Speed Training- Parents are you doing it right? MY RANT – Part 2

Another day and another post- will keep this short today and discuss Sprint mechanics

Sprint mechanics as we know are very important and should be incorporated in every athlete’s regime but remember most of us are not working with high level technical sprinters.  Many are working with athletes who not only need linear speed but require speed in all directions aka directional speed.  These athletes must be able to start and stop quickly- move in a different direction mainly dictated by the movement of another or ball otherwise known as reaction. Unlike the agility ladder, where some coach tells you what to do and it what direction limits your reaction time. Does the ladder have some effect? Somewhat yes as I believe it improves the stretch shortening cycle and helps much more with younger pre-pubescent athletes who are working on coordination.

So should you spend most of your time on mechanics? As previously stated yes they should be incorporated daily but should only be a part of your development.

Tomorrow I will discuss a method of training that will enhance directional speed starting and stopping.

Just in case you missed them:

Click here for – Part 1

Click here for – Part 3

ALSO…. Click Here For Free eBook “SST Speed – How to run faster”


Speed Training- Parents are you doing it right? MY RANT – Part 1

Over the past few years everywhere I look I see speed training blogs/ articles/ videos mainstream on Instagram/ Twitter/ Facebook and other social media sites.  I have seen so much including running with bands tied to an athletes arms or legs or both!; sand training, running on unstable surfaces , agility ladders plus much more that I don’t have time to discuss:

The question I ask but more importantly you should ask is:

Do these methods work for speed?

First of all- if you have done nothing expect play video games and you decide to start some type of training program then yes you will become better… to a point!

Let’s take an athlete who is carrying 10 extra lbs of body fat? Will these so called aforementioned exercises help your speed? Somewhat but not as good as a proper diet which will shed unwanted fat enabling you to become faster without doing anything else.  Here is the issue: eating well is hard and not pretty- hard to show on videos as it’s not cool!

The first thing I do with athletes is this-Strip the fat and increase your relative muscle mass!

Probably not the answer you are looking for; but in reality the truth. Tomorrow I will continue this rant.

Click here for – Part 2

Click here for – Part 3

ALSO…. Click Here For Free eBook “SST Speed – How to run faster”


Do you have the correct stance?

Offensive line play is one of the hardest positions in sports to truly master because of the amount of technique that is involved with every movement during a play. When coaching OL one of the most important parts of coaching OL is having a great stance! It goes back to the old saying, “if you start wrong odds are you are going to finish wrong.” What I will go thru in this blog is my key points on having a great stance.

Foot Angle

Gone are the days from Pop Warner where you were taught to have your toes pointing straight up the field! Let’s talks about a Right Handed stance; the left foot should be slightly opened, point towards 11’oclock. The right foot is a part of the prop leg, the foot should be more angled at approximately 2:00. This will allow you go get your whole back foot in the ground!

 Neutral Height in Stance

People think lower is better which is not true all. I will say this, the lower you can play the better your going to be. Some people’s anatomy won’t let them get to a certain depth. One way to figure out how low you should be in you stance is to simply come off the football. If the hips moves jagged then you’re too low. If the hips move nice and smooth, then you are perfect. I always teach this to my guys so they understand what goes into building a base.

Stagger of Stance

Pop warner coaches teach toe lined up in the instep. Anatomy wise it really doesn’t make sense; it doesn’t allow you to open up your hips and play with power. The easiest way to figure out how much stagger to play with is this simple test. Stand with your feet just outside shoulder width. Have someone gently give you a nudge, when falling backwards catch yourself with the foot that goes back in your respective stance. Wherever that foot falls is where it should be, in relation to your post foot This is just the basics of how your stance should operate, I could go on about this for hours, but I wont! Like I said before, “if you start wrong, you will finish wrong.” Please put time and effort into your stance and base, it’s the most important aspect.

If you would like to learn more about OL play come to our big man camp starting February 4th!

Brady- GOAT or Not?

I just finished watching two NFL Games and once again the QB play at this level is astounding.  As much as I am impressed with the maturation of Jarred Goff, the great next one in Patrick Mahomes; the deadly accuracy in Drew Brees one of my favorites of all time but the one Qb who just exceeds anyone’s belief or expectations in his play is BRADY.

Tom Brady- is he the G.O.A.T?   As a former professional qb and coach for the last 25 years he astounds me every time.  I would never bet against him that’s for sure.  When I am reviewing films of potential Qbs I am looking for qualities Brady and the aforementioned all have:

  1. Accuracy
  2. Footwork within the pocket (big difference in just saying footwork)
  3. Eye Level- very underrated
  4. Leadership – I always like to see how a qb reacts after a bad throw etc

The one quality that I believe Brady has over anyone else is:

HE HATES TO LOSE!

What does this mean?  We always hear I want to win but the most successful people are driven by their hatred of losing or failure; not the success of winning.  They won’t and can’t let themselves down but more importantly, they will not let their teammates and coaches down. THINK ABOUT THAT for a moment- You HATE to lose- you will do anything not too

EXAMPLE- Brady faced three 3rd and longs in overtime and was not going to lose this game.  Heck he evens HATES losing the coin toss.  It’s his will to win that astonishes me and I admire. 

The question is was he born with this or has he developed it?  I have never been in the film room with him but I can bet that he is the first player in and last player out- whether it’s the field or meetings. 

The great Washington State head coach Mike Leach states his qb must be the first in and last out, if not it’s time for a positional change. This for me is must for a qb.  He must be your leader- the guy who people will believe in not when you’re winning but when things are tough. I want a guy who is mad, pissed and crying after a loss.  He wants it that bad!

Players come and go in New England – but the one consistent is Brady and his willingness to WILL his team to victory. As a coach,  we all talk about does this qb have the IT factor…I can’t describe what it is words but when you find a QB like this- make sure of one thing…demand the most from him.  He will want this!

If you are a QB who hates to lose then I want to train you at my next QB Canada camp.  I am only taking 10 top qbs to work with.

Please email me directly at ljusdanis@sstcanada.com and state “I HATE TO LOSE!” to register for my upcoming camp.



My Blue Print Nutrition Tip of the Day- Top Supps for Fat loss Part 3

In the last couple of days we discussed our top 3 Supplements for fat loss:

1. Fish Oil

2. Probiotics

3. BCAA

In our last series we look at two supplements which have seen tremendous results on BELLY FAT!

CLA

Conjugated linoleic acid is a supplement used to promote fat loss & the growth of lean muscle tissue. It is highly effective in assisting weight loss & changing body composition. The action of CLA is that it prevents lipogenesis or the storage of fat in adipose tissue after a meal. Although CLA is a trans fat, in this case a beneficial one, studies show amazing fat loss results with this supplement. CLA helps blood glucose enter body cells, so CLA can be burned for energy and not stored as fat. CLA also helps to promote fat burning, especially in muscles, where the bulk of our calorie burning takes place.

Green Tea Extract

Consumption of green tea extract enhances the process of thermogenesis and increases the rate of metabolism of fat, without increasing the heart rate. In other words, consuming green tea extract can help you lose weight without jitteriness or feelings of anxiety. The extract also helps your body burn more calories. All these factors make green tea an essential supplement in your weight loss program. One recent report found that daily consumption of green tea extract supplements helped obese men and women lose weight and lower their body mass index (BMI — an indicator of body fat). It might also help people keep off weight once they’ve lost it. Green tea extract has been shown to lower blood pressure and LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol and significantly reduce belly fat.


Looking to lose fat?

Personal Training Challenge 

In the last couple of days we discussed our top 3 Supplements for fat loss:

1. Fish Oil

2. Probiotics

3. BCAA

In our last series we look at two supplements which have seen tremendous results on BELLY FAT!

CLA

Conjugated linoleic acid is a supplement used to promote fat loss & the growth of lean muscle tissue. It is highly effective in assisting weight loss & changing body composition. The action of CLA is that it prevents lipogenesis or the storage of fat in adipose tissue after a meal. Although CLA is a trans fat, in this case a beneficial one, studies show amazing fat loss results with this supplement. CLA helps blood glucose enter body cells, so CLA can be burned for energy and not stored as fat. CLA also helps to promote fat burning, especially in muscles, where the bulk of our calorie burning takes place.

Green Tea Extract

Consumption of green tea extract enhances the process of thermogenesis and increases the rate of metabolism of fat, without increasing the heart rate. In other words, consuming green tea extract can help you lose weight without jitteriness or feelings of anxiety. The extract also helps your body burn more calories. All these factors make green tea an essential supplement in your weight loss program. One recent report found that daily consumption of green tea extract supplements helped obese men and women lose weight and lower their body mass index (BMI — an indicator of body fat). It might also help people keep off weight once they’ve lost it. Green tea extract has been shown to lower blood pressure and LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol and significantly reduce belly fat.

green-tea-benefits

www.myblueprintnutrition.com

sst.training

My Blue Print Nutrition Tip of the Day- Top 5 Supps for FAT Loss Part 1

We are always excited to discuss NUTRITION!  

With so much info out there we want to keep things as simple as possible for you all.  With fat loss being such a big topic today we will discuss what we have had success with clients for fats loss

Note – YOU must follow a proper nutritional program as there is no supplement that will outrun a POOR diet

Part one

Here are favorite Supplements To Take For Fat Loss – Part one

Omega-3 Fish Oil

If you only take one supplement, it should be omega-3 fish oil. Studies show that supplementing with omega-3 fish oil significantly increases lean mass, while decreasing body fat at the same time. Omega-3 fish oil improves the body’s testosterone-to-cortisol ratio by lowering cortisol and turning on the fat burning genes, while turning off the lipogenic or fat storing genes. Omega-3’s improve leptin signaling in the brain, causing the brain to turn up fat burning and turn down appetite.

Looking to lose fat?

Personal Training Challenge 

Say goodbye to boring diets and hello to tasty, fat-burning meals with our high-protein recipe cookbook.

Downloand Your Copy HERE

Top 3 ways to condition Linemen- not what you think!!

***Top Three Alert***

Offensive Line Conditioning

Conditioning Offensive Line and Defensive athletes is harder than you may think. Naïve people think that you can condition and OL athlete just like a skill position, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Skill positions run a very long distance on most plays without must strain. OL and DL athletes run short distances with a lot of strain. We as strength coaches must know this information and use it to execute the training program! Here are our 3 favourite ways to Condition OL and DL athletes.

Tire Flipping

This is a great way to get Big Football Athletes CNS going. Twenty seconds of tire flipping is a perfect amount of time to get them firing on all cylinders! This is a great way to develop strength and conditioning in the lower back which is very important for hand down athletes. One note for this is when they flip the tire they need to sprint around it so they are working at 100% the whole rep.

Banded Runs

This is easily one of my favourite ways to condition big boys. I like to keep the distance short, 10 to 15 yards maximum. Put a resistance band around their waste and make them work. 60-70 percent resistance is the perfect amount. Tell the athletes to start out of their stance and the fly. With OL what I like to do is start on a “Zone Track” then make them run after the fact.

Jumping

I can’t even begin to tell you how important this is. The name of the game in the trenches is all about who can apply more force through the ground to move laterally and vertically, with strength. Jumping teaches us this perfectly. You can train it numerous amounts of ways, box jumps, bounding really anything where you are getting lift! This really teaches them the importance of bend in their legs and where power comes from along with the conditioning.



How to Develop Speed in your football players? Coach Dawg tells you!

FUNCTIONAL APPLIED SPEED TRAINING (F.A.S.T)

The SST “F.A.S.T” 8 Pillars for Developing Speed Part 1

What is the Holy Grail of all sports performance? SPEED! Learn methods of training other than the ordinary A and B skips for speed development. Is there anything more rewarding than watching one of your athletes run sub 4.5s in the forty or vertical jump over 35 inches at an NHL camp?

When an athlete starts training with SST, the most common question is, “Will I improve my speed?” Of course, we are honest and tell them that not everyone has the genetics to be a 100m champion and that they should set their expectations to be realistic. However, most athletes haven’t even scratched the surface of their potential. At SST we have our 8 Pillars to improve an athlete’s speed. If an athlete can improve one area there will be some improvement in their speed … but if they can improve them all, the results are outstanding!

Football Camps 2019 – Register now!

The SST “FAST” 8 Pillars for Developing Speed include:

  1. Body Composition
  2. Strength and Power Training
  3. Flexibility
  4. Technique
  5. Functional Strength
  6. Overspeed and Resistance training
  7. Plyometrics
  8. Lateral and Agility

In this article we will touch on the first four pillars that are your foundation, or base, of your athletic triangle:

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1. Body Composition

If an athlete is carrying too much body fat, their speed will be limited. Think about this for a second … put on a weighted vest with only 10lbs and perform a sprint … big difference! Yes, due to the fact that you are carrying DEAD WEIGHT!

Every sport (and even different positions in the same sport) has its own range for optimal body fat. An Offensive Lineman and a hockey center obviously have different physiques. The fact remains that muscle makes your body move, but fat slows you down. The way to improve body composition is through a clean diet and interval training. SST does not recommend rhythmical Cardio as it is counterproductive to speed development.

2. Strength & Power

Newton’s 3rd Law of motion:

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”

Your ability to initiate force into the ground is what makes you fast! The first 30 yards in a sprint is directly correlated to your strength levels and how much force you can produce into the ground. The term relative strength refers to your strength levels compared to your body weight. This quality of relative strength is most relevant to speed because it refers to your ability to move your own weight the fastest. Relative strength is so important because increasing absolute strength without any regard to body composition does not guarantee increased speed. An example is a powerlifter who generates a ton of absolute strength with no care for their own body composition nor the speed of the movement. We want FAST athletes not just big and strong. Think of it another way … we can make a huge car with a bigger engine but wouldn’t it be better to keep the car weight the same and increase the horsepower of that engine?

If we can produce more power into the ground, our equal and opposite reaction will be our athlete moving faster across that ground! Thus, being on a structured, periodized strength training program will go a long way to increasing your speed. Make sure that you plan your program properly around generating more force and eliminating weak links in your kinetic chain!

3. Flexibility

Flexibility is often the most overlooked aspect of speed training. If you ask a 16-year-old athlete if they work on their flexibility, they’ll usually tell you that they stretch before practice. Research has actually discovered that static stretching before a workout or game decreases speed! 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 also found that static stretching diminishes maximal velocity! It was discovered that an athlete could lose up to 0.39 seconds after static stretching and with sprints lasting only 4-5 seconds, this is SIGNIFICANT!

Static stretching is not what we refer to when we say flexibility training. Our athletes take 10-15 minutes before workouts or speed sessions performing dynamic flexibility and mobility drills.

We, at SST, have come up with BAND DYNAMIC PNF stretching. After a 10 minute warm-up, band stretching should be performed for 10 minutes prior to the workout. Hold your stretches for 6-10 seconds, and try and hit as many different angles as possible to work on different muscle fibers. You need to spend 5-6 days a week trying to improve this area.

4. Technique

Many coaches out there will spend most of their time on this quality and yes, it is a very important pillar, but it is not the be all and end all that some coaches think it is. Over the years I have spent a majority of time on technique neglecting other base qualities and my athlete’s performance suffered. As strength coaches, most of us will not be working with 100m Olympic sprinters, this technique should not be overanalyzed with athletes such as hockey players, football players, soccer players, etc.

It is, however, important to learn proper running fundamentals for both straight ahead speed, as well as for changing directions. If you are wasting movement you’re wasting time, so spend some time with a coach who can correct your errors. It is a waste of time to go out and practice running if your form is wrong. Remember it’s not practice makes perfect … its perfect practice makes perfect.


Larry Jusdanis is the owners of Sports Specific Training Burlington. SST has trained thousands of athletes from a variety of sports. SST’s no-nonsense approach to training has been used by thousands of athletes from a variety of sports all over the nation!



Fat Loss Tip 3

  • TIP #1 – Moderate Caloric Restriction

One of the most common mistakes that individuals make when starting to form new nutrition habits in the new year is to restrict their caloric intake to extreme levels. While moderate caloric restriction is great as it is a key component of the energy balance equation and helps us to lose weight, restricting our caloric intake by extreme levels early on usually lead to us falling off our new habits by the time January comes along. Start small, with realistic goals such as trying to avoid that extra evening snack or deciding not to get our regular donut with our morning coffee.

  • TIP #2 – Eat Whole, Minimally-processed Foods

While there are many various eating patterns that individuals will likely adopt in the new year trying to lose weight and fat mass, the most successful diets usually have this commonality. What many individuals might not realise is we digest and absorb nutrients and calories differently from processed and unprocessed foods and processed foods usually have unwanted calories from fat and other additives that are added to the natural products. Focusing on eating lots of green-leafy vegetables, fruits, legumes and lean cuts of meats and poultry are a great place to start.

  • TIP #3 – Conscious Eating

Lastly, we need to be conscious of what we are eating. There are many successful nutritional strategies to help lose weight and fat mass, but they all also have this in common. A good place to start is to track what we are eating, eat slowly and start to think about some of our eating behaviors and patterns and where we can improve. Having a nutritional consultation with a fitness professional can be a great place to start in the new year to start making some specific and realistic goals for long-term and successful weight loss.

If your food can go bad, it is good for you. If your food can’t go bad it is not good for you.

If your food can go bad, it is good for you. If your food can’t go bad it is not good for you.


Looking to lose fat?

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