"Distractions are the enemy of greatness."
Everyone is going to train physically... The separator is in your mental conditioning!
Watch this video below and download the PDF to learn 4 Ways to Train Your Mindset...
How many times have you heard an adult make the statement, “I wish I had that much energy,” when watching children run and play. As a parent, what can we do to postively harness all that energy?
For the first time in generations, the average child’s expected lifespan is predicted to be shorter than their parents. This is due to an increase in childhood obesity rates, which are at an all-time high, and other lifestyle related diseases that are affecting children’s social and psychological well-being. Even more troubling is that in a time when this is happening, Physical Education classes are being removed and/or cut short to ensure enough time is allotted to focus on test scores. Based on what we know about the value of physical education, is it fair to kids for PE an elective-type class that is attended every third day? Countless studies have shown that k
The effects of protein supplementation have been well researched and documented over the past few decades. Whether it is building muscle, aiding in recovery, increasing satiety, reducing bodyfat, stabilizing blood sugar, etc., the case has been made supporting the benefits. With the overwhelming amount of information and endless varieties of protein lining the aisles at your local supplement store, many people do not know where to start.
The only obstacle standing in your way is your ability to PRODUCE the results. How you eat, sleep, and recover from workouts will ultimately determine how close you can be to obtaining your goals. Every kid in America is working out during the off-season. Most are working (at least in their minds) hard! The investment you make in your nutrition, sleep, and your recovery habits are what will separate you from everyone else. Below we will cover some important strategies for athletes to use everyday to improve their ability to recover.
Over the past few weeks, as we have outlined the process of developing an Annual Plan (here and here), we have been asked questions from various coaches about programming. How and when to use percentages with athletes, what form of periodization works best, and how to develop cycles within different training phases. As usual, in the world of strength and conditioning, the answer always seems to be “it depends” and is widely debated. In this article, we will try to give you an idea of how we utilize percentage based training with our advanced athletes and how to periodize your weekly and monthly strength training templates.
As we head into 2017 many people will start to set new goals and become excited about the fresh start they have once the new year arrives. While goal setting is great (see our GPS goal setting process here), you must be willing to do the work in order to achieve the success you want.
Now that you have your Annual Plan developed and a clear direction where your program is heading, let's take a look at programming and how each phase will look.
Phase one is arguable the most important time of the year for your team's development. This sets the foundation for the rest of the year and will determine your ultimate success. The developmental goals during this period will be to increase muscle mass and expand the athletes work capacity. Using lighter loads will allow you to focus on rebuilding correct movement patterns and spend time emphasizing proper technique. Loads will be in the 60-75% range but the workouts should be demanding and challenge the team by increasing their overall workload each week.
As the high school football season comes to an end, most athletes will be heading into a critical period from a developmental standpoint: off-season. This is the longest portion of the year and accounts for almost two-thirds of the time spent with your athletes. Over the next few weeks, we are going to focus on planning and executing an annual training plan. Throughout this planning process, we will look at how to develop the plan from start to finish along with the objectives of each phase throughout the year.
What is discipline? When most people hear the word they immediately envision punishment or some type of restraint and per one definition in Merriam-Webster they would be right. Webster defines discipline as control that is gained by requiring rules or orders to be obeyed and punishing bad behavior. This is not the intended meaning and in this case I prefer the Wikipedia definition which states: Discipline is when one uses reason to determine the best course of action regardless of one's desires.
We get a variety of questions from coaches, athletes, and parents alike when first learning about the different courses we offer. “How many days a week should I train?” “What should I be eating to gain weight?” “Is it going to interfere with our skills training?” “What is my kid going to learn?” These are just a few of the questions that come to mind while typing. These questions are understandable considering we are working with young athletes who may not have any training background. However, there is one concerning question that gets brought up repeatedly. “Will we be doing any (insert air quotes) ‘sport specific’ training?”
Character comes from the hundreds of choices you make every day. It is derived from the ancient Greek word, kharásso, which means to scratch or engrave. Just as a statue starts as a lump of marble until the artist starts to chisel away the unnecessary pieces, so it is with your character. The choices you make on a daily basis will determine your success or failure. “The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way.” - Heraclitus
Suppose you were asked to drive from Dallas, Texas to Los Angeles, California. Before navigation systems this would have taken a little more time but you could have used a map to plan your route and made it just fine. Nowadays, thanks to technology, you can pick up your phone, tell it your destination, and be in sunny LA in a little over 20 hours.
We routinely use our GPS to guide us and for most people it has become so integrated in our lives that we would feel lost with it. However, when planning for our own future, we put little thought into where we want to go and far less into the process that it will take for us to arrive.
The difference between champions and everyone else is their commitment to doing everything in their power to ensure success. Walt Disney was one of the most successful people ever in film and is responsible for making animated films what they are today. Although his films and amusement parks were popular he was always looking for a way to make them better. He wanted to add value and make sure anything with his name behind it wowed the consumer. He continually did this by what he famously termed “plussing” or “Plus it”. Plussing meant to find a way to make it better. Below you will find five simple strategies for you to PLUS+ your training by adding mental preparation. Think like Walt and continually strive to make every aspect of your life better.
Sleep may be the most important aspect of the recovery process and is often the most overlooked. Since Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb in 1879, the average American went from sleeping over 9 hours a night to less than 7 hours nightly and more than a third of Americans are chronically sleep deprived. If you are an athlete, these sleep patterns will prevent you from maximizing your training. During sleep your body is able to grow new tissue and repair damaged cells by producing growth hormones that are crucial to help you recover from the previous day’s work. In order to function optimally athlete’s need to aim for at least 8 and preferably 9 hours of sleep at night.
As a high school athlete, one of the easiest things you can do to gain a leg up on your competition is to clean up your diet. What you put into your body is going to determine how well you are able to recover (GROW!) and gain the most benefit from your hard work. Avoid the fast food trap and focus on putting quality nutrients into your body. Below is our list of 7 essential factors that will put you ahead of your competition and create proper eating habits. Winning habits PRODUCE winning results.
Going to miss a week of the summer program? We got you covered! Use the attached workout to stay in shape while enjoying your vacation and you will be ready to go when you get home.
Going to miss a week of the summer program? We got you covered! Use the attached workout to stay in shape while enjoying your vacation and you will be ready to go when you get home.
Going to miss a week of the summer program? We got you covered! Use the attached workout to stay in shape while enjoying your vacation and you will be ready to go when you get home.
High School football in the state of Texas has turned into track meets highlighted by offensive fire power. Explosive offenses dominate statewide and offenses putting up 50 or more points on a given Friday have become the norm. It seems as though the defensive side of the ball has become an afterthought, a place where coaches put their second...
Great teams win games that they are supposed to win. Anytime the matchup features an opponent with a losing record the concern becomes complacency. For focused teams, elite teams, playoff teams: these games are not only won, but dominated. As the Chaparrals’ of Westlake High School entered last Friday night’s district 14-6A matchup verse the Hays Rebels, they...
Two teams entered the clash for the top spot in District 12-5A unbeaten last Friday night, only one would leave. The Jackrabbits of Forney High School brought in an unblemished 5-0 record to square off against the No. 4 ranked Mesquite Poteet Pirates; the winner leaves with an all but locked up district championship.
The UIL have done the Lions of McKinney High no favors over the last three years as they have played in some of the toughest districts statewide. Coach Jeff Smith and his team are not in the business of making excuses but rather have grown accustom to responding to adversity. Last Friday night at Ron…
When Southlake Carroll is mentioned in the high school football ranks it’s easy to immediately think about the daunting air attack of the Dragons. The big names that have come through Southlake include Chase Daniel, Riley Dodge, Greg McElroy, among many others. Sometimes it’s easy to forget about what really wins football games; the ability of...
New coach, new uniforms, new system, new motto. For the Marcus Maruaders, the 2014 football season has revolved around all the new changes that were brought on by a coaching turnover that saw a Texas High School football coaching great, Bryan Erwin step down from the helm and Marcus turn the keys over to Gerry Stanford,…
NUTRITION 1. Drink at least ½ your body weight in ounces of water each day. This may need to increase during hot humid conditions. Drink caffeinated and carbonated beverages sparingly. No energy drinks! 2. Make sure that you drink at least 18 ounces of fluids first thing in the morning when you…
Jalen Guyton – WR – Allen In Allen, Texas, football is about as important as food, water, and a good night’s sleep. Despite bringing in a 28 game winning streak and winning back to back state championships to start the 2014 season, all anyone seemed to care about was the status of the multi-million dollar stadium…
Dedrick Scrivens – RB – McKinney Boyd The Broncos of Boyd High School have only been in existence since 2006 but their athletic success, both by individualathletes and teams, is very rich. The school boasts two athletic state championships and star athletes such as Jeff Fuller, James Driskell, Brian Driskell, and Jonovan Griffin, who litter…
Performance Course Player of the Week (1): Luke Bishop – QB – Aledo High School For the Aledo Bearcats, being in the spotlight is nothing new. Since 2009 the Bearcats have named claim to 4 state titles which all included packed houses and heavily hyped match ups. Looking to defend their most recent title, 2013, Aledo’s season…
Click to download .pdf files
Vacation_Workout_all_4_days
PC nutrition
Why Breakfast Is the Most Important Meal of the Day John L Ivy, PhD University of Texas at Austin It is quite clear that nutrition can have a major impact on exercise performance as well as training adaption. In fact, without proper nutrition, exercise goals will not be fully realized. Recent research, however, indicates that…