Selecting a Strength & Conditioning coach

Choosing a strength and conditioning coach for yourself or for your athlete can be a daunting task.  How do you know who will help them improve and excel and who will just keep them the same or worse yet, get them hurt.  As a parent I understand that we want the best for our kids, it's just that sometimes we don't have a way of judging what's best.  The first place to start is by selecting someone who is an actual strength and conditioning coach.  Just sending your athlete to a personal trainer will not get them the results that their hard work deserves.  I mean you wouldn't take your Ford to a Chevy dealer to get fixed would you, then why give your athlete to someone who is not qualified to handle them.   Next, realize that your athlete working hard is not an indication of a good program or strength coach.  You could literally hire a bum who is begging for change and offer him a steak dinner if he makes your athlete run till he pukes and I bet he'll get the job done.  Does this mean this bum is a great strength coach or that he has a great program, of coarse not.  A good strength coach realizes that recovery and periodization are part of an athlete making continual, year-round gains.  So don't judge a strength coach on if they are making your kids work hard, judge them on the results at the end of the program.  Lastly, ask the strength coach when they train themselves.  I would never have my athletes do something that I had not done myself, yet these "personal trainers" who don't ever lift a weight are telling an athlete how to squat.  I'm not saying that the strength coach has to be a world class athlete but if they don't practice what they preach then how good of examples are they for your athlete.

So to sum up:  1. Hire an actual strength coach, not just a personal trainer                                  2. Killing athletes every workout isn't a good indicator of a good strength coach, results are.    3. Never hire a trainer or strength coach that doesn't train hard themselves

BJJ/MMA Conditioning

 

Today Vitor Oliveira (black belt in Jiu Jitsu) and Vinecius Tavares Marinho (black belt in Jiu Jitsu) get some good power conditioning in.  This is just a small portion of the workout that entailed one minute each of Sledge hammer, tire flips, scissor jumps, battle rope and 160yrd prowler push.  This is a very metabolically demanding circuit and takes a very high level of conditioning to complete.  Vinny was struggling a little, as it was only his second workout with us, but he has over 15yrs of BJJ experience so it's not like he's starting from zero.  He will be able to complete this circuit without stopping in no time.

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.