Athletic Training and Strength & Conditioning Report

"Parents and Coaches Ask Me All The Time..........

How Do You Make An Athlete Faster, Stronger, and More Powerful?"

Uncovering Sports Training Myths...

7 Athletic Training and Strength & Conditioning Myths: 

Why Simply Playing and Practicing a Sport is not the Best Way of Increasing Speed, Strength, and Power......

By Chris Blake, Certified Athletic Trainer, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, and Owner of Pro Athletic Training and Development, LLC

Myth #1 - You Have to Practice and Play a Sport Year-round in Order to Be a Better Athlete.

Year-round sport specificity can and will lead to overtraining and eventual burnout of the athlete.  Some studies have shown that if an athlete begins sport-specific training before the age of 10, they will burnout and/or become injured before the age of 13.  If you don't think this is true just ask your local orthopedic sports medicine doctor about the rise in youth athletic sports-related injuries.

Myth #2 - You Can Just Use a Workout Program from a Professional Team or Collegiate Program to Get Better at Your Sport.

One size does not fit all, especially in working with youth athletes. Youth athletes do not produce lactic acid or have the muscle structure to handle eccentric forces before the age of 13, about the time that puberty kicks in.  So having young athletes follow a professional or collegiate strength and conditioning program is really useless and can lead the youth athlete into injury promotion instead of reduction.

Myth #3 - You Have to do Speed Training and that Will Take Care of Everything Else.

Speed Training is only one facet of six to ten variables that you need to work on in order to improve athletic performance. Besides the single most effective way of increasing an athlete's speed is developed through reaction time and weight training. Only working on one aspect of athletic training, in this case speed, does little to nothing for the athlete.

Myth #4 - You Have to do Heavy Weight Training to get Stronger for Sports.

As listed above, only focusing on one aspect of training will make your athlete less likely to achieve success at their sport.  Heavy weight training will get you stronger but it can also make you slower and less powerful.  Plus an athlete experiences many different resistances during the course of playing their sport.  Lifting heavy weight all of the time is not one of them....And heavy weight training will pound the heck out of your joints. 

Myth #5 - You Have to Be Big to Be a Better Athlete.

This is a mistake that I made back in high school 20 years ago.  Being bigger in size has nothing to do with being a better athlete....just a better looking athlete. If you are truely competing in sports, the last thing you want is to just look good....you want to win don't you?  Overall being bigger makes you less athletic.

Myth #6 - You Have to Have the Right Genetics to Do Anything Worthwhile in Sports.

Some of the best athletes in the world were short changed in the genetics department.  David Eckstein, professional baseball athlete who is 5'7"tall and weighs 175 lbs. has won 2 World Series Championships and was MVP of the 2006 World Series.  Spud Webb, retired professional basketball player of the NBA won the 1986 Slam Dunk contest during the All Star weekend sizing in at 5'6" tall.  Although genetics do help in some cases, having heart and the determination to succeed far outweighs the most talented..as my two examples have shown.

Myth #7 - You Can't Develop Athleticism, Either you Have It or You Don't.

Most successful and professional athletes didn't have natural-born athleticism.  They developed throughout time and played many different sports (and trained as well). 

Get Ready to Discover the Athletic Development System that will Help You Achieve Reproducible Athletic Success Over and Over. 

If You Want to Increase Your Speed, Develop the Right Kind of Strength and Power, then Call Us Now to schedule an appointment. We'll get you started on the right track. 

(860) 202-0334

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Coach Blake doing what he loves.....Teaching!