One of the most effective, low to no-impact pieces of fitness equipment you can have in your gym is a push pull sled, or fitness sled (or any number of other names they have been called, some not so nice!). You don't need a lot of space, because you can just do short pushes and pulls, and they can slide on most surfaces, with some minor adjustments or additions to the bottom of the sled. If you've ever used one, you will most likely love and hate them at the same time, but realize how good they are for you. If you are tight on a budget, and kinda handy, you could save yourself a few hundred dollars and...
While there are many ways to work to improve game speed in sports, focusing on strike-force during ground contact is a great way to train not only on the field but in the weight room as well.
By Coach Jeremy Hoy, MS, CSCS, SCCC, PES, TPI1, RPR1 In order to create effective performance training programs (think improvements), it is important for a strength coach to understand how to analyze the functions/demands of a sport. In this post, I’d like to mention 6 movement patterns (fundamental) for quick and lasting improvements and examples of each. Whether you are a parent, athlete, or coach, it’s useful to know these patterns to recognize if your program is using them for your development or the development of your athletes. Using these 6 movement patterns, it is possible for a less experienced coach to design “functionally” based performance programs. Implementing all of these patterns into a program can help an athlete move better,...
By Coach Jeremy Hoy, MS, CSCS, SCCC, PES, TPI1, RPR1 If you’ve been around sports long enough, you’ve most likely come across some videos, commercials,, articles, or interviews of elite athletes doing some sort of dynamic vision training. While it is not new, our understanding of what it is and how it works is getting more advanced, and the benefits have been proven and realized at every level. I believe it was LSU football (wide receivers) that was using vision training tactics in high stress situations in their practices last year leading up to winning the National Championship. USA Hockey and MLB players frequently use dynamic vision training programs, and students at the US Air Force Academy have access to...
By Coach Jeremy Hoy, MS, CSCS, SCCC, PES, TPI1, RPR1 Successful coaches and athletes alike understand and appreciate the value of proper preparation and its relationship to achieving success in sports competition. But what many athletes and coaches don't understand are the three main components that need to be addressed for optimal athletic success: physical preparation, tactical/technical preparation, and mental or psychological preparation. Physical Preparation Physical preparation is any type of training that addresses the physical elements of sports such as mobility, flexibility, strength, speed, power, acceleration, deceleration, dynamic vision, reaction time, and sports nutrition. All of these elements need to be addressed to help best prepare an athlete or team for successful sports competition. Tactical/Technical Preparation Tactical/technical...
