High school workouts

I remember being in high school. It was about 13 years ago that I was in the weight room. And honestly, I hated every second of it.

Why?

Because there was only guys who were heavy lifters. So imagine how self conscious you would be if you were only able to bench press 115 lbs (the bar + 35 lb plates on each side) once while everyone else is warming up with 135.

WASTE OF TIME.

Do you think I wanted to go back? 

What would have kept me more enthused and motivated? How about some direction? How about some variation? How about some of the more experienced guys helping the younger guys out? 

Then I would wander around looking for some piece of equipment that wasn't occupied and I would do that. Even if it meant doing wrist curls. I know what you're thinking - Wrist curls? What an absolute WASTE OF TIME! 

So now that I am the one running the show, designing the programs and overseeing the lifting, what am I doing differently? Everything.

The programs are setup in 4-week cycles. Everybody has a weight lifting record sheet. Absolute weight is not relevant. Instead we prioritize the following:

1. Technique - it's everything. If you can't lift cleanly, you can't lift.
2. Body weight - If you can't manage your own body weight, why the heck am I going to ADD more weight?
3. Compound lifts take priority. Squat variations, bench press, pullups, lunges and rotational power exercises.

BETTER USE OF TIME: Strength, Balance, Flexibility

You see everything is done with a purpose here. We stretch between working sets, we alternate speed and agility exercises with core training to maximize recovery without STANDING AROUND. Our kids are ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING. 

There is no wasted time here. We get more done in an hour than some high school programs get done in a week. And it shows. Our younger athletes are getting stronger, their technique is impeccable and they are LEARNING HOW TO LIFT. 

They are getting what you and I didn't get: guidance, motivation, encouragement and supervision. And as their parent, they'll like to hear that you struggled with this stuff too. That you wish you had this growing up. Because the kids that are coming in here? They love it.

Want more information on our speed and strength programs? Visit our website at www.pairmarotta.com/fitness or email me at aaron@pairmarotta.com

6 steps to a better athlete: Part 1 - how do they learn?

There are multiple parts to agility: rhythm, coordination, balance, flexibility, body awareness, reaction time. All of these can be trained to improve ANY athletes performance. But how?

For the next 2-weeks I am going to take you through the importance of each of these components so that you can take these concepts and use them in your practices.

But to start we need to learn how an athlete learns a skill. 


First off, there are different types of learning styles. Some people are visual learners that learn by watching, others learn by listening or reading. And still others learn by doing. However, most people and especially kids, are a good combination of the 3. 


My experience has shown me that as kids get older they tolerate, appreciate, and pay more attention to audible teaching. However, younger kids (under12) tend to be more visual and kinesthetic learners (do-ers). 


For younger athletes they are at such a prime age that their brain is ripe for basically writing codes for how to perform a movement. So expecting perfection within the first few attempts is not realistic. They know what it should look like (visual learning) and they then try to mimic that movement. 


However, since there is no prior motor program for this movement skill, it's bound to look a little sloppy. But give them time. This is the one thing I see so many coaches focus on: immediate success. With the pressure to be perfect you can almost assuredly push a youth athlete away from a sport. Let them learn from movement. 


When they appear to be struggling, help them move through the motion. Put their body in the correct position. As I stated in the previous post, you have to groove a quality movement before you can expect perfection. With that being said, learning is not immediate. Heck , it may take 2-4 weeks or longer before a movement is learned. 


But stay away from simply rehearsing the one skill. Research shows that kids learn better in short bursts of information rather than one massive "info-bomb." Spend 5-10 minutes on a skill, then move to another. Then come back to it. You'll keep attention much better and as a result improve retention of the skill.

Groovin' the movement

This is a quick post about learning. Many, many parents of athletes, particularly baseball and softball, choose to use weighted balls and bats in order to "make their kids stronger." 


On the surface, this makes sense. But if you look a little deeper into what there body is learning to do, you'll see that often that the intricate  motion of throwing is changed when a heavier ball is used. 

Nobody follows through like that at the plate!

Watch a player swing a bat with a donut on it, does that swing look like the swing they are going to take when they walk to the plate?  From watching youth baseball, I would hope that player doesn't take his "on-deck weighted" swing with him to the plate!

The same principle needs to be used when teaching movement to younger athletes. They are at such a prime learning age, it makes no sense to refine mechanics and then all of a sudden switch to a heavier or lighter weight that might disrupt that pattern.

What we do in our sports training is similar in concept. For kids up to age 12-13, we do minimal weight lifting. instead we focus on developing body control and awareness through body weight exercises. Then we simply try to groove the correct movements into a motor skill that can be executed without thought, essentially making the movement a "sure thing."

In summary, if you've got a younger athlete who appears to be excelling in a given sport or movement, don't confuse them by throwing another variable at them. Instead, groove that quality pattern, keep refining it over and over. Then when they get to 14-15 years old, then we can start adding some external resistance.