Lifting>Running, Sprinting>All

When it comes to athletic development, there is a lot of misinformation that runs rampant in our industry. To this day, parents and coaches still worry that lifting weights will make their children/athletes slower, and that metabolic conditioning/cardio is the key to succeeding in team sports, despite the fact that the athletes who typically dominate team sports are freakishly athletic and have been lifting for years. I think a lot of this comes down to a general lack of understanding so I wanted to share some thoughts on athletic development:

1.       Lifting will not make your athlete slower. Think of it like building a car. Putting a bigger engine in a car will make the car heavier, but it will also allow the car to generate a lot more horsepower, and as a result, reach much higher speeds. The same is true when we lift. Sure, we will likely gain a little bit of muscle mass that will make us heavier, but it will also allow us to produce more power, generate more force, and run faster (assuming athletes are training like it’s 2023 and not like it’s 1980).

2.       Sprinting is the key to building faster athletes. Of course, all that extra muscle does nothing if we can’t translate it to speed. The key is for athletes to sprint as hard as possible, as often as possible, as fresh as possible, while timing each and every sprint. Things that get measured typically get improved and it’s the only way to tell if their training is actually translating to speed.

3.       Build your aerobic capacity through repetitive sprinting. Having a high aerobic capacity is very valuable as it is what drives recovery and allows athletes to sprint again and again and again. The trick is to train it in a way that translates to the game. When most people hear “aerobic capacity” they immediately think of distance runners and steady-state cardio. The reason steady-state cardio is effective is because it keeps athletes in a certain heart-rate range, allowing their heart to adapt a certain way. The problem with most team sport athletes is that they already spend enough time in that heart-rate range. Almost any sport-specific technical work that they do puts them in this range, so they don’t need to intentionally develop it. Instead, they should sprint repetitively because it makes them faster, increases their muscular resilience, and helps them succeed in their favorite sports, while increasing their aerobic capacity.  

All of this is a long way of saying that lifting is far more important than running (I’d advise team-sport athletes to never “go out for a run”) and sprinting is the key to getting faster.

Contact us if you’re interested in working with us!

Lifting is a Tool For Sporting Success

Success in sports requires mastery of three proficiencies:

1.       The technical demands of the sport

2.       The physical demands of the sport

3.       The tactical demands of the sport

Young athletes typically focus on the first category, ignoring or downplaying the other two. At best, they view lifting as a nuisance that has to be done, often neglecting it altogether. Lifting is simply a tool that helps athletes succeed in sports.

Athletes who lift are typically stronger, faster, more powerful, more coordinated, and get hurt less often than their counter-parts who do not, with the benefits compounding over time. Those who start lifting at a “young” age build the type of body that allows them to meet the physical demands of the sport.

As a general rule of thumb, kids should start transitioning into a “traditional” strength and conditioning program at around 12-years-old. Assuming the program is led by a qualified and competent coach, starting at this age gives athletes a significant competitive advantage against their peers that will only continue to increase over time as they stay consistent.

The Importance of Developing Balance in Kids

Balance is probably the most important physical attribute that needs to be developed in kids. Balance is so important because it’s the foundation of future athletic development. Every athletic movement requires balance. Running, skipping, jumping, throwing, cutting, sprinting, shuffling, and all other athletic movements require a tremendous amount of balance. Even exercises that enhance athleticism like split squats and single-leg dead lifts require a tremendous amount of balance. As children get older, faster, and stronger, their balance demands will increase exponentially. Without developing a solid base as a child, athletes will be left behind on the field of play and struggle to reach their athletic potential.

Even if athletics aren’t your thing, balance is a key factor to living an active and healthy life. Deliberate balance training reduces the risk falling and sustaining an injury. One of the first things adults lose as they age is the ability to balance. Years of developing a solid foundation will lead to a slower decline and will set children up to live happy, healthy, and active lives.

The beauty of balance is it can be (and should be) developed both deliberately and passively. Kids can deliberately train their balance through systematically designed programs and exercises. In our Little Athlete Academy, balance is at the forefront of everything we program. We start every training session with deliberate balance development and get kids moving in ways that greatly develops their balance. Kids can also develop their balance passively through play. Trying a new sport, playing games outside, or taking on a new active hobby will all passively develop balance in kids.

If you are interested in setting your child up to develop their balance, maximize their athletic potential, and live a happy, healthy, and active life, explore our Little Athlete Academy. It may be the best decision you ever make for them.

Three New, Fun, and Overlooked Activities Your Kids Will LOVE this Winter (And you will too!)

With the new year behind us and winter in full-swing, if you’re like most parents, you may be struggling to find new, fun, and engaging activities for your kids this winter. Snow brings sledding, snow-angels, forts, snow-men, and skiing/tubing/snowboarding if those are your things. Winter, however, also limits many common outdoor activities that kids enjoy, and not only is snow required to take advantage of those aforementioned activities (and if you live in New England, sadly, we hardly get snow anymore), they also get old and stale fast, with kids foregoing them in favor of more stimulating screen-time. With that in mind, I wanted to share 3 New, Fun, and Overlooked activities that your kids will LOVE, and you will too because it gets them moving, laughing, and having the time of their life. Fun Fact: if you choose to participate, they will love these activities even more because they secretly yearn for you to participate with them.

1.       Laser Tag. Cheap, easy, and unbelievably fun. Laser tag is SO MUCH FUN. I had the chance to play this summer for the first time in my life, and couldn’t believe how much fun I had. I played three fifteen-minute games, and each game felt like it was 90 seconds. Beyond that, it’s also one heck of a workout. Forty-five minutes of constant moving, cutting, crouching, and reacting to other players will leave you sweaty, smiling, and sore. Jump in with your kids for a great workout, a fun time, and a happy child.

2.       Indoor Rock Climbing. Another activity I just recently took up, rock climbing is one of the three best activities (outside of our Little Athlete Academy) that kids can participate in to maximize their underlying physical literacy and coordination. The body movements used while climbing (hanging, pulling, pushing), are some of the fundamental components of our Little Athlete Academy programming. Beyond the physical advantages rock climbing provides, it also builds fearless and resilient kids, teaching them how to persevere through failure and experience genuine gratification when they do succeed.

3.       Ice Skating. Grab the skates, head to the local rink, and go for a twirl on the ice. Not only does ice skating challenge kids’ balance, coordination, and stamina, it also opens the door to winter sports like hockey or figure skating. New to skating? No problem. Most rinks will have tools to make it easier to balance while learning that can slowly be taken away as your/your kid’s balance improves (kind of like training wheels on a bike!).

There you have it, 3 new, fun, and overlooked activities that your kids will LOVE this winter that gets them out of the house, away from the screens, and moving in a way that develops their physical literacy.

Interested in maximizing their athletic development this winter? Check out the following link to learn more about our Little Athlete Academy and set them up for future athletic success: Little Athlete Academy

What Makes a Good Athletic Development Program?

Like coaching, strength and conditioning is an industry without best practices or professional standards. It’s riddled with different beliefs and opinions on the best ways to get results, and contradicting information runs rampant. Everyone from the 30 year veteran still writing programs like it’s 1980, to the unqualified fitness influencer citing sources from 1912 explaining how water is inherently bad for athletic development (yes, that actually happened), puts out information, muddying the water for those of us trying to simply do what’s best for our athletes. With that in mind, I want to lay out a few components that make a good (and safe) athletic development program, so that the reader can begin to understand what they should look for.

1. The program keeps athletes safe. As crazy as it sounds, this isn’t the first thing many coaches think of when building/designing their programs. Far too often, coaches have other priorities that supersede the athletes’ safety. Look no further than coaches who use fitness as a punishment to see that this mindset still exists. A safe program will be extremely simple and will feel like it’s building you up rather than breaking you down. Beyond that, safe programs won’t ask you to do anything you can’t currently do. They will meet you where you’re at and progress from there, rather than asking you to start from a level you aren’t ready for.

2. Speaking of progression, a good athletic development program will slowly and appropriately progress athletes. The idea behind a great program isn’t to crush athletes, it’s to apply just enough stress to stimulate adaptation so that their bodies can adapt at an appropriate rate. Over time, a good program will slowly apply more stress after the body has adapted to continue this progressive adaptation process, a process aptly named, “progressive overload.”

3. With that in mind, a good athletic development program will always feel manageable/attainable. Sure, it may be challenging, but it will never feel overwhelming. If you feel like it’s asking you to do too much, it probably is.

4. Check your sourcing. Avoid programs or tips that come from people who are not qualified to give them. Instead, look for tips and programs from people who develop athletes similar to you for a living and have a collection of success stories.

5. Lastly, and most importantly, a good program will put the athlete first. It doesn’t necessarily need to be personalized to you, but it needs to fit your needs. Make sure that the program you complete will actually help you reach your goals and improve your performance on the field/court/ice/etc.

Hopefully, sticking to these tips will help you weed out the bad information/programs from the good ones, and will allow you to reach your goals and have success in your sporting endeavors. If you want to avoid wading through the weeds all-together, simply contact us, and let us work with you reach your athletic potential.