NEW VIDEO: 3-D JUMP MATRIX Preview

I am fortunate enough to train athletes of many different sports like football, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, baseball, tennis and wrestling to name a few. Each sport and each athlete come with their own set of needs and desires to get better, so I have to really take a look at each sport and person and break down the fundamental movements.

What I hear time and time again is that FOOTWORK IS IMPORTANT. Many of the athletes want to be quicker and more explosive and that can be challenging given the many variables of sports. However, when we go back to our basics, we look at the JUMPING as a fundamental movement of footwork.  When we talk about Jumping, we are referring to movement from 2 feet to 2 feet. As hopping is 1 foot to 1 foot (regardless if its the same foot or moving to the other foot).

To start building the fundamental movements, we will take a simple jump and turn it into a 3-D JUMP MATRIX.

In the video below you will see that the athletes first start jumping with both feet IN-SYNC, meaning they are going in the plane of motion in the SAME direction. We then tweak the jump to be OUT-OF-SYNC so that even the feet are moving in the same plane, they are moving in OPPOSITE directions from each other.

The benefit is that we are training the neuromuscular system to be able to eccentrically load the muscles of the lower extremities from the intrinsic muscles of the feet to the deep muscles of the pelvic floor(and everything in between) in ALL 3 PLANES OF MOTION so that they are able to concentrically unload in a coordinated manner to ensure maximum SPEED, AGILITY AND QUICKNESS.

Can you get all of this from one matrix? Well, my challenge to you is to time yourself in a agility test and write down your results. Do the 3-D Jump Matrix for 10 days then go back and retest yourself. You will be pleased at your results.

You will need to tweak the timing of the 3-D JUMP MATRIX starting with at least 15 seconds for both in-sync and out-of-sync movements in one plane. So in the sagital plane, you would go 15 seconds in-sync and then 15 seconds out-of-sync for 30 seconds total. Rest 10 seconds. Then move on to the frontal and transverse planes. That is one set. Do this for 3 sets and add a set every other day that you do the 3-D JUMP MATRIX.

I'd love for you to report back and tell me what your results were.


Thanks!

Will

NEW VIDEO: 3-D COMMON AND UNCOMMON LUNGE MATRICES

Here is a new video with Matt, who is demonstrating both common and uncommon lunge matrices.

The COMMON lunge matrix simulates what would be a motion that we would normally do like stepping to pick a box up, or rotating the hips to turn around.

The UNCOMMON lunge matrix simuates movements we usually dont do normally BUT we still see those movements. For instance, crossover steps in basketball.

Matt started with no arm drivers but then as he progressed, he started to incorporate reaches first to his ankle. He then changed to overhead reaches and then finally combined the arm reaches, going ankle to
overhead reach.

I got a great comment from Jugo who added that these lunges could easily be applied to a basketball progression and I fully agree. Thanks for your insight, Jugo!

As always, I encourage comments and questions.

Thanks!

Will

The 3 best exercises that EVERY athlete needs to do

Simple. Easy. Direct.

The three exercises are:

LUNGES

SQUATS

PUSH-UPS

While all three are important just in terms of overall athletic development, I would say that LUNGES AND SQUATS are the ones I have most athletes focus on first. The reason being is that most every sport has a variation of a squat or lunge movement in it.

Football stances are squat positions

Running up and down the court in basketball, soccer and lacrosse are basically lunges.

Heck, even swimming starts are squats to a jump.

These movement are EVERYWHERE in sports, so athletes would benefit by mastering these FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS in all 3 planes of motion.

Of course, squats and lunges are not the only FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS. Add to the list:

Walking

Shuffling

Pivoting

Skipping

Jumping

Hopping

Balancing

Jogging

Sprinting

Pushing

Pulling

Reaching

These FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS are the underpinnings of the next step of ENHANCEMENT MOVEMENTS and finally the ACTIVITY OR SPORT.

In my experience, when basic moves are not solid, there are "holes" in the persons athletic foundation. Again, these holes can easily lead to dysfunction and injury.

Supported by the a sound FUNCTIONAL PREPARATION OF THE STRUCTURE, our athlete is better able to execute with CONFIDENCE anything he is asked to do when his FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENTS are sound.

In Part III of our "HOW TO FUNCTIONALLY TRAIN ATHLETES THAT WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS" we will go over fun and "sexy" ENHANCEMENT MOVEMENTS that take are starting to look even more like the activity or sport they will participate in.

I WILL POST MORE VIDEOS IN A FEW DAYS OF A LUNGE-SQUAT-PUSH UP MATRIX. CHECK BACK SOON! HERE IS ONE OF THE LUNGE MATRIX.

As always, I love comments and questions.

Thanks,

Will

New video: POWER AND AGILITY TRAINING

Here is a quick preview of our Power and Agility Video!

As always, I welcome comments and questions.

Thanks and Enjoy!

Will

5 simple basic steps to prepare athletes for success

Athletes of any level physically work harder than most people. Bones, joints, muscles, soft tissues and nerves are all working together to ensure that the person is able to complete the task they set out to do.
Unfortunately, many athletes are either injured or do not adequately prepare their bodies for the activity. When this happens, athletes can feel stiff, sluggish, tight, etc and performance suffers drastically. In some cases, the athlete may injure or reinjure themselves.

In Part I of the "How to functionally train athletes that win championships", we cover 5 SIMPLE BASIC steps for FUNCTIONAL PREPARATION.

How to functionally train athletes that win championships

Training athletes is serious business. A good coach can make an average/good athlete into an All-American. However, the flip side of that is that a bad coach can ruin a good athlete. Unfortunately, that happens more often than not.

Many times strength and conditioning coaches just do what they know instead of what the athlete REALLY needs. Putting an athlete through a workout just to get them sweating, grunting and cursing is a waste of time for the athlete and seeks to indulge sadistic coaches.

Do not get me wrong though. I am all for strenuous workouts WHEN APPROPRIATE for an athlete but this is after I've taken them through a comprehensive evaluation that determines what they want as well as their needs.

Yes, wants and needs can be different, and what I've found in 10 years of training and conditioning, is that the athlete will have both. It's the responsibility of the coach to differentiate AND bring them together in a program that benefit that athlete in the short and long runs.

In this series, we will look at a functional progression, that when applied to your athletes, can take them to the next level in their athletic development.

Our 4-part series will cover:

1) Functional Prep Strategies and Techniques: Making sure the neuromusculoskeletal system is in working order using various orthopedic techniques, joint mobilizations, soft tissue therapy and other modalities to properly prepare the body for the upcoming work.
2) Fundamental Movements: Focusing on movements that are necessary for the activity/skill like lunging, squatting, pushing, pulling, jumping, jogging, sprinting, etc.
3) Enhancement Movements: These are the enhancement variables that stimulate conditioning for the intended activity like functional movement, cardio training, speed conditioning, agility, quickness, complex conditioning (Power Snatch, Power Clean, Hang Cleans, etc).
4) Activity/Skill: Seamlessly integrating the athletes training and conditioning into their sport to ensure maximum results

When this progression is followed, we are better able to train our athlete for the demands that they will be required to do on the field, court, pool, etc. It is a step-by step process that is the equation for successful athletic development, but only if it is adhered too in a logical manner.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear them.

Best!

Will

(Functional Movement + Optimal Nutrition) x Genes = PEAK PERFORMANCE

"You are what you eat!!!" is a phrase my grandmother must have told me hundreds of times. To her credit, she was way ahead of the times with no hard science and only her intuition and God-given intelligence to go on. Well, the science is in.

Amazingly, we are now discovering that Athletic Development is more than just "good genes" as it has been said many times. There are many components that go into world-class performance and one of them is nutrition. Actually, let's call it what it really is--- NUTRIGENOMICS.

We also know that FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION and that the proper movement at the right place in the correct sequence can stimulate incredible physiological changes down to a cellular level.

This post will focus on the amazing changes that can take place when GENES x FUNCTIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNALS equals OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE.