Floating Heels: A New Way To Load

Long story short, I came across this research paper (link here) and it highlighted the beneficial training effects of a “floating heel” while performing jumps. The idea of a floating heel is quite simple. The mid/forefoot is raised and the heel is no longer in contact with the ground, hence the name “floating heel”. Your mid/forefoot have to become quite active and force the arch the work a little harder than it might otherwise, as the weight and load is now place on the only spot that has contact with the ground, being the mid and forefoot.

The idea is that with the heel no longer in contact with the ground, the constraints based approach forces you to work the ankle complex in a way that might be more favorable and transferable to sport. The position of that of a floating heel and contact during a plyometric are quite similar, see image below.

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Post Activation Potentiation: Its about you

Post Activation Potentiation (PAP) is the concept that a specific type of stimulus imposed on the body can facilitate “potentiate” the performance of the following movement to be performed. In less scientific terminology, its the idea that doing one exercise, like a back squat, before another movement, like a jump will help increase the performance of the jump to a greater extent than simply performing the jump by itself.

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Velocity based training – a new approach (load-distance)

Let me say this off the bat, velocity based training is an amazing tool! However, it has unfortunately been constrained to only being performed by coaches and individuals using bar speed measuring devices, such as a Tendo unit or a Gymaware. I myself have used both Tendos and Gymawares and couldn’t be happier with my experience…But, the concept of velocity based training is exactly that, a CONCEPT!

The definition of “Concept” is: A general notion; abstract idea. By definition, a concept doesn’t have constraints and therefore the concept of velocity based training should not be constrained by bar speed measuring devices.

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Supramaximal Eccentric Training For Posterior Upper Body Strength

By: Drake Berberet, CSCS

 

By now we should all know what eccentric strength is. If you don’t, you should probably purchase Triphasic Training right here (I’ll even provide the link, no affiliation).

 

Eccentric movement in its most simplest form is the reverse muscle action to concentric movement. Concentric movement is what we all think of when we think of lifting weights. For example, during a bicep curl the concentric movement is the actual “curl” part. The eccentric movement is the lowering down of the weight down…pretty simple right?

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Assessing Energy Transfer in the Vertical Jump

Author: Drake Berberet

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Transfer of Energy 

The ability to maximize transfer of energy in sport is typically what sets the elite athletes apart from the rest. Not only does it allow them to jump higher, run faster, and move more efficiently, it also allows them to save valuable energy so that they are not burnt out at the end of the game. In the long run, efficient transfer of energy may also prevent the risk of injury. It is well established that fatigue masks fitness, and injuries typically present themselves at the end of the game when the athletes are in a high state of fatigue. If transfer of energy is optimized, that athlete might never reach that level of fatigue that puts them at a risk for injury.

What are the two assessments?

The two assessments that can be used to assess energy and power transfer in jumping are the Eccentric Utilization Ratio (EUR) and Stretch-Shortening Cycle % difference (SSC%). Both assessments help find deficiencies in jumping performance and can help practitioners create a more “optimal” jumping profile going into competition (i.e. when all of your training matters most).

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Integration of Velocity-Based Training and Heart Rate in Training

Using data to manage training takes out the guesswork that a coach may deal with when trying to determine optimal load or rest time for an athlete. There are different types of data to help manage a program: external metrics and internal metrics. Velocity-based training is an external metric that I use daily to track bar velocity via Gymaware, and an internal metric I use daily is a Polar heart rate monitor. I am going to talk about how to integrate these tools in a training session simultaneously to autoregulate programming for an athlete. This means that from set to set, from day to day, or one training block to the next, I can manage load and rest time correctly to try and give the athlete optimal amounts of both.

Why Use Velocity-Based Training?

Velocity based training allows us to see external outputs of the athlete on a given day. An athlete’s output can change daily based on sleep, diet, physiological and psychological stress, so working off a %1RM that was tested 3 weeks ago may not be the most accurate loading strategy. Instead, we can use the Gymaware to determine how fast the athlete can move a given load based on their current state. If I want the athlete to move the bar at 1.0 m/s for a back squat, the Gymaware allows intra-set feedback to the athlete so he or she can understand what 1.0 m/s actually feels like, not to mention the added motivation to beat the previous rep’s velocity.

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Basic Concepts

Strength training, in the grande scheme of this world, is relatively new. Math has been around for centuries yet organized weight training has arguably been around for only decades. Yet, the roots of weight training do not find themselves in embedded in a unique soil. Instead, weight training’s seed is buried in the grounds of many different sciences. Thus, despite weight training being a relatively “new” concept, its foundations have had many years of refinement, dating back to Sir Isaac Newton himself.

Research can thank the Russian’s for their obsessive drive to show world dominance through physical feats (i.e olympics). This obsession expedited the scientific understanding  of human adaptation to physical stressors (weight training). Thus, sprouting from behind the iron curtain were many of the basic concepts that create the foundation of any strength and conditioning program. Russian’s clearly understood that strength mattered and not only strength, but the context of strength. By melding physiology and physics, the newtonian output of performance and the biological process of obtaining said outputs were formed. Thus, one could argue physics, physiology and sprinkle of psychology could just about answer any sporting action.

By understanding some of the basic scientific roots from which strength training has grown from, we as consumers and learners can avoid dangerous pitfalls. Instead of chasing shiny objects hanging from the top branches, we can use our basic understandings to discern whether or not such a leap of faith is worthwhile. This is not to say that new discoveries cannot be made. However, there is a reason why we didn’t go from horse and buddy to Tesla sports cars. Discovery is progressive in nature and doesn’t seem to take such wild quantum leaps like we may think.

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The Not So Confusing Guide To Sports Science

At times, the term “sports science” feels so nebulous, that regardless of what organized attempts you make to integrate sports science, you will always fall short in capturing the whole picture. As a matter of fact, that is 100% correct. Regardless of what you do, what you think you do, or what you want to do, you will never be able to fully understand a single individual, let alone every individual you work with… Sounds like an uphill battle, right?

 

Well, the good thing about sports science is that it is a failure driven process. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying through their teeth. Unlike what might be the initial hopes and dreams of someone looking to get into or take on sports science, it will never be a utopia-like, rainbow filled process that will elucidate all of your problems. However, the exciting aspect of sports science is that right there! We don’t know, which means what we are currently doing without the use of sports science is also unknown. So, instead of not asking questions and thinking we are right, we might as well start looking for answers and accept the bumps along the way.

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