TRX Challenges

Starting in November I will once again be having a weekly TRX Challenge to bring about some friendly competition.  Each week starting November 4th, a new Challenge will be posted with specific instructions on what to do for each exercise.

Each week the exercises will get more challenging and more advanced movements will be incorporated to challenge your fitness.  A video demonstration will be provided for each workout, and I encourage those who take each Challenge to post their results in the Comments section below each post.

Here is a taste of one of last year's Challenge in case you missed out.  In this Challenge, the goal was to perform each exercise in 1 minute (with 30 sec of rest between exercises) and record the total # of reps. The person who completed the most total reps (with good form) won the Challenge.  One minute can seem like an eternity when performing certain exercises.

This year' Challenges will be even more fun, so I hope you take the time to participate a few week, if not all. Remember to post your results from each week down below in the Comments section.

Athletes Performance Mentorship Team 1

As I look back on my week of Mentorship Phase 1 at Athletes' Performance, it's pretty impressive to think of all the participants that attended.  I was anticipating about 10-15 people attending, but there ended up being a total of 25 people and from many different parts of the world.

This is the power one of our lead presenters, Nicole Rodriquez, had on us

photo by Athletes' Performance

photo by rittasports.com

practicing absolute speed drills on a wall

Those that were there from the US included such states as New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Oklahoma, Maryland, Virginia and California.  There were also several Europeans (Austria, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland), Middle East (Lebanon), South America (Brazil) and Japanese participants.   Everyone came from different backgrounds of training experience but all of us had the same goal, to learn the same training systems that the top athletes are using.   

Nicole Rodriquez shows us how to run on the Woodway Curve

With such a diverse group of people there was lots of unique ideas shared each day and many questions.  It's always interesting to discuss a topic and have it dissected many ways.  It sometimes helps to better understand the topic being discussed.  

Athletes' Performance will be having their Mentorship Phase 2 program this coming week and a few from Phase 1 will be attending that also.   Personally, I can't imagine trying to comprehend another consecutive week of that much information.  Although it would be nice to put the "how" with the "why"; that being the primary difference between Phases 1 and 2.  

It was a great week of learning and meeting some great colleagues.   

An update on the week at Athletes' Performance

After several days of the Mentorship Program at Athletes Performance, I can honestly say that my mind is pretty fried.  Each day we get shuttled from the hotel to the AP facility at 7:30am for our 8:00am start time. The staff at AP are extremely professional and respect everyone's time, so they are very prompt on the start times each day and during each of their presentations.  

entrance to their parking lot

Each day is comprised of class presentations as well as hands-on (applied) sessions.  Nothing better than sitting in class learning the system and then going out on the turf or to the strength area and putting it to use. All of the presenters, Nicole Rodriquez, Tristian Rice, and Michelle Ricardi have been great and all are very knowledgeable in their respective areas of expertise.  Nicole leads all of the hands-on sessions and her demonstrations are amazing.   

strength area - pretty impressive 

turf area - lots of space

All of Pillar Prep, Movement Prep, and Acceleration drills have taken place out on their turf fields.  With the temps hovering around the 90's, things get hot pretty quick.  We're doing the drills about 75% effort with several breaks for explanations and although we're not getting the HR elevated too high, it still feels like a workout.  I can already tell that my hips, back and toes will be sore.

We did some acceleration drills against their brick wall that were great for simulating movements such as lateral shuffling and lateral crossovers.  I've learned some great ideas for getting an athlete prepared for their sport-specific movements. 

haven't touched the bag or sleds yet

There is definitely no shortage of equipment at Athletes' Performance.  Everything is state-of-the-art and veryorganized in a way that there is always plenty of space, no matter the size of group/s training.  In addition to all of the strength equipment, they have an on-site pool, hot tub, and polar bath.  A couple of us took advantage of all three today and did some contrast therapy; moving from cold to hot and back to cold.  The polar bath is set at 50 degrees making for an unpleasant but effective experience for the first 2-3 minutes. We'll probably be doing this again tomorrow; it's is a great recovery tool to help with sore muscles.  

Learning from the best!

I am currently down in Phoenix, AZ to attend the Athletes' Performance Phase 1 Mentorship program. Athletes' Performance, which trains many professional athletes in various sports, provides education courses each year to fitness professionals like myself to better understand the principles behind athletes' success.

Their training methodologies have helped top athletes around the world succeed at the highest level...year after year.

I have been wanting to attend their mentorship program for a few years now, so I am extremely excited to learn from the best and apply everything with my athletes and clients.

Basketball Conditioning Workout

Basketball requires a great deal of conditioning, along with many different planes of movement.  To be honest, in my opinion I think elite basketball players are the most conditioned athletes.  Why you ask?  Think about the amount of running (forward, backward, lateral), twisting (side to side, low to high and high to low), jumping (off 1 foot and off 2 feet), catching and throwing (passing) and all (or most of the time) while controlling a ball.  Their hand-eye coordination is tremendous.  These are just a few reasons why I feel that basketball players are the most conditioned.  

                                      

   
Sure there are athletes in different sports that are fitter, stronger, more powerful, and even faster, but the overall percentage of athletes in basketball vs. any other sport I feel is greater when discussing the term "conditioning".  Also keep in mind this is only MY opinion.

Here is a  sample of a full-body conditioning workout, by Josh Staph, that the University of North Carolina uses.  They use medicine balls during their warm-up which are great for training the body in 3 dimensional movements (forward and back, side to side, and rotating/twisting, and for training the small muscles along the spine.  

MedBall Circuit - 10 exercises, 20 reps each using as 8-12lb ball.  The Tar Heels repeat this circuit 4 times, I would recommend starting with 2 rounds and then increase as your fitness improves.

-Circles - begin by holding med ball above head.  move arms in a circle and do both directions.

-Wood Chopper - hold med ball in front of chest, then rotate towards one side and bring ball to outside of hips, then immediately swing the ball in a diagonal motion up toward the opposite shoulder.

-Side to Side Throw - Stand facing perpendicular to a wall.  Holding med ball at outside hip with arms extended, forcefully throw ball against wall.  Repeat on other side for same # of reps.

-Overhead Throw - Holding ball above head, throw ball against wall in a chopping motion.  Keep abs engaged.

-Russian Twists - Lean back at a 45 degree angle.  Holding ball in front of chest, rotate side to side keeping arms extended.

-Chest Pass - Face a wall holding ball in front of chest.  Keeping legs slightly bent, throw ball from chest against wall, catch and repeat.

-Sit up Throw - Lying on the ground with knees bent and feet flat, sit up and throw against wall.  Catch and repeat.

-Toe Touch - Lying on ground on back, hold med ball above head with arms extended.  Sit up and try to touch toes with ball.

After the warm up/med ball series, athletes would then go through a strength workout.  Depending on fitness level and strength training experience, athletes would do either a bodyweight circuit, or for the more advanced, a barbell complex circuit.   I would recommend starting with the bodyweight circuit and once you can complete 3-4 rounds, move to the more advanced barbell circuit.

 Bodyweight Circuit - complete all exercises with minimal rest and then rest 60-90 sec between rounds.  Each exercises has a specified number of reps, but you can always adjust based on time or fitness level.

-Push ups  x10
-Sit ups  x20
-Squats  x20
-Pull ups  x as many as possible
-Walking Lunges  x10ea leg
-Chin ups  x as many as possible
-Walking Lunge with Twist  x10
-Crunches  x20
-Back Extension  x10
-Close-Grip Push ups  x10

In an effort to keep the HR elevated during the workout and improve "work capacity" (the ability to work, tolerate the work, and recover) the Tar Heels do the barbell complex.  Complexes can make for a great "finisher" at the end of a workout boosting your Excess-Post-Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) leading to more calories being burned for several hours after a workout.

Barbell Complex - For theses exercises, select a weight that is roughly 40-50% of your bodyweight and repeat each exercise for 6 reps without putting the bar down.

-Upright Row
-Snatch
-Good Morning - Stand with bar resting on back of shoulders, bend forward at the hips keeping back straight and weight on heels.  Stand back up.
-Squat + Press - Standing with bar resting on back of shoulders, squat down keeping wright on heels and then drive bar back up overhead
-Bent-Over Row