One Minute Workout – Part 2

Last week I discussed the research and benefits of a One minute workout.  CLICK HERE to read Part 1

Today I would like to provide you a simple workout I use when I train two people…. over the years I have found this to be more beneficial for all clients as they push themselves harder and  they will challenge one another.

Using the premise of the one minute workout of 20 seconds of hard work and a short rest, I have used this simple workout to achieve some amazing results.  Note – the difference I use is that my workouts last ten minutes in total but the sets are one minute.

Set 1-3

Body weight squats for 20 seconds (add weight when u feel like you are able)

Rest 20 seconds

Pushups for 20 seconds

Rest for 20 seconds

Swiss ball pull ins for 20 seconds

Rest 1 minute and repeat two more times

Set 4-6

Chin-up/ ring row variation for 20 seconds

Rest 20 seconds

Db standing lunges for 20 seconds

Rest 20 seconds

Swiss ball crunches for 20 seconds

Try this workout with a friend or by yourself…. trust me it’s a CHALLENGE for ten minutes!

Next week I will discuss why I use this format…hint …it’s all about the hormones.

In the meantime if you are looking to get in shape for the summer please CLICK HERE for our Butts and Guts Summer challenge.

5 Things That Are Making You Less Agile as a Soccer Player – Part 1

Agility is a skill which becomes invaluable on the field, court, or pitch! It is often the person who can change directions the fastest that will be the first to the ball.  Also, being agile can be immensely helpful if you are not the fastest runner, as a good change of direction can allow you to keep up with a faster player. And if you are both fast AND agile, the opposing team better watch out, because you will be impossible to contain! However, like I said earlier, agility is a SKILL, which means there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things.

Here is a list of 5 MAJOR MISTAKES athletes make when changing directions:

      1. Foot position: If your need to change directions quickly and your plant foot (also the push-off foot) is either open (toes pointed out) or closed (toes pointed in), you are not going to re-accelerate as well as you could be. Having your toes pointed outward allows the ankle to flex in the direction opposite to the one you want to re-accelerate in. This creates an energy leak which means that energy will be lost at your ankle because it is not stable enough to absorb the force you are placing into the ground when you’re pushing off the foot to re-accelerate.
        Having your foot point inward creates the opposite problem: Your ankle is not in a good position to absorb the force you place in to the ground when you plant your foot. This is actually potentially injurious as having the foot turned in can easily lead to a rolled ankle. The best position for the foot is to be square, neither in nor out.
      2. Shoulder sway: This is another energy leak which occurs as a result of the core muscles not being strong enough to stabilize the upper body as you change directions. This will make your change of direction slower as your shoulders will have to stop swaying before your body can begin moving in the direction that you want to re-accelerate. A strong core will provide better shoulder stability thus helping change of direction.

Are you making any of these mistakes?! If you are, realize that you have the potential to be a lot quicker, which could make a huge difference in your on-field performance!

BTW – Make sure you see our “Femal Xeleration Speed Camp” CLICK HERE

Q&A – Soccer Speed Coach Delroy (Owner – SST Oakville) – Part 2

Last week we talked female soccer training with SST Oakville owner Delroy aka Coach D

Click HERE to see – Part 1

  1. Can you add some insight into your strength coaching style?

My style of coaching stems from the type of coaches I had growing up as a young athlete to the coaches I had as I trained while playing on the Canadian pro Beach Volleyball Circuit. It was a “no nonsense” work hard, give a 110 percent and leave it all on the field. I have taken this approach with all my athletes and adult clients. I am tough and I expect you to give me everything you have while you are on the training floor. I have had athletes and adults see my car in the parking lot and tell me we know it is going to be a tough day when “the dark over lord is on the training floor.” I treat everybody the same, I want the same for every one of my clients. Results…. period.  I approach every training session with energy that fills up the facility. I want all my clients to have fun, challenge themselves and most of all work hard. For my athletes I treat them like family; my goal is help them all understand from my own experience and the experience of my high level staff what it takes from a training stand point to get to the next level. Mentoring is so, so important to me for my athletes. As I move around the community nothing makes me more happy than to here an athlete shout to me “ Hey Coach D “ . I absolutely love to train!

  1. You have had many girls in many sports on scholarships…is there a key to your success?

I believe you need to understand the female athletes in order to get the best out of them. We have had much success with female athletes who have received scholarships, because we have created an environment at SST Oakville were these ladies feel like they are at home. We have seen other facilities focus on “just the boys” and at SST Oakville we treat everybody the same. The female athletes who come to us for a few reasons; One, because we push them and two, we discuss their goals. We are not afraid to have them try complicated movements and they see the results of their hard work.  Communication, Communication, communication is the key ingredient when dealing with high performance athletes. We take the time to explain, critique and most importantly coach and this seems to work really well as our female athletes respond and get tremendous results.

To find out more about Coach D’s exclusive Female only Xelerate soccer program – Click Here

Q&A – Soccer Speed Coach Delroy (Owner – SST Oakville) – Part 1

Delroy- thanks for taking your time and speaking with me

  1. So Delroy why do have so much success with Soccer teams?

I really enjoy training soccer teams. Soccer was one of the first team sports we had come to us for training when we started SST Oakville. My staff and I have spent many hours with soccer athletes and have a great understanding of what is required for a soccer athlete to succeed. Our reputation and our results with soccer athletes have spread through the soccer community. We have teams from Burlington, Oakville, Mississauga and Brampton comes out to train with us. The coaching staff of these teams trusts us and understand our facility is “no nonsense “training center, as we build our soccer training programs to get their teams prepared for the season. We have worked with many soccer athletes who have gone on to play NCAA, CIS and professionally. We soccer athletes playing at University of Miami , University of Maine, Memphis University , kent State , Eastern Michigan , Louisiana State , Miami – Ohio , Carleton University , University of Western Ontario, Mc Master University to name a few. Today, we have Dianna Matheson from the Canadian Women’s National training in our facility to get her prepared for the FIVB women’s world cup. Here is what Dianna has to say about why she trains at SST Oakville:

 “I use SST Oakville when I am a home because it has everything Ineed to train at the highest level.  I go not just for strength training, but to be a stronger, faster, and more complete athlete.” – Thanks, Diana M

  1. Can you add some insight into your strength coaching style?

My style of coaching stems from the type of coaches I had growing up as a young athlete to the coaches I had, as I trained while playing the Canadian pro Beach Volleyball Circuit. It was “no nonsense” work hard, give a 110 percent and leave it all on the field. I have taken this approach with all my athletes and adult clients, I am tough and I expect you to give me everything you have while you are on the training floor. I have had athletes and adults see my car in the parking lot and tell me we know it is going to be a tough day when “the dark over lord “is on the training floor. I treat everybody the same, I want the same for every one of my clients. Results -period.  I approach every training session with energy that fills up the facility. I want all my clients to have fun , challenge themselves and most of all work hard. For my athletes I treat them like family , my goal is help them all understand from my own experience and the experience of my high level staff what it takes from a training stand point to get to the next level. Mentoring is so, so important to me for my athletes. As I move around the community nothing makes me more happy than to here an athlete shout to me “ hey Coach “ . I absolutely love to train.

For more info regarding our Girls Xceleration soccer speed camp please click HERE

Soccer and Stretching – Increase speed or not?

The other day I was on a field watching a bunch of kids practicing soccer it reminded me that soccer season is now starting to ramp up with pre-season training.  It made me think of the research article I just read in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning regarding static stretching and the effects it has on soccer players during a match.

With so many different training methods out there for soccer players one that is still used by many coaches is static stretching…yes the kind where we ask the athlete to sit on their butts and stretch their hamstrings or stand on one leg and pull their leg back to stretch their quadriceps muscles!

The article by Sayer, et al looked at the sprint performance of soccer players after static stretching.  Data was collected on 20 elite female soccer players from a soccer team that participates in the Women’s Professional soccer league.  The impact of static stretching on sprinting for soccer players is important as sprints occur approximately every 90 seconds during a match.

What did they find in this study?  Well, any type of static stretching had a negative effect on sprint times for soccer players.  Sayer, et al discovered that there was a significant difference in the acceleration phase between the stretch and non-stretch groups.  What is the acceleration phase?… it’s the part of a sprint when a player goes from a standing start to full speed – somewhere around 20 meters.  The study found that static stretching diminishes maximal velocity as well.  It was discovered that an athlete could lose up to .39 seconds after static stretching and with sprints lasting only 4-5 seconds to complete, this is Significant!  This may be the difference between one player getting to the ball before another and recovering defensively to avoid a potential goal-scoring opportunity.  In elite soccer, the ability for each player to be at their best may be the difference between winning and losing!

Wow, that means that not stretching has more of a profound positive effect on sprinting for soccer players than stretching does. This is an important article for all coaches, player’s educators, and other administrators who are involved with soccer players.

So what do you do?  Stop wasting your time pre-practice or pre-game with static stretching and get into dynamic stretching.

I will look into the benefits of dynamic stretching for soccer players in part two of our series.  As well, in the upcoming weeks, we will be showcasing videos on our website for all soccer players to view!

For more information regarding our soccer speed camps please contact us at sst@sstcanada.com

1 minute workout for fat loss- can it be done?

It sounds ridiculous but there is some very valid research to back this claim up!

Dr. Martin GIbala from McMaster University studied the effect of a 1 minute of all out maximum effort workout.  Subjects would perform perceived maximal effort exercise for 20 seconds and take a short rest – repeated three times.  What did they find?  12 weeks- 3 workouts per week increased the subject’s fitness level by 20%!!

This is significant for two reasons:

  1. One of the main excuses people have for NOT exercising is TIME…well this squashed that excuse like a good 1 minute round of sledgehammer work
  2. Maximum effort- most people think they are working out hard…but if we can provide a program which can pretty well guarantee you results in one minute….would you not to join with a friend?

Looking to lose fat?

Personal Training Challenge 

Get Fit For Soccer

Have you ever noticed that soccer players like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Henry are all extremely fit and lean? Well it is no coincidence, strength training is a vital part of any successful soccer player’s regime. Whether it is fighting an opponent off the ball, or taking a fall or just sprinting, physical strength is the key to a player’s success.

Soccer is for the most part an anaerobic sport, on the contrary to popular belief of it being an aerobic sport. A majority of the movement in soccer is short bursts of speed towards the net on a scoring opportunity or chasing down that feisty forward, which is ultimately followed by an active rest. With that being said; the key element in developing sprinting is strength within the posterior chain and shoulders. A whopping sixty five percent of sprinting success is contributed by the strength of the glutes, lower back and hamstrings.   An additional fifteen percent comes from shoulder flexion and the rest comes from quadriceps and gastroc/soleus (calves).

Here at SST various exercises we have used with many of BYSC’s teams are; split squat variations, lunge variations, dead lifts, squat variations and our soccer favorite- THE SLED!

SST believes a stronger athlete equates to becoming a better more efficient athlete. The stronger an athlete becomes the more force they can put in to the ground resulting in less ground contact time thus reaching the ultimate goal of becoming a faster sprinter.

The next time you want to go take a five mile long boring jog, think again, and think strength training for soccer!

BTW… Check out our latest eBook created especially for you mobile folks out there – Nutrition on the Road.