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The Milwaukie Bucks just won the NBA championship because Giannis Antetokounmpo is committed to training with weights consistently. He is the most physically dominant player in the world because he has added 50lbs of muscle since being drafted into the NBA by the Bucks 8 years ago. This should serve as notice to all young athletes – TRAINING WILL HELP YOU REACH YOUR POTENTIAL.
There are many examples of athletes taking their skills to the next level after working with a professional strength coach or getting onto a team that prioritizes strength and conditioning. The biggest benefit to enhancing overall explosive strength, speed, conditioning and mobility is that it speeds up the athletic development process and limits chance at serious injury, regardless of age. The younger an athlete develops physically, the more chance they have to dominate their sport from then on. Logically this makes sense. Practically it is difficult for most athletes to focus on weight training during the early years. Why is this?
Most young athletes play multiple sports throughout a year. This is what most refer to as sufficient ‘cross training’ and majority of coaches and parents believe this to be a sufficient way to stay ‘injury free.’ Reality is that athletes who do not spend enough time recovering and training in the weight room will be more prone to injury regardless of how busy they are playing different sports. The body is weak when the body is weak, no matter how busy it is.
Young athletes, parents and coaches need to spend less time and money on travel teams, tournaments and gear and more time and money on TRAINING. Plain and simple, it is the most beneficial allotment of resources athletes between ages 12-18 years old can make. This is an investment which will pay back dividends in college scholarships and possibly even the athlete making it professionally. But most importantly, athletes learning to eat right and train consistently are assets to them for the rest of their lives.
Sure AAU basketball is fun, 7 on 7 football gets you exposure and club team travel tournaments for softball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, etc are a great way to get your name out there. It is certainly important to compete in sports and skills practice sessions. But what matters most is how athletes’ bodies perform and hold up in the long run. Regardless of where an athlete goes to high school, if they are strong and dominant they will be noticed and on the radar of college scouts.
College scouts and coaches are paid a nice salary to find athletes with elite potential no matter how small their school or town, state or country. Some of the best athletes in the world come from the smallest towns in the United States and Overseas and they all have one thing in common, they all TRAIN EXPLOSIVE CONSISTENTLY AND NEVER GIVE UP because they understand it will be worth it when they win.
Here is a simple full body routine straight from our training app that can be done by any athlete any day anywhere at anytime:
4 Rounds
(10-20% body weight each hand)
20 Squat Jumps
*2-3 minute active rest after each round (roll out)
Date: 07.24.2021
Back and shoulder pain can mean a lot of things. However, one of the most common culprits is overuse or strain of the rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff is a ring of muscles surrounding each shoulder joint. They’re responsible for giving the shoulders their impressive multi-directional range-of-motion. However, they are also very delicate.
Many people who have overuse injuries of the rotator cuff are athletes who often make arm motions above their heads, like pitchers and quarterbacks. However, people with physically demanding jobs like stockers and construction workers can also have these problems. Further, acute issues like sprains and strains can also impact these muscles.
A recurring theme throughout this article - and our website - is that overuse and damage can be prevented through careful strengthening and toning of the muscle groups. The muscles of the rotator cuff are no different, and strengthening your shoulders can help reduce pain.
The bad news is that they can be difficult to target effectively. The good news is that the muscles of the chest and back do most of the heavy lifting. As a result, familiarizing yourself with exercises to develop the back and chest can help to make these injuries less likely.
Written by Leo Ochoa
Date: January 14, 2021
“What I’ve learned is you just got to stay focused and believe in yourself and trust you own ability and judgement.” – Mark Cuban.
To place an image in our minds of what focus is we should think of a race horse with blinders on during the Kentucky Derby. They’re really only able to see what’s ahead. Not able to see the other horses next to them, their jockey that’s on their back, or what time it is. Only on the road ahead. During training, the jockey usually rewards the horse for moving in the right direction at the correct speed.
As athletes we are the race horse. Of course there are others next to us competing with us and we usually have people in our corner or behind us pushing us in the ‘right’ directions. The only thing that matters is our level of focus on what we need to do to run our own race. Only we control our effort and our attention to what we need to work on to get better.
Date: 06.15.2021
