the right hip and explosively underhand toss the ball forward to a partner or wall. Keep the stomach drawn in to maximize proper usage of muscle.

4. Catch ball on the bounce from your partner or wall and repeat immediately for the desired repetitions.

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Client Sports Fitness Question Of The Week, 3

Is strength overrated in sports? Read this question and answer:

Client Q: How important is a high max weight on the bench press to my success in football?

Mark's A: This is a very good question. One of the primary tests required of athletes at the NFL scouting combine is how many times they can bench press 225 pounds. While this may show how much strength the player has, it says nothing about how good of a football player he is.

From my experience of playing football at the Division I level in college as a defensive back (my bench press max was 400 lbs.), a big-time bench press max had little to do with successfully playing the game. Speed, power, quickness, agility, acceleration, explosion, etc. were all more important than brute strength.

And, on the occasions that bench press strength came into play, such as taking on a tight end, leverage and body positioning was more important than bench press strength. I know a former NFL lineman who started on 2 Super Bowl championship teams who said that leverage and positioning was more important than bench press strength. He should know.

When I train football players, I focus on building their full-body strength and endurance as a foundation for speed and power training. A big-time bench press max is not a bad thing, but I stress more importance on speed, power, quickness, agility, etc. using exercises that simulate game-time actions.

That's why SPARQ testing is a more reliable predictor of tangible athletic skills. SPARQ football testing procedures assign scores in the vertical jump, 40 yard dash, kneeling powerball throw and shuttle run. There is also a SPARQ Pro testing procedure that includes things such as vision and reaction tests. Individual and total scores can be compared to others in your sport to see how you measure up.

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Get In Shape To Play Weekend Sports!

"Weekend Warriors" and "Rec League" athletes need to exercise to prevent injuries and win those games for bragging rights! It doesn't help you to continually get stronger if power development is not there also. Power, or speed strength (how fast your muscles can produce force) is one of the best physical predictors of success in sports.

Plyometric exercises help you to increase power. Traditional barbell and dumbbell strength exercises do not allow you to move at the speeds necessary to improve power. Strength training gives you muscular and nervous system development needed to develop optimal power.

Advanced sports power training supersets a strength exercise with a biomechanically similar power exercise. An example would be barbell squats and repeating full-speed squat jumps. The squat jumps would be performed immediately following the barbell squats to get maximum neuromuscular adaptations.

You would do a set of squats at 85% of 1 Rep Maximum (5 reps) followed immediately by a set of full-speed repeating squat jumps (8-10 reps). This is an advanced training method and should not be performed by those who do not have adequate stabilization strength and muscular strength.

Other plyometric exercises can also be superset this way. It is also advisable to choose exercises that mimic the movements in your sport (transfer-of-training-effect).

Surprise your friends with improved power and explosion during your games!

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Don't Stop Training--Work Around Your Injuries

If you have an injury that's not too serious, you can still get in some good training in the exercise room. Here's an example:

A couple of years ago, my right shoulder joint was stiff and painful probably due to my football playing days in college. I decided to do weight lifts that didn't put too much pressure or pain on the joint.

For example, the bench press really hurt my shoulder joint but the chest press, shoulder press, cable chest press and triceps dips exercises didn't hurt that much. So, I used these exercises to work around my injury.



After about 6 months, the pain in my shoulder was gone and I don't have any problems with the shoulder joint. Because I worked around the injury with other exercises, they regenerated the soft tissues around the joint and the shoulder was rebuilt stronger.

Each injury situation is different but its worth trying to work around your injury to see if it will heal. Just a note: if you have acute pain in a joint, you need to see a doctor! Don't try to work around this type of pain!

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Client Sports Fitness Question of the Week, 2

To be honest, this question applies to everyone but it was asked in the context of playing sports. So, here it is:

Client Q: What is the main strength weakness that you see in athletes that you train?

Mark's A: This one is easy! Inadequate core strength is the weakness I see most in the athletes I begin to train. And, the injury I see most as a result of a weak core is low back pain injuries.

When an athlete strengthens the extremities (limbs) before adequately strengthening the core, that is the opposite of how she or he should train. Your body's core consists of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex, thoracic spine and cervical spine.

THE CORE is your body's center of gravity and all movement begins with the core. Many athletes have sufficient extremity strength, but few athletes display sufficient core strength. A strong and stable core will maximize your extremity strength and power.

A core strengthening program involves using many muscles in a coordinated movement. Rather than isolating specific joints as in most weight lifting exercises, core stability exercises focus on working the deep muscles of the entire torso at once (time under tension). Stability ball exercises, bridges, planks, low back extensions, medicine ball exercises, etc. are great for strengthening core muscles.

Some coaches and trainers are eager to teach the "more glamourous" plyometric and speed exercises while leaving core and strength training lacking. Plyometric and speed training are "high risk, high reward" exercises.

If the athlete's core strength/stability and overall body strength/stability is not adequate, plyometric and speed training is a recipe for disaster!

Read my article series on core training to learn more.

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Don't Neglect The Frontal Plane of Motion During Training

Stop training so much on weight machines! Machines help you too much and limit your development! The frontal plane is an imaginary bisector that divides the body into equal front and back halves.

The motions primarily involve abduction and adduction (side-to-side motions). Abduction takes a limb away from the midline of the body and adduction takes the limb closer to the midline of the body. Examples include exercises performed on hip abductor and hip adductor machines.

Other frontal plane motions would be side lunges, lateral step ups, dumbbell lateral shoulder raises and lateral spinal flexion.

Quickness and agility movements made by athletes require adequate frontal plane stability, strength, power, flexibility and balance. Side shuffles and slides are common movements for athletes during competition.

The point is this: do less training on machines and more athletic training movements on your feet. Training movements that are similar to game-time motions are best.

See this post in which I discuss all 3 planes of motion.

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You Should Eat Like An Athlete

Garbage In, Garbage Out! You can't expect to compete consistently on a high level if you don't eat right! And, you know my take on supplements: try to get the nutrition you need from food. Save your money! Don't depend on supplements to significantly build your body up!

When I take on a new athlete client (or any client), I have her or him write down everything they eat for 2-3 days. I will see their eating habits right away. There is usually alot of eating on the go. That may be a part of our busy culture.

The point is this athletes: put the right kind of fuel in your bodies. More than anyone, athletes physically depend on their bodies to succeed. And, its been proven that you won't be mentally sharp if your nutrition is lacking.

Read my article that discusses Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition.

As for basic nutrition, the athlete should generally follow this guide:

Proteins

Proteins are the basic building blocks of life. It makes up a large part
of our foods such as meats, nuts and beans.Protein is very important for building and repairing body tissues. Protein should provide 15%-20% of total caloric intake.

Fats

Fat is important for your diet because it helps you feel full and keeps skin, hair and nails healthy. You should limit your intake of saturated fats (usually solid at room temperature, such as butter) and trans fats (partially hydrogenated fats found in packaged and fast foods).


Instead, increase your intake of unsaturated fats (they are usually liquid at room temperature, such as olive oil). Fats should not exceed 30% (closer to 20%) of your total caloric intake.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred source of energy. They are made mostly of sugars. They are also important for burning fat and sparing protein to build and repair body tissue. Carbs provide vitamins, minerals, fiber and other substances that are important to overall health.

The majority of your carbs should be low glycemic (about 80%) with the rest of your carbs being high glycemic. This
means that you should limit eating foods like potatoes, bread, corn, pasta, muffins and flour products. These high glycemic foods encourage fat storage since more sucrose is escorted into the bloodstream.

Instead, concentrate more on foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, which have high fiber content. Total
carbs should provide 60%-65% of total caloric intake. Some endurance athletes also use carbohydrate loading as an effective nutrition tool.

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Maintaining Speed and Power During Games

How many times have you seen this scenario: team A beats team B because team A was stronger, faster, quicker and more explosive at the end of the game.

Sports such as soccer, basketball, lacrosse and hockey require players to produce repeated sprints over and over. The player who is able to maintain a high level of speed and power (with fatigue) will "MAKE THE PLAYS" and help her or his team win.

Their is a good test for measuring an athlete's level of sprinting fatigue:

For this test, you will need 12 cones and a stopwatch. The illustration below will show you how to set the cones:




1. Sprint from A to B between the cones deviating 5m sideways in the middle of the sprint. There is 30 meters between cones A and B. Have a training partner start you off and time your sprint from A to B.

2. Jog slowly for 10 meters after point B and then back to the start taking 30 seconds to do so.

3. As soon as you reach the start, repeat the sprint.

4. Complete a total of 10 sprints and have your training partner note down all the times.

5. Subtract your fastest time from your slowest time. This is your sprint fatigue. For example if your slowest sprint was 7.8 seconds and your fastest sprint was 6.9 seconds your sprint fatigue is 0.9 (7.8 - 6.9).

Another useful tool to use with your results is to find the average speed of the first three trials and divide it by the average speed of the last three trials. So if your times were:

7.1s, 6.9s, 6.9s, 7.0s, 7.2s, 7.1s, 7.3s, 7.3s, 7.4s, 7.5s

The average of the first 3 times is 6.97s, the average of the last 3 times is 7.40s.

6.97 ÷ 7.40 = 0.94 X 100 = 94% which is excellent

Compare your Power Maintenance Level (percent of top speed maintained) score with the table below:

1) Excellent +90%
2) Good 85-89%
3) Average 80-84%
4) Poor <79 nbsp="" p="">
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Improve Your Game Skills This July 4th Holiday

Along with alot of good eating, I have a habit of watching many professional games (live, re-runs and "instant classics") on July 4th weekend. One of the things that I like to do is watch the skills and fundamentals of the players. Afterall, they are pros for a reason. Some of them have better skills and fundamentals than others. And, some of them are good enough to "cheat on the fundamentals" and still succeed.

So, here are a few of my favorite players to watch when I want to learn how "to play the game the right way:"

Quarterback Play: Joe Montana, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. They all have great decision-making, footwork, timing and accuracy. Field Generals.

Baseball Hitting Mechanics: George Brett, Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Ichiro and Lance Berkman. They all keep the hitting mechanics simple by not trying to do too much. Ichiro has his own style but it works for him.

Basketball Jump Shooting Mechanics: Jerry West ("The Logo"), Rick Barry, Ray Allen, "Rip" Hamilton and Michael Redd. Just watch the footwork, setup, catch and shoot. In the cases of "Rip" Hamilton and Rick Barry, watch how they run to get open and how quickly they get the shots off.

Football Defensive Back Cover Skills: Lester Hayes, Deion Sanders and Champ Bailey. They all have the speed, agility, make-up speed, closing speed and swivel hips. They also study the receivers very well.

Football Defensive Back Tacklers: Ronnie Lott, John Lynch and Bob Sanders. These are tough guys who have great tackling mechanics.

Crazy Basketball Skills: MJ and Kobe. Just watch 'em play and learn.

Crazy Baseball Skills: Ken Griffey and Alex Rodriguez. Both are the representation of "5 Tool Players."

Best Infielder I've Seen In My Opinion: Ozzie Smith. He is called "The Wizard."

The Best Football Player In My Opinion: Lawrence Taylor. He literally "took over" games as a defensive player (linebacker) which is incredible! He is the only "LT."

Winners: Derek Jeter and Jason Varitek. There are captains of the Yankees and Red Sox for a reason. They are All-Stars. They play the game hard every day.

Golf: Tiger, of course, for his tenacity, talent and work ethic.

Soccer Skills: Pele and David Beckham. Both have the footwork and can really control the ball.

Baseball Pitcher: Nolan Ryan for power. Greg Maddux for pinpoint control and command of his pitches.

Softball Pitcher: Jenny Finch for power. Cat Osterman for pinpoint control and command of her pitches.

You could come up with your own list. The point is this: learn from the best while you're enjoying the game.

And, if you need a personal trainer to help you improve strength, power and speed, then learn from me!

Happy 4th! Stay safe out there!

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When Training Improves Game-Time Performance

It happened for one of my clients yesterday! The "light came on" for him! To be fair, he is a young high school athlete who is learning what it takes to compete at a higher level. This is a critical and tough step to take for any athlete.

I have been stressing to Michael that hard, smart sports training will make him a stronger and more powerful player when it counts---IN THE GAME! He felt it happen in his own body last night while pitching in his first high school baseball game!

He was able to pitch a complete game while finishing STRONG! Keep in mind that the pitching distance (60 ft. 6 in.) was one that he had not pitched before---MAJOR LEAGUE DISTANCE!

Michael was able to finish the game strong because he used the strength and power that he has improved in his legs, core ,arm and overall body. He now knows that in order to throw the ball harder, power must transfer from his legs through his core to his arm. He did that last night with great success!

If he stays healthy, Michael will play at the next level (college ball). He will work hard to get there. He is beginning to learn what it takes to compete at a high level. I know what a college talent looks like and I will help him get there. With more hard work and a few breaks, he will go even further. It will be fun to watch!

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