Hi Everyone – and welcome to another week,
Another wet and wild week in the books. As I have said to a few people, it is hard to
believe it could rain at all on Friday and Saturday…because Thursday night at
footy training all of the rain fell out of the sky directly onto me – and of
course, all my wet weather gear was sitting safe and dry in the back seat of my
car, just where I needed it to be! Oh
well, at least there is a roof in the gym and we are all hot and sweaty (and
warm) as soon as the warm-up is done with.
Since it is the start of August I do like to do a bit of a review
of the month that has passed – and I am very happy to say that July 2018 has
been our busiest July (in terms of attendance) ever. We had 182 people per day in the gym
throughout July – up from 157 per day last year (our previous best). It has certainly been noticeable around the
place with session numbers consistently strong…just as well we have (finally)
reached agreement to take over the adjacent unit so we will be able to ‘open
things up’ a little as warmer weather approaches.
We have a new block of SPARTAN training starting tomorrow (as I
type this, there are still a couple of spots left – SPARTAN
REGISTRATION) and that has had me thinking quite a bit about the different
offerings we have put together as a gym.
If I set aside for a moment the ‘incidental’ challenges we run, we have
a few formal and repeatable offerings:
-
Athlete Development Program (Sport
Specific strength for 13-17yo’s)
-
Strength Fundamentals (How to
lift/strength train)
-
Summer Slam (Diet/exercise pre-summer ‘blast’)
-
28-days Later (Diet/exercise post
Christmas ‘blast’)
-
SPARTAN (4-week, high intensity conditioning)
-
Tanks (Ongoing sport specific strength
and conditioning).
All of these things have been ‘purpose built’ to help those with
specific goals – either strength, weight loss or sports conditioning – as well
as to provide a mechanism for people who find themselves ‘stuck in a rutt’ with
there training and wanting to ‘mix things up’.
I guess for me personally I have people asking me how I maintain
motivation doing my own training at Round 1 after 8 ½ years of being open…the
answer is I find it pretty easy. I do
3-4 boxing classes, 1-2 Body Work classes, a No-Rules session…then I head out
for a run once every week or so and try my hardest to do a strength session
(preferably two) each week…and I don’t really get too fussed about what day I
do what session – I train at the gym when it is convenient to me given work and
personal commitments…if it is Boxing, Body Work, No Rules, whatever – I don’t
care – I just train.
So – where am I going with this is a great question. At footy training the other night we spent a
bit of time with the players (the players are in that 16-18 age group) going
through a new weights routine for them to complete and we have been having
countless conversations in the background about the ‘lack’ of participation
shown by our playing group to their strength training. Now, you might think with me coaching there
would be an absolute insistence on the players doing their gym work – but to be
truthful I probably go the other way…because I spend all week in a gym, the
last thing I want to talk about in my other life is strength training. But it is sooooo important. And before I go through the “WHY’s” of that,
here’s what has got me on this tangent.
So the players I have lead busy lives (as do we all). School or work, footy 3x per week (plus game
day), homework, part-time work, families, girlfriends, friends, fortnite…you
name it. It makes sense that finding the
time two-three times per week to get into the gym for 45-minutes or so is going
to be hard to fit in. I know I see it
with my own 16yo – he gets his strength stuff done pretty religiously in the
off-season but once the season starts, it all gets a little hard. I also see it with a heap of the ‘social’
footballers, netballers, hockey players etc out there who come to Round 1…over
summer, super dedicated. Over winter,
well, not so much.
For the ‘social’ sportsman (and yep, I 100% consider A-grade
amateurs to be ‘social’-level sport), using the boxing sessions even twice each
week to boost your base-level conditioning is going to make a MASSIVE
difference on match day. The reason is
simple…the other team AREN’T DOING IT!
And as you draw close to finals, if you want to give yourself and your
team an edge, you have to find little ways to sneak an advantage. 2x 45 minute boxing sessions each week –
particularly with the cardio/core/strength mix you will get at R1 – is a great
way to get that advantage. Ultimately,
it all comes down to time (I know it does) but one thing I can guarantee you,
the time spent will all seem worth it if you are able to sneak across the line
come finals.
For those with higher aspirations – and I include juniors in this
group – there are really two tracks to follow.
The first is to boost your conditioning using the boxing / body work
classes because the simple fact is that completely 2x 90 minute ‘training’
sessions each week – where the coach talks for at least 20 minutes of that and
warm-up, cool-down and static skills all form part of the 90-minutes – is no-where
close to being enough. No-where near
enough. If you want to improve, then
that improvement comes from being able to execute under pressure – and players
are better able to do that when the pressure isn’t also combined with
FATIGUE. The second track – and this is
for the players in that 16-18 age range who are already participating in high
level programs – is to make sure they are completing a focussed/dedicated
strength program…which gets me back to my ‘benefits of strength’ I promised earlier.
1/. Resilience – Stronger muscles
and stronger connective tissue make you harder to injure…and nothing is more
important to your sport than actually being ON THE FIELD.
2/. Mobility – Full range
strength training increases your ability to move your body through all planes
of motion AND to do so under pressure.
3/. Efficiency of Movement –
Muscle is the driving force behind our ability to MOVE. Power,
speed and quickness can be heightened exponentially with an increase in lean
weight, even without a dramatic loss in body fat. More importantly, and in
light of the obesity crisis this nation is mired in with the youth population,
strength training can be a viable and result-producing component when it is
included as a corrective measure.
4/.
Increased Metabolic rate – Muscle is ACTIVE tissue, even when at
rest. So adding muscle will drive
increases in your metabolic rate which will help you maintain your body weight
goals even when at rest.
5/. POWER - Power is the product of
muscle force and movement speed. The combination of strength training and
specific skill work has a positive influence on both of these parameters. Bigger, stronger muscle fibers result in a
higher rate of force production which (of course) enables you to demonstrate
that force in the course of playing your sport!
So - if you fall into any of those categories, please get in touch. We CAN help. Plus, I have been coaching high level footy at u18 level for more than 10 years (including coaching the state team for 3 years and coaching at the AIS) so I actually CAN help...if you or your kids have aspirations, well, I'm not saying they can achieve them but there are 100% ways that you can be set up for success....
Let me know if any of this sounds good (or not) with an email to Michael@round1fitness.com.au
See you in the gym,
Michael.
No comments:
Post a Comment