IYCA - The International Youth Conditioning Association : The International Youth Conditioning Association

Pre-Tournament Nutrition With Dr. Chris Mohr

[wpfblike] Nutrition Q: What foods should you eat to start your day when you are going to play in an all day tournament? A: First, I’ll assume that you’re planning to wake up early enough to have something somewhat substantial and are not just rolling out of bed and running out the door. When you’re preparing for several games during the day. If you read nothing else, pay attention closely to this … Stick with what you know and don’t try new foods on the day of competition. Or even the day before competition. I once.. More »

Your Thoughts On ‘Elite’ Youth Sports

[wpfblike] This past week the following article about ‘Elite’ youth sports was featured on ESPN.com: http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/keown-110823/elite-travel-baseball-basketball-teams-make-youth-sports-industrial-complex This is a topic I’ve had strong feelings about for 15 years, but I’m more interested in your thoughts.

Testimonials That Will BUILD Your Youth Fitness Business

[wpfblike] Young Athletes As fitness professionals that coach young athletes we all desire those golden testimonials that will hit a marketing home run for us. The comments that we lust after are in conjunction with the very physical attributes we portray on our websites, in our brochures and as a part of any printed collateral marketing material we produce. Understanding the power of social proof and or 3rd party credibility and utilizing it for press releases and even paid for advertising (hopefully not so much) will get most youth fitness coaches puffed up like a tick. This is.. More »

Connecting With Local High Schools

[wpfblike] A few weeks ago, I wrote a post for all IYCA members on how to use bands to get involved with a high school: Opening The Door To Youth Sports In Your Area Youth Sports I recently received this email from a local trainer that I thought was very appropriate to share with all of you. If you are looking for a way to provide coaches with something that will not only make their athletes better but also provide them a solution to a very common problem, resistance bands may be the answer. This could very.. More »

Top 5 Offseason Training Tips for Speed and Power Athletes

[wpfblike] Offseason Training If you’re a sprinter or sprints coach who starts getting ready for the indoor season during the fall (or for spring during the winter, etc.), here are my Top 5 Offseason Training Tips. Keep these in the front of your mind and you’ll set yourself up for another season of bringing shame upon the masses. 1.Define Your Expectations Notice I didn’t say ‘Goals’. I don’t believe in goals. Goals are things that never actually happen. Like the dream you had last night. And tomorrow. Expectations eliminate wiggle room, excuses and sad stories. Young.. More »

Training Rotational Power in High School Athletes

[wpfblike] By Ryan Ketchum Rotational Power In almost every single sport that I can think of the more powerful athlete will win almost any battle within a competition. It is also no secret that our athletes are not moving in a linear direction for the majority of the time they are playing their sports. We need to be able to change direction and quickly accelerate in multiple directions under differing situations with multiple stimuli. You might be asking "Why in the heck is this guy talking about change of direction and acceleration in a rotational power.. More »

The 3 Laws of Speed Development

[wpfblike] Speed Development Today I’m going to explain why having your athletes do ‘fly 40s’ during the first week of practice is a mistake (no matter which sport you coach or compete in) and what you should be doing instead. To do a workout like this so early in the season shows a frightening lack of coaching knowledge and effort . But, fundamentally, it ignores the First Law of Speed Development. The First Law of Speed Development: Speed is a Skill The dividing line between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ (if you believe in such concepts) coaches starts with.. More »

3 Tips To Be A Better Coach

[wpfblike] by Wil Fleming Thinking back on my development, first as an athlete and then as a fitness professional, there has been one group of people that have been more influential to me than any other. It was my coaches. If I see any of those individuals now I still call them "Coach". Some are 4 time Olympians, some are 80 year old men, 1 is a representative in the Indiana House Assembly. Regardless of what their day job was/is or where they have gone on to now, the people that made a big impact in.. More »

Opening The Door To Youth Sports In Your Area

[wpfblike] Youth Football Three years ago I introduced a concept to our youth football organization which is nicknamed the Hawks. The concept was originally presented as a fund raiser to earn money for what was at that time a very poorly equipped high school weight room facility. What I did was go to the president of the Hawks football club and the varsity head youth football coach and proposed that I do a 3 day Pre-season Hawks Football Mini-camp for the entire Hawks program which included grades 6 through 8th. It was a conditioning camp that focused on getting.. More »

The IYCA Inks Book Deal with Celebrity Press IYCA Youth Fitness Specialists to be Featured Louisville, KY- This past July, hundreds of Youth Fitness Specialists, certified by the International Youth Conditioning Association, gathered for two days in the Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY, to learn about and share their passion for youth fitness training. What they also got was the opportunity of a lifetime, to be featured in a book, The Definitive Guide to Youth Athletic Strength, Conditioning and Performance. The IYCA teamed up with publishing company Celebrity Press, known for producing best-selling authors in.. More »

The Easiest Way To Improve Your Entire Program

[wpfblike] Training Session In my experience, the most effective coaches are always looking for any trick or technique to evolve their programs and get more out of each workout, drill, practice, etc. I’m also a big believer in involving my athletes in their training. If kids feel like they’re an active part of the training process (as opposed to simply being told what to do day in and day out), they’ll work harder. With these two ideas in mind, I’ve stumbled across an extremely easy way to make every element of your program better starting at your.. More »

Top 5 Summer Training Tips

[wpfblike] Summer Youth Training I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to approach summer training. You’ve got a number of options, so here’s my take on getting the most out of summer youth training for sprinters (or any athlete in any sport, for that matter): Consider not training at all. Summer competitions are more popular in some places than others. Where I live, it’s not incredibly popular. And quite frankly, I’m cool with that. I generally don’t steer kids toward summer training and/or competitions unless the kid is hardcore and keeps asking about it or.. More »

A Training Program for Young Athletes

[wpfblike] A Training Program For Young Athletes From Brian Grasso. Here’s a program I did last week with a group of 15 year-old hockey players: Mobility & Tissue Quality

The Happy Youth Fitness Specialist: Part 2

[wpfblike] Youth Fitness Specialist And Happines Part 2… As Elena and I pondered the sources from which happiness flowed we wondered if there was another catalyst to its fulfillment, a life of solidarity. Whether fully engaged in a labor of love or committed to a purpose greater than yourself, can you truly be the best version of yourself, by yourself? Without being challenged, inspired and supported by a like minded peer group, how do we ever know whether we are progressing or regressing? Further, what is a life of pleasure without others to share, enjoy and explore it with.

Youth Fitness Specialist key to Happiness: Part 1

[wpfblike] Youth Fitness Specialist Article by Bobby Cuppucio Last night in London, I believe I shared a simultaneous epiphany with Steve Jack, Elena and Michol Dalcourt. We were discussing well… the secret of happiness. Wine and the city make for an interesting conversation to say the least. What does make people happy? Or, more anecdotally, why are so many people not happy? According to Dr. Martin Seligman, in the decades that he has been a psychologist, he has discovered that there are three levels of happiness They are: A life of pleasure A life of engagement A life.. More »

Coaching Young Athletes – You Can Over Do It

[wpfblike] Coaching young athletes: The biggest mistake you’re making… Is Coaching Young Athletes & Communication More important Than Understanding Sets, Reps & Exercise Selection? Maybe… Click Here to Find Out: http://completeathletedevelopment.com/

Young Athletes Need Teaching… Not Training

[wpfblike] Young Athletes Need More Than Training A staple of the IYCA Code: “Teach young athletes… Don’t Train”. A little scary, perhaps? Most certainly counterintuitive? How do you talk to Coaches andYoung Athletes who think that every training session needs to be a ‘throw-up-fest’ of nothing but hard work? Watch this young athlete principles video and find out…