The Spot Athletics Blog: June 2014

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Monday, June 23, 2014

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 6/16-6/22

What a week here at The Spot Athletics. We are moving locations (info at bottom link), so all of the coaches have been helping get the new location ready for move in when they are not training clients. We are extremely excited for this opportunity. We will be moving 6/28 and will be grilling food for helpers all day so please stop by if you can. For our clients, it has been business as usual. They have been working extremely hard, and doing amazing things. We just started going out to Central Crossing High School to run their strength and conditioning for their football team. We are very happy we are able to do this and want to make them succeed on the field. Great job to all of our clients. Let's have another awesome and fun week.

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/We-are-moving-locations--.html?soid=1112056540303&aid=aNBg8jby_bs

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Monday, June 16, 2014

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 6/10-6/16

It was another busy and very exciting week at The Spot. First off, our summer programs have kicked off and are in full swing. It was a great first week for these groups, and we are expecting an awesome summer out of them. Second, we have been doing some remodeling in our new location(more details later). Last but not least, our Personal Training and Met Con clients have continued to bust their tails and have been working toward their goals and smashing them.

Everybody have a great week and check out the montage below from last week!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Do we do Olympic lifts?

A lot of coaches and parents ask if we do the Olympic lifts and the answer is maybe. Now a lot of strength coaches love them and by all means go for it (that is if you're proficient in the lifts which most of you aren't so stop doing them) but its not the only way to achieve the highly sought after triple extension that all you coaches want. Guess what the majority of athletes that perform these lifts very rarely get triple extension, so it defeats the purpose. Just because the barbell is bouncing around and making noises doesn't mean explosive things are happening well yea maybe it's your athletes knee blowing out or their lower back or their wrists splitting open. That sounds explosive. But these lifts are extremely stressful on the wrists, knees, hips, shoulders and elbows. All important joints in well in every sport.

There are various factors that will determine if we use Olympic lifts with certain athletes. But for the most part we do not use them. Well let me re-phrase that we don't usually use the full olympic lift. Now we like jump cleans, snatch jumps and other various jumps but not a full catch. Some athletes we do, do the olympic lifts with because they are extremely good athletes and are coachable and pick up the movements quickly. Three coaches at The Spot are certified US olympic weight coaches. Another reason we would teach an athlete to do them is because their strength coach in college will be having them do it.

These lifts are Olympic lifts and are for Olympic weight lifters. They take a long time to teach and the majority of athletes are terrible at them. Olympic weight lifters take a life time to learn these lifts. Practicing them seven days a week under the watchful eye of an Olympic weightlifting coach. Another reason most athletes are awful at the olympic lifts is because they are weak. They have no posterior chain strength. We get an hour with an athlete so we look at training economy or what is going to give your athlete the most benefit in the allotted time frame.

So would you rather have your coach do Olympic lifts for an hour because you know they are explosive or would you rather have your coach do sprints, deadlifts, reverse hypers and glute ham raises? Which do you think is more beneficial to your athlete?

Monday, June 9, 2014

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 6/2-6/8

Last week was very busy here at the Spot Athletics. Our clients put in another great week at the gym. Just as normal, as our clients were busting their butts working towards achieving their goals, but our coaches were also reaching theirs. We took a crew out to APF nationals and Lily, Matt, Nic, Luke, and J.L. qualified for WPC Worlds. It was a great weekend for us. We are able to help our clients reach their goals because we have experience working towards our own. Thanks to all of our clients who supported us as well. Now it is back to work, as we prepare for summer programs starting this week. Let's have another great week!

Friday, June 6, 2014

Friday technique video- The Sumo Deadlift

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Cops and Firefighters...You're training all wrong

Put down the muscle mags. Looking big, fast and strong is one thing but actually being big, fast and strong is another thing. I have worked with a handful of firefighters and cops here at The Spot and there is a common theme. Most of you train like bodybuilders and I hate to break it to you but that's wrong. You guys need to train for your profession. You need to be able to sprint, jump, tackle, carry heavy loads. Good luck catching a crack head or carrying that hose up 5 flights of stairs with all your equipment on training like that. Your life depends on being fast, strong and in the best shape of you life...Daily. If you want to go home to your husband, wife and kids then you need to take care of your body the right way. So lets think here. Who is fast, strong, explosive, mobile, can carry heavy loads continuously and is in amazing shape. Give up? Athletes thats who. Train like an athlete ladies and gentlemen. Also I am going to say this, find a good trainer who produces results with athletes and pay them to train with you. It's your life that is on the line not mine but if I need you to help me, you better be in the best shape as possible. Oh and guess what it's a tax write off. So there is no reason you shouldn't have an awesome trainer like one us from The Spot.

But if you can't afford a trainer here are some tips to get you started:

1: Improve mobility and movement patterns. A lot of you sit around most of the day which in a round about way is sedentary. This leads to poor posture, tight pecs, rounded shoulders, tight hips, poor running patterns etc. So you must improve these just so you can move better.

2: Utilize sprints, jumps and throws. These will make you more explosive. You'll be able to take off quicker and catch an eluding subject. Or if need be throw an explosive fist to the culprit. Cops and firefighters like athletes need to train for their job. You need to be able to do something repeatedly over a period of time.

3: Get strong. Firefighters, you guys carry a lot of equipment, you work with heavy equipment and with a growing obesity rate you'll be carrying a lot of obese people. Cops you will be involved in hand to hand combat. Don't lose because some guy is stronger then you.

4: Train the middle. If your upper body is strong great. If your lower body is strong great. If the core is weak it doesn't matter. Simple

5: When we train athletes for conditioning we have to emulate their game. Short bursts with short rest. Like a football game. You need to do the same with your conditioning. You need to raise your aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.

Sample program (Dynamic upper/Heavy lower)

1: Dynamic warm-up addressing mobility restrictions. Get the heart rate up and the body ready to perform the up-coming tasks.

2: Med ball throws. Over-head backwards throws 15 throws

3: Box squat work up to a heavy 5

4: Romanian deadlift 4 sets of 8-10 superset with weighted planks 4x60 seconds

5: Suitcase lunges 4x20 steps (10 on each leg) superset with bent leg pull throughs 4x10

Conditioning
20 yard sprints 10 sprints 20 seconds rest in-between each sprint

This is a very basic workout but it gives you a basic idea utilizing the points above. Here at The Spot we take you through a comprehensive assessment to see where your issues are and whats holding you back from becoming awesome. Based on this assessment we can develop a program based on your individual needs. So stop bodybuilding and start training like an athlete. Your life depends on it.

If you would like to start training like an athlete along with feeling and moving better please feel free to contact me by calling 614-753-1314 or email me at Nic@thespotathletics.com. I look forward to hearing from you and helping you become awesome at your job.

Coach Bronkall

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tips to Get Stronger Part 1

Stuck in a rut? Having trouble making strength gains? Try these quick tips to help you get stronger- faster!

1) Use compound movements. I know squats and deadlifts can be intimidating because they look difficult, require you to be technically proficient, and are wrongly accused of causing injury. However, these multi joint movements are great strength builders. Not only are you using the vast majority of your muscles but once you're good at the movement, you can really load the weight on and get great results. So if you're not squatting, deadlifting, and pressing, the you're missing out.

2) Eat to grow. Are you eating enough to build muscle and allow your body to repair and refuel? If you're not eating to match your training- especially with protein intake- you could be halting your gains.

3) Always make progress. If you're doing the same sets and reps for a month and haven't added any weight on the bar, you're not getting stronger. If you aren't challenging your body to get stronger, it won't. It needs stimulus to adapt to in order to grow. That doesn't mean changing exercises all the time, it means adding weight on the bar or doing more reps with the same weight. If you're not constantly striving to make progress- and tracking your progress- it will stall.

4) Ditch the cardio. Doing 2 hours a day on the elliptical will not only not make you stronger- it will eat away at your muscle and add fat to your body. Instead of doing long distance steady state cardio, try sprints or a short duration high intensity finisher to your workout. You'll not only lose fat but build muscle at the same time.

Check back soon for part 2!

Monday, June 2, 2014

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 5/26-6/1

Here is this week's weekly training video montage. Most school's have just let out for the summer which means that we are going to be busy building champions at the gym! Our Personal Training and Met Con Clients have been working hard and are achieving their goals. A good handful of them just recently completed the Tough Mudder. Our summer programs start up next week, and we are excited to kick the summer off! If you or your son or daughter needs to take the next step towards their athletic goals, then check out our summer programs for various ages and sports!

The Spot Athletics Blog