Velocity Sports Performance Official Website

Running fast and jumping high aren't just about how much strength you have in your legs. New research has shown that your ability to fully contract your core muscles and then rapidly relax them is just as important.

Women are more prone than their male counterparts to specific injuries — namely knee injuries like tears of the ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament. A prevention program at the University of Cincinnati is aiming to curb these injuries in women.

Justin Tuck, defensive end for the reigning super bowl champ New York giants, discusses his training at the Mahwah, NJ Velocity Sports Performance.

The Va. Beach native who caught that incredible, game winning Super Bowl pass, was in Va. Beach Monday to help his mentor, Cadillac Harris, teach kids on the football field at the Velocity Sports Performance camp. 

Derrin Horton takes an in-depth look a the intense preparation NFL prospects go through to prepare for the combine.  These NFL prospects prepare in Velocity Sports Performance centers throughout the country with over 70 prospects training for the 2008 combine. 

Velocity Sports Performance athlete and Michigan QB Chad Henne performs at the 2008 combine featuring an impressive effort in the passing drills. 

Velocity Sports Performance athlete and Michigan QB Chad Henne stops by to chat with Scott Hanson about his NFL combine experience. 

Velocity Sports Performance athlete and Notre Dame DT Trevor Laws demonstrates his strength and agility at the 2008 combine. 

Velocity Sports Performance athlete and Notre Dame DT Trevor Laws discusses his performance at the 2008 combine. 

For the aspiring NFL player the ultimate job interview is coming up on February 20, 2008. They will be weighed, measured, tested, interviewed, filmed and challenged mentally. It’s the annual NFL Scouting Combine at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. 

In today’s world of sport participation, the question isn’t should an athlete engage in  physical training but instead how much time is appropriate to devote towards improving one’s speed, strength and agility?  At Velocity Sports Performance, we believe a year round approach is best when providing athletes with the greatest opportunity for success.  

As the popularity of sports performance training continues to explode, it is important to understand what separates Velocity Sports Performance from other options.  Is it our state of the art training facilities which rival even the biggest college and professional complexes?  Or maybe it is our programs which are scientifically designed to improve speed, power, and agility – the three pillars of athleticism.   

Sports performance training is becoming de rigueur for ambitious stars in the making or unfit youngsters whose parents want to shore up their confidence. Great athletes aren’t born, they’re made — or so goes a slogan for Velocity Sports Performance, one of the leading centers that aim to treat Jack or Kate like Steve Nash or Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

It starts with training, technique Local business puts emphasis on reducing the chance of injuries Richmond Times-Dispatch Friday, July 21, 2006   A step quicker. A bit stronger. A second faster. Those are things many high school, college and professional athletes dream of. Sometimes so much so they resort to pumping iron, hiring a personal trainer or turning to illegal enhancements. But there is a better way to improve sports success, according to Shawn Stewart, Ph.D., executive director and franchisee owner of Richmond's Velocity Sports Performance. He feels so strongly about the cross-training and program presentation his business offers he's willing to give it away for free -- at least for the first one-hour visit.   "The things we do are all about preventing injuries," Stewart said. Teaching and training athletes the proper way to improve their performance gives them a better chance at success, he said. With two-a-day dog-days-of-summer high school football practices rapidly approaching, Stewart is working with schools in injury prevention programs and training knowledge.   The No. 1 issue in heat is hydration. "If you are not hydrated, then you'll have other issues leading to muscle strains and other injuries. With football practice, coaches will be faced with injuries before the season begins. That's why we are working with Deep Run High School in a special program. The last couple years, they've had a few too many injuries before the season began."   About 75 percent of those utilizing the services are athletes, with about 25 percent adults, from soccer moms to marathoners to cops. One of those is Capt. Joe Sands of the Henrico Police Department. Sands, 54, said he has worked out for nearly 40 years. He has high praise for "the intensity and variety of the workouts . . . [they] have pushed me beyond my traditional workout mind-set. It is the best I've had in my life. There are a host of [health] benefits, including mental euphoria."   Some of the keys to preventing injuries, Stewart said, are training in flexibility in hamstrings and the lower back, hips and joints, stability and movement mechanics and conditioning. "We work the total body," Stewart said, adding that training is best when it focuses on flexibility, cardiovascular activity and functional strength.   -- John R. Irby