How can I get faster? This is one of the most common questions we get asked at 1RM Performance. Let’s be real for a second, speed kills. Parents know it, athletes know it, and strength coaches know it. The trick is figuring out the best way to make an athlete faster.
The rotator cuff has a very important role – to keep your arm attached to your body. The 4 muscles of the rotator cuff originate on the scapula (see below) and insert on the humerus and keep the head of the humerus centered in the glenoid fossa. Think of the head of the humerus as a golf ball, and the glenoid fossa as the tee.
A lot has been happening at 1RM the past few months. We have seen athetes transform from weak, powerless athletes to strong, powerful athletes in just 8 weeks. It's amazing what a middle school athlete can do when you teach them how to use their bodies and how to transform their bodies into efficient, powerful machines. Take a kid and get them stronger and they will run faster, hit the ball farther, and start turning some heads. In a nutshell, that's what we have been doing the past few months.
This article is aimed to all the high school athletes and coaches out there…
Over the past two weeks, all of my athletes have been preparing and stressing over finals. Finals means one thing: stress. Stress is something that needs to be factored into preparing an exercise program. If you think stress doesn’t actually impact your performance, then check out this story.
Off season baseball/softball training in San Diego has just begun at 1RM Performance. So far, there is a trend of movement issues and injuries that are showing in the bodies of my younger athletes. Non dominant hips are much “tighter” then the hips on the dominant side. The tightness in the hips presents itself as “tight” hamstrings and “tight” hip flexors*. The imbalance between the two sides has also lead to structural changes in the athletes hips, which could be the cause for the increase in minor hamstring and hip flexor strains that parents have reported during their teams season. If this sounds like you or your child, sit back, and take a ride on the education highway!
*Why the quotation on tightness? Read: Quick Strength and Conditioning Lessons to discover more.
The Kansas Jayhawks just committed the number one high school recruit – Andrew Wiggins from Canada. And while he was deciding which school he would grace his presence with, I was spending the weekend at KU watching the men’s basketball team workout. Last year, KU was ranked 8th in the preseason rankings; this year they have the potential to drop into the top 5. And it might suprise you what's giving the Jayhawks the edge to be a top 10 contender... drum roll... their Strength & Conditioning staff.
Lifting with chains. We've all seen them, heard about them, maybe even spent time with them attached to a bar. The most popular question at the 1RM Performance open house was "What the heck are those chains for?" The use and benefits of chains lie in accomodating resistance, and understanding strength curves. To read more about the topic click on the link below. My article on the topic has been published on ELite FTS. Take a read, and begin to understand how training with chains can turn a great exercise into a phenomenal exercise.
http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/benefits-of-lifting-chains/
What do a Marine, a sailor, and an acupuncturist have in common? An inability to fully extend their hips while hang cleaning and snatching!
Weighted balls will improve your throwing velocity. Whether you are a pitcher, infielder, or outfielder, having an extra mph behind each throw will improve your game. A great way to improve throwing velocity is through the use of over and underweight balls. To some, this sounds like a controversial topic since we’ve all heard mixed reviews on over and underweight ball use. I can only hope to dispel those myths by the end of this article, and show you how over and underweight balls are a great way to get a few more mph every time you let the ball fly.
How can you improve your throwing velocity? If you were to ask me (a guy that has never played baseball) how to improve your throwing velocity, I would probably be able to ramble off 50 or 60 different ideas. If you were to ask the average minor leaguer, or major league hopeful, you would probably get one answer - long toss… and maybe a couple med ball drills (big maybe there).
Over the next week or so I will go over what I believe to be the most effective ways to improve throwing velocity of a baseball or softball player of any age and skill level. The ideas shared are all a result of research conducted throughout the world over the past 35 years. Enjoy the ride on the education highway!
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