Principles of Strength & Conditioning

Consistency

Never miss a scheduled workout. Some people say 80 percent of success is just showing up. This means is that you have to show up and work to get better! If you don't make a workout you not only don't take a step forward, you take one backward. Do not do any more or less than is prescribed to you. There is a reason for everything we put or don't put into your program.

Be prepared to train. If you fail to prepare, you are preparing for failure. To be consistent, you must commit to your best effort, have a vision for daily progress and focus time and energy on things that get you closer to your goal. The best athletes in the world are consistent in their approach to all parts of their training everyday!

Intensity

To have intensity, you must have passion and determination, give maximal effort and have a vision for how your daily choices affect the future. You won't accept less than your best effort.

Work Ethic

You have to work as hard as you can to get the most out of your program. You will have times when you will have days off from training and light intensity days. You'll need them, recovery is critical. However, when it is time to work, you have to go hard. Hard work can accomplish almost anything. Get in, give it your best, and get out!

How We Get Things Done

If you think any one way is the best and only way to get results, you've been listening to the wrong people's advice. There are several modalities now- free weights, dumbbells, machines, bands and tubing, weighted vests, stability balls, sandbags, tires, sleds, medicine balls, and on and on. If you want the best results, your program should be dynamic and utilize a variety of equipment. Our programs utilize many equipment types and the best ideas from the worlds of physical therapy, athletic training, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, strength and conditioning, strongman, and more.

Training Principles

• Integrated Training Paradigm
Eccentric force reduction precedes concentric force production. The greater the athletes eccentric strength, neuromuscular efficiency and stabilization strength, the greater their concentric force production will be without gaining weight or size.
• Integrated Training Continuum
Stabilization--Strength--Power. We must build a solid foundation or athletes will prematurely peak.
• Multi-planar Training
Must train in Sagital, Frontal, Transverse and Combination planes of motion in order to ensure development of all muscles. Muscles are optimized in differing planes of motion.
• Train With Optimum Posture
This is a must for optimum efficiency and to avoid compensation.
• Train for Optimum Muscle Balance
Agonists, antagonists, stabilizers, synergists and neutralizers must have optimal length-tension and force-couple relationships to avoid injury and for optimal performance.
• Train for Optimum Muscle Function
Even when isolating a weak muscle it must be done while integrating the entire kinetic chain when possible.
• Train Muscle Contraction Spectrum
Muscles eccentrically decelerate, isometrically and dynamically stabilize and concentrically accelerate; therefore, programs must focus on all types of contraction.
• Train Velocity Contraction Spectrum
Must train specific speeds related to activity. Rate of force production is one of the most indicative components of performance.

Training Concepts

• Integrated Performance Profile
Baseline information that assists in determining how to most efficiently help athletes achieve their performance goals.
• Integrated Flexibility Training
Purpose is to correct muscle imbalances, increase joint range of motion, decrease muscle soreness, decrease muscle hypertonicity, relieve joint stress, improve extensibility of musculotendinous junction and maintain normal function length.
• Core Stabilization Training
All movement is initiated from and transferred through the core, and those movements may only be as forceful as the core is strong.
• Reactive Neuromuscular Training (Plyometric/Power)
This is necessary for utilizing the stretch-shortening-cycle, improving neuromuscular efficiency, increasing rate of force production and reducing neuromuscular inhibition.
• Integrated Speed, Agility, and Quickness Training
Must improve all aspects of "playing speed" specific to activity. The fastest, quickest, most agile player usually wins.
• Energy System Development
Developing sport specific stamina and endurance. The physiological system must be developed specifically for the sport/position.
• Integrated Strength Training
Systematic, integrated, functional training that improves biomotor abilities, high levels of functional strength, neuromuscular efficiency and dynamic flexibility. We use multi-joint movements that are ground based as often as possible.
• Performance and Recovery Nutrition Training
Taking in the proper nutrition at the proper time for optimal performance and recovery from training or competition. Our athletes are put through a nutritional analysis and strongly educated on proper nutrition.
• Recovery and Regeneration Training
Methods necessary for speeding recovery from training or competition. We utilize cutting-edge but easily implementable tools for speeding recovery and improving performance.

Each program must focus on neurological change before morphological changes to ensure long-term training success, injury prevention, and performance enhancement.