The second part of my post "Train The Body as Well as The Skill" is for the majority of athletes out there that train on their own or at school without a program. These are two of the most important tips that will make HUGE improvements in your training!
First things first you need to have a plan! One of my favorite sayings is "If you fail to plan then you are planning to fail"! By far the most common problem I see with people of any age in gyms everywhere is that they don't have a set training plan. They go to the gym and ask each other (or themselves)"what should we train today?" or "wanna do some chest and tri's?" They then proceed to go about their workout doing only the exercises they like to do such as, bench press, curls, pull downs etc. and none of the exercises they need to do to really improve such as, squats, dips, deadlifts, chin-ups etc. Let me start by saying that if you are heading to a gym to train and you don't know what you are training for and don't have a plan to achieve it then why bother to go at all? Just randomly picking and choosing exercises every time you go to the gym will only get you zero or half ass results at best. When you decide to train for something you need to have a clear and concise goal of what you are trying to achieve. If you don't have a clear goal then how on earth are you going to achieve it? Simply saying that you want to get bigger or stronger is vague as hell and not a precise goal. First, find out what you need to train for. Then write it down. Lastly, develop a plan or hire someone who can prescribe the right program to reach your goal! Enough said.
The second problem that I see is that most people fail to keep records of their training. If you don't record your training stats then how will you know if your program is working? How do you know what weights and reps you completed in the previous workout? With hectic schedules and rampant ADD most of the athlete's I know can't remember what they lifted last set never mind last workout! Rule number 2 keep accurate logs of your workout programs!
These two things if implemented properly and consistently will dramatically improve your results and help you progress faster than you ever imagined. Give them a try. The only thing you have to lose is poor results!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Train The Body as Well as The Skill Part 1
In sports today everyone is in a race to get ahead. The competition is much more fierce then it was years ago. Working with athletes of different ages, sports and levels for so many years has allowed me to observe many phenomenon. One of the most notable trends is for athletes, parents and coaches to spend the majority of their time focusing predominantly on sport specific skill development. I acknowledge that this is vital for athletic success but this brings me to the point of this post and that is "what about the body?"
Today in order to get ahead many athletes hire professional instructors to teach them the specific skills of their prospective sport. This is extremely beneficial because back when I was growing up many years ago these types of coaches were hard to find and rarely existed in most areas of the country. Sure high level athletes had this luxury but for many of youth sports this wasn't the case. If you have access to great skill coaches and can afford it hiring one of these coaches is well worth it.
Now that I have acknowledged the benefits of skill training I will discuss the overall problems with placing too much emphasis on skill development. The main concern is that people fail to realize that to perform any athletic skill the body has to be capable of supporting and executing this task. The unfortunate fact is that far too many athletes, coaches and parents see the value of skill specific instruction but not in proper instruction in the physical aspect of training performed off the field. This leads to the body being ill prepared or incapable of properly executing specific skills optimally. To use an analogy it would be like a race car driver hiring a driving coach but having his Joe Schmoe neighbor who is good at helping to get his lawn mower started work on his car instead of a qualified high level mechanic! Sure his driving skills will improve but only to the extent that his car can perform. Weight room training has all too often been overlooked for its importance in producing a quality athlete. Far too often coaches, parents and kids train the way they were trained or worse yet put young athletes on programs they see on the internet or in magazine articles with no regards to the specific needs and abilities of the individual athlete. This hit or miss approach can often do more harm then good. Some possible negative effects are injuries from improper technique, developing faulty motor patterns and causing or increasing muscle imbalances to name a few. These problems all lead to decrease in performance and injuries. This is the exact opposite effect of why they trained to begin with!
The purpose of part 1 of this post is to create an awareness of the importance of training the physical side of the athlete. By realizing the value of training both the skill set and physical set athletes will optimally prepare themselves to perform at their best on the field! Stay tuned for part 2 when I will explain the two most important factors to optimally train athletes.
Today in order to get ahead many athletes hire professional instructors to teach them the specific skills of their prospective sport. This is extremely beneficial because back when I was growing up many years ago these types of coaches were hard to find and rarely existed in most areas of the country. Sure high level athletes had this luxury but for many of youth sports this wasn't the case. If you have access to great skill coaches and can afford it hiring one of these coaches is well worth it.
Now that I have acknowledged the benefits of skill training I will discuss the overall problems with placing too much emphasis on skill development. The main concern is that people fail to realize that to perform any athletic skill the body has to be capable of supporting and executing this task. The unfortunate fact is that far too many athletes, coaches and parents see the value of skill specific instruction but not in proper instruction in the physical aspect of training performed off the field. This leads to the body being ill prepared or incapable of properly executing specific skills optimally. To use an analogy it would be like a race car driver hiring a driving coach but having his Joe Schmoe neighbor who is good at helping to get his lawn mower started work on his car instead of a qualified high level mechanic! Sure his driving skills will improve but only to the extent that his car can perform. Weight room training has all too often been overlooked for its importance in producing a quality athlete. Far too often coaches, parents and kids train the way they were trained or worse yet put young athletes on programs they see on the internet or in magazine articles with no regards to the specific needs and abilities of the individual athlete. This hit or miss approach can often do more harm then good. Some possible negative effects are injuries from improper technique, developing faulty motor patterns and causing or increasing muscle imbalances to name a few. These problems all lead to decrease in performance and injuries. This is the exact opposite effect of why they trained to begin with!
The purpose of part 1 of this post is to create an awareness of the importance of training the physical side of the athlete. By realizing the value of training both the skill set and physical set athletes will optimally prepare themselves to perform at their best on the field! Stay tuned for part 2 when I will explain the two most important factors to optimally train athletes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)