Posts Tagged ‘speed and agility training’

Are You Putting Your School Age Children In The Hot Seat

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Speed and agility training in the summertime means teams working out and practicing in the heat. Thus, it is important that you know that youngsters do not adapt to high temperatures like adults. Don’t underestimate the significance of the warning signs for heat illnesses and preventing them. These illnesses can be any type such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. If your team is doing strength training workouts, as an adult, you need to keep in mind how dangerous heat illness can be to your charges. In actuality, youngsters are the most vulnerable to heat illness.  The death rate for heat stroke in children is anywhere from 17 to 70 pct. The seriousness of the ailments and the child’s age are important factors to consider.

Youngsters get heat sick when their bodies are not able to cool down.  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. Young people are more at risk to heat sickness since they do not adapt as fast or as efficiently to changes in heat like adults. They also produce additional heat when they are active. Youngsters also perspire at a greater body temperature plus they sweat less than adults.  Those kids, whom are heavy, have continuing illnesses and take a number of medications are even more susceptible to high heat conditions during practice.

SIGNS OF ILLNESS
Heat Cramps – sore, involuntary muscle spasms, ordinarily in the gastrocnemius or hamstring tissues (the muscles at the back of the calf muscles and thighs)

Dehydration – fatigue, thirst,  dizziness, less-frequent urination,  sloppiness, escalated heart rate and respiration, parched skin,  dry mouth and mucous membranes

Heat Exhaustion – clammy, blanched skin, sweaty,  tiredness (fatigue), headache and or dizziness

Heat Stroke – loss  of consciousness, confusion or hallucinations, headache, agitation, high body temperature, absence of sweating, deep or shallow breathing, frail pulse rate, seizures

PREVENTION
Be cognizant that temperatures over 80 degrees make conditions favorable to heat unwellness.  Also be aware that high humidity reduces your body’s ability to get rid of excess heat by sweating. In order to prevent this illness acclimate the child to the heat, increase intensity over 10-14 days, no heavy work for the first week Morning or early evening are the cooler parts of the day and optimal for practices. Ensure young people rest often. Before practice, hydration is strongly recommended. It is very important to have plenty of water on hand during practice. Minors need to drink fluids every 20 minutes while working out, whether thirsty or not. Liquids to keep away from are caffeine and everything carbonated. With clothing, have kids wear well-ventilated, sweat-absorbent and light-weight.

If your kid or your team is doing agility training as a manager or parent, you require to be aware of the seriousness of heat-related conditions.  Respect the high temperatures or there could be serious physical consequences.

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The Secret Weapon In Speed And Agility — Plyometrics

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

This article will teach you what the benefits of plyometric training is as far as improving your speed and agility goes. I’m going to talk about: plyometrics — exactly what it is and what it is supposed to do, the general benefits you can get from it and finally, ways in which this sort of training can be used for the purposes of speed and agility.

So what are plyometrics anyway?
Simply put plyometrics are a form of exercise. The purpose of these sort of exercises is the linking of strength to speed  for the improvement of power.The objective is to be able to use more of your strength — faster — thus producing more power.Just to give you a practical example of plyometric training application, think of basketball. In this sport plyometrics are used to increase the running vertical jump of the athlete.
The foundation of plyometric training is simple:
– your bodies ability to absorb and store force;- the efficient release of that force (producing a motiong that has a lot of power);

If your sport of choice involves any throwing, kicking, jumping or lifting, then plyometric training can benefit you. Some examples of sports like these are: soccer, power lifting, basketball, football, baseball etc.

Plyomentrics can also Influence Speed and Agility
Plyometric drills are meant to train your muscles and tendons to absorb high amounts of force and teach your nervous system how to control and stabilize that force. Speed and agility can be developed very quickly with such practices – the best gains come if you have already strengthened your muscles and tendons.

The short term gains in speed and agility that result from incorporating plyometric exercises come from the education of your nervous system. This is why it is critical to perform plyometric exercises following these guidelines:
* only perform when rested
you must train with intensity and presence
* keep the rep number low (no more than 20 regardless of the exercise used)do not perform more than 3 sets per training session (no matter the difficulty of the particular exercise)

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

Gains in the long term will rely on body composition — this is why a focus on nutrition and avoidance of injury are critical with regards to plyometrics. The structure of your muscles and tendons will be modified.Plyometrics change your body in the sense that they make your muscles and tendons take on elastic properties.
Plyometric movement works like this:

* 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.

What really popularized plyometrics back in the seventies was the fact that it produced results and soviet athletes started to dominate many athletic fields. The beauty of plyometric training is that it allows you to make your muscles and tendons behave more like elastic bands or springs — storing force and then releasing it. And the fact of the matter is that before this, there was no known way to train for these aspects — leading many people to believe that such acts as a running for height jump were completely genetically driven abilities.
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:speed and agility training and protein
The question is: how do I adapt the principles of plyometric training to my speed and agility training? The answer is, and you aren’t going to like it, by tailoring your plyometric training to the specific speed and agility requirements of the sport that you are practicing. This is a long discussion and goes way beyond the scope of this article. Click here to learn more about: Speed and Agility Training

To summarize this article:

* 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

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

This posting is going to take a look at what part strength plays in your Speed and Agility Training program. Let’s look into a couple of words.

Absolute strength – the maximum total power that you’re able to produce, your single rep ceiling is your absolute strength

Starting Strength – a function of what number of muscle fibers you’re in a position to instantly contract

Think of it this way, if you snatch a heavy set of weights off the floor you will strain your back. But if you were to lift slowly this would not take place. Starting strength (in the example just discussed), just measures the greatest load you are capable of grabbing off the floor without injuries.

Relative strength – your strength for every pound of body weight

Reactive Strength or Plyometric Strength – measures your ability to soak up and utilize power when switching from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction.

What exactly is the application of these definitions to your exercise curriculum?
The higher your absolute strength, the more your starting strength. The more your starting strength, the faster your increase of velocity, the quicker your increase in speed, the greater your explosiveness or your capacity to reach your upper speed faster. Ask yourself this, “Is my speed and agility training helping my absolute strength for those muscles that are significant in the sport I play?”

Relative strength is important since the higher your relative strength, the more force you are able to produce. This benefits you in a couple of ways; your nervous system is better conditioned and will even cross over into your quickness, and you have less stuff to drag around. This also crosses over into speed.

A reasonable question to ask about is whether or not your Speed and Agility Training improves your relative strength. Remember when training for speed and agility your relative strength is more influential than your absolute strength. Note: you should not worry too much concerning bulking up since a 10% growth in LEAN body mass will equal a 30% escalation in power.

Finally, we look at reactive strength. This kind of strength plays a crucial part in agility, it makes it possible for you to suddenly alter course and overwhelm your opponent with unexpected moves. It also helps you to jump higher while running (but not a great deal from a standstill stance). It also has a function in running speed however you’ll find better ways to exercise for that if running speed is what you are after.

What’s the take away home from this post? So as to properly train for speed and agility you should incorporate strength training exercises in your schedule. You must also adapt it for the activity you’re involved with. There can be no shortcuts however there are effective ways of reaching your objectives (whatever they may be).

If this has baffled you a bit you should….

Here’s a food for thought question for you.  Why do sprinters (50, 100 meter dash, basketball players, quarterbacks etc) get ripped abs without specifically training for them? Needless to say you must understand that starting strength is different for different muscles groups and can be trained individually. Knowing what muscles have a part in the movements most essential in your athletic endeavour helps you to focus on them and create rapid 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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Training For Speed And Agility And Strength

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

This posting is going to take a look at what part strength plays in your Speed and Agility Training course. Now let’s check out a few terms.

Absolute strength – the maximum amount of power that you’re capable of producing, your single rep max is your absolute strength

Starting Strength – a result of the number of muscle fibers you’re in a position to instantly contract

Think of it in this way, if you grab a heavy set of weights off the floor you will strain your back. However if you pick it up slowly this would not occur. Starting strength (in this example), merely measures the max weight that you are capable of grabbing off the floor with no injury.

Relative strength – your strength for each lb of body weight

Reactive Strength or Plyometric Strength – deals with your capability to soak up and utilize power while moving from an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction.

What is the significance of these terms to your training plan?
The more your absolute strength, the more your starting strength. The more your starting strength, the quicker your acceleration, the quicker your increase of velocity, the more your explosiveness or your ability to achieve your top speed sooner. Ask yourself, “Is my Speed and Agility Training helping my absolute strength for those muscles that are significant in my sport of choice?”

Relative strength is crucial since the more your relative strength, the greater the strength you can create. This benefits you in a couple of ways; your nervous system is better conditioned and will also cross over into your agility, and you have less stuff to drag 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 influential than your absolute strength. Note: you should not be concerned too much with reference to bulking up since a 10% boost in LEAN body mass translates into a 30% boost in power.

Last but not least, we look at reactive strength. This type of strength has a crucial role in agility, it allows you to swiftly adjust route and stun your opponent with amazing moves. It also helps you to jump higher while running (but not alot from a standstill position). It also has a function in running speed although there are actually better ways to exercise for that if running speed is what you want to achieve.

What is the take away home from this posting? In order to correctly work for speed and agility you must incorporate strength training workouts in your regime. You must also customize it for the sport you are in. There are no shortcuts although there are effective ways of reaching your goals (whatever they may be).

If this has bewildered you a lttle bit you should….

Here is a food for thought question for you.  Why do sprinters (50, 100 meter dash, basketball players, quarterbacks etc) produce ripped abs without explicitly training for them? Of course you should understand that starting strength is different for different muscles groups and can be trained individually. Understanding what muscles play a role in the movements most critical in your athletic endeavour allows you to focus on them and create swift and effective 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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