Anti-rotation trunk/core training for athletes is where we start with most people to establish a solid ability to stabilise through the lower spine/hip whilst rotating through the upper back (thoracic spine). Once our athletes have worked their way through the appropriate progressions here, we incorporate more rotational exercises that carryover to many sports. These include…
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Trunk/core training for athletes is mainly about maintaining a neutral spine as opposed to excessive movement through the midsection. These are categorised into key movements we are aiming to resist including: Anti-extension (Sagittal plane)Anti-rotation (Transverse plane)Anti-lateral flexion (Frontal plane) This week we are focussing our top 3 anti-extension exercises!
Having a good level of flexibility is often a desirable quality for many athletes and sports coaches. The term flexibility actually refers to the range of motion within a joint but we also need to be able to control that range of motion in order for it to be useful in sport. You may see a hypermobile…
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Top 5 kit bag essentials for athletes Drink – Add electrolytes and possibly carbohydrates if you have a prolonged/intense session Snack – easily digestible carbohydrate-based snack for just before or during exercise – e.g. banana, apple, high-quality energy bar Foam roller and small massage ball/hockey ball for self manual therapy Mini-bands/resistance bands – very useful…
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This week, I am going to be talking about metabolic conditioning for young athletes which is what most people would refer to as fitness! To put it simply, we all have certain ways in which we produce energy for a given task. These ‘energy systems’ all work alongside one another but certain tasks can be…
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The amount of research on youth athlete nutrition is nowhere near as extensive as adult athletes. There are some BIG differences that must be considered! Check out our infographic to find out more!
I heard this phrase a few years ago from World-renowned coach called Vern Gambetta, with the basic idea was that an athlete might train for 1, 2, 5 + hours per day but what about the rest of the time? There are four main areas to focus on throughout a 24 hour day – sleeping,…
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Even with the lack of plyo boxes, mini hurdles etc., there’s still a ton of legit jumping and landing progressions you can use to keep developing as an athlete. Here are our ‘Rona progressions that we’ve been using with our home-based youth athletes (ps. it’s very similar to our usual progressions!)
Pulling exercises form a crucial benefit for athletes and are often an underdeveloped area of strength, in my experience. I like to use bodyweight progressions initially which encourages good movement of the scapula on the rib cage. Horizontal pulling is one of the areas we work on regularly and here are some of the progressions…
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Flexibility training is often an afterthought for many young athletes but in this article, I will be giving a basic overview of what flexibility is, what the research says and what may be an optimal method to improve flexibility for certain athletes. Flexibility is the total range of motion of a given joint including the…
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