Injuries are a part of athletics. Not all injuries are preventable. They are a form of adversity that if managed correctly can work as springboards. It comes down to empowering your athletes to learn from the injuries. In this blog post, Brady Poppinga talks about some of the things he learned from his injuries.
10 Mistakes of Program Design
Program design is tough! There’s no getting around the fact that it takes years of practice writing hundreds of programs to get “the feel” for writing great programs. Just consider all the variables that go into writing a great program. This blog contains the 10 mistakes that many make when programming for athletes.
Killer In-Season Speed Training for Football
One of the best training tools to keep athletes injury free and maintaining a high level of speed and quickness during the football season is continuous looped resistance bands. Bands offer football coaches and trainers the versatility and convenience to train multi-directional speed throughout the season without feeling like they are taking time away from game planning, fundamental skill development or game day performance.
Regressions and Progressions in Multiple Training Blocks [Part 1]
Team training can be challenging. There are a variety of factors that have to be taken into account when working with large groups and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. This blog post will focus primarily on what must initially be considered in order to program for the long-term effectively.
First Movement, Then Stability, Finally Mechanics
“Proper Body Mechanics” is a hot topic in any sport. Perhaps because over decades of research, video analysis, and studying elite athletes there are seemingly very common trends on how to exceed in sports. So the most important thing for any coach or trainer to focus on is body mechanics? Not necessarily. Learn more about prioritizing movement, stability and then mechanics.
3 Reasons To Become A Youth Fitness Specialist
At the International Youth Conditioning Association we are proud of the fact that we provide education for coaches and trainers just like you. It is important to us to provide research-based information coupled with practical application. Our Youth Fitness Specialist Certification does that, and there are many reasons that being a Youth Fitness Specialist can be a benefit to you and the athletes/kids you work with. Here are just a few.
How to Build a Year Round Band Flexibility Program
Athletes young and old do not like to stretch and, as a result, create unnecessary trauma to their joints and muscles as a result of not being optimally ready to train. Continuously looped resistance bands will not only provide athletes and their coaches with a proven program to improve flexibility, but it will also allow bands to be implemented into other aspects of athletic performance training as well.
Performance Training Issues Solved by Standardizing?
The goal of Performance Training programs for young athletes is simple: create more injury-resistant and higher-performing athletes. After years of coaching parents and youth, it is evident that performance training is still not held as an essential or non-negotiable part of an athlete’s career. How can performance training become a non-negotiable activity for athletes? Learn more today!
Kettlebell Complexes for Conditioning: Important Factors
Pamela MacElree provides us with a lot of content on kettlebell training for kids. She mostly talks about kettlebells being a great tool for introducing strength training to athletes and learning movement mechanics. In her recent INSIDERS EXCLUSIVE post, Pamela spoke about how easy and simple it is to switch from one exercise to another, providing a great avenue for complexes and challenging all ranges of abilities and levels. Check out the complexes today!
Why Your Speed Program Isn’t Working
Is your speed training program working? There are two reasons that Coach and Speed Expert Jim Kielbaso says your speed training programs are NOT working! This 3 minute video can change your programs forever!
Football Pre-Season Prep
Football season is around the corner. For any young athlete, now is the time to prepare for the upcoming season and do what you can to contribute to a successful season. Learn more about the things a young football player should do in preparation for the season.
Overcome Summer Programming Hurdles [High School]
Programming for the high school athlete during the summer has its challenges. Does it seem like the summer is getting shorter and shorter? Here are 6 hurdles you will see if you work with high school athletes. More importantly, check out the Pro Tips for ways to overcome them!
The Ultimate Speed Training Equation
Speed Expert Jim Kielbaso’s equation for speed training success is very simple. Force+Power+Mechanics=Speed. Check out this short video and learn how these 3 principles can super-charge athletic performance!
3 Easy Ways to Grow Your Fitness Business this Summer
Step outside and take a deep breath… hopefully you are getting the first sniff of that summer air. Then it hits you, this is a time of year where all craziness breaks loose. Routines are on the brink of being completely thrown out of the window, your beach-going clients and vacation craving kids leave your facility, making it look like a ghost town. Or maybe it is quite the opposite. Either way, this time of year is a time of opportunity and growth for any performance trainer. Here are 3 easy ways to grow your business this summer.
5 Injury Myths You Need to Know
Does it just seem that some people are more injury prone than others? I know this from personal experience, I was one of them. Perhaps that’s what drove me to become a physical therapist—a yearning to understand what was wrong with me. Along the way I learned a few things and with that, I now share with you my favorite 5 Injury Myths.
Why Do ACL Tears Occur?
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four main ligaments in the knee and provides a significant amount of stability during agility and sports specific movements. Unfortunately, over 200,000 athletes are affected by ACL tears each year, and even more importantly the ratio of females to males is 9:1. Learn more about why ACL tears occur today!
Crawling for Strength Training?
In this video, Dave “The Band Man” Schmitz takes you through progressive concepts when it comes to strength training with bands…by teaching the crawl! You may think… “everyone knows how to crawl”…but when you watch this video you will realize that crawling can take your athletes to another level when taught with bands!
5 Common Resistance Band Training Misconceptions
Dave “The Band Man” Schmitz gave us access to a 30+ minute instructional video on Resistance Band Training including mistakes, when you should start implementing bands with kids, progressions and so much more in our Exclusive IYCA Insiders members site. It was so good that we had to take a snippet of information and share it with you for free!
30+ Football S&A Drills in 3 Minutes
In the next 3 minutes you will get more than 30 Football Speed and Agility drills to implement today. If you do not work with football players, no worries. These are still useful drills to add to your programs no matter the age of your athlete or the sport they play!
5 Tips You Need to Know About Knee Injuries
There are so many types of knee injuries that for coaches, it can be hard to know what is what. So to break down the barriers to understanding knee injuries, learn more about the 5 tips that every coach should know about the knee.