StrengthPro

Sports Power

The quickness to break through the line and accelerate past tacklers, grabbing a rebound out of the hands of your opponent, ripping off a 130 mph tennis serve or driving a golf ball 300 yards all have one thing in common. They all require incredible power. Power, the optimal combination of speed and strength is essential for sport performance and is the difference between good and great athletes.

Not every sport has the same power requirement, being able to determine the ideal relationship between speed and strength for a sport, test an individual athlete for their strength and weaknesses and teach proper exercise progressions will allow you to develop more effective training programs and separate yourself from other trainers in the filed of athlete development.

With this in mind StrengthPro has created a certification that covers every aspect of power and speed development, from the science, to the exercises, to the development of programs to maximize you clients results.
 

This four session lecture-workshop will provide each participant the skills and knowledge needed to develop explosive power programs. Examining both historical perspectives and the newest, scientific approaches for developing power the workshop will consist of approximately 50% of the time being devoted to lecture and 50% to practical application hands on applications, allowing participants to bridge the gap between science and practice.

Session 1: The Strength-Speed-Power Continuum
This lecture session will introduce participants to the physiological basis of power development and the Strength-Speed Power continuum. To develop optimal power one must first know whether that power is strength based or speed based. The continuum allows the participant to analyze the power demands of a sport or activity and determine the proportions of strength and speed needed to excel. Other topics covered include:
          ◊ Muscle and Nervous system physiology and Adaptations
          ◊ Force-velocity curve
          ◊ The length-tension curve
          ◊ Acceleration, Torque and Impulse
          ◊ Elastic energy, the stretch reflex and using momentum
          ◊ Dynamic Power Expression
          ◊ The trade – off between strength and speed
          ◊ Where does optimal sport specific power lie?
          ◊ Sport and position specific power analysis

Session 2: Developing a Power Profile
During this practical workshop participants will be lead through a series of specific and general strength, speed, and power tests. They will learn to administer the test protocols, interpret the results and set training priorities and goals based on the testing and how the results match the strength-speed-power continuum analysis.

Session 3: Blueprints for Power Development
This lecture session provides the program variables and theoretical framework for designing specific power programs. The 5 step model provides participants with a simple, effective means of ensuring that they are covering ever aspect of power development. Topics covered include:
          ◊ Training muscles vs. training movements
          ◊ Replication and skill transfer
          ◊ The weight training paradox
          ◊ Power periodization cycling
          ◊ Antagonistic power combinations
          ◊ Volume-intensity relationships
          ◊ Overload
          ◊ Acceleration and deceleration

Session 4: Developing the Power Program
Building on the previous session, this portion of the workshop will discuss progressions, programming variables, and the elements necessary to design a program that helps the client or athlete reach his/her goals. Participants will learn how to Periodize Power and Speed programs, reduce injury, and improve recovery. The final component of this workshop will discuss the role of pre and post workout nutrition in the overall development of the training program.

Individual Lecture Descriptions

Lecture Title: Explosive Strength Development (lecture and hands-on)

Lecture Description:

This advanced lecture discusses the development of strength and power through resistance training, speed training, and plyometrics.  The relationships between force, strength, velocity and acceleration will be examined through physics as it applies to training.  The practicality of several methods will be contrasted to training principles such as overload, specificity, general adaptation, as well as their implications with time, space, and ability to effectively teach specific movements. 

Lecture Title: Tools for Maximizing Speed & Agility (lecture and hands-on) 

Lecture Description:

Learn how to use a variety of tools and techniques to enhance speed and agility.  This integrated lecture combines aspects of program design with the use of different tools to develop maximal speed and agility.  The presentation will cover dynamic warm-up followed by use of various pieces of equipment such as agility ladder’s, plyometric boxes, medicine balls, step hurdles, versa discs, reflex balls, and other implements meant to add variety to your athletes/clients workout and improve performance. 

Lecture Title: Conditioning Speed and Power for Anaerobic Endurance Athletes (lecture)

Lecture Description:

Sports requiring athletes to sustain a lower level activity for extended periods of time, interspersed with brief periods of explosive, powerful movement, characterize the metabolic demands of several sports, such as basketball, soccer, tennis, field and ice hockey and many others.  This lecture will provide the practitioner with a basic understanding of the metabolic continuum pertaining to the body’s ability to supply energy at varying levels of intensity.  The practical significance of this working knowledge of metabolism will be illustrated by a discussion of drills and techniques designed to enhance speed, endurance, and conditioning. 

Lecture Title: Periodization of Strength, Speed and Power (lecture)

Lecture Description:

This lecture will show the participant how to develop a complete training package based on the principles of Periodization.  A practical approach will ensure that the participant will have a “useable” and reliable format to prescribing resistance training, speed and agility drills, plyometrics and other training modes in an integrated fashion. Often Periodization is viewed as a complex web, when in fact; much of the confusion can be avoided by a few simple changes to a program.  This practical approach to Periodization will maximize performance and minimize common overuse injuries associated with the higher training volumes characteristic of athletes in today’s sports world. 

Lecture Title: Strength, Speed and Power Training: Theory and Application (lecture)

Lecture Description:

In recent years, the idea of functional training has overshadowed much of the training that personal trainers employ. However, pure strength training is still the method of choice for most strength and conditioning coaches. This lecture provides answers to the problems facing practitioners who train a variety of populations.  Recommendations relative to choice of exercises, frequency of training, rate of progression, and philosophical aspects of program design will be given to help develop the proper program for the specific sport athlete. Participants will learn how to individualize the training programs, based on the athlete’s physical, psychological, and emotional maturity as well as the demands of the sport.

Lecture Title: Practical Technique Strategies for the Maximizing your Strength (lecture)

Lecture Description:

Strength development is characterized by the muscles ability to generate maximal force over a short period of time.  This lecture will explore some basic physiological properties that underlie force production with an emphasis on how these principles can be applied to program design and exercise selection. The bench press, the squat, and the deadlift (the Powerlifts collectively) are considered the foundational exercises for strength development.  Most, however, perform these exercises incorrectly, under poor guidance, and/or without reason. In addition to these lifts, the technical aspects of several commonly performed resistance training exercises will be examined and their role in strength development will be discussed. The participant will learn technical strategies designed to maximize the effectiveness the major lifts while diminishing the risk of injury. 

Lecture Title: Olympic Lifting Methodologies (lecture and hands on) 

Lecture Description:

Once thought to only be used by Olympians and football players the Olympic Lifts are now widely utilized for athletes of all ages, sports, and ability levels.  The mechanics and rapid whole-body force production that characterize the snatch, the power-clean, and the push press mimic the demands placed on the body in a variety of sports settings.  This lecture will focus on teaching the technical aspects of these lifts as well as how, when, and why to implement them into a training program. 

Lecture Title: Sports Performance-Based Movement Screens (lecture and hands on)  

Lecture Description:

The ability to control your body and perform basic movements is essential for every sport. Weakness and muscle imbalances can lead to chronic injuries that can cost you a season and detract from the enjoyment of the sport. This lecture outlines a series of fundamental movement screens that can act as the foundation for any exercise program.   Learn how objectively assess your athlete or client to determine appropriate exercise selection and intensity to maximize progress and decrease the injury. 

Lecture Title: Precise Supplementation to Maximize Recovery (lecture)

Lecture Description:

Over the past ten years the interest in sports nutrition and dietary supplements has grown within the academic sector exponentially. The use of nutrient timing, optimizing macronutrient intake, ratio manipulation and scientifically validated dietary supplements is quite common amongst higher-level athletes and sports nutritionists. The right ratio and timing of carbohydrates with added protein or protein alone has been shown to enhance athletic performance, support muscle protein synthesis, allow for greater glycogen re-accumulation than carbohydrate alone. Dietary supplements, specific agents may have utility in the recovery phase as some have been shown to decrease markers of post-exercise muscle damage, support growth hormone levels, enable greater recovery (as measured by cellular ATP, muscle protein synthesis, etc.) all which may help the athlete recover quickly thus enabling a greater return on their exercise and training investment. Nutritional strategies including specific dietary supplements will be covered in this session.

Lecture Title: Speed & Strength Training for Special Populations (lecture)  

Lecture Description:

There is a delicate balance between speed and strength when it comes to training kids and the general population. In consideration of the younger athlete, special attention as to the growth and maturation levels of different individuals is a key factor when developing an exercise prescription for performance improvement with this population. Specific drills and techniques relating to speed and strength training will be examined through practical application and researched training principles. 

Lecture Title: Putting the Puzzle Together

Lecture Description:

The culminating lecture of the workshop focuses on bringing all of the concepts together by discussing methods for developing, periodizing, and initiating the final program. Since there are so many choices to make with just exercise selection alone, the ability to build and implement a proper program is a daunting task. Issues such as time limitations, workout frequency, group size, and equipment availability will be examined as it relates to the components of speed and power that were discussed throughout the workshop.