Sports Fitness Hut Blog

Metabolic Training Improves Speed Endurance

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:39:00 +0000

Use metabolic training to improve your speed endurance.

Interval training for speed endurance is different than regular speed training. Speed endurance sprint intervals last from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Also, recovery time is reduced to prevent complete recovery by the athlete. Here is an example of speed endurance training:

Shuttles - Place cones at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 yards. You would sprint to the 5 yard cone and sprint back to the start. You would then sprint to the 10 yard cone and sprint back to the start. The same would be done at the 15, 20 and 30 yard cones. That is one set. Rest for 2 minutes between sets. Do 5-6 sets.

Metabolic training can also be used to improve speed endurance. Metabolic training simulates actual game time activity. An example would be for an offense in football to simulate the entire game in practice (i.e., huddle, run a play, huddle, run a play).

Many sports such as football, basketball and soccer require different levels of strength, speed and power. For example, soccer requires constant running---jogging, half-effort sprints and maximum effort sprints. Football requires short bursts of power, sprints, jogs back to the huddle and endurance. Football also requires relative strength, which is the strength level per unit of bodyweight. Basketball requires repeated sprints, jumps and sub-maximal effort runs and cuts during the game.

No matter the sport, metabolic training can get you in peak condition for your sport.

Metabolic training means that you are being conditioned at the cellular level. You can make improvements in resting heart rate, cardiac output and blood volume. Your body fat will also decrease.

Metabolic training will make you a better conditioned athlete and will allow you to use your skills more efficiently for a longer period of time (speed endurance). The strongest and fittest players and teams at the end of the game usually end up as the winners.

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Improve Leg Power To Improve Speed

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:02:00 +0000

Improve your leg power and your running speed WILL IMPROVE! To get your best time in the 40 or 60 yard dash, you need an explosive start to accelerate as quickly as possible.

Improving your leg power means that your leg muscles will produce more force in a shorter period of time (fire faster). Leg power helps your speed acceleration.

The standing long jump (or broad jump) is a test of your explosive leg power. The NFL Combine uses the standing long jump as one of its test for athletes.

Use a soft athletic surface such as grass, astro-play or rubber floor to perform the long jump.

1. Stand behind a marked line.

2. Swing your arms back and bend your knees to propel your take-off.

3. Use a 2-footed take-off and landing. Jump as far as you can and land without falling backwards.

Your jump is measured from the take-off line to the nearest point of contact which is the back of the heels.

Results of your long jump:

Excellent:

Male, 8.5 ft. and above
Female, 6.5 ft. and above

Average:

Male, 7.5 ft.
Female, 5.5 ft.

Poor:

Male, 6.5 ft. and below
Female, 4.5 ft. and below

Include standing long jumps in your training to improve your leg power and running speed.

Get your copy of my eBook "Sports Fitness Hut's Speed Training for Athletes" to see a full discussion on speed training!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Too Much Speed Training Leads To Injuries

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:05:00 +0000

Have you been over-training with your speed drills? With speed training, less is many times better than too much! Avoid injuries by wisely planning your speed work.

"Quality speed training" work is better than just "quantity of speed trainig" work. Speed training for 5-6 days a week will break down your body and lead to injuries.

When you do quality speed training, like 3 days a week, you give your body the needed time to recover. If you've had a very intense speed workout, your body needs at least 48 hours to recover.

Speed training, unlike endurance running, will not benefit you more by doing more and more speed work. Choose quality speed work over quantity of speed work (less gives more benefit). So, doing sprint training every day will eventually give you mental and physical exhaustion.

Also, if your body is exhausted, you will not be able to give the "maximum effort" it takes to improve your running speed. You have to train fast to get faster.

Even during a quality speed training workout, you need adequate rest between sprints. So, if you are doing 80 yard sprints, rest about 8 minutes between sprints (about 1 minute of rest for every 10 yards sprinted).

Finally, speed training should be done at the beginning of your workout when you are fresh. Your body's neuromuscular system is highly fatigue-prone at high intensities.

Train smarter and not just harder!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

PNF Stretching Improves Range Of Motion

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:39:00 +0000

PNF stretching or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation will improve your range of motion. This type of stretching is commonly used to improve range of motion with the hamstring muscle group.

As an athlete, it is critical that you constantly strengthen and condition your hamstrings. Besides being part of your "power center," hamstring injuries are some of the most nagging injuries for athletes. Its best to prevent hamstring injuries.

PNF stretching should be used with great caution! Your partner should also be knowledgeable about PNF stretching techniques. This type of stretching is good for targeting specific muscle groups, increasing range of motion and improving strength. The hamstring stretch is good for applying this stretching technique.

While lying on your back, you would contract your hamstrings while your partner holds your leg in place during the stretch. The stretch would last for about 5 seconds. The hamstrings are relaxed, your partner then immediately and safely pushes the muscle group past its normal range of movement for 20-30 seconds. That would be one repetition. Rest for about 30 seconds and repeat 3-5 times.

Many athletes have trouble with nagging hamstring injuries. Reduce your risk of hamstring injuries by conditioning and strengthening your hamstrings!

Train hard and smart!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Athletes' Performance, Rest And Recovery

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:27:00 +0000

Athletes' performance, rest and recovery are all important! You can't perform if you are hurt all the time! And, if you don't allow your body to rest and recover, you will get hurt! Prevent or reduce the risk of injuries with the proper sports training techniques so that you can perform at a high level!

Here are some training tips:

This might sound elementary but..... warm-up properly to avoid injuries.... walking for 2 minutes is not a good warm-up. A good dynamic warm-up prepares your body best for intense practices or games. A sample dynamic warm-up could be a 5-10 minute jog, prisoner squats, cone/ladder drills, lunges, etc. Static stretches would be done after your workout or game.

Don't underestimate the benefits of sports massages. The benefits include improved flexibility, tension release, relieving of swelling, alleviation of fatigue and prevention of injuries.

Along the same lines, self myofascial release with foam rolls (SMFR) is a type of self massage that you can do every day and prevent various muscle injuries, strains and tears.

Protect your feet....its amazing how many injuries can be avoided by wearing quality footwear (interpreted: don't wear cheap athletic shoes). If you have flat feet or high arches you definitely need the right footwear.

Avoid various tendonitis injuries (pain, swelling) caused by over-training and wear and tear. Rest and recovery is important. R.I.C.E.R. (REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION, REFERRAL FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE) should be followed immediately after a muscle or tendon injury.

Train to lessen the risk of a knee anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury....it is the most common injury affecting the knee joint. Do this by having adequate hamstring strength and practicing proper landing, jumping, stopping and cutting techniques.

Continuing on with hamstrings...prevention of hamstring injuries is the best solution. They are tough to recover from so adequate hamstring strength and flexibility is needed to lessen the risk of injury.

Strengthen and stretch your throwing shoulder muscles to avoid rotator cuff, shoulder and elbow injuries.

Strengthen and stabilize your core to prevent injuries such as low back pain, oblique strains/pulls, neck pain, ruptured disks and various other muscle and ligament strains.

Avoid shin splints by not over-training and wearing quality footwear.....also exercising on hard or uneven surfaces or excessive uphill or downhill running can cause shin splints. If you over-pronate (foot and ankle rolls excessively inward when running) you are at risk for shin splints (don't wear cheap shoes!).

Lessen the risk of a torn or injured Achilles tendon (the largest tendon in the body). It takes a full year to recover from a torn Achilles tendon. Stretch and stabilize the tendon with one-legged exercises, calf/peroneal stretches and Achilles tendon stretch.

You don't want Plantar Fasciitis (the long, flat ligament on the bottom of your foot stretches too much, small tears develop and the ligament inflames (ouch!!)! Folks, this is serious pain! Plantar Fasciitis usually develops over time so takes steps to correct the problem when it first occurs by keeping your foot and ankle area flexible. Also, don't wear (you guessed it!) cheap running shoes! Excessive running on steep hills or inclines can also cause Plantar Fasciitis.

The point is this: prepare your body to perform (stabilize, strength, flexibility, etc.) and maintain your body over time with rest and recovery. Don't ignore the warning signs---LIKE PAIN!

Train hard and smart!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

In-Season Strength, Speed And Power Training

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:08:00 +0000

You need to do in-season strength, speed and power training! If you don't, you will wear down and lose power and explosiveness during a long season!

During in-season speed and power training, increases in strength and speed may still be needed (as in track and field). In other sports, such as baseball, soccer, hockey, lacrosse or football, strength and power needs to be maintained during the season.

Simply put, you don't won't to lose any of the hard-earned strength, power and speed you improved in your offseason program! In general, a weekly training program that includes 1 strength, 1 speed and 1 plyometric workout during the season will maintain your strength and explosiveness for competition.

Your strength workout doesn't need to include "max out" lifting but should include full body strength training in the 8-10 repetition range for each exercise.

Your speed workout can also be as simple as running ten 60-yard sprints at maximum effort before practice. You should also perform all drills, scrimmages, plays, etc. at full speed. This way, you will continue sport specific speed training during the season.

Your plyometric workout should include exercises for your upper and lower body such as medicine ball throws, depth jumps, squat jumps, tuck jumps, etc. During the season, some coaches incorporate plyometric training into regular team practices.

Train like a champion during the season!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Build Muscles While Sleeping By Feeding Muscles

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:55:00 +0000

Build your muscles while you sleep by feeding them! Stop your muscles from breaking down (catabolizing) while you sleep 7-8 hours. When your body is fasting, your muscles will take the hit.

Protein-based drinks are good for this purpose. A great slow-digesting protein powder to use is casein (fast-digesting whey protein is good for pre- and post-workout nutrition).

Casein protein powder drinks consumed before bedtime and between meals delivers a steady supply of amino acids needed to stop muscle breakdown. Casein is insoluble in liquid causing it to digest slowly.

Eat like an athlete!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Dynamic Balance For Athletes

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:55:00 +0000

Dynamic balance is critical for you to be a competitive, high-level athlete!

Improve your dynamic balance and you will be a better athlete.....some how-tos:

Incorporate many one-legged exercises such as power step ups, single leg squats, single leg good mornings, single leg medicine ball exercises, etc.

Include exercises with your eyes closed to improve limb position sense (proprioception).

Train your body in all 3 planes of motion to improve multi-planar balance. An example would be a grouping of walking lunges, side lunges and transverse lunges.

Train on different surfaces such as grass, sand, astro-play and soft surfaces. You will rarely play on a perfect surface anyway.

Do combinations of one-arm and one-leg exercises such as single leg squat-to-single arm shoulder press.

Jump rope every day using different variations---two feet, one foot, shuffle, etc. Jumping rope is one of the best body coordination exercises out there. And, speed jump rope is even better.

Better muscular balance will give you better dynamic balance. For example, your quadriceps should not be significantly stronger than your hamstrings.

Quickness and agility drills will improve your dynamic balance.

Balance training also improves your core strength. Balance exercises should closely mimic those actions required by your sport.

Train hard and smart!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Medicine Ball Squat Jumps Improve Speed and Power

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:21:00 +0000

Use the medicine ball squat jump exercise to improve your speed and power. In sports competition, it is not always the fastest player who makes the play. You will rarely reach maximum speed during a play or sequence of plays because it takes 4-5 seconds to reach maximum speed. Many times, if you accelerate faster you will usually make the play.

You can train to improve your speed acceleration and power. One great exercise to do is medicine ball squat jumps (bodyweight squat jumps should be mastered first). Just descend into your squat, jump up explosively and repeat for the required repetitions.

While sport-specific plyometric training improves power, non-specific power training should not be ignored. Researchers from Canada found that athletes who performed better with weighted squat jumps were the best accelerators at 10 meters. Therefore, concentric force development (jumping power) is critical to improve sprint acceleration. The first step from a stand-still (or near stand-still) position requires concentric muscle power.

It is important to learn proper jumping and landing techniques before doing medicine ball squat jumps. Read this post about jumping and landing techniques.

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Power Step Up Exercise Improves Speed

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:29:00 +0000

Improve your speed with power step ups. Do this exercise full speed with control.

Doing one-legged power step up exercises will improve your speed because you use the same pathways that it takes to run.

1. Face a bench or platform (knee high) and put your right foot on the bench. Your knee should be bent 90 degrees. Don't do this exercise with dumbbells until you have mastered the bodyweight version.

2. Alternate your feet on and off the bench or platform (you will be sprinting in place).

3. Explosively drive your knees up and pump your arms as fast as possible. Each set should be 20-30 seconds.

4. Do this exercise with correct running mechanics.

Challenge yourself to get better each day!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sport Specific Training

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Sport specific training receives the most attention through television, magazine and internet advertising. Sport specific training is important but can lead to injuries if your body is not ready for the intensity. Foundational strength and stability should come before sport specific training!

You should do a major part of your sport specific training during the offseason when you have more time to devote to improving your athletic skills, strength, power and speed. Offseason training also gives you time to recover from the full speed, intense exercises. YOU MUST TRAIN FAST TO GET FASTER AND MORE EXPLOSIVE.....IT IS HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD!

During sport specific training, the exercises mimic the actions made in your sport and strength is developed in the same range of motion used in your sport. Running exercises also duplicate what you need to compete. For instance, football players would need starting speed, acceleration speed, speed endurance and power. Both training volume and intensity is high during this phase.

Plyometric exercises are also a big part of sport specific training. This is a critical phase for the elite athlete. See this post for common plyometric exercises.

Here are examples of sport specific exercises of different sports:

Basketball - Crossover Lunge

Soccer - Lateral Footwork Drills

Football - Shuffles

Baseball, Softball, Hockey, Lacrosse (just about all sports require rotational power) Medicine Ball Rotational Throw

Start taking steps now to improve your athletic success on the field or court!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Need more sports training tips? Subscribe to my weekly Sports Performance Tips eNewsletter and get my Free NEW eBook, "10 'Must Know' Speed Training Tips!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sports Fitness Hut's Athletic Power Training System

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:15:00 +0000

Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will improve your strength, build your muscle mass, improve your power, improve your speed and your dynamic balance!

As an athlete, you need the lean body type to compete at a high level.

At My Fitness Hut (includes Her Fitness Hut and Sports Fitness Hut), I have designed all of my exercise programs based on a Fat Blaster Athletic Training System. Why? Here are the reasons:

1) There is not a better or faster way to sculpt your body. You also get superior heart health. Research and my personal experience backs this up. Just look at an athlete's body.

There are varying degrees of athletic training---some techniques are more intense than others. I TAILOR THE PROGRAM TO YOUR SPORT AND FITNESS LEVEL.

2) I am a former NCAA Division I athlete, so I'm not playing a guessing game when it comes to this type of training. I use research, evidence and real-life experience to develop training programs.

3) Forget about weight loss/gain and concentrate on FAT LOSS. Building lean muscle mass will BURN THE FAT and permanently SPEED UP YOUR METABOLISM. The weight loss or gain will take care of itself. And you will be a better athlete. You could say Your Fitness Hut. It is about YOU and what YOU REALLY WANT! Don't let fear stop you from reaching your sports fitness goals!

4) It doesn't require marathon training sessions. We all have a tight schedule. No training session last longer than 1 hour and some sessions are as short as 30 minutes.

Start taking steps now to improve your athletic success on the field or court!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Need more sports training tips? Subscribe to my weekly Sports Performance Tips eNewsletter and get my Free NEW eBook, "10 'Must Know' Speed Training Tips!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sports Power, Speed Endurance And Core Strength

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:13:00 +0000

Sports power, speed endurance and core strength will make you an explosive athlete in the first quarter of the game----and the last quarter! When your opponent gets tired at the end of the game, you will still be going strong!

One of the first signs of fatigue that I look for in an athlete is whether he or she can remain strong and upright towards the end of the game. If your core is weak, you will start to "bend over" and lose power and explosiveness when you run. Next, your arms will start to "flail" instead of pumping powerfully to fuel your running.

Adequate core strength helps your speed endurance, which is the ability to maintain maximum velocity or a percentage of maximum velocity for a prolonged period of time or in a fatigued state. The best players and teams have excellent overall body strength, core strength and speed endurance (and they win the most games).

If you are a serious athlete, you need a program that continually challenges and improves your core strength! You will lose power and speed during the game if you have a weak core area! Sports Fitness Hut's Athletic Abs Training System will give you the strong core that you need to compete!

This training system has 3 levels: basic, intermediate and advanced. So, you can progress at your own pace. This workout will also work perfectly with any Sports Fitness Hut full body strength workout program!

Get your Athletic Abs Training System now!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Fat Athletes Will Lose Out!

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:32:00 +0000

Don't be a fat athlete! If you are too fat, you won't be the player you could be! Eat less food, burn fat and lose weight! While its true that you inherit a certain body type, don't blame genetics if you're overweight or fat. Ultimately, your body weight will depend on how much you eat and how much you workout, not your genetics.

If you consistently eat more calories than you burn (caloric surplus), you will consistently gain weight and add on body fat, no matter what your genetics may be. This can be a good thing if you are pumping iron and building muscle. But, if you are lazy, you will get fat!

You need to know how many calories you need each day. Start by learning your basal metabolic rate (how many calories you would burn if you did nothing all day). If you have a caloric surplus, you will gain weight.

Keep a food journal. Research has proven that you will have a better chance of succeeding with your meal plan and fat loss if you keep a food journal!

Take responsibility for your body and do the things necessary to change your body composition! It will make you a better player!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Deadlift To Strengthen Low Back Muscles

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:15:00 +0000

The deadlift will add thickness and stability to your low back muscles (among many benefits). The deadlift is probably seen as a grunting, strongman contest-type exercise, but it should be a part of your sports fitness training program.....

1) It works many large muscle groups including the latissimus dorsi, trapezius, erector spinae, gluteals, hamstrings, quadriceps and hip flexors. Your forearms and trunk stabilizers are also recruited to a lesser degree.

2) The deadlift is a multi-joint exercise covering three joints with extension occuring at the hip, knee and ankle joints. Multi-joint exercises will give you greater strength gains and hypertrophy (muscle growth). The deadlift is also great for working the hamstrings which helps lessen the risk of knee anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.

3) The deadlift is a great functional exercise. It mimics every day activity such as bending over and lifting objects.

4. The deadlift is one of the best exercises for growing thickness in your lower back muscles.

Here are the biomechanics of the conventional style deadlift.

1) The grip of the bar (closed, alternate grip) is outside of the legs with the feet about shoulder width apart and slightly turned outward. Keep your head up and chest out.

2) The legs should be flexed (like the squat position) and the bar should be as close to the shins as possible. Your back posture should be straight. DO NOT ROUND YOUR BACK AT ANY POINT OF THE LIFT. Your feet should always be flat on the floor and pushing from the heels.

3) Pull the weight up by extending at the knees (exhale during the pulling phase). The hips and shoulders should move at the same pace. The shoulders should be above or slightly in front of the bar. At the end of the lift, thrust your hips forward and abduct your lats. The hip and knee joints should be fully extended. If your knees are moving from side to side (shaking), you are lifting too much weight.

4) To lower the weight to the floor, flex your hips and knee joints (you will end in the squat position). Inhale as you lower the weight. That is one repetition.

5) The deadlift will require more rest between sets because so many major muscles are engaged.

If you have lower back problems, you would need your doctor's clearance before exercising with the deadlift. There are also many variations of the deadlift. Dumbbells and other specialized bars can be used to perform the deadlift.

Work hard and train right to become a better player!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Rehab Your Injured Knee Ligaments

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:27:00 +0000

Rehab for an injured knee is a critical process for your complete recovery! If you rush the rehab process, you will reinjure yourself! One of the most devastating knee injuries is a knee ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury.

A knee ACL (anterior cruciate ligament tear) injury rehab is a process that can take 8-12 months. And, if you play a sport, it will probably take another year for you to regain your former speed and power (or as close as you can).

Your knee injury rehab will probably start with you and a physical therapist. The rehab process is a team approach---you, your physical therapist and your personal trainer (get My Fitness Hut's Bodyweight 200 Knee Rehab Workout Book!).

You should rehab the injured knee area as follows:

1. Restore the range of motion.
2. Restore flexibility and strength of the injured knee area.
3. Regain balance lost because of the knee injury.

Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain. Continuing an exercise in pain will only set your rehab back.

Restoring the range of motion is critical because it lays the groundwork for future training. Range of motion should be restored in all 3 planes. If you had a knee injury, you might have to begin your exercises with partial range of motion (working towards full range) in one plane. You would gradually work towards including exercises that required sideways, rotating, twisting or turning actions.

Once range of motion is restored, you can then begin to introduce light weight training exercises and stretching exercises to strengthen the injured muscles, tendons and ligaments. It is also important to stretch and strengthen the areas around the injured area. Use of machine weights, isometric exercises (the injured area contracts but doesn't move), resistance bands or bodyweight exercises are all good in the rehab process.

Balance and proprioception (limb position sense in 3D space) must be restored or the injury will probably reoccur. When a part of the body is injured, the nerve cells in that area are also damaged. This affects your control and the stability of the joint structures. Once you have regained some strength and flexibility, you should begin to do balance exercises. You could start with simple exercises like walking in a straight line and progress to one-legged or closed-eyed exercises. You would then gradually progress to stability ball exercises, foam cushion exercises, BOSU exercises, etc.

The rehab process should not be rushed. Trying to come back too fast from a serious knee ACL injury will almost certainly lead to reinjury.

Get your knee rehab workout today!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sprinters Should Limit Distance Running

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:48:00 +0000

Sprinters should limit distance running during training. Sprinters need to activate and train the bulkier fast twitch muscles. If you do too much long distance running, your slow twitch muscle fibers will take over and make you slower and nonexplosive.

I was once asking a client about running exercises they were doing in school athletics to improve running speed......the answer was disappointing and typical....

Some of the running drills were:

1. mile runs
2. stadium steps for endurance
3. gasers for conditioning

"Did you run any sprints?" "No." Guess what? Those athletes aren't getting any faster....they are just basically running for conditioning.

Conditioning has its place.....but if you want to get faster, you have to train fast.....that means sprinting drills with enough recovery time to run each sprint full speed. About 1 minute of recovery time is needed for each 10 yards sprinted (50 yard sprints need about 5 minutes recovery time).

Running sprints after practice won't get the job done either....players are too tired at this point to give maximum effort. So, coaches, do your sprinting drills at the beginning of practice when your players are fresh.

Train hard and smart to get faster!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Need more sports training tips? Subscribe to my weekly Sports Performance Tips eNewsletter and get a FREE 4-week sports power workout book!

Will Towing Sleds Improve Overall Speed?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:10:00 +0000

Training with towing sleds WILL NOT improve your overall speed but it will improve your speed acceleration. Speed acceleration training with towing sleds is not the place to start when training for acceleration.....it is an advanced training method that can cause more harm than good if your body is not ready for it.

Speed acceleration is important because you rarely reach maximum running speed during a game. So, the player who can accelerate the quickest will make the plays that win games.

Greek researchers found that athletes training with towing methods (sleds, tires, etc.) improved their running velocity over the first 20 meters (i.e. acceleration) but that overall maximum speed did not improve. The researchers found that unresisted sprint training techniques improved maximum speed velocity more. So, resisted and unresisted training has a place in the overall speed training program. Finally, the researchers found that towing sleds that were too heavy forced the athletes to use bad running mechanics.

So, for developing acceleration speed in the first 20 meters, towing methods teach you to drive force into the ground, use arm drive and overcome gravity and ground forces.

If you use a tow sled that is too heavy, it will affect your running mechanics. Start with a sled about 10% of your bodyweight. As you progress, you can use heavier sleds as long as your running mechanics are correct.

What's the take home lesson? Experienced athletes with enough strength and power should use speed acceleration training with towing sleds.

Get your copy of my eBook "Sports Fitness Hut's Speed Training for Athletes" to see a full discussion on speed training!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Don't Over-Train With Speed Work

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:23:00 +0000

Over-training with speed work will give you negative results and injuries! "Quality speed training" work is better than just "quantity of speed training" work. Speed training for 5-6 days a week will break down your body and lead to injuries.

When you do quality speed training, like 3 days a week, you give your body the needed time to recover. If you've had a very intense speed workout, your body needs at least 48 hours to recover.

Speed training, unlike endurance running, will not benefit you more by doing more and more speed work. Choose quality speed work over quantity of speed work (less gives more benefit). So, doing sprint training every day will eventually give you mental and physical exhaustion.

Also, if your body is exhausted, you will not be able to give the "maximum effort" it takes to improve your running speed. You have to train fast to get faster.

Even during a quality speed training workout, you need adequate rest between sprints. So, if you are doing 80 yard sprints, rest about 8 minutes between sprints (about 1 minute of rest for every 10 yards sprinted).

Finally, speed training should be done at the beginning of your workout when you are fresh. Your body's neuromuscular system is highly fatigue-prone at high intensities.

Train smarter and not just harder!

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Plyometrics Improve Power And Speed

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:07:00 +0000

Plyometrics is a huge buzzword today and is important exercise for athletes. If your body has the needed strength and stability, plyometrics will improve your speed and sports power by leaps and bounds.

It doesn't help an athlete to continually get stronger if power development is not there also. Power, or speed strength (how fast your muscles can produce force) is one of the best physical predictors of success in sports.

Here is a good general plyometric workout to improve your sports power and speed.

1. In Place Vertical Jumps, full speed, Double Leg, 3 sets/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

2. Depth Jumps, 2 sets/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

3. Bounding and Lateral Bounding, full speed, 2 sets of each/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

4. Lateral Cone Jumps, full speed, 2 sets/10 each side, 1 minute rest between sets

5. Standing Broad Jumps, full speed, 2 sets/10, 2 minutes rest between sets

6. Dumbbell Calf Raises, full speed, 3 sets/25, 2 minutes rest between sets

Do a plyometric workout no more than 2 days a week because of the full speed intensity of this type of workout.

Avoid knee injuries by perfecting jumping and landing techniques before progressing to full speed plyometric workouts.

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Quickness, Agility And Change-of-Direction Speed

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:47:00 +0000

Having great change-of-direction speed (agility with quickness) allows you to beat your opponent "to the stop" or recover from mistakes in positioning. How many times have you seen a player with "not great speed" repeatedly make plays to help the team win. This is not an accident. You can improve your change-of-direction speed with proper training.

As with any athletic move, core strength is critical. Overall body strength is also important. Before you begin to train for speed and power, the foundation should be laid with sufficient core and body strength. Failure to lay this strength foundation will lead to certain injuries for you.

Body positioning is critical if you want to improve your change-of-direction speed. You will need dynamic balance. In many sports, it is not that easy to change direction and accelerate because the athlete is often off balance. Some sports, such as football and basketball require running with or bouncing a ball. And, other sports, such as soccer require moving a ball with the feet. The best running backs, tennis players, basketball players, shortstops, etc. all have great dynamic balance.

Having great dynamic balance means that you are able to maintain your center of gravity over a constantly changing base of support. Thus, quickness and agility drills help you to improve dynamic balance and change-of-direction acceleration while not wasting motion.

To improve change-of-direction acceleration, you should have a shin angle of approximately 45 degrees for the first few steps. The shoulders should also be slightly leaned forward. The body lean should be at the ankles and not the hips. Having the feet just wider than shoulder-width apart will give you the most stable base of support. This is not always possible during athletic competition. Therefore, stability needs to be added by lowering the center of gravity. Change-of-direction acceleration could be laterally, at an angle or forward (when back pedaling) and will catapult you to near maximal speed quickly.

The first step in the change-of-direction is important. If this step is too long, you will over-stride and bring the shin to a vertical angle instead of 45 degrees. This will slow you down. So, the first step should be under your hips. Again, your body lean should be at ankles and not the hips.

When running forward or back pedaling, it is often necessary to slow down, change direction at an angle and accelerate in a straight line. As a defensive back, I often had to back pedal before accelerating in a different direction. This meant that I had to plant my foot aggressively (with my knee inside my ankle) to accelerate quickly out of my cut. Failure to do so meant that I was "burnt toast" for the laughing receiver! This positioning was also achieved by forcing the plant leg (opposite the direction I wanted to go) into the ground while my shoulders remained in the same position (slightly leaned forward). If my shoulders were out of position, I wasted motion and accelerated at a slower rate (burnt toast!).

Lateral change-of-direction technique is similar. Shin angle remains important. Shuffles are often followed by sprints. You will use short, quick steps to decelerate and bring your body under control. A "jump stop" can also be used to change directions. Your knees and hips should be bent with your shoulders aligned over your knees and toes.

Shuttle drills, lateral shuffle/cuts, back pedal/turn and run, back pedal/lateral break, back pedal/diagonal break, crossovers, cariocas, tapiocas, ladder drills, etc. can all be used to improve change-of-direction speed. You should perfect technique at half speed before progressing to full speed drills.

Get your copy of my eBook "Sports Fitness Hut's Speed Training for Athletes" to see a full discussion on speed training!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Get Muscle Growth With Consistent Eating

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:53:00 +0000

You won't get consistent muscle growth without eating enough calories---consistently!!

I was talking to a young athlete the other day and one thing became clear---he was not following his meal plan consistently, day-in and day-out. If you are accustomed to not eating much, 3600 daily calories can seem like a ton of food to EAT EVERY DAY!

If you want your muscles to grow, FEED YOUR MUSCLES CONSISTENTLY! Just lifting weights is not enough to grow your muscles and become a lean, muscular athlete! And, on the days you do lift weights, its best to eat before and after your workout. Read my post on Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition.

You need a sports nutriton plan geared towards muscle growth. It is not uncommon for some athletes to need 5000 daily calories to fuel muscle growth and recovery!

And, you know my take on supplements: try to get the nutrition you need from food. Save your money! Don't depend on supplements to significantly build your body up!

And, to stop your muscles from breaking down (catabolizing) while you sleep 7-8 hours, a night-time snack or protein drink before you go to sleep is needed. When your body is fasting, your muscles will take the hit.

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership! You will get a FREE MEAL PLAN with membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Sprinting Makes You Faster!

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Running sprints will make you faster! If you run alot of long distances, you will not get faster! Run sprints at the beginning of your workout when you are fresh. Rest 1 minute for every 10 yards sprinted. So, if you are sprinting 60 yards, rest 6 minutes between sprints. You need to run each sprint with maximum effort in order to get faster!

Because you will rarely reach maximum speed during the game, playing speed is also critical. No matter what sport you play, there are only 5 ways to improve playing speed:

1.Starting ability is critical. You can improve starting ability by practicing starts from 3-point, 4-point, standing and moving positions. At this point, it is important to accelerate to maximum speed (or as close as possible).

2. Increase your stride length. One good way to improve stride length is to effectively pump your arms as fast as possible. Leg strength and power also improve stride length.

3. Improve your stride rate (the number of steps you take per second). Leg strength and power improve stride rate. There is one running technique that is often overlooked. One way to run faster is to apply more force to the ground with your feet. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The more force you apply to the ground, the more the ground will "give you power." When you run, don't lift your knee past your "thigh being parallel" to the ground. This way, you will use your "power center" (glutes and hamstrings) to apply force to the ground instead of the less powerful hip flexors. In other words, running "with high knees" is not the best way to run. Also, step over the opposite knee and drive the foot down into the ground to create maximum force.

4. Improve your speed endurance. Speed endurance will not make you faster but it will keep you from slowing down when you are fatigued after repeated sprints.

5. Improve your running mechanics. You should practice running mechanics every day.

Your goal should be to play the game faster than your opponent!

Get your copy of my eBook "Sports Fitness Hut's Speed Training for Athletes" to see a full discussion on speed training!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Glute Ham Raise Exercise

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:47:00 +0000

The glute ham raise is an advanced strength exercise for the hamstrings. There are few injuries as bothersome and harder to recover from than hamstring injuries. Prevention of hamstring injuries is the best solution. Similarly, weak hamstrings can lead to other serious injuries.

You can execute the glute ham raise with the assistance of a partner holding down your feet. The partner might also need to assist you in raising up. YOU WANT YOUR HAMSTRINGS TO DO THE WORK!!

Also, try these flexibility and strength exercises for your hamstrings:

Hamstring Flexibility - walking lunges, resistance band eccentric stretch and static stretch (static stretch should be done after workout or game).

Hamstring Strength - lying or standing hamstring machine curl, deadlift and good morning exercise (with or without weights).

Check out Sports Fitness Hut's workouts to help you accomplish your goals!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Lateral Strength, Lateral Speed And Lateral Power

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:37:00 +0000

Develop your lateral strength, lateral speed and lateral power and you will be a much better athlete!

Some important exercises to incorporate in your exercise programs are lateral lunges (with or without dumbbells), lateral bounding, lateral step ups (with or without dumbbells) and lateral shuffles (with or without resistance). Straight-line speed is important but so is lateral speed and agility in sports. You have to move quickly and efficiently from linear to lateral positions (and back again) many times during a practice or game.

The lateral lunge forces you to decelerate movement through one hip at a time, placing greater emphasis on the gluteals and hamstrings. It trains you to move correctly in the lateral direction. Many knee ACL injuries occur when you place too much stress on your knees and not enough stress on your hips during deceleration. In other words, the hips are often under-used during sports activities.

Lateral bounding is a progression from lateral lunges that requires you to practice lateral movement at game-time speed. Do not progress to full-speed lateral bounding until the proper mechanics are achieved with lateral lunges. One common mechanical breakdown is when the knees protrude far in front of the feet when decelerating, landing or squatting. This puts undue stress on the knees and often causes injury.

Lateral shuffles (with or without resistance) also work well to train correct lateral movement. Lateral shuffles without resistance can be practiced at game-time speed.

Lateral step ups emphasize development of your hips, quadriceps (especially outer) and glutes.

Any serious athletic exercise program would be incomplete without these exercises. They can be performed as strength or power (high speed) moves.

Check out Sports Fitness Hut's workouts to help you accomplish your goals!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!