For those who don’t know me, I’m Lily, the newest trainer at The Spot. I’ve been a trainer at gyms and independently and moved to Columbus 2 weeks ago to learn from some of the best strength and conditioning coaches. I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned thus far about what differentiates great coaching from the rest.
Programming should be very sport specific
Sport specific does not just mean getting stronger or faster for your sport. Yes, squatting will make you stronger and has a large carryover into various sports but understanding the nuances of different athletes’ needs is what takes programming from average to producing real results.
Here are a few examples: In combat sports, are athletes always standing and fighting with ideal posture? Is their spine neutral? No, they are usually in a rounded back position. So why not strengthen them in that position? For example, moderate weight good mornings with a slightly rounded back will help them perform better in the position that they are in for their sport.
Do combat athletes need to run? No. Before you start typing away angrily at me, read on. Of course they need to be well conditioned. But do they spend time running in their sport? No. Do they spend long durations of time pushing weight around? Yes. So they would benefit more from pushing prowlers for a moderate amount of time than going on a nice treadmill jog. Understanding the needs of different athletes can help those athletes reach their full potential.
Step back to move forward
It’s easy to do drills that make your athletes look cool while performing them. Sure, setting up a bunch of cones and having kids run through them and jump over hurdles involves “speed” and “agility”. But what if your athlete can’t decelerate or land properly? Sometimes you have to step back and address more basic skills and motor patterns in order to make lasting changes and better athletes. Building a solid foundation is more important than making small gains that will lead to poor patterns, injury, and no real long term results.
Creating healthy, functioning athletes
The role of strength and conditioning coaches is not only to make athletes better at what they do, but to keep them functioning. One of their most important jobs is to prevent injuries before they happen. I’ve seen many coaches who like to drill their athletes with the patterns they use in their sport assuming that repeating those patterns will make them better on the court/turf/etc. But what about all the muscles and movement patterns that are being ignored? For example, if a volleyball player spends the majority of their time spiking the ball, are they training those same movement patterns in the weight room? Why? Instead, are they doing a lot of external rotation and back exercises to even it out? If not, they are being set up for injuries, not long term success. In a more individualized sense, we put all of our clients through a thorough assessment that identifies strength, mobility, and other problem areas to ensure that their programs are tailored to their specific weaknesses and problems to make them a better, healthier athlete. Those are just a few of the things that have struck me during my first few weeks at The Spot. I’m proud of the expertise and attention to detail that we bring to our clients and I look forward to sharing more insights with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment