Youth Strength and Conditioning Programs: “He’s a Big, Strong Kid.”

Written on July 27, 2011 at 8:25 am, by Eric Cressey

I’m headed to Kentucky tomorrow to speak at the International Youth Conditioning Association’s Summit, which means that I’m finalizing my presentation videos today.  In the process of explaining to my topic to my wife, we got on the topic of how it’s more of a challenge to train bigger (taller and heavier) young athletes than it is to work with smaller guys.  Interestingly, the challenges come less from the actual physical issues they present and more from the social expectations that surround their size. Here are seven reasons why I cringe when I hear parents say “he’s a big, strong kid” when describing their children on the phone.

1. Bigger kids are often forced into sports and positions that may impede their long-term development – When you’re the heavy kid, you’re automatically pushed toward football and put on the line.  If you’re playing baseball, it’s first base or catcher.  If it’s basketball, you’re the power forward.  You get the picture – and similar “pushes” are made on tall kids to play basketball or volleyball.  The problem is that in most cases, these sport and positional “predispositions” put bigger kids in situations where they don’t develop in a broad sense because there simply isn’t enough variety.

2. Bigger kids usually start weight-training on their own – This point relates closely to point #1.  Unfortunately, when you’re already labeled as the next star offensive lineman or power forward and you can already push your buddies around, chances are that you learned to lift with Dad in the basement, from a misinformed football coach, or be screwing around with your buddies.  I would much rather have a completely untrained 16-year-old start up with me than be presented with a 16-year-old with years of poor strength and conditioning programs and coaching under his belt.  This is true regardless of body type, but especially problematic in bigger kids for reasons I outline below.

3. “Strong” has different meanings – Sports require a combination of absolute and relative strength.  Strength is also highly specific to the range of motion (ROM) in which one trains. There is also a difference between concentric and eccentric strength.

What do most big young athletes do when left on their own?  Focus heavily on absolute strength (train what they’re good at) through small ROMs (rather than fight their bodies) with concentric-heavy workloads (because pushing a blocking/tackling sled is sexier than a properly executed lunge).

I can count on one hand the number of teenage athletes who were called “big and strong” who have actually showed up on their first day and demonstrated any appreciable level of strength in any context – let alone usable strength that will help them in athletic endeavors.  Usually, we wind up seeing a sloppy 135-pound bench press with the elbows flared, legs kicking, bar bouncing off the chest…in a kid who can’t do a push-up.

And this is where the problem arises: kids who have always been told they were strong don’t like coming to the realization that they really aren’t strong.  We don’t have to directly tell them, either; taking them through basic strength exercises with proper form will reveal a lot.  And, there is typically an example of a smaller athlete like this kicking around not too far away.

The kids who check their egos at the door will thrive.  A lot might never come back until they’re injured from poor body control or riding the pine because it turns out that their “strengths” really weren’t that strong.

4. Bones grow faster than muscles and tendons – In young athletes who haven’t gone through the adolescent growth spurt, you often don’t have to do any additional static stretching, as a dynamic warm-up and strength training program through a full ROM can cover all their mobility needs.  Unfortunately, when kids grow quickly, the bones lengthen much faster than the muscles and tendons do, so we run into situations where bigger kids have truly short (not just stiff) tissues.  Effectively, this adds one more competing demand for their time and attention – and it’s the worst kind to add, as most kids hate to stretch.

5. Being bigger changes one’s stabilization strategy -  As I described in great detail in The Truth About Unstable Surface Training, the taller one is, the further the center of gravity is away from the base of support.  As such, taller kids are inherently more unstable than shorter kids – although this can be partially remedied by gaining muscle mass in the lower body to lower the COG and learning to “play lower” in appropriate situations.

Not surprisingly, though, being heavier – particularly with respect to having a belly – can dramatically change one’s stability as well.  Carrying belly fat shifts the center of gravity forward – which is why individuals with this “keg” instead of a six-pack appear more lordotic (excessively arched at the lower back).  Compensations for this occur all along the kinetic chain, but the two things I’d highlight the most are:

a. An increased need for anterior core strength – As evidenced by the high incidence of spondylolysis (lumbar spine fractures) and how badly most kids perform on basic prone bridging and rollout challenges, the inability to resist lumbar hyperextension (and excessive rotation) is a serious problem.  The bigger the belly, the more extended the lumbar spine will be.  Just ask any pregnant woman how her back feels during the last trimester.

b. Substitution of lumbar (hyper)extension for hip extension – You’ll see a lot of big-bellied kids who can’t fully extend their hip and instead just arch their back to get to where they need to be.  This is a problem on multiple fronts.  First, the hip extensors are far stronger and more powerful than the lumbar extensors, so performance is severely impaired.  Second, there are huge injury implications both chronically (lumbar stress fractures, hip capsule irritation) and acutely (strained rectus femoris or hamstrings).

Simply dropping some body fat and improving anterior core strength is a huge game-changer for many overweight athletes.  It’s not always the answer they want to hear.

6. Bigger kids usually have less work capacity – I’ve never been a guy who jumped on the work capacity bandwagon, as I feel that it’s very activity-specific.  However, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to observe that the more body fat one carries, the more work he’ll do oxygenating useless tissue, and the less oxygen he’ll get to working muscles.  More importantly, though, try doing your next training session with a 60-pound weight vest on and see what it does to your work capacity.

The lower the work capacity, the less quality work one can accomplish in a strength and conditioning program.  Gains simply don’t come as quickly on the strength and fitness side of things – even if body fat is pouring off heavier athletes.  In other words, they’ve actually sacrificed one window of adaptation (athletic development) in order to make another one (fat loss) larger.

7. I speculate that bigger athletes have an increased prevalence of “subclinical” musculoskeletal pathologies/deviations from normalcy – I’ve written in the past about how many athletes are just waiting to reach threshold because their MRIs and x-rays look terrible – even if they are completely asymptomatic.  You can see this just about anywhere in the body; most basketball players are just waiting for patellar tendinosis to kick in, and many football lineman are teetering on the brink of a lumbar stress fracture or spondylolisthesis (or both).

The heavier one is – especially in the presence of insufficient relative strength, as noted above – the more pounding one will place on the passive restraints such as the meniscus, intervertebral discs, and labrum.  A bigger belly and the resulting lordosis will drive more anterior pelvic tilt, femoral/tibial internal rotation, and pronation.  How would you like to be the plantar fascia or Achilles tendon in this situation?

Tall athletes tend to slouch more because they have to look down at all their peers.  Get more kyphotic, add some scapular winging, and see what happens to the rotator cuff, labrum, and biceps tendon over time.

There are countless examples along these lines.  And, to make matters worse, obese individuals are more likely to have inaccurate diagnostic imaging.  In an interview I did with radiologist Dr. Jason Hodges, he commented:

By far, the biggest limitation [to diagnostic imaging] is obesity. All of the imaging modalities are limited by it, mostly for technical reasons. An ultrasound beam can only penetrate so far into the soft tissues. X-rays and CT scans are degraded by scattered radiation, which leads to a higher radiation dose and grainy images. Also, the time it takes to do the study increases, which gives a higher incidence of motion blur.

I want to be very clear; I love dealing with bigger kids just like I do all my other athletes.  We don’t lock them in a closet with celery sticks and an exercise bike; we work them hard, but make training fun and support them fully in their quest to fulfill their athletic potential.  Having been an overweight teenage athlete myself, I know that weight management in young athletes is a hugely sensitive subject that must be approached with extreme care.

I also know, however, that in my overweight years, I would have much rather been worked hard like the other athletes and given the opportunity to choose my sport and position of interest rather than pigeonholed into one specific avenue because of my build.  That’s where the “big, strong kid” label really concerns me and makes me want to plan out my strategy – both in terms of the physiological and social approach to training – very carefully.

For more information on how we train young athletes, I’d encourage you to check out the IYCA High School Strength Coach Certification, which I co-authored.

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Helping High School Athletes: A Sweet Deal on the IYCA High School Strength Coach Certification

Written on January 24, 2011 at 11:30 pm, by Eric Cressey

A lot of people know me as the guy whose products and articles have helped strength training enthusiasts prevent and correct movement inefficiencies that ultimately lead to injuries.

Others know me because we train about four dozen professional baseball players each winter.

The truth, though, is that the majority of our clientele at Cressey Performance is high school athletes.  In the class of 2011 alone, we’ve had 17 athletes sign letters of intent to play Division 1 baseball.  Still, that doesn’t tell the most important story.

For every kid who gets drafted into professional baseball or commits to play a college sport, we have 3-4 young athletes who train with us simply to build confidence, stay healthy while they play their sports, and foster fitness habits that will hopefully carry over to the rest of their lives.  I take that job extremely seriously not only because I genuinely care about each teenage and enjoy my job, but because it is a huge deal for parents to trust me with part of their kids’ physical and mental well-being during a crucial developmental time in an adolescent’s life.

And, it’s also why I’m psyched about tonight’s announcement: the IYCA High School Strength Coach Certification is now available.

Along with Brian Grasso, Mike Robertson, Pat Rigsby, Wil Fleming, and Dr. Toby Brooks, I contributed to this new certification, which features both a textbook and accompanying DVD set.  Among the topics covered are:

Strength Training Technique, Functionality and Programming
Speed and Agility Mechanics or Sport Specificity
Mobility: Isolate and Integrate
Coaching the High School Athlete
Administration for the High School Strength Coach
Sample Programming for football, baseball, and basketball

The certification alone is something that, in our eyes, can not only dramatically help a high school strength coach’s career, but also help all the young athletes he/she encounters.  I’m going to sweeten the deal, though.

The early bird price runs now through Friday (1/28) at midnight.  If you purchase the product (HERE) before midnight on Friday and forward me your receipt, I’m going to send you an upper extremity assessment tutorial video that I am filming this week as an in-service for my staff and interns.  This feature will teach you how to assess and manage the upper body in athletes – with a particular focus on overhead athletes.

All you need to do is sign up for the certification and then forward your receipt to ec@ericcressey.com.  Then, next weekend, I’ll send out the video to everyone who contacts me.

There are a whole lot of high school kids out there learning some really bad habits in the weight room, and you’re in a position to change that – and the IYCA High School Strength Coach Certification can help you do it.  Whether you’re in a high school or the private sector, there is a tremendous amount to be gained by checking this out.

Do You Train Athletes? Don’t Miss This.

Written on January 18, 2011 at 7:51 pm, by Eric Cressey

This past summer, I was approached by the International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA) about writing a chapter for the textbook for their new high school strength coach certification.  With the certification about to launch, Brian Grasso, Mike Robertson, Wil Fleming, and I will be hosting a FREE teleseminar this Wednesday night (1/19) at 7:30PM EST.  We’ll be covering a ton of topics regarding today’s young athletes and how to best train them.

For more information, click here.

All Young Athletes are “Injured” – even if they don’t know it

Written on January 7, 2011 at 7:27 am, by Eric Cressey

I’ve written quite a bit in the past about how one should always interpret the results of diagnostic imaging (MRI, x-ray, etc.) very cautiously and alongside movement assessments and the symptoms one has.  In case you missed them, here are some quick reads along these lines:

Preventing Lower Back Pain: Assuming is Okay
Who Kneeds “Normal” Knees?
Healthy Shoulders with Terrible MRIs?

While some of these studies stratified subjects into athletes and non-athlete controls, not surprisingly, all these studies utilized adult subjects exclusively.  In other words, we’re left wondering if we see the same kind of imaging abnormalities in asymptomatic teenage athletes, which is without a doubt our most “at-risk” population nowadays.

That is, of course, until this study came out: MRI of the knee joint in asymptomatic adolescent soccer players: a controlled study.

Researchers found that 64% of 14-15 year-old athletes had one or more knee MRI “abnormalities”, whereas those in the control group (non-athletes), 32% had at least one “abnormality.”  Bone marrow edema presence was markedly higher in the soccer players (50%) than in the control group (3%).

Once again, we realize that just about everyone is “abnormal” – and that we really don’t even know what “healthy” really is.  So, we can’t hang our hat exclusively on what a MRI or x-ray says (especially since we don’t have the luxury of knowing with every client/athlete we train).  What to do, then?

Hang your hat on movement first and foremost in an asymptomatic population.  Do thorough assessments and nip inefficiencies in the bud before they become structural abnormalities that reach a painful threshold.

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The 3 Cardinal “Versus” for Training Young Athletes

Written on September 9, 2010 at 10:12 am, by Eric Cressey

Today’s guest blog comes from Brian Grasso, the director of the International Youth Conditioning Association.

When I look around the industry, I find myself becoming more and more discontented with the view.  It seems that there is a never-ending litany of new, innovative and advanced techniques in the field of strength and conditioning that are, in essence, just re-fabricated models and methods that have proved tried and true for literally decades.

This is especially true at the youth level where we tend to walk the fine line of wavering between dumbing down adult-based prescription and creating ‘novel’ schemes of building the same results that can, and are developed through the standard basics.

When working with young athletes (aged 6 – 18) I implore you to resist the temptation of thinking too far outside the box and instead concentrate your time and effort on both pondering and answering these three specific questions:

1.       Is this Concept vs. Cool?

2.       Is it Recipe vs. Chef?

3.       What’s the difference between Athletes & Non-Athletes?

Let’s examine those further.

Concept vs Cool

Do we really need another 90-minute seminar that teaches Fitness Professionals ’150 Awesome Exercises on the BOSU Ball?’

Or a certification that has 80% of its content based on sample programs for the specific demographic in question?

Our industry has become a ‘cool’ extravaganza.  The more daring, off-the-wall, dazzling and ‘neato’ an exercise or training system is, the more popular it becomes.  Ironically, the less effective it more often than not is, as well.

Lost in the sex appeal of watching fitness models slathered in man tan parade as ‘fitness gurus’ and performing the newest stunts on unstable surfaces (because that evokes a proprioceptive response and burns more calories, you see) is that we seem to have ditched our sense of ‘concept’ as it relates to exercise and performance gains.

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s mesmerizing to watch an incredible display of athletic skill being performed and that the symptomotology of the training program in question often seems worth the potential (i.e. beads of sweat pouring off one’s head as proof of the exercises difficulty and subsequent effectiveness).  But as Fitness Professionals and Youth Fitness Specialists who have stood up, raised their hands and declared themselves worthy of the task of caring for a population in such desperate need of a clarion voice, it’s disconcerting to know that we fall prey to this circus show time-and-time again.

In the ‘Concept vs Cool’ argument, I want nothing more than for you to use common sense when determining value and worth of a training program or exercise:

• It looks cool, but what’s the concept behind the suggested benefit?

• Although I’ve never considered science the linchpin of anything in fitness, are there any research conclusions that can back the claims?

• One exercise or sample program does NOT a training system make… Where does this fit in?  Can it work with my young athlete’s life and honor what they need from a growth, development, long-term and tertiary life considerations?

• Does the risk-reward equation produce a sum that’s favorable?

Recipe vs. Chef

I mentioned the reality of some certifications or products being as heavily weighted as 80% sample-based programs.  I want to examine that notion a little farther.

I’m the biggest fan in the world of ‘Done-For-You.’  I like time-saving.  I enjoy experts who really know there stuff giving me a glimpse into their brains and how they do things from a practical standpoint.

But I stop at the water’s edge every time… Sample programs are nothing more than a ‘glimpse’ into how they would do things WITHIN THE SITUATIONS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THEM.  Without question, there are universal realities that can be applied to all young athletes irrespective of situational factors, but there is also a sensibility in programming that suggests individuality holds the key for optimum success.

What are the training ages of the young athletes the sample-program wielding expert has just given you?  How do they differ from the kids you train?

What precursor and preparatory elements were put in place from a technical perspective prior to the expert using these specific training programs?

What are the psychological differences and weight-room conduct variances between a 16 year old at Beverly Hills High versus a 16 year old at Compton Tech?  How do young athletes who attend historically championship high schools differ from kids whose high schools have never even made the playoffs?

Do the socio-economic factors relating to a particular high school demographic cause more or less stress to the young athletes in question than a high school who sits on the other end of the demographic spectrum?  Does this factor affect nutrition, sleep patterns or other forms of regeneration?

How many young athletes does the expert have to work with at one time?  How large is the space they’re working within?  Are the equipment options the same as they are for you?

Thus, the need for our industry to understand the concept much more than the practicality of how it’s applied.

Concept appreciation suggests that you get the ‘what’ and the ‘why,’ and are therefore fluent in figuring out the ‘how’ as it relates to your specific situations.

Athletes vs. Non-Athletes

This topic deviates away from the fitness industry at large and speaks more to the issues related to youth fitness, but it carries a very similar tone as the ‘Concept vs Cool’ and ‘Recipe vs Chef’ arguments.

A 10 year old soccer player needs nothing different in terms of training than a 10 year old basketball player.  Moreover, an 8 year old superstar baseball player should have a training system that has a remarkable resemblance to the one an 8 year old, non-athletic, overweight child should be following.

And thus the linchpin of the entire ‘concept’ contention – training programs of any merit follow the inherent and natural, organic features of the organism itself.  An 8 year old soccer player and an 8 year old overweight child have one discernible quality in common; their age.

Now, chronological age is by no means the only or even best way of determining the training stimulus needs for anyone, but it does provide a general backdrop of necessity; especially from a developmental perspective.

All aspects of coordination (balance, kinesthetic differentiation, rhythm, spatial awareness, movement adequacy) are most optimally developed when the human organism is very plastic and pre-peak height velocity.  Although the progressions or regressions of specific exercises may vary, these characteristics must be present in any training program written for young people.

Here are some key questions to ask yourself:

• Is my training program more specific to the sport or the relative needs of the young athlete based on age?
• Am I being varied and multi-lateral in my approach to movement, or concentrating on reflecting the innate patterns of positional play?
• Am I programming for the things this young athlete DOESN’T experience or get exposure to in the sport they play?
• Do I know for sure if this 8 year old overweight child will not grow up to be a star quarterback?  If the answer is ‘no’ (which it is) then should my training system be more regulatory in terms of human potential and less concerned with the symptoms associated with the young person’s current lifestyle?

Cool vs Concept

Recipe vs Chef

Athletes vs Non-Athletes

Three things I want you to consider very closely….

Brian Grasso has trained more than 15,000 young athletes worldwide over the past decade.  He is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association – the only youth-based certification organization in the entire industry.  For more information, visit www.IYCA.org.

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Coordination Training: A Continuum of Development for Young Athletes

Written on August 17, 2010 at 7:00 am, by Eric Cressey

Today’s guest blog comes from Brian Grasso, the director of the International Youth Conditioning Association.

The myths and falsehoods associated with coordination training are plenty.  I’ll outline the “Top 3″ here:

1.       Coordination is a singular element that is defined by a universal ability or lack of ability

2.       Coordination cannot be trained nor taught

3.       Coordination-based stimulus should be restricted to preadolescent children

This article will provide a broad-based look at each of those myths and shed some light on the realities behind coordination training as a continuum for the complete development of young athletes aged 6 – 18.

1. Coordination & Young Athletes

Largely considered a singular facet of athletic ability, it is not uncommon to hear coaches, parents or trainers suggest that a given young athlete possess “good” or “bad” coordination.

This generalization does not reflect the true nature of the beast, or specific features that combine to create coordination from a macro-perspective.  Coordination is, in reality, comprised of several different characteristics:

• Balance – a state of bodily equilibrium in either static or dynamic planes

• Rhythm – the expression of timing

• Movement Adequacy – display of efficiency or fluidity during locomotion

• Synchronization of Movement – harmonization and organization of movement

• Kinesthetic Differentiation – the degree of force required to produce a desired result

• Spatial Awareness – ability to know where you are in space and in relation to objects

While many of these traits have great overlap and synergy, they are unmistakably separate and can, in fact, be improved in relatively isolated ways.  That’s not to suggest that your training programs should necessarily look to carve up the elements of coordination and work through them in a solitary manner.  Just a notation intended to show that coordination as it relates to young athletes can be improved at the micro level.

2. Coordination – Can You Teach Young Athletes?

The answer, in short, is yes.

Coordination ability is not unlike any other biomotor; proficiencies in strength, speed, agility and even cardiovascular capacity (through mechanical intervention) can be taught, and at any age.

The interesting caveat with coordination-based work, however, is that its elements are tied directly to CNS development and therefore have a natural sensitive period along a chronological spectrum.  The actuality of sensitive periods tends to be a contentious topic amongst researchers and many coaches.  Some of these individuals are not satisfied with current research and are therefore not eager to believe in their existence and others who accept sensitive periods of development to be perfectly valid.  It’s worth pointing out that I am in no way a scientist or researcher, but have read numerous books and research reviews on the subject and feel satisfied that they do exist and can be maximized (optimized for a lifetime) through proper stimulus.

This “optimization” issue is the true crux of the matter.  Especially during the very early years of life (0 – 12 years) the CNS contains a great deal of plasticity, or ability to adapt.  This plastic nature carries through the mid-adolescence, but then significantly decreases from there.  Many mistake this point as an implication that the human organism cannot learn new skills in any capacity once their CNS has passed the point of being optimally plastic, but this is not true.  Skill of any athletic merit can be learned at virtually any age throughout life.  What the plasticity argument holds is that these skills could never be optimized if they were not introduced at a young age.

Why Michael Couldn’t Hit: And Other Tales of The Neurology of Sports is a fascinating book by Dr. Harold Klawans.  Klawans presents a review of his prediction that Michael Jordan, one of the greatest athletes of all time, would not become an extraordinary baseball player during his attempts to do so with the Chicago White Sox.

Dr. Klawans contented that because Jordan did not learn or practice the specific motor and hand-eye aspects of hitting baseballs when he was young, no matter how great an athlete he was, he would never be able to do so at an advanced level.

Inevitably, Dr. Klawans was correct.

The case for neural plasticity suggests that during the formative years of growth, it is imperative that young athletes be introduced to all types of stimulus that fuel improvement to the elements of coordination listed earlier.  This is one of the very critical reasons that all young athletes should play a variety of sports seasonally and avoid any sort of “sport specific” training.  Unilateral approaches to enhancing sport proficiency will meet with disastrous results from a performance standpoint if general athletic ability, overall coordination and non-specific load training is not reinforced from a young age.

This bring us to the final myth…

3. Teenage Athletes Are ‘Too Old’

Now, while there is truth to the matter that many of the sensitive periods for coordination development exist during the preadolescent phase of life, it would be shortsighted to suggest that teenage athletes should not be exposed to this type of training.

Firstly, much of the training of coordination takes the form of injury prevention.  Any sort of “balance” exercise, for example, requires proprioceptive conditioning and increases in stabilizer recruitment.  With “synchronization of movement,” large ROM and mobility work is necessary.  “Kinesthetic differentiation,” by definition, involves sub-maximal efforts or “fine-touch” capacity that is a drastically different stimulus than most young athletes are used to in training settings.

Beyond that, there is the matter of motor skill linking.  According to Jozef Drabik, as much as 60% of the training done by Olympic athletes should take the form of non-direct load (i.e. non-sport-specific).  To truly stimulate these rather advanced athletes however, one option (which is a standard during the warm-up phase of a training session) is to link advanced motor skills (coordination exercises) together creating a complex movement pattern.

For example:

Run Forward —> Decelerate —> 360 Jump —> Forward Roll —> Tuck Jump

Or

Scramble to Balance —> 1-Leg Squat —> A Skips —> Army Crawl —> Grab Ball/Stand/Throw to Target

In each of these patterns, we have represented:

• Spatial Awareness

• Synchronization of Movement

• Balance (dynamic and static)

• Movement Adequacy

• Kinesthetic Differentiation

• Rhythm

I have used warm-up sequences just like these with high school, collegiate and professional athletes from a variety of sports.

Brian Grasso has trained more than 15,000 young athletes worldwide over the past decade.  He is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association – the only youth-based certification organization in the entire industry.  For more information, visit www.IYCA.org.

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Two Lessons on Success – Taken from Youth Sports Training

Written on July 8, 2010 at 4:29 pm, by Eric Cressey

Today’s guest blog comes from Brian Grasso.

2 Lessons on Success – Taken from Youth Sports Training

Most professional trainers – whether they are fitness gurus or sports performance experts – may not ever take the time to realize that much of what we hold true and dear in our pursuits of enhancing both the health and ability of young athletes, also translates to the world of business and life as well.

Perhaps this lack of “connecting-the-dots” between the two is more than just something that has been overlooked – it’s because the values on which we pride our work with young athletes is far too limited in scope to be accurate.

Let me explain that.

Our industry holds strong to the notion that short-term, “work ‘em hard” training situations that involve high intensity on everything and a slow, methodical infusion of skill on nothing, is what best serves young clients in their need to get better (faster, stronger etc) now.

But how often does this gun-slinging approach to life or business prove successful?  And can we take lessons from that as it relates to developing young athletes?

How many times do we become handicapped by vein, unplanned and quick attempts to overhaul our businesses or restructure our lives in short periods of time?

Think about it.  How many New Year’s Eve goals for the impending year have you set (be them business or life alterations) only to find yourself exactly where you were in November come March?

Here’s another one for you.

Have you ever crammed for a test or exam?

You know what I mean… Stayed up virtually all night to study for an 8am exam in a subject that you barely even did any homework for during the course of the semester?

Yes, you can put your hands down now – we’ve all done it!

I’d be willing to bet that you often got great grades using this “the night before” method of studying.  Perhaps several “A” report cards were based on study habits just like this?  I’ll be honest: this is pretty much how I got through college – and I graduated with top honors!

My point is that the end doesn’t always justify the means.

You can get an “A” report card by doing solid and consistent work over the semester, or you can get an “A” by following “the night before” method of studying.  The end result is the same, but the fallout post-exam is much different.  I’ll go into details a little later.

Having said all that, I wanted to show you how success in life or business can be obtained by following two basic, but critical components of long-term athlete development training protocol.

Lesson #1

The Process Outweighs the Outcome

In our fortune cookie society, we have become very connected to quick-witted quotes from famous people of yesteryear and soothsaying advice from those we hold collectively as esteemed.

But very often, if you’re prepared to dig a little deeper, you’ll find that the one sentence quote or word of wisdom lacks a true definition unless you take the entire thought into perspective.

Lincoln, Churchill, Keller and even Yoda are amazing examples of wonderful souls who have graced us with single-serving remarks that we take as profound and words to live by.  But in every case, the context of what they meant and why they said it dramatically changes when we read their entire biographies or journals and not just the most famous lines they penned.

I say that because we are all familiar with such wonderful metaphorical phrases, poems and song lyrics as:

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

“You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”

“The journey is the reward.”

“Slow and steady wins the race.”

But, and let me be frank here: how often do you actually take this advice?

Are you content with developing a 3-, 4- or 5-year plan and able to remain focused on it as the hours, days and months of the path labor on?

Do you even know how to create such a long-term plan?

Again, I point to the fact that we all know and can recite, verbatim, what the prognosticators of success tell us, but without context of what they meant or how to do it, does any of it really amount to anything in our lives?

Enter the world of Youth Sports Training.

“6-weeks to a 6-inch vertical jump increase”

“Faster 40 in 4 weeks”

“Increase bench and squat in 1 month”

We’ve all broadcast training programs like this.

And if we haven’t advertised using these sorts of words, we’ve most certainly implied the like by selling parents and sports coaches on training programs that are short-term in nature.

Now, although your “Super-Secret-System” for training is top-notch, world-class and unlike anything anyone has ever seen before (and naturally the reason why so many of your young athletes show test/re-test improvements), let me share with you the reality that we must face, but may be missing:

The Human Organism is Designed to Adapt.

Bubble-bursting as this may be, the human body has been created to adapt to the stimulus its presented.  In short, you ask a body to jump, it becomes better at jumping.

Same is true for squatting, running, bench pressing or throwing stuff.

Yes, eventually you reach a critical mass and the improvements or gains begin to tail off until a more specific and technically-sound stimulus is presented, but with young athletes (due to their age) everything works.

Everything; Olympic Lifting, Power Lifting, Cross-Fit, Circuit-Training, Plyometrics…

Name it.

It all works in varying degrees.  That’s the very nature of being young.

Kids get better as a matter of applied demand and therefore there is no such thing as “we test every six weeks to make sure the program is working” because it’s going to work.  There is no rocket science to that.

Thus, the need for a long-term approach that doesn’t just pretend to preach the virtues of, but actually embraces the notion of “The Journey is More Important than the Outcome.”

It’s not so much where your business or life is now; it’s where you want it to be.

And nothing of merit ever happens in a day or overnight.

Same holds true for developing young athletes.  Think long-term and where they need to be in time and what it’s going to take to get them there – you may be very surprised how much you take the foot off the gas pedal when keeping this context in mind.

Lesson #2

Principles First… Values Second

You can get an “A” by studying the night before, or you can get an “A” by diligently tending to your work all semester.

The fact that the outcome is the same seems to imply that the path doesn’t matter.

But what about when the exam is over?

Study the night before and I guarantee that every piece of information you crammed into your head will be gone inside of 60 minutes post-exam.

Study consistently over the semester, and your retention of the material will remain with your forever.

And that is a sizeable difference.

In academics, business or life, we can always scrape by.  Do as little as possible in a rushed or last-minute type way and still get to the destination or obtain what we want.  But buyer beware – there is a shelve life on such practices.

In school, fail to do the work properly and you will never have gained the knowledge.  There will be no foundation on which to grow or entertain further study in this area or subject matter.

In life or business, if you fail to take your time, learn the lessons and gain the knowledge, you will be forever condemned to either repeat the same mistakes or retard the grow of your company or soul.

Let’s full-circle that back to Youth Sports Training, shall we?

Academics = Cram for a test – get an “A”

Training = Cram as many Plyometrics into a 6-week cycle as you can – improve a vertical jump

Academics = But there is no retention of the information and therefore no knowledge gained or ability to progress in that subject.

Training = But there has been limited technical instruction or tertiary development, so no foundation on which to build.

And before you suggest that in a 6-week training cycle you DO in fact teach technique, let me leave you with this thought:

Could you really teach everything that was necessary in order to competently pass Grade 2 in only 6 weeks study?

Young athletes are organisms that are governed by the principles of human growth and development.  We didn’t write the laws, nor do we have any ability to alter them.

But they do exist, and any training program designed for young athletes absolutely must keep the principles of the organisms natural development is strong priority over any values (numbers) we want to obtain.  Infractions on this will lead to injury and/or limited long-term gain.

Success in business and life really is easy.

Create a plan and diligently follow it.  Don’t look for short-cuts or try to outsmart the natural ebb and flow of reality.  Stick to your guns and understand that slow, methodical and daily effort towards your vision is the only path that has ever proven successful.

Now, look at the last training program you wrote for a young athlete.

Keep the paragraph above in mind, close your eyes, and start again…..

Brian Grasso is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association.  For more information, visit www.IYCA.org.

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How to M.O.L.D. Young Athletes for Success

Written on June 8, 2010 at 9:27 am, by Eric Cressey

Today’s guest blog comes from Brian Grasso, the director of the International Youth Conditioning Association.

The Slow Cook Way to Young Athlete Training

The long-term approach to youth fitness and sport training is an essential ingredient and critical component of understanding how to work with clients in this very sensitive demographic.  Fitness Professionals must learn to appreciate that with young clients, the goal is not to ‘lose weight’, ‘increase speed’ or ‘gain strength’ – it is to enhance skill.  Increases in all biomotors (strength, speed, flexibility and cardiorespiratory) will be secondary benefits that occur naturally and as a result of quality, skill-based training systems.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with legendary strength coach, Joe Kenn, about this very issue.

Coach Kenn is as qualified, respected and ‘in-the-trenches’ smart as they come.  He’s served for more than 20 years as a premier strength coach in U.S.-based Colleges and has worked with a litany of past and current stars from a variety of sports.

During our conversation, he offered this advice to parents, coaches and fitness professionals when working with young athletes:

“Cook ‘Em Slow”

Although a rather funny way of saying it, Coach Kenn’s point cannot be ignored.  Training young athletes isn’t about focusing on making them better right now – as I’ve mentioned, the biomotors will increase naturally when proper skill-based teaching is applied – what’s critical is to not char them in the process of making them better.  Don’t ‘fry them’ on a high temperature.  Don’t “barbeque’”them until they’re crispy.  Don’t try to “grill” them to a golden brown.  Instead, think of training young athletes as heaping them in a crock pot with a bunch of other savory ingredients and then setting the temperature on low.

Let the flavors meld and the ingredients come together in their time.  By the end, you’ll have a mouth-watering dish that contains flavors and layers of “yummy” that you can’t get through any of the “quick cook” methods.

What Do Young Athletes Really Need

Sometimes, it’s beneficial to be given sample programs of what to do with young athletes in certain situations.  Other times, it’s better to understand a philosophy of training.  I have found in my career, that appreciating the concept of what to do with young athletes is tremendously more important than the former.

Sample programs allow you to see a system and implement it, but without necessarily understanding why it’s been created that way.  It’s akin to being given a fish versus being taught how to fish.  One allows you to be satiated for a day or week, while the other allows you to keep yourself satiated indefinitely.

With young athletes, knowing the “why” behind the “what” is terribly important.  Moreover, understanding the universal laws of development that govern all human growth – and how they are applied to programming for young athletes – will allow you to create specific programs that are compatible with your given situation.

When working with young athletes the acronym “M.O.L.D.” provides a perfect backdrop for understanding what, specifically, are the musts of training this particular demographic.

Movement is Critical for Young Athletes

“M” stands for one of the most important tenants governing young athlete training – Movement Must Dominate.

Although this seems like an absolute ‘no-brain’ reality, I am constantly amazed how many times it is breached within the fitness and sport training world with respect to young athletes.  Kids and teenagers don’t belong sitting on strength training machines producing force.  And they certainly have no business performing ‘cardio’ on static pieces of machinery, either. This is true for so many reasons.

Just watch a young person in their natural environment.  They move.  Constantly.  This desire to play, run, skip, hop, throw things and climb is not a product of “ants-in-the-pants” or any other form of contemporary “illness” as defined by modern society (ADD for example).  The neurology of human growth and development shows that during the young periods of life, the CNS is in constant “gathering” mode.

As young people, we are learning.  Our bodies, governed by our CNS, are wired to explore movements, environments and situations.  Kids don’t mean to ‘get into things’ – they are being instructed to by an ever-changing, always-learning CNS that is requiring continual input.  Not only should this reality be honored and respected, it MUST be enhanced within the training systems of young athletes.

If your training program for young athletes involves moving and producing force through an unregulated and free manner, then you are most assuredly on the right track.  Run, jump, throw, kick, hop, skip…that kind of stuff.

Young Athletes…. The Key is Communication

The second letter in our acronym, “O,” stands for simply this – Open to Communication Variances.

The “Lombardi-style” coaching system doesn’t work.  You can’t just bark orders and think that every young athlete you train is going to be listening.  With coaching, one-size DOES NOT fit all.  Just like physical ability, size, relative strength and potential, the way a young athlete needs to be communicated with is specific to that child or teen.

Now, I’m no fool.  I’ve spent nearly 15 years in the trenches and know full well that when you have a group of kids (say 20 six-year-olds) getting to know them well enough and being able to provide individual attention to them is challenging to say the least.  But that doesn’t mean individualized communication isn’t possible.  It just takes a system.

Over my years working with kids, I have found that every one of the young athletes I’ve trained fits somewhere into the following category:

1.       High Motivation/High Skill

2.       High Motivation/Low Skill

3.       Low Motivation/High Skill

4.       Low Motivation/Low Skill

A brief overview of the template that shows how to communicate with each of these young athletes is as follows:

1.       Delegate – Look to get this young athlete involved in the training and planning process.  Have them lead warm-ups for the group.  Have them create the warm-up within the boundaries of your system.  If they are older, have them help you co-coach your younger groups.  Keeping this young athlete engaged is a critical part of keeping them excited about the training process and provide a perfect communication scenario.

2.       Guide - This young athlete doesn’t require more motivation – they need to enhance their skill.  Rather than trying to incite them positively (because they’re already incited!) slow them down and guide them through the process of skill increase slowly.  Breakdown complex exercises into specific stages and teach them in a whole-part-whole method.  Communication will be automatically improved.

3.       Inspire – This young athlete is great at everything, but lacks the necessary motivation to produce consistent effort (likely due to pressure from other coaches or their parents).  Don’t “ride” them or even ask them to work harder – they will tune you out quicker than you can say TRX!  Instead, talk with them about what inspires them.  What gets them excited?  We all have a switch on the inside that can turn on when the situation is a quality and inspiring one for us.  Find where there switch is and help them turn it on.

4.       Direct – Don’t put this young athlete on the spot – even in a positive manner.  They crave autonomy and the ability to just “blend in.”  So give it to them.  Provide instructions for the group at large and then quietly be sure that they know what is expected of them in the up-coming exercise or drill.  Once they realize that your communication with them will be non-threatening, they will deem your training environment a “safe” one and start to open up.  That’s where the fun will start!

How Do Young Athletes Learn?

“L” brings us to learning.  Just like with “O,” we must understand that young athletes learn in different ways and at varying speeds.

Quick and easy rule of thumb – Explain what the exercise is.  Demonstrate it.  Explain it again.  And then ask them to explain it to you.

This equates to a “Tell, Show, Tell, Converse” method of teaching and dramatically accelerates the learning process.  It also provides a divergent way of instruction so that all the young athletes in your group can learn in the manner that best suits them.

Young Athletes…. Why Training is WRONG

Sounds funny doesn’t it?

Don’t train young athletes.

But it brings us back full circle to where we started…. “Cook ‘Em Slow.”

The most important thing you have to remember is that your job is not to make young athletes better – it’s to enhance their skill.  When quality skill exists, it can be build upon to introduce and produce even more skill over time.

And just a quick word to those who may be concerned… If a coach or parent asks you if their young athlete will get faster or stronger with your “slow cook” method of training, your answer is YES!!!

Just because we aren’t focusing on enhancing the biomotors doesn’t mean they won’t improve.  As I’ve mentioned already, kids get faster, stronger and more flexible automatically with skill-based training.  Human growth and development as seen to that for us.

So that’s it.  An easy philosophy that covers what you need to know about training young athletes.

No more excuses…. The training effects and increases will come.  Just be sure to keep the temperature gage locked on “low!”

Brian Grasso has trained more than 15,000 young athletes worldwide over the past decade.  He is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association – the #1 certification for Youth Fitness and Youth Sports Performance.  For more information, visit www.IYCA.org.

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Is Pitching Velocity Really that Important?

Written on May 11, 2010 at 6:45 am, by Eric Cressey

I spent this past weekend both attending and speaking at big sports medicine conference organized by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School.  Given that it’s baseball season, and the event’s organizers are all also on staff with the Boston Red Sox, a big focus of the event was the diagnosis, treatment, and causes of throwing injuries to the elbow and shoulder.

One of the organizers happened to be my good friend Mike Reinold, who is the head athletic trainer and rehabilitation coordinator for the Red Sox.  As you probably know, we collaborated on the Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set as well.

One of the resounding themes of Mike’s talks was that throwing hard is not the single-most important factor in being a successful pitcher.  Rather, success is all about changing speeds and hitting spots.  The point is an important one – and it’s backed up by the success of the likes of Jamie Moyer, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux.

Why is it so important for youth pitchers and parents to understand this?  It’s because it demonstrates that long-term success is not about dominating in little league; it’s about acquiring skills that allow for future improvements.

Youth pitches should focus on commanding their fastballs with consistent repetition of their mechanics early-on – not just throwing hard.  If you think you have the fastball mastered at age 9 and simply learn a curveball so that you can dominate little league hitters, you’re skipping steps and trying to ride too many horses with one saddle.  It’s not that the curveball is inherently more stressful than any other pitch; it’s just that – as the saying goes – “if you chase two rabbits, both will escape.”

While kids need variety, they shouldn’t try to master too many different complex skills at once.  Step 1 is to have command of your fastball – not just to throw it hard.

Step 2 is to learn a good change-up to start creating the separation to which Mike is referring.  Breaking pitches can come later.

Need proof?  I recently saw some statistics that demonstrated that the MLB average against off-speed pitches has decline each of the past three years.  Meanwhile, not surprisingly, the average MLB fastball velocity has increased by about 1mph.  Throwing harder made all those off-speed pitches more effective by creating more separation.  So, yes, throwing the crap out of the ball is still important – but only if you know where it’s going – otherwise the average fastball velocity wouldn’t be higher in Low A ball than it is in the big leagues.

Oh, and in case you need further proof of how MLB general managers perceive the importance of off-speed pitches, Phillies First Baseman Ryan Howard gave you $125 worth when he signed a new five-year contract last month.  While the MLB average against off-speed pitches has steadily declined over the past three seasons, Howard has gotten better.

The take-home message is that youth pitchers need to develop the mechanical efficiency and physical abilities that will eventually make them able to throw hard in conjunction with a solid assortment of off-speed pitches.  They don’t need to light up radar guns and showcase curveballs when they’re still regulars at Chuck ‘E Cheese.

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Developmental Systems – The X & O Factors for Training Young Athletes

Written on May 3, 2010 at 3:25 am, by Eric Cressey

Today’s guest blog comes from Brian Grasso.

The Youth Fitness and Sports Training explosion has happened.

More than $4 billion are pumped into the niches of personalized training and coaching for young people every year in the United States alone (Wall Street Journal, November 2004) and roughly 1 million kids and teens hired a Personal Trainer in 2006 (msnbc.com).

Given those stats and the enormity of both the problems (youth obesity and sports-related injuries) as well as the market size (see above) you’d think that we, as a profession, would have a relatively good working knowledge of how young people need to be trained and guided through a physical education process.

Unfortunately, this is as far from the truth as it gets.

I won’t bloviate or preach.

I won’t reveal my thoughts regarding how ineffectual we choose to be when working with this demographic.

And I certainly won’t use any sardonic overtones about the role of responsibility we should employ when opting to work with such a sensitive and cherished client base.

I will simply appeal to your sense of logic and intelligence.

For the purposes of this article, let me say this:

“Kids” is a term I will use to encompass everyone who inhabits the ages of 6 – 18.

Athletes and Non-Athletes alike.

Miniature superstars, bench-warmers and the overweight, will all be lumped under the same umbrella.

And simply stated, I do this because the development parameters of physical stimulus needed for ALL “kids” is the same – at very least in the beginning phases of training spectrum.

Training stimulus with this demographic is guided, primarily, by physiology.

You train to the organism, not the apparent needs of the young athlete or any potential concerns – for example, increasing the speed of an 8 year old running back or arm strength of a 10 year old pitcher would amount to “apparent needs” of a young athlete.  Attacking measures of calorie restriction and “fat loss” protocol would be examples of “potential concerns.”

Instead, your focus must be on the organism itself.

What a young organism needs to experience in the way of physical stimulus can largely be deduced by chronological age.  Certainly biological age (relative body maturation), emotional age (psychological maturation) and even personality (temperament) can all be factored into the equation, but I have found in my 13-year career that chronological age determents can be successfully applied in 90% of the cases.  The remaining 10% can be accounted for through proper coaching and identification.

Having said all that, the following is a brief rundown of the physical needs of ‘kids’ based on chronological age:

6 – 9 Years Old:

• Guided Discovery – implying that Coaches and Trainers must create games and exercises that involve a variety of movement and guidelines in terms of execution, but allow the ‘kids’ to explore on their own.  This phase is terribly critical for establishing “Athletic Intelligence” and sets the seeds for increased complexity of training in the future

• Outcome-Based Coaching – Coaches and Trainers must restrict their commentary and praise to that of “outcome” oriented verbiage.  For example, when asking a 7 year old to pick up a medicine ball and throw it forward using a chest-pass motion, provide praise on that and that alone with respect to successful execution.  Comments pertaining to form are not required and can impede the natural development of “kids” with respect to establishing “Athletic Intelligence.”

10 – 13 Years Old:

• Learning Exploration – Not dissimilar to Guided Discovery, “kids” must still be encouraged to discover what proper execution feels like on their own.  However, as emotional maturation increases (and while neural plasticity or adaptability is still high) it is also critical to start teaching the essence of primal patterns.  Educating “kids” on how to produce and resist force, create angles or accelerate/decelerate becomes an increasingly important part of the training process.

This is a rough overview.  I admit it.

But learning exactly how to work with “kids” in a training environment is a process of education unto itself.

Just know this for starters:

It’s not about Sets & Reps – it’s about instructing technique through a developmental process.

There’s more, MUCH more I need to cover… And fortunately will be able to.

Next month I’ll be back with another installment.

Until then,  re-read the above.

The “kids” are worth our best effort.

Brian Grasso has trained more than 15,000 young athletes worldwide over the past decade.  He is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association – the only youth-based certification organization in the entire industry.  For more information, visit www.IYCA.org

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