Keeping on Track & How to Think About Setbacks
Its May–do you know where your new years resolutions are?
Swimming Performance
Microblog Monday: Programming Barbell Work
The barbell is a fundamental building block across the domain of strength & conditioning. We utilize the barbell in almost every program. The barbell is primary in the sense that it is a ‘primary’ tool for developing the broadest and most encompassing skill portfolio, as far as skills related to athleticism and human performance are …
Featured Fitness Content: Volume 126
Just going to start out today’s Featured Fitness Content post with yet another call to sign up for our newsletter. If you enjoy the Featured Fitness Content series, you’ll enjoy the newsletter. In it, I provide early access to the same content that you’ll find in this series but with additional synopsis, commentary, special offers, …
Microblog Monday: How We Use the Foam Roller
The foam roller really began picking up traction among athletes somewhere between ’09 to ’12–depending on your sources of information and the circles that you ran with at the time. You can never assume that the strength & conditioning realm will find things first–sometimes it’s the powerlifters doing things early, sometimes it’s the bodybuilders, but …
Last Minute Tips for Championship Swim Meets
In a sport like swimming, most of the preparations for the big meets are made months in advanced. In most programs, the workload has been decreased for the 2-4 weeks leading up to the event. Sure, technique is being polished up–normally right up until the day of–but most of the serious work of the season …
Featured Fitness Content: Volume 125
Late winter is a consistently chaotic time of the year at the gym–primarily because of the turbulent schedule that comes out of the tail-end of the swim season. Athletes’ concerns about championship meets, performance anxiety, looming overuse injuries, swim rankings, college-bound swimmers needing to meet time thresholds, chaos all around… But the people need what …
Microblog Monday: A Tale of Two Swimmers
Imagine a scenario in which there are two nearly identical athletes, we’ll call them athlete ‘A’ and athlete ‘B’ (I’m very creative in the naming department). These athletes could be from any sport, but since I’m in the midst of transitioning a handful of swimmers from their PIAA dual meet season into the championship season, …
Microblog Monday: Understanding the Functions of the Trapezius
I need to do a great deal of clarification when I tell a prospective client that we place such a heavy emphasis on the trapezius–in addition to the glutes. In short, the glutes are an underdeveloped, yet critical muscle for control of the femur (and therefore the leg), while the “traps” are an often underdeveloped, …
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[INFOGRAPHIC] 6 Ways to Maintain Peak Performance in High Temperatures
With my upcoming bike tour from Philadelphia to Atlantic City (in the midst of a heat wave), I wanted to make sure that our cyclists have a quick guide for considerations on race-day performance in the heat. This is in no way a comprehensive dive on the subject, but rather a way to get athletes …
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Microblog Monday: Programming Rep Ranges for Slam Ball Exercises
When I’m talking about ‘Slam Ball Exercises’, I’m specifically referring to the subset of exercises done with a slam ball that can only be done with a slam ball. This doesn’t count exercises where a slam ball can be used as a substitute for a dumbbell like an Overhead Slam Ball Reverse Lunge. Slam Ball …
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