Posts Tagged ‘speed and agility training’

Are You Putting Your Young Athletes At Risk

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Speed exercises in the summertime means teams working out and practicing in the heat. Consequently, young athletes do not adjust to high temperatures as well as adults. It is also important to be familiar with prevention and aware of warning signs for heat illnesses. These ailments can consist of heat exhaustion, heat stroke and heat cramps. Whether your child or your team is doing strength training workouts as a coach, or parent,  you want to be aware of the seriousness of heat-related illnesses. In fact, children are the most vulnerable to heat sickness.  For heat stroke, the mortality rate is 17 to 70% in children. Things to consider are the seriousness of the ailment and the youth’s age.

Children suffer heat-related illnesses when their bodies can not compensate for the heat and cool itself.  Young people are more susceptible to heat illness because they can’t adjust as quickly or as well to changes in temperatures as do adults. They also generate additional heat with activity. Youngsters also perspire at a greater body temperature plus they sweat less than adults.  For children whom take medications regularly and have constant illness, practicing in high heat conditions puts them at risk.

SIGNS OF ILLNESS
Heat Cramps – painful, involuntary muscle spasms,  usually in the gastrocnemius or hamstring muscles (the muscles at the back of the calves and thighs)

Dehydration – weariness, thirstiness,  dizziness, less-recurrent urination,  disarray, exaggerated heart rate and breathing, dry skin,  dry mouth and mucous membranes

Heat Exhaustion – dank, blanched skin, perspiring,  weakness (fatigue), headache and or wooziness

Heat Stroke – loss  of cognisance, disarray or hallucinations, headache, agitation, high body temperature, absence of diaphoresis, deep or shallow breathing, feeble pulse rate, seizures

STEPS TO PREVENT
Be aware that temperatures over 80 degrees produce conditions favorable to heat malady.  Know that excessive humidity reduces a body’s ability to discard surplus heat by perspiring. Avoid illness by getting young people acclimated to the high temperatures. Workout intensity should slowly increase over the first two weeks with no strenuous work in week one. Morning or early evening are the cooler parts of the day and optimal for practices. Ensure youngsters take rest periods. Have young people drink water prior to practice to ensure they are hydrated before workouts. During practice it is imperative that H2O is readily available. Although they might not be thirsty, youngsters should drink fluids every 20 minutes when exercising. Fluids to keep away from are caffeine and everything effervescent. Kids need to wear clothing that is light and well-ventilated.

In case your kid or your squad is doing speed and agility training as a manager or parent, you require to be mindful of the danger of heat-related ailments.  Respect the hot temperatures or there could be deadly consequences.

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Training For Speed And Agility And Strength

Friday, May 7th, 2010

This article will take a look at what part strength has in your Speed and Agility Training course. Now, look into a few terms.

Absolute strength – the max power you’re capable of producing, your one rep limit is your absolute strength

Starting Strength – a function of what number of muscle fibers you’re capable of instantaneously tighten

Consider it this way, if you grab a heavy set of weights off the floor you may strain your back. However if you lift it slowly this wouldn’t take place. Starting strength (in the example shown), simply measures the max load that you are capable of grabbing from the floor without damage.

Relative strength – your strength per lb of body mass

Reactive Strength or Plyometric Strength – looks at your capacity to absorb and exploit power when changing from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction.

What’s the relevance of these terms to your exercise curriculum?
The more your absolute strength, the higher your starting strength. The more your starting strength, the quicker your increase of velocity, the quicker your acceleration, the better your explosiveness or your facility to attain your maximum speed more rapidly. Think about, “Is my speed and agility training growing my absolute strength for those muscles that are important in the sport I play?”

Relative strength is significant since the higher your relative strength, the more power you are able to create. This aids you in two ways; your nervous system is better conditioned and can even cross over into your agility, and you have less stuff to haul around. This also crosses over into speed.

A question to raise is whether or not your Speed and Agility Training improves your relative strength. Take into account when working out for speed and agility your relative strength is more significant than your absolute strength. Note: you should not be concerned very much with reference to bulking up because a 10% boost in LEAN body mass is equal to a 30% growth in power.

Last of all, we have reactive strength. This type of strength has a critical part in agility, it allows you to suddenly vary direction and stun your opponent with unanticipated moves. It also helps you to jump higher whilst running (but not alot from a standstill position). It also has a function in running speed however you can find better ways to work out for it if running speed is what you want.

What is the take away home from this post? In order to appropriately train for speed and agility you should include strength training exercises in your schedule. You must also customize it for the activity you are involved in. There are no shortcuts however there are effective ways of reaching your objectives (whatever they may be).

If this has confused you a bit you should….

Here is a food for thought question for you.  Why do sprinters (50, 100 meter dash, basketball players, quarterbacks etc) have ripped abs without specifically training for them? Naturally you must bear in mind that starting strength is different for different muscles groups and can be trained separately. Understanding which muscles play a role in the movements most significant in your athletic endeavour makes it possible for you to focus on them and generate swift and efficient results

If you liked this article, you can find more information, tips, and videos by going to: more Speed and Agility Training.

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What Are Plyometrics And How They Can Help Improve Speed And Agility

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Learn what plyometrics can do for your speed and agility. This article will teach you what benefits you can receive. You will learn what plyometrics are, what role they play in your speed and agility training.  You will also learn and what are some of the benefits you can expect when corectly introducing plyometric drills into your speed and agility training.

Let’s explore what plyometrics actaully are
Plyometrics are a type of exercise originally used in the Soviet Union and adopted due to its high training effect. The  goal of these exercises is to better link speed to strength resulting in an increase in power output.The theory goes like this: if you use the same strength, faster, the power will improve. If you use more strength, faster, the power will be geometrically higher.In basketball for example plyometrics are used to increase an athletes running vertical jump.
The foundation of plyometric training is simple:
– harnessing your bodies ability to absorb and store force;- releasing that force quickly (resulting in spetacular power output);

The sports that can derive the most benefit from plyometrics are those that involve either throwing, kicking, jumping and lifting. Ex: football, basketball, soccer, power lifting, dick throwing etc.

Speed and Agility are Improved by Plyometric Training
First of all, you should realize that plyometric drills train both muscles and tendons to absorb force, they also train your mind to stabilize and control that force. This crosses over into improvements in speed and agility — gains are improved in individuals who already have good muscular development.

To put it another way, the quickest benefits to speed and agility that stem from the incorporation of plyometrics are due to the conditioning of the nervous system. Due to this it is very important that you pay close attention to following instructions (this will proove to YOU that this type of training produces resulsts and you are more likely to follow it and experience the long term gains as well):
* only perform when rested
concentrate on what you are doing — perform each rep with the same dilligence
remember to keep your rep number under 20 — this is regardless of the drill you are using* keep the set number low (no more than 3 sets regarding the exercise)

Drill this into your head: Train HARDER, not looonger.

Good nutrition is very important for the long terms gains that come with the practice of plyometric training. This is because these long term gains are based on modifications in your body structure. Changes in muscles and tendons will occur.Plyometrics will make your muscles and tendons more springlike.
How does a plyometric movement work?

* first the body absorbs and stabilizes the force from a negative (eccentric) contraction
* as it does this, it  loads up your muscles and tendons with force (think of it like a compressing a spring)
* the spring unloads and the body (for legs) or an object (for arms) is propelled with astounding speed

Here’s an example,when you cock back your arm to throw a rock the natural thing you do is to first cock your arm backwards.  The effect of this is that the muscles of your arm and shoulder muscles lock, forcing your tendons to stretch thus storing a lot of force in those tendons and essentially turning them into loaded springs. When you throw, the stored force is released, allowing the rock to be accelerated at a rate which is higher than your normal rate of force development.

The reason plyometric training was so big when it came out in the 70 ’s is that it allowed athletes to specifically train their muscles and tendons to be more spring-like. You naturally use plyometric movements but before plyometric training came out there was no clear cut way to train for this. That is why it was thought for so long that jumping for height for example was an innate ability.
To summarize, plyometrics kill two birds with one stone: they teach your nervous system how to correctly perform movements at higher speeds and they condition your tendons, ligaments and muscles to aquire more spring-like characteristics allowing for greater acceleration. These benefits directly translate into gains in general speed and agility.To further support this process you should also learn about:role of strength in speed and agility training
How do I adapt the principles of plyometric training to my sport specific speed and agility needs? You have to take the basic movement you want to improve and inflic a pattern of force absorbtion and controlled force release upon it. I know that this isn’t a totally enlightening answer, but the truth is that the answer depends on the sport in question. I have provided a link though. Click here to learn more about: Speed and Agility Training

This article has discussed:

* what plyometrics are
* how plyometrics work
* the role of plyometrics as part of your speed and agility training
* the benefits you can expect when introducing plyometric drills into yours speed and agility training

I also recommend you check out this article and learn this very usefull exercise for speed and agility training and preventing injuries.

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Training For Speed And Agility And Strength

Friday, May 7th, 2010

This article will take a look at what part strength has in your Speed and Agility Training course. Now let’s check out a few terms.

Absolute strength – the greatest total power that you’re able to produce, your one rep max is your absolute strength

Starting Strength – a measure of what number of muscle fibers that you are able to instantly contract

Look at it like this, if you snatch a heavy set of weights from the ground you can hurt your back. But should you lift it slowly this wouldn’t occur. Starting strength (in this example), basically measures the greatest load that you’re capable of snatching from the ground with no harm.

Relative strength – your strength for every lb of body mass

Reactive Strength or Plyometric Strength – measures your capability to soak up and use energy while moving from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction.

What exactly is the significance of these terms to your workout plan?
The higher your absolute strength, the higher your starting strength. The higher your starting strength, the faster your increase in speed, the faster your increase in speed, the higher your explosiveness or your capability to attain your maximum speed quicker. Think about, “Is my Speed and Agility Training helping my absolute strength for those muscles that matter most in the sport I play?”

Relative strength is significant since the more your relative strength, the more strength you’re able to generate. This benefits you in two ways; your nervous system is better conditioned and will cross over into your quickness, and you’ve got less stuff to lug around. This also crosses over into speed.

A question to pose is whether your Speed and Agility Training improves your relative strength. Remember when working out for speed and agility your relative strength is more critical than your absolute strength. Note: you should not be concerned excessively concerning bulking up since a 10% boost in LEAN body mass is equal to a 30% growth in strength.

Finally, we look at reactive strength. This kind of strength plays a vital part in agility, it allows you to rapidly change route and overwhelm your opponent with unanticipated moves. It also helps you to jump higher whilst running (but not so much from a standstill stance). It also has a function in running speed although you’ll find better ways to train for that if running speed is what you want to achieve.

What is the take away home from this commentary? In order to appropriately train for speed and agility you have got to include strength training workouts in your practice. You should also customize it for the sport you are in. There are no shortcuts but there are effective ways of achieving your goals (whatever they might be).

If this has baffled you a little you should….

Here is a food for thought question for you.  Why do sprinters (50, 100 meter dash, basketball players, quarterbacks etc) have ripped abs without particularly training for them? Needless to say you must be aware that starting strength is different for different muscles groups and can be trained separately. Knowing which muscles play a part in the movements most essential in your athletic endeavour enables you to concentrate on them and create quick and efficient results

If you liked this article, you can find more information, tips, and videos by going to: more Speed and Agility Training.

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Speed And Agility Training – Sports Vision Training

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Speed and agility training has seen a paradigm shift in the past couple of years.   Hype is a constant problem in our society, not so the case here.   It is all because some people went against the grain and declared a previously untrainable skill set to be trainable. The NFL Combine is a camp in which professional football teams assess NFL draft candidates – this training is the “where it’s at” there.   The training is sports vision.  A few of the things that are addressed are increasing an atletes ability to focus and concentrate, speeding the processing of in game data, depth perception, ability to anticipate the opposing teames action and all the other juicy stuff that separates two physically identical athletes. The basis of this training is that you have to see it to react to it.   An athlete must be able to see, react and anticipate the next move of the opponent, the better and faster he or she can do that, the better the athlete will be.
Athletes make mistakes if their sports vision is lacking.    In this highly competitive era simple speed and agility training that lead to “just” very fast atletes is no longer sufficient. Exercises that involve the mind: such as span of recognition, game field view and reaction time training are no longer optional.  There is a more than ever need for atletes to visually process their surroundings faster. They must improve their reaction times and their reflexes. Without these, they will simply be left behind.

One of the key points of the rapidly growing popularity of sports vision training is that it leads to an incresed performance in visual imagery processing capacity even when under high stress — such as during an important game.  The innovative power of this training is so high that ever more ambitious milestones are constantly crossed. Here are some of the addressed issues:

* peripheral awareness – being able to recognize and react to objects out of  the corner of the eye

* visual reaction time – is time between when a change or stimulus is seen and when you react to it

* how many moving objects the player can deal with and how well he can take them into account is called dynamic visual acuity    * the ability to follow rapid moving objects
* focus time training – changing focus is something that needs to be done fast in order to get the best information that your eyes can give you

* depth perception – leads to the correct placement of objects within our 3D world

* eye endurance – the eyes get tired too, if they have more stamina, then they can behave better for a longer time (until the buzzard rings)
I hope this has sparked your interest as far as Sports Vision Training is concerned.  I think it is funny that the old saying: “keep your eye on the ball” has become an actual, measurable, improvable feat.

By the way, here are some more interesting resources for speed and agility training:speed,agility and protein

Learn more here Agility Training

Make sure to try this great exercise for speed and agility training improving strength

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