The secret exercise for big traps!

A lot of people comment on my traps and usually it's followed up with a question on how I built them.  First I always say genetics, then I say I don't know because most people don't want to put in the work to get big traps.  Your traps aren't just bumps on your shoulders that hide your neck, they are a complex and large muscle group that goes from the base of your skull to the lower part of your back.  The upper traps are what most people associate with big traps and these can be earned by heavy shrugs and upright rows.  But in my opinion the secret to big traps is building the middle traps so big that the upper traps pop out of your shoulders like they are trying to escape.  For middle traps my favorite exercise is lying shrugs.  To do this you need to be high enough off the ground that you can extend your arms but also reach the bar with a little help.  If you add this exercise into your trap routine I guarantee your traps will start to grow.

Favorite Trap Exercise

Fall Programs Starting

It's that time of year again....Back to school.  We have many programs this fall for athletes of all ages.

- Our CAAT(Complete Athletic Ability Training) program (ages 6-11) takes a slice from the old soviet model of building motor patterns at a young ages so that when the athletes get older they can excel in their chosen sport.  We teach proper running and jumping mechanics, body control, proprioception, body awareness, and also work on the athletes mobility.  Studies show that if an athlete hasn't learn a motor pattern by age 13 then they will not learn it.  Don't just put your kid in a "fitness" camp, let the experts at The Spot Athletics turn your child into a better athlete.  The CAAT program is M,W, and F from 4:30-5:30pm starting Sept. 5th.

- Speed, Agility and Quickness(SAQ) training.  We do SAQ work in our total Speed, Strength and Conditioning program but here we take just the SAQ portion and only train it.  Although you can't reach your full potential without a full Strength and Conditioning program this program is perfect for kids who have to lift with their team but are not receiving any proper SAQ training.  SAQ class is held Mon, Tue and Thur. from 4-5pm.

Girls Volleyball Summer Training Results - Dublin Scioto

Check out the amazing improvements from our summer session with Dublin Scioto volleyball team!

Volleyball Girls doing Strongman training

Here the Dublin Scioto Volleyball team does strongman training at The Spot Athletics.

60 Inch Box Jumps

Evan Feltz is the first athlete at The Spot Athletics to land a 60'' box jump.  Keegan Crawford jumped up on the 60'' box before Evan but he couldn't stay up to make it an official 60'' box jump.  Jessie Print also got on the 60'' box but couldn't stay up to make it official.  This is made even more impressive by the fact that they are all 15yrs old.  Keegan could barely jump on the 48'' box when joining us last fall and Jessie has seen his approach vertical go up by 15'' since starting with us.  Evan has had a 7.5'' increase in his vertical since starting with us last fall.   Our system will make you faster, stronger and obviously jump higher.

Strength is speed!

A lot of people have heard me say that I can tell who is the fastest athlete based on the amount of pull ups that they can do.  This works because pull ups are a test of relative strength to body weight.  When we run that is what we are doing, expressing our strength to bodyweight.  The stronger your legs and hips, the further you can move your body with each step, thus the faster you can run.  When an athlete is first learning to run they get faster by improving their sprint mechanics and nervous system activity but this adaptation only takes you so far.  Once you have a little bit of experience running the only way to get faster is to get stronger.  People who say they are "speed coaches" and only address the mechanics and nervous system activity drills are only tapping the surface of your athlete's potential speed.  A true "speed coach" understands that unless an athlete gets stronger they will never get faster.  Yes an untrained athlete will get faster by just working on running skill, but that improvement is very limited and ends very quickly.  Unless the athlete is working on improving their strength then they will never realize their full potential.  At The Spot Athletics we are not concerned with just making minimal improvements.  We focus on developing the total athlete through speed mechanics drills, injury prevention, explosive training, strength training, and conditioning.  This total athlete development allows our athletes to see long term major improvements in athleticism.  Don't get sucked into only working on sprint mechanics, make sure you are working on developing the whole athlete.   It always boggles my mind how people say they are doing "speed" work but their whole workout is what we do in our warm up.

Summer Programs filling up.

If you haven't signed up for one of our great summer programs then you need to do so quickly.  We have summer programs for soccer, volleyball and young kids.  Each of these programs is designed to maximize performance in your young athlete.  Our volleyball and soccer programs are sport specific programs that address the unique needs of each sport.  Our kids summer strength and conditioning camps with work on developing overall athletic ability in your young child.  If they don't acquire the proper motor patterns before age 13 then it becomes exponentially more difficult to make motor pattern changes.