Strength Training For Young Basketball Players
In my 20 plus years of involvement in the fitness and sports nutrition businesses I have a difficult time believing that so many people are still falling for the same old hype and misinformation. It seems that most folks are confused by the constant barrage of worthless and misleading fitness information that spews from the infomercials’, supplement ads, and magazines that are only looking to see how much of your money they can grab.
Needless to say, I was very pleased to be invited by Hoosier Hills Hoops (www.hoosierhillshoops.com) to contribute a monthly, no-nonsense article covering the essentials of strength training and nutrition for Basketball players. Over the next several articles I hope to introduce you to a couple of essential training concepts that will elevate your athletic skills to new heights.
The first of these concepts is called “functional” strength training.
Everyone knows that a stronger athlete is a better athlete. But, it seems that most people have a very foggy notion of exactly how to create an effective sport specific training program. Strength training is very much like investing money. You should only risk your valuable time and effort on things that offer a good return. After that, your time is better spent on the court working directly on basketball skills instead.
In order to develop a highly functional strength training routine it is necessary to keep in mind the specific movements that you will be performing during your sports activities. Unfortunately, when most people think of “strength training” the first things that come to mind are exercises like the bench press and bicep curls. Certainly, these movements have their place in a well rounded program and they will help you to look better at the beach. But, the fact is they probably won’t do much to increase your performance on the basketball court.
This is where functional strength training comes into play. The term "functional" is simply used to describe exercise movements that strongly correlate to the sport or activity that someone is training for. Although this is probably a gross oversimplification, you could say for example, a dumbbell shoulder press would be a functional exercise for a shot putter and the lunge is a functional movement for sprinters. In other words, functional exercise emphasizes training of movement patterns rather than training simply for physical appearance or isolating individual muscles. In order to get the most bang for your buck, you should stick to a short list of “money” exercises that will directly improve your sport specific skills. Spending hours in the weight room is not a recipe for success. Although, it can be a difficult concept for many people to grasp, the truth is, more isn’t necessarily better. When done properly strength training should be high in intensity and relatively brief in duration.
The second basic concept that every athlete should be familiar with is “periodization”. Although conventional periodization programs can be quite complicated and confounded with a great deal of terminology, I believe that (to start out) we only need to grasp the simple fact that our training style (volume, rep range, exercise selection, rest between sets, etc) must vary relative to our competitive season. In other words, during the competitive season we will train for maintenance of strength. In the pre-season we will create a program to build/increase strength. Immediately after the season is time to allow the body to rest and recuperate. As with other things in life there is a proper time and place for everything and when we try to emphasize everything we actually emphasize nothing. Therefore, periodization allows us to focus on or prioritize specific training methods at the most logical times while allowing sufficient time for recovery.
There are a number of physical attributes and skill sets that could be said to make an athlete a more dangerous player on the basketball court. Speed, quickness, agility, vertical jump, endurance, and lateral movement are a few that come to mind. Over the next several months I plan to lay out a recipe to help you develop the ideal strength training system to incorporate in to your basketball pre and post-season training schedules. In addition, I will offer some useful information on how to help you build a better, more efficient body by adding some increased octane to your diet as well… Stay tuned!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Personal Trainers, what is Your Training Philosophy?
Personal Trainers, what is Your Training Philosophy?
by: Doug Galligan
It would be difficult to deny that the barrage of diet and fitness information in the market today
has many consumers totally confused about which direction they should turn to achieve the results
they are looking for. But, the confusion about which training methods are most effective is
certainly not confined to consumers. Just take a look around the internet or on the shelves of
your favorite book store and you will find that most fitness “experts” have a difficult time
agreeing about which system/method is best too. We have High Intensity Training, German Volume Training, 6 x 6, Muscle Confusion, Power Factor Training, A Muscle Has Four Sides, and the list goes on. How does one decide which is best?
Personally, I don’t believe that the ongoing disagreement about exercise methodology necessarily stems from the scientific merit of one system vs. another. From my perspective the primary sources of disagreement are either: a) the systems in question attempt to present their product as the “only way” in order to sell more books, CD’s, DVD’s, etc. Or, b) it is more a matter of perspective. Every Personal Trainer, Coach, and Trainee has different goals in mind and unique definitions of success. Some folks combine a lack of desire to exercise with very vague goals, such as, “I’d like to feel better and lose a few pounds”. Another client may be well disciplined with a goal of reaching the NFL. Obviously, the approach to training these two individuals would be completely different. To put it more simply, it wouldn’t make much sense to train a Fitness Model in the same way that you would train an Olympic Discus thrower or High School Linebacker. Likewise, you wouldn’t train an 11 year old Linebacker the same way that you train a 20 year old, collegiate Linebacker. There are different sets of rules and objectives for each person that you come in contact with. A trainee’s goals, expectations, health history, schedule, along with many other factors should determine what training methods are deployed. That is why we call it “Personal Training”.
A professional Personal Trainer must have the ability to analyze each client’s individual
situation and harmonize their training to match their lifestyle and goals. The attempt to build
the perfect training “blueprint” or “template” to use on everyone who walks through the door is
exactly what many of us have come to know as “cookie cutter programming”. Unless you are
providing this type of service for free it is certainly not what a Personal Training client expects
or deserves to get when paying for our services. Furthermore, buying into or subscribing exclusively to a given philosophy often limits a trainer’s ability to exercise their own better judgment. One of the more recent fads in the industry has been the huge movement toward “functional” training. Personally, I find this to be a very positive trend for the most part. But, it certainly isn’t a catch all, “holy grail” system. A few weeks ago, I witnessed a young, inexperienced trainer instruct an elderly, obese woman to drag a duffle bag with a couple of 45 pound plates inside across the floor. As you may have guessed, she ended up hurting her back as a result of this insanity. The exercise that she performed would have been perfect for an 18 year old defensive tackle. But, it was undoubtedly a stupid choice for a very overweight grandma.
Note to Self: It is very difficult for clients to improve their fitness level if I cause them to
be sent to the emergency room!
There are no short cuts to becoming a great trainer. You must constantly seek out new information and carefully observe what you see and here from clients and fellow trainers.
People hire Personal Trainers because they believe that we are knowledgeable, educated, free
thinking experts on exercise, not a bunch of sheep who blindly follow the latest diet and exercise
fads that have not yet been put through the test of time. In my opinion, fitness training is a lot
like a vegetable garden; things need their own unique season and set of conditions to provide the
right elements for them to grow and prosper.
Personal Trainer Pros
by: Doug Galligan
It would be difficult to deny that the barrage of diet and fitness information in the market today
has many consumers totally confused about which direction they should turn to achieve the results
they are looking for. But, the confusion about which training methods are most effective is
certainly not confined to consumers. Just take a look around the internet or on the shelves of
your favorite book store and you will find that most fitness “experts” have a difficult time
agreeing about which system/method is best too. We have High Intensity Training, German Volume Training, 6 x 6, Muscle Confusion, Power Factor Training, A Muscle Has Four Sides, and the list goes on. How does one decide which is best?
Personally, I don’t believe that the ongoing disagreement about exercise methodology necessarily stems from the scientific merit of one system vs. another. From my perspective the primary sources of disagreement are either: a) the systems in question attempt to present their product as the “only way” in order to sell more books, CD’s, DVD’s, etc. Or, b) it is more a matter of perspective. Every Personal Trainer, Coach, and Trainee has different goals in mind and unique definitions of success. Some folks combine a lack of desire to exercise with very vague goals, such as, “I’d like to feel better and lose a few pounds”. Another client may be well disciplined with a goal of reaching the NFL. Obviously, the approach to training these two individuals would be completely different. To put it more simply, it wouldn’t make much sense to train a Fitness Model in the same way that you would train an Olympic Discus thrower or High School Linebacker. Likewise, you wouldn’t train an 11 year old Linebacker the same way that you train a 20 year old, collegiate Linebacker. There are different sets of rules and objectives for each person that you come in contact with. A trainee’s goals, expectations, health history, schedule, along with many other factors should determine what training methods are deployed. That is why we call it “Personal Training”.
A professional Personal Trainer must have the ability to analyze each client’s individual
situation and harmonize their training to match their lifestyle and goals. The attempt to build
the perfect training “blueprint” or “template” to use on everyone who walks through the door is
exactly what many of us have come to know as “cookie cutter programming”. Unless you are
providing this type of service for free it is certainly not what a Personal Training client expects
or deserves to get when paying for our services. Furthermore, buying into or subscribing exclusively to a given philosophy often limits a trainer’s ability to exercise their own better judgment. One of the more recent fads in the industry has been the huge movement toward “functional” training. Personally, I find this to be a very positive trend for the most part. But, it certainly isn’t a catch all, “holy grail” system. A few weeks ago, I witnessed a young, inexperienced trainer instruct an elderly, obese woman to drag a duffle bag with a couple of 45 pound plates inside across the floor. As you may have guessed, she ended up hurting her back as a result of this insanity. The exercise that she performed would have been perfect for an 18 year old defensive tackle. But, it was undoubtedly a stupid choice for a very overweight grandma.
Note to Self: It is very difficult for clients to improve their fitness level if I cause them to
be sent to the emergency room!
There are no short cuts to becoming a great trainer. You must constantly seek out new information and carefully observe what you see and here from clients and fellow trainers.
People hire Personal Trainers because they believe that we are knowledgeable, educated, free
thinking experts on exercise, not a bunch of sheep who blindly follow the latest diet and exercise
fads that have not yet been put through the test of time. In my opinion, fitness training is a lot
like a vegetable garden; things need their own unique season and set of conditions to provide the
right elements for them to grow and prosper.
Personal Trainer Pros
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Progressing from Walking to Running part 2
Once you are able to comfortable with the cycles of walking/running you can progress to the next step. Keep in mind that even though this program is for a "new" runner, everyone should progress at their own pace.
The Next Five Weeks:
Week 1 & 2Monday: Walk 35 - 45 minutes
Tuesday: 1 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Wednesday: 1.5 mi easy run
Thursday: REST
Friday: 1 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Saturday: 1.5 mi easy run
Sunday: REST
Week 3 & 4Monday: Walk 40 - 50 minutes
Tuesday: 1.25 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Wednesday: 2 mile easy run
Thursday: REST
Friday: 1.25 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Saturday: 1.5 mile easy run
Sunday: REST
Week 5
Monday: Walk 45 - 55 minutes
Tuesday: 1.5 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Wednesday: 2 mile easy run
Thursday: REST
Friday: 1.5 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Saturday: 2.25 mile easy run
Sunday: REST
The Next Five Weeks:
Week 1 & 2Monday: Walk 35 - 45 minutes
Tuesday: 1 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Wednesday: 1.5 mi easy run
Thursday: REST
Friday: 1 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Saturday: 1.5 mi easy run
Sunday: REST
Week 3 & 4Monday: Walk 40 - 50 minutes
Tuesday: 1.25 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Wednesday: 2 mile easy run
Thursday: REST
Friday: 1.25 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Saturday: 1.5 mile easy run
Sunday: REST
Week 5
Monday: Walk 45 - 55 minutes
Tuesday: 1.5 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Wednesday: 2 mile easy run
Thursday: REST
Friday: 1.5 mile easy run plus strength training circuit
Saturday: 2.25 mile easy run
Sunday: REST
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Progressing from Walking to Running:
Progressing from Walking to Running:
The winter season is a great time to begin running. With the spring season just around the corner, this is the perfect time to begin preparing for the numerous running events that take place when the weather begins to get warmer. Anyone who has ever tried to get back in shape with a running program can tell you that reaching the point where you can run for a sustained period of time can be a painful process. But, it really doesn't have to be this way. It is much safer and enjoyable to ease yourself into a running routine. Following is a very simple plan that will help you to get started. It simply requires that you put in about 30 minutes, 5 - 6 days per week, during the first 4 – 8 weeks. After that you should be ready to begin a bonified running/jogging program. Please keep in mind that exercise is not without its risks and you should always consult your doctor before beginning any exercise or diet program.
· At this point it is best to work for a given amount of time rather than attempting to go a particular distance.
· For the first 5 - 10 minutes of your workout you will warm up by walking. Gradually increase you walking pace.
· Likewise, for the last 5 minutes of your workout, you will gradually slow down to a walking pace. After you complete the 5 minute cool down period, stretch your major muscle groups for a few minutes. Hold each stretch for about 12 seconds. (Don’t stretch before exercise, only afterward)
· During the middle 15 - 20 minutes of the workout, you should jog or run at a reasonably comfortable pace. At this stage you don’t need to push yourself too hard. However, your pace should be challenging enough to force your body to increase your cardio-respiratory endurance.
· The best way to approach this is by shifting between bouts of running and walking. For example, jog for 30 seconds, walk for one minute, jog for 30 seconds, walk for 1 minute, repeat….
· Once you become comfortable jogging and walking, adapt a 30/40 pattern: jogging for 30 seconds, then walking 40 seconds, etc.
· When you have mastered the 30/40 split then you can progress to a 60/30 split (60 seconds of running, 30 seconds of walking).
· Follow this routine for about 4 – 8 weeks. If you train continuously (at least 5 days per week) you should be ready to move to the consistent running/jogging workouts within 4 – 6 weeks. Following is a very simple plan that will help you to get started. It simply requires that you put in 30 minutes, 5 - 6 days per week, during the first 4 – 6 weeks. After that you should be ready to begin a bonified running/jogging program.
· At this point it is best to work for a given amount of time rather than attempting to go a particular distance.
The winter season is a great time to begin running. With the spring season just around the corner, this is the perfect time to begin preparing for the numerous running events that take place when the weather begins to get warmer. Anyone who has ever tried to get back in shape with a running program can tell you that reaching the point where you can run for a sustained period of time can be a painful process. But, it really doesn't have to be this way. It is much safer and enjoyable to ease yourself into a running routine. Following is a very simple plan that will help you to get started. It simply requires that you put in about 30 minutes, 5 - 6 days per week, during the first 4 – 8 weeks. After that you should be ready to begin a bonified running/jogging program. Please keep in mind that exercise is not without its risks and you should always consult your doctor before beginning any exercise or diet program.
· At this point it is best to work for a given amount of time rather than attempting to go a particular distance.
· For the first 5 - 10 minutes of your workout you will warm up by walking. Gradually increase you walking pace.
· Likewise, for the last 5 minutes of your workout, you will gradually slow down to a walking pace. After you complete the 5 minute cool down period, stretch your major muscle groups for a few minutes. Hold each stretch for about 12 seconds. (Don’t stretch before exercise, only afterward)
· During the middle 15 - 20 minutes of the workout, you should jog or run at a reasonably comfortable pace. At this stage you don’t need to push yourself too hard. However, your pace should be challenging enough to force your body to increase your cardio-respiratory endurance.
· The best way to approach this is by shifting between bouts of running and walking. For example, jog for 30 seconds, walk for one minute, jog for 30 seconds, walk for 1 minute, repeat….
· Once you become comfortable jogging and walking, adapt a 30/40 pattern: jogging for 30 seconds, then walking 40 seconds, etc.
· When you have mastered the 30/40 split then you can progress to a 60/30 split (60 seconds of running, 30 seconds of walking).
· Follow this routine for about 4 – 8 weeks. If you train continuously (at least 5 days per week) you should be ready to move to the consistent running/jogging workouts within 4 – 6 weeks. Following is a very simple plan that will help you to get started. It simply requires that you put in 30 minutes, 5 - 6 days per week, during the first 4 – 6 weeks. After that you should be ready to begin a bonified running/jogging program.
· At this point it is best to work for a given amount of time rather than attempting to go a particular distance.
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