Velocity Sports Performance Official Website

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Q: Is there anything I can do at home to help my child become a better athlete?

 

A: It is absolutely essential that an athlete continue his training when he is away from the facility. Often times we only see an athlete 3 - 5 hours per week, which leaves 160 – 165 hours where they are not directly training with us. Every athlete has something they can be working on while they are at their home, for example, increasing their flexibility. Whatever the situation may be, all athletes should be encouraged to stay active, whether it be participating in the sport they play, practicing, or simple recreational activities.

In addition, parents can assist their child’s development by ensuring that they are getting the proper amount of rest every night and reinforcing healthy eating habits. If a parent is looking for nutritional help, please let us know and we can put you in touch with one of the nutritionists we have a working relationship with. Again, these things seem simple but they can play a key role in your child’s continued athletic development.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at dray@velocitysp.com. I look forward to seeing everyone at their next training session

 

Q: My daughter has been having pain in both of her knees during and after her workouts. I think that squatting might be the problem. Is there a reason she is asked to squat so low?

  

The squat, when performed correctly, is one of the best and most effective lifts there is. It develops strength throughout the entire body and creates a solid foundation for more advanced lifts an athlete will be asked to perform as they get older. Furthermore, squatting is an excellent assessment tool for coaches as it can tell you a great deal about an athlete’s strengths, weaknesses, flexibility, and mobility.

To address the question of depth, there is no reason why an athlete with healthy knees cannot perform a squat to proper depth (hips below parallel). Squatting below parallel develops the vastus medialis which helps to stabilize the knee and prevent the universally dreaded ACL tear. In addition, this depth shifts the pressure from the knees to the hips. The knee is the most unstable at 90 degrees, and changing direction there, particularly with a loaded bar on the spine, can be dangerous to the athlete. Add to this the desire for the athlete to constantly go heavier, many times heavier than they should be lifting, and you have a recipe for disaster.

  As for knee pain, this can be caused by several different factors. Muscle imbalances, tight quadriceps, or a tight IT band can all cause discomfort in the knee. The squat should not be eliminated unless you are certain it is causing the problem. Even then, the goal for the athlete should be to get their knees healthy to once again begin squatting. Complete elimination should only happen if it absolutely necessary.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions or concerns at dray@velocitysp.com. I look forward to seeing everyone at their next training session.

  

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Performance training Myth #1

For the past two years I have seen hundreds of athletes (Adults, Youths, Elite, and Pro) cycle in and out of Velocity Sports Performance.  Each time someone participates in a program, one of the most commonly asked questions is, "ARE YOU TIRED?"

 

Fatigue is a factor of training, but not the most important evaluation of a successful performance training program. Fatigue is achieved by exhausting the energy systems required to perform a certain task. This is more commonly referred to as "conditioning". While important, conditioning falls lower on the priority list as it relates to performance improvement. The goals most commonly pursued are increased speed, agility, and strength. To achieve these things the athlete must be trained with maximal recovery between bouts of effort. Question: If an athlete jumps up and down 100 times will he/she jump higher?

 

Answer: No. The athlete begins to train to jump at a sub-maximal level for repeated bouts. Therefore they are jumping at a lower height more frequently as opposed to increasing the height of their maximal efforts.  

 

To run faster, jump higher, become stronger, you must train smart! This means maximal effort with maximal recovery between bouts.

 

Goals of Velocity training:

1. Make the athlete faster, stronger, more agile.

2. Improve their ability to be faster, stronger, more agile for a longer period of time.

 

SWEAT IS NOT THE #1 INDICATION THAT AN ATHLETE IS BECOMING A BETTER ATHLETE. 

 

Question: If a 100m sprinter runs a race at maximal effort and rests for 10 seconds then runs again, will their time be faster or slower?

Answer: Their time will be slower as they have depleted their ability to run at maximal effort. Any attempt to perform at maximal effort without adequate recovery will produce sub-maximal results. This means they are becoming a slower athlete.

 

Thus the SCIENCE of Sports Performance.

 

Quality VS. Quantity

 

Velocity Sports is open Monday through Friday, 9am till 7:30 pm.  Please feel free to call or email us anytime for supporting information regarding this subject
 

Les Whitley

Center Director

Velocity Sports Performance

 

New Years Resolutions: The Biggest Reason Why They Fail???

 

Have you ever heard someone say, "I will start my new workout program on Monday."  I have and I hear it everyday. 

 

What typically happens is most people miss that Monday start date.  Instead of starting on the following Tuesday, they make themselves wait until the next Monday so they can follow their program to perfection and then they miss the Monday start date again!!!  Eventually, they sweep it under the rug until the next big start day, their birthday. 

 

My tip: Start your program NOW!!!!  Everyone is looking for the diet pill or perfect program that creates the body that they are looking for.  THE REALITY; eat right, eat small, and workout on consistent basis and you will find the perfect routine. START NOW!!!

 

Even if you start on a Tuesday, use the half week to prepare for the next Monday start date.  Do not underestimate the power of going COLD TURKEY.  Meaning: Everyone THINKS they can train and eat like a MARINE.  People that think this way typically do not live this way and that is why the plan fails.

 

BE REALISTIC; use half of a week to walk, jog, and strength train to understand how your body is going to react and recover.  This should help create the best plan of attack for YOU!!

 

FOLLOW THIS TIP AND I GUARANTEE THAT YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTION WILL SUCCEED!

 

Steve Shelton, GM

 

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What can a Sports Performance facility offer my child that I can not find on the internet and then help them myself? 

 

There are a number of factors to consider if you are considering sending your child to a professional sports performance facility.

Location:

 

Yes, you could purchase the equipment and find many of the exercises and routines online, the same way you can find auto repair manuals and auto parts. Some basic things can be done with a level of proficiency provided you have the area, the time and the expertise to administer them.

  

Time: 

 Some parents have expertise, but for consistency of training, it requires a 3 to 4 hours of focused commitment each week. We find this not only to be a challenge, but an hour of "focused" time is sometimes the biggest challenge when you work with your own child.

 

Expertise: 

Great coaches are great teachers. As in all things, people with the passion for teaching and years of experience get the best results and in a shorter amount of time. Also, an experienced coach will help your child develop the right habits. Changing bad habits is a really difficult challenge. Starting with the right habits in the beginning is critical to long term success. Experienced coaches understand how to correct the little things, details that really help the learning experience.

 

 Environment: 

A performance facility will offer an environment where your child will be training with their peers. This not only contributes to the "fun" factor which will engage the child more, it also adds to the team building aspect of the social development. When an athlete trains in an environment with other athletes they learn from each other by participating together and challenging one another in a positive manner that is controlled by the performance coach.

 

The reality is that a trained and experienced Sports Performance professional can make a significant difference in the development of a child. It may seem easy at first glance to administer training programs, but the devil is in the details. As the child continues to progress a trained eye becomes invaluable to their development.

For more information about this question or to post a question please contact Velocity Sports Performance @ 615.661.8771 or visit our website www.velocitycoolsprings.com.

 

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 #4- 11/1/07

 

Know your strength

 

How strong do you need to be to play your sport?

Most sports have an optimum level of strength required for each position in the sport. Beyond this optimal level there is a point where any further increases in maximal strength will not improve performance. Most ground based sports require high levels of maximal strength especially in the lower body. Research shows that optimal levels of strength would require an athlete to squat at least 2 times their bodyweight. Your ability to produce force in the ground during running is highly dependant on maximal strength. Most elite sprinters back squat 2 to 3 times their bodyweight. Once the optimal level of strength is obtained, time could be spent more wisely pursuing other areas such as improving mobility of the athlete. A qualified strength coach can help you determine the optimal strength levels for your sport.

 

My daughter is a high school basketball player. I know she needs strength to improve her vertical jump, but we do not want her to get too bulky. Is there something she can do to prevent this?

       Most of the time athletes get “bulky” because of what they are eating, not because of the training. Muscle and fat weight gain are both calorie dependent. All the weight training in the world will not produce any weight gain if you do not eat to support that activity. Proper strength training and a balanced diet is the best approach. Muscle weight is what we want to gain in order to allow your daughter to produce more force for the vertical jump. Also, the great thing about muscle is its density. Fat weight is less dense than muscle and occupies double the area or space of muscle tissue. Just look at anyone who has gained 5 pounds of muscle and compare them to someone who has gained 5 pounds of fat. Here are some other great qualities of muscle weight gain. Muscle makes you look leaner. An easy way to know if the weight gain is muscle is to compare the scale weight to the tape measure or have a qualified coach test your body fat. The scales do not tell the whole story.

Muscle is the body’s engine. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate. This means you can eat more because you are burning more.

Muscle helps prevent injury. The stronger the muscle is during deceleration or stopping your motion, the less likely you are to compromise the support structures like the ligaments.

 

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Last month we looked at Sports Specific Training and we came to the following conclusions:

Conditioning should be specific to your sport.

Training for injury prevention is specific to your sport.

 

This month we will conclude our thoughts on Sports Specific Training by discussing three areas of physical preparation that apply to all sports. Athletes of all ages from every sport can benefit from strength training, power training and mobility work. These areas are often categorized as general physical preparation and specific physical preparation. Let’s take a look at each one individually so we can better understand why we should implement these into our preparation program.

 

Strength Training – A solid strength base is required to produce force. All movement of any type, especially those requiring speed and power, require a general strength base. Those athletes with the highest relative strength (i.e. strength per pound bodyweight) tend to be the fastest and most powerful athletes. The stronger you are per pound, the easier it is to move your body weight though space, meaning faster acceleration and higher jumping. Another factor sometimes missed is the ability to stop and change direction. The stronger the relative strength, the easier it is to stop your movement. Change of direction is dependant upon the ability to stop movement first and then accelerate out of the position.  

 

Power training – Force production is also dependant on the body’s ability to recruit muscle fiber quickly and efficiently. Strength gained in the weight room needs to be converted into power. Training the nervous system is the key here. The nervous system needs to learn to do two things:

A) Coordinate multiple muscle recruitment patterns

B) Recruit as much muscle fiber as possible with each muscle contraction

Exercises like plyometric jumping, medicine ball throwing, and sprinting are examples of power training.

 

Mobility Training – Mobility is the range of motion each of us has around every joint. There are multiple factors involved in mobility, including muscle and bone length, ligaments and the fascia surrounding the muscle tissue. Many injuries occur because of mobility issues or muscle imbalance caused by untreated mobility issues. Mobility is typically addressed in one of three ways:

A) Dynamic movement through the range of motion

B) Foam rollers and/ or massage 

C) Active release therapy.

Active release therapy is the most effective, but it has to be done by a licensed doctor and can be very uncomfortable. Active release is currently being used by many professional sports teams such as the Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Predators.

 

In conclusion, all athletes should prepare for their sports specifically in their conditioning and injury prevention. In addition, all athletes should use strength training, power training and mobility training to provide all the general physical qualities needed to succeed in their sport and become a complete athlete.

 

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QUESTION:  One of the most common questions we hear at Velocity is “Do you guys train sports specific?” 

 

ANSWER:  I would like to discuss this topic by relating information based on research and anecdotal everyday experience with athletes and coaches in the sports performance industry. First, let’s decide what we think sports specific training is and is not. In season practice of your sport would be at the top of the definition pyramid. No other type of training can duplicate playing your actual sport. We need to be very cognizant of the time commitments we put into any other training outside of our specific sport. We also need to justify the reasons for every drill or component we add to an athlete’s busy schedule. Many coaches and sports performance facilities mistakenly spend time doing exercises or drills because they look cool or they give the appearance of hard work, but in reality have no transfer to the actual sport. Training smart gets the best transfer of time spent training on to the field of play. So you might say just playing the sport year round is the best choice for sport preparation. This is true, but this can also lead to repetitive motion injury and deconditioning over time.

 

Now, outside of playing the actual sport, the next area of focus for sports specific training would be the anaerobic conditioning of the athlete for pre-season camp and/or pre-season games. Once the athlete starts practice, the majority of conditioning should be done by playing the sport. The body is very specific in its adaptations for physical activity and conditioning is the most specific of physical qualities to train for. A simple but effective way to condition for sport is to analyze game play and determine a breakdown of work to rest ratios. Once determined, start out with low volume of work at high speed and add volume over a specific time frame i.e. 8 to 12 weeks. One mistake commonly made when conditioning outside of the actual game play is to spend too much time doing linear sprinting. The majority of most sports outside of track are spent decelerating and accelerating in multiple directions. Conditioning needs to reflect these components to adequately prepare the athlete for games. The bottom line for conditioning is to play the game if at all possible. If this is not possible, as in football, then simulate the game in work to rest ratios and predominantly use change of direction drills.

 

The final area of sport specific training would involve an analysis of the sport to determine the common injuries and dominant muscle groups involved in the sport. An example would be down hill skiers. In season, the front of the thigh (or quadriceps) is a dominant muscle group and tends to get stronger in season. This causes a muscle imbalance issue with the hamstrings and leads to knee injuries. Training the posterior chain (hamstrings and hip complex) in the preseason should be a primary goal to offset the in season imbalance. Program design for each sport can have a sport specific strength design.

These three components define sports specific training (skill work, conditioning, and injury prevention). In part two, we will discuss the areas of training that all athletes require to be successful, regardless of sport.

 

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QUESTION: What is the difference between Velocity Sports Performance and its competition?

 

ANSWER: I get this question 15 times a day.  In a market filled with competitive desire, many families and coaches want to know what they are paying for.  I am a consumer as well, and I tend to be the shopper that could turn a good day into a bad day because I want to know everything.  So......here are the 3 main reasons why Velocity Cool Springs is different than any other sports performance training company and will continue to be! 

 

1. TRAINERS - Velocity Sports Performance (Corporate, now based out of Los Angeles, California) has made it clear from day one that their main and true point of differentiation, nationally, will always be the quality of staff it provides and the scientifically designed programs.  Let's get one thing clear, if you are not researching who athletes are being taught by, then why not give them to the cheapest coach you can find, which is yourself.  Sports Performance facilities as a whole create stereotypes quickly when they market and advertise that they provide professional / elite trainers certified in the field of performance training. Then the athlete actually visits the facility to find out that the so called "top college & professional strength & conditioning coaches in the U.S.", are a group of personal trainers or interns that are coaching to collect a paycheck and read from a sheet of paper.

 

HERE'S THE SECRET: Anyone can become certified to be a personal trainer.  Don't get me wrong, it takes hard work to achieve certifications. But knowing that, you or anyone for that matter could become certified, which still does not mean that someone is qualified to teach sports performance.  We can leave the details of defining sports performance for another day, but in layman's terms, it breaks down to the science of human performance, proper program progression, and results.  Velocity Sports Performance demands that most, if not all, of their trainers have chosen Exercise Physiology or related fields as their main focus or profession.  This means, that each of these individuals has completed a Bachelor’s Degree and / or Master’s Degree in this field. (VSP bios) That is the secret!!! Placing as many qualified individuals who not only have completed a BS or MS in Exercise Physiology, and have numerous strength and conditioning certifications, but who have also coached or competed on an elite level and understand how to teach the fundamentals of performance improvement.  Interns gain valuable experience as they begin their careers. We currently have two interns that are great individuals and have helped us greatly during the 2007 summer. 

 

The Cool Springs facility currently employs:

Masters Degree, Former Oklahoma State / Illinois State / USA Wrestling Strength Coach: Mick Weber 

Masters Degree, Former Vanderbilt Track Coach: Yolanda Belin 

Masters Degree, Former Head Vanderbilt Track Coach: Lori Shepard 

Bachelors Degree, Former Auburn Track Coach: Erin Humphreys 

Bachelors Degree, Former NFL, Tennessee Titan, 49er/All-Pac 10 Track (U of Arizona): Ray Wells 

Masters Degree, Former Iowa State Strength Coach: Kyle Johnson 

Masters Degree, Former Mississippi State Strength Coach: Chris Roe 

Masters Degree, Former Collegiate Baseball Coach: David Ray 

Bachelors Degree, Former Program Director for General Motors Health & Fitness program/Former ISKA Kickboxing Champion: Les Whitley

 

2. PROGRAM DESIGN - Velocity of Cool Springs has spent a long time recruiting and developing the best staff available.  This goes back to Answer #1.  But let's think about it. Do you want 1 qualified mind or a network of industry leaders creating a program?  Velocity helps establish best practices that become the model for sports performance. That is really what it comes down to.  Great Performance Coaches executing a scientifically developed plan creates a domino effect of positives. 

 

3. FACILITY - One of the first things that people notice when they walk into our facility is that our facility is climate controlled. We have a comfortable air conditioned facility. When it comes to sports performance, we eliminate anything that might hinder training.  Environment is essential in the quest to help your athlete achieve goals in the field of speed, strength, and agility.  The body is very complicated, and every athlete reacts differently to humidity or cold dry air.  We make sure that the only thing standing in the way of athletic improvement is time and commitment. 

 

Conclusion: Hopefully, this blog answers the question of why we are different.  I want to use this as an opportunity for anyone and everyone to discuss this question and any others.  Please feel free to reply to this blog with comments or questions that could help us become a better service provider in the field of Sports Performance.  

 

*Quick Note: Velocity Sports Internship program is now supported through the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association).  This partnership will help Velocity create creditability in the market place by continuing to add and develop young individuals who have passion to teach others in the field of speed, strength, and agility