Strength

What do you think are the most important elements of training for snowboarders?

Building Strength and Robustness: Key Training Elements for Snowboarders

So some of the most important elements of training for snowboarders are going to mainly be revolved around robustness. Being able to increase strength and power for performance in snowboarding is relevant and it will help with pop and amplitude on jumps which is going to lead to better scores. But a lot of the training is revolved around not getting injured or being able to be robust so that you can continue to train and spend time on snow. Your best ability is your availability so being able to be there and be training is really the goal. So in light of that there are a few different specific zones and types of training that we want to work on. So first of all the ankle is a really important site. This is because snowboarders wear a big cast essentially around their leg the whole season. This is like having a cast on your arm if you don't use it it just kind of shrinks. So we want to really make sure that they have strong and robust ankles and we do this through the preseason and in-season with really really heavy isometrics. The second one is your eccentric strength so that is your ability to lower or land and be strong through that full range of motion. So that you can take deep landings through deep ranges and be able to get back up. Finally upper body strength and robustness is going to be really important so that if you do take hits you're not going to bust a shoulder.

Snowboarders need to focus on robustness and strength training in order to increase their performance and decrease the risk of injury. This includes ankle and upper body strength, as well as eccentric strength and isometrics.

https://assets.anyquestion.com/raw/upload/sb0fsonlx6jiwymp4wux.vtt

The most important elements of training for snowboarders are focused on robustness and injury prevention. Increasing strength and power enhances performance, particularly in areas like pop and amplitude on jumps, leading to better scores. However, the primary goal is to ensure snowboarders can continue training and spend time on snow without getting injured. Being available is crucial. Specific training focuses include the ankles, which sustain a lot of pressure as snowboarders wear a cast around their leg throughout the season. Heavy isometric exercises are used to strengthen and stabilize the ankles during preseason and in-season training. Another key component is eccentric strength, which involves being strong through the full range of motion during landings to handle deep impacts and recover effectively. Lastly, upper body strength and robustness are important to withstand impacts and minimize shoulder injuries when accidents occur.

What are some best practices for front and back squatting?

Mastering the Perfect Squat: Key Cues and Techniques

Okay so a few key cues for nailing a squat. First of all it's gonna be your positioning with your feet and how you're engaging with the floor. We want to be slightly wider than shoulder width and perhaps slightly facing out but it's more about what's comfortable for you. Next we want to think about how we're engaging with the floor. So if we think about the foot as a tripod big toe little toe and heel we want to grip the floor with that tripod. Now we've got both feet really attached to the floor we want to create pressure outwards so rotating outwards this way and then pulling out. Imagine like you're standing on a piece of paper and you want to cut it right down the middle by pulling out and driving out this way. Obviously your feet aren't actually gonna move but we're creating pressure there and that's gonna turn on the hips. Okay so once your feet are set up, engaged with the floor and creating that external rotation pressure on the floor then we're ready to start thinking about bracing. So I've said it before but I'll say it again. If you imagine an opened coke can if you stood on it it would just crumble versus like a full one which is pressurized and unopened if you stood on it would stay stable. Our torso is the same when we put external load on top of it so we need to fill it up with a nice big breath to create intra-abdominal pressure around the core so we can be a nice stiff and rigid. There's a difference between breathing in up here in the chest and down low in the belly so I encourage you to take sips of air which will actually bring the air a little bit lower and really create a lot of internal pressure so that you can maintain that stability as you take your squat. Keep the air in all the way through and release on the way up or at the top. No matter if it's your first set or your last set always approach the ball with intent.

Position your feet slightly wider than shoulder width and slightly facing out. Engage your feet into the floor as if you are gripping it with a tripod of your big toe, little toe and heel. Create pressure outwards by rotating outwards and pulling apart as if you are standing on a piece of paper and trying to cut it in half. Fill up your core with a big breath to create intra-abdominal pressure. Keep the air in all the way through the squat and release the breath on the way up or at the top. Approach each set with the same intensity.

https://assets.anyquestion.com/raw/upload/dqwdyi2tz767pxxn0m0n.vtt

When it comes to front and back squatting, here are some key best practices. First, pay attention to your foot positioning and how you engage with the floor. Generally, a slightly wider than shoulder-width stance works well, but find what feels comfortable for you. Engage the floor by thinking of your foot as a tripod - the big toe, little toe, and heel. Grip the floor with this tripod to establish a stable base. Create pressure outwards by rotating your feet slightly outward and pushing them out as if you're trying to split a piece of paper in half. While your feet won't actually move, this external rotation pressure activates your hips.

Once your feet are set up and engaged with the floor, focus on bracing. Imagine an unopened, pressurized soda can versus an empty one that crumples easily when stood on. We want our torso to be like the full can, so take a deep breath to fill up your core with intra-abdominal pressure. Breathe lower into your belly rather than shallow in the chest. Taking sips of air can help bring it lower and increase internal pressure for better stability during the squat. Maintain that breath throughout the movement and release it at the top or on the way up.

Lastly, approach every set with intent and focus, whether it's your first or last set. Remember these cues to optimize your squat performance for both front and back squats.

What are some best practices for bench press?

Mastering Shoulder Position and Bar Path for Bench Press

Okay two things I want to talk about for benching is shoulder position and bar path. So first of all whether you're pressing from a bar or dumbbells or just doing a press up on the floor it's really important to keep the shoulders down and back. So the way to think about this because what usually happens is the elbow starts to creep up and then the shoulder starts to creep up and then we're pushing from this really ugly position here using the front deltoid and a really weak shoulder position. Rather what we want to do is create pressure down so you can think like you're bending the bar this way or screwing the floor outwards. This keeps the shoulder down and back and it lets us use our chest to create the pressure. The second thing is bar path so people are often thinking it's straight up and down it's actually more from the sternum to back over the eyes. So if you think about it if you're looking at from where you are there keeping elbows behind the bar and pushing up and back towards the eyes.

Keeping the shoulders down and back, and following a bar path from sternum to back over the eyes will help for a more effective bench press.

https://assets.anyquestion.com/raw/upload/kfuxogwxvtbc3jdxyv4z.vtt

When it comes to bench pressing, there are two important things to keep in mind: shoulder position and bar path. Regardless of whether you're using a barbell, dumbbells, or doing push-ups on the floor, it's crucial to maintain proper shoulder positioning. To achieve this, focus on keeping your shoulders down and back. Many people make the mistake of allowing their elbows and shoulders to creep up, resulting in inefficient pressing and reliance on the front deltoids. Instead, create downward pressure by imagining bending the bar or screwing the floor outward. This keeps the shoulders in a stable and strong position, allowing you to engage your chest effectively. 

Next, consider the bar path during your bench press. Contrary to popular belief, it's not a straight up and down movement. The optimal bar path is from the sternum towards a position slightly over the eyes at the top of the lift. To achieve this, ensure that your elbows stay behind the bar throughout the movement and focus on pushing up and slightly back towards your eyes.

By maintaining proper shoulder positioning and following the correct bar path, you can optimize your bench press technique for better results.

What’s the best way to progressively overload for Hypertrophy?

Unlocking Hypertrophy: The Key to Building Volume

Okay, so how do we increase hypertrophy? This is something that a lot of people try and figure out and try and do. It's essentially a game of volume. How much volume can you fit in in a week, in a month, in a year? So if you look at your normal training week and you do a certain number of sets and reps, it's just about sneaking in more volume of whatever you're trying to improve or get larger. Usually, the most efficient way to do this is to spread out your volume throughout the week and add a little bit on each day so that by the end of the week, you've actually got quite a lot of volume. For example, if you did 10 push-ups a day for 7 days, you've got 70 push-ups. Whereas if you tried to split those into one day or into two days, you'd end up with a lot of fatigue and it would take a long time to recover from that. So one of the most efficient ways to increase hypertrophy is to build volume and spread it out through your days so you never get sore and you can always add more reps. Tracking week to week or month to month and progressively increasing that number is how you're going to be able to improve that.

The most efficient way to increase hypertrophy is to spread out volume throughout the week, adding a little bit more each day. Track your progress and progressively increase reps and sets over time.

https://assets.anyquestion.com/raw/upload/iubtynx6kehatvwic2az.vtt

The best way to progressively overload for hypertrophy is through increasing volume. This means gradually adding more sets and reps over time. Instead of cramming all the volume into one or two days, it's more efficient to spread it out throughout the week. By adding a little bit of volume each day, you accumulate a significant amount by the end of the week. For example, if you do 10 push-ups a day for 7 days, you end up with 70 push-ups. Spacing out the volume prevents excessive fatigue and allows for better recovery. It's important to track your progress and aim to increase the volume week by week or month by month. This gradual progression is key to improving hypertrophy effectively.

How do you develop a tailored training program for a snowboarding team?

Unveiling the Surprising Simplicity of Snowboard Training

So creating a tailored program for a snowboard is the same as creating a program for any other athlete. You might be surprised that Olympic level snowboarders are not actually the most advanced athletes and therefore a lot of the time the training programs are quite basic just to cover our basis of basic strength, basic movement capacity and having good shapes and good movement before actually going on to doing any specialized work. A lot of these guys spend a lot more time on their boards whether that's a snowboard, surfboard or skateboard than they do actually training in the gym so a lot of training programs for these guys is actually quite basic strength work just trying to set a foundation.

Snowboarders may not be the most advanced athletes, so training programs for them should focus on the basics such as strength, movement capacity and good form. They also spend a lot of time on their boards which is important to consider when creating a tailored program.

https://assets.anyquestion.com/raw/upload/niqdpe2ltmoodjyvhk0y.vtt

Developing a tailored training program for a snowboarding team follows the same principles as creating programs for any other athletes. Surprisingly, Olympic-level snowboarders are not always the most advanced athletes. Therefore, training programs often focus on building a foundation of basic strength, movement capacity, and proper form before progressing to specialized training. It's important to note that many snowboarders spend more time on their boards than in the gym, whether it be snowboarding, surfing, or skateboarding. Consequently, training programs for these athletes often include basic strength exercises to establish a solid foundation.

How do you assess the progress of an athlete you're working with?

Testing and Communication: Assessing Athletes' Progress and Response

So with our athletes we test them every block so roughly every four to six weeks this way we can see if the intention of that training block has worked and so we test their isometric strength at 90 degree knee angle so how strong can you push in a squat as well as jump power and then occasionally we'll do other tests on top of that depending on the particular sport and time of year. You can do a fair bit of testing day to day by seeing how much load you can put out in the lift itself but mostly from RPEs and just talking to athletes and seeing how they feel this way we can get a good understanding of or at least an insight into how they're responding to the training day to day. Of course this depends on many other factors almost more so than the training such as sleep nutrition and just rest.

We test our athletes every 4 to 6 weeks to measure their isometric, strength and 90 degree angle as well as jump power. We also use daily observations of their lifts and conversations with them to gauge their responses to the training. Other factors such as sleep, nutrition and rest are also taken into consideration.

https://assets.anyquestion.com/raw/upload/rpunnybvsfzl57ap8neo.vtt

When assessing the progress of an athlete I'm working with, we conduct tests every training block, which is approximately every four to six weeks. These tests include measuring isometric strength at a 90-degree knee angle and jump power. Depending on the sport and time of year, we may also incorporate additional tests. On a day-to-day basis, we can gather information about progress by observing how much load the athlete can handle in their lifts, as well as through Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and discussions with the athletes about how they feel. This allows us to gain insight into their response to training on a daily basis. It's important to consider that factors such as sleep, nutrition, and rest also play a significant role in an athlete's progress.

Swimming

Triathlon

Photography

Track & Field

Nutrition

Physical Therapy

Running

Pets

Cycling

Podcasting

HealthCare

Musculoskeletal

Hockey

First Responders

Integrative Medicine

Chiropractic

Cross Country Skiing

Adaptive Sports

Mental Health

Surfing

Climbing

Tennis

Military

Mind Body

Scholars

Criminal Justice

Liquor

Golf

CrossFit

Soccer

Pickleball

Hunting

Public Speaking

Venture Capital

Conditioning

Program Design

Form & Technique

Injury Prevention

Weight Training

Hypertrophy

Olympic Strength and Conditioning coach -  Team USA Snowboarding disciplines

Neither AnyQuestion nor its Experts provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment or otherwise provide professional healthcare services.

Calvin Chapman