Strength

How does resistance training improve power and speed?

Unlocking Power: How Resistance Training Improves Speed and Strength

When you think about power, strength times speed equals power. So you have to be strong and then you have to be fast in order to be powerful. So with resistance training, there's lots of different ways you can resistance train to improve your speed and power. Now if you're just trying to improve your strength, you could do slower eccentric exercises, exercises that lengthen your time and retention to break down more muscle tissue and build more strength. And that should improve your power and your speed. It should have a positive effect on that just by getting stronger. So the strength aspect, the more force you can put into the ground, the more power and speed you should have. So resistance training is really important when it comes to part of the equation of power. The other way you can resistance train is do speed strength, do resistance exercises, or maybe you lift heavier weights quicker and you drop it without the eccentric, or maybe you do more resistance training where you move fast like Med balls or lighter weights and just try to move it as fast as you can on your Deadlift or your Squat or whatever it is you're working on. So working more on the speed-strength continuum as well. So finding a balance of all of those when it comes to resistance training should help improve your speed and your power.

Power is a combination of strength and speed so to improve it, you need to do resistance training that focuses on both. This could include slower eccentric exercises to increase your strength as well as speed-strength exercises where you move the weight quickly. Finding a balance between the two will help improve your power and speed.

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Resistance training plays a crucial role in improving power and speed. Power is determined by the combination of strength and speed. To enhance power, one must be both strong and fast.

Resistance training offers various methods to improve speed and power. If the goal is to enhance strength, exercises with slower eccentric movements can be beneficial. These exercises lengthen the time under tension, breaking down more muscle tissue and promoting strength gains. Increased strength positively impacts power and speed by allowing for greater force production.

Another approach to resistance training for power and speed improvement is speed-strength training. This involves performing resistance exercises with quicker movements, such as lifting heavier weights explosively and dropping them without focusing on the eccentric phase. Additionally, exercises like medicine ball throws or using lighter weights with a focus on moving them as fast as possible can be effective.

Finding a balance between strength-focused exercises and speed-strength training is essential for optimizing power and speed gains. Incorporating a variety of resistance training methods can help improve overall performance in terms of speed and power.

How important are foam rolling, stretching, massage and similar tools for injury prevention and how often should you use them?

Prevent injuries with foam rolling, stretching & massage

I really like foam rolling stretching. I haven't used Too Many of similar massage tools, but the way that I see it, as anything you can do to soften the tissue. So if you have a manual therapists, massage therapist a physical therapist, someone that can get in there. And kind of loosen up your tighter tissues to allow your kind of bones and joints to sit in the right positions to kind of get you to be where you need to be. That's great. If you don't then foam rolling and massage tools, and Stretching is really important. I think to soften your tissue to open up ranges of motion. And then obviously you have to activate and strengthen those ranges of motion, but I would say, daily, at least, before workouts, whenever you really have time if you're in school still, if you can do it first thing in the morning and then go about your day, if you can do it at the end of the day and open up your end ranges of motion, that's great too, but if you can do it before your workout, to kind of soften the tissue and get your alignment in a good position, Asian and then do some stretches to kind of open everything up, that might be limited on you. And then you can activate those tissues and then strengthen those tissues in those ranges of motion. I think that plays a major role in injury prevention. So if you can find a way to get soft tissue through a therapist or just by foam rolling, if you can find a way to stretch and open up ranges of motion great. And then you got to turn on and activate those muscles and those n ranges of motion and then strengthen those The joints through range of motion full range is emotion. I think that plays a big role in injury prevention, but if you're just using massage guns, or stretching its prime and I can play as big of a role. But if you can hit all of those kind of in that order at least once a day or a couple times a week or numerous times a day, you should be in a good position to prevent injuries.

Foam rolling and stretching are essential for injury prevention. Massage guns, therapists, or foam rolling can help to soften tissue and open up ranges of motion. Stretching helps to open up ranges of motion and activate muscles. Strengthening those joints through full range of motion is key to injury prevention.

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Foam rolling, stretching, massage, and similar tools can be beneficial for injury prevention. They help soften the tissues and improve range of motion, allowing bones and joints to align properly. If you have access to manual therapists or professionals who can address tight tissues, that's great. However, if not, foam rolling, massage tools, and stretching can still be effective.

It is recommended to incorporate these practices daily, especially before workouts. If you have time in the morning or at the end of the day, you can also perform them then. The goal is to soften the tissues, improve alignment, and open up ranges of motion. Afterward, it's important to activate and strengthen the muscles in those ranges of motion.

By following this routine, you can significantly contribute to injury prevention. However, solely relying on massage guns or stretching may not be as effective. It's best to combine foam rolling, stretching, activation, and strengthening exercises in a comprehensive approach.

Ideally, aim to perform these practices at least once a day or multiple times a week to maintain good tissue health and prevent injuries.

What are the best ways to increase mobility?

Unlock Your Mobility Potential: Best Tips & Resources!

Best ways to increase Mobility. It depends what you're trying to achieve. If you want more joint range of motion, if you're trying to just get more muscle tissue range of motion. If you just want to touch your toes or whatever it is, you're trying to accomplish like a little more detail in order to give you the best answer. But band distracted stretching is a good way to open up your hips and get your your joints moving better by creating more space in your bony structures. Kelly Starrett, Supple Leopard, the ready state has a lot of real good information on band distracted stretching. If you're just trying to get some muscle tissue length to me, the best thing is consistency. So if you can find a Mobility routine that works for you and you can do it every day, whether it's first thing in the morning or last thing at night or before, or after your workout, whenever that is just being consistent with it. And then, If you're consistent, just maybe doing it a little bit more often could help as well. So finding something that works for you and then drilling down a little bit deeper and being consistent with. It should be the best way to increase your Mobility.

The best way to increase Mobility is to do band distracted stretching and be consistent with a Mobility routine that works for you.

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The best ways to increase mobility depend on your specific goals. If you want to improve joint range of motion or muscle tissue range of motion, there are different approaches. For joint range of motion, band distracted stretching can be effective in opening up your hips and creating more space in your bony structures. Kelly Starrett's book Supple Leopard and The Ready State provide valuable information on this technique.

If you're aiming to increase muscle tissue length, consistency is key. Find a mobility routine that works for you and commit to doing it every day. Whether it's in the morning, evening, before or after your workout, consistency is crucial. Additionally, increasing the frequency of your mobility routine may also help. Find what works for you and stick to it consistently to achieve the best results in increasing your mobility.

Where does power for hitting home runs come from?

Unleashing the Power: Anatomy of a Home Run Swing

Hey James. Thanks for the question about where does power for hitting home runs? Come from, it's not an easy answer. There's a lot of things that factor into it, but some of the main things, I'll cover right now. You have to have strong, powerful legs and core in order to create Force into the ground and then transfer that Force, through your torso, into your arms, to your bat, and to the ball, when you hit it, in order to get it to go over the fence. So you have to have strong legs, explosive legs. A strong core, a well-positioned cord, so that you're not leaking any power. When you do rotate, you have to have good swing mechanics to. You have to be able to separate your hips and your shoulders. So you need good disassociation. You need a range of motion. Pretty much all the way up your body from your ankles, to your hips, to your ribs, to your shoulders, to get that good separation of your hips and shoulders. So you have to be able to kinematically sequence. Well, get your body to move properly. Have good swing mechanics and hopefully if you can put all these together and you have really good hand-eye coordination, to be able to square up a ball, and hit it at the right angle to use that power in force. You're creating to hit a homerun. So there's a lot that goes into it, there's more than I said right now, but hopefully some of those things you can dig deeper into and help you hit more home runs.

Power for hitting home runs come from having strong legs and core, good swing mechanics, and good hand-eye coordination.

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The power for hitting home runs comes from a combination of factors. Strong and powerful legs and core are essential for generating force from the ground and transferring it through the torso, arms, bat, and ultimately to the ball. Explosive leg strength and a well-positioned core help maximize power without any energy leakage.

In addition to physical strength, good swing mechanics are crucial. The ability to separate the hips and shoulders, known as disassociation, is important. This requires a range of motion throughout the body, from the ankles to the hips, ribs, and shoulders. Proper kinematic sequencing, or getting the body to move correctly, is also necessary.

Having excellent hand-eye coordination is vital for squaring up the ball and hitting it at the right angle to utilize the generated power and force. It's important to note that there are more factors involved, but these are some key elements to consider.

By focusing on developing strong legs and core, improving swing mechanics, and honing hand-eye coordination, you can increase your chances of hitting more home runs.

What exercises strengthen your rotator cuff?

Strengthen Your Rotator Cuff with Simple Exercises and Smart Techniques

Simple exercises to strengthen your rotator cuff. Muscles are internal external rotations of your shoulder. So you can know when there are mature side or your arm up at 90 degrees in line with your shoulder. The key with these though, when you got to think about the muscles that you're training, and kind of how they run infraspinatus, subscapular supraspinatus and teres minor, there's different positions. You can kind of do these in to hit those specific muscles. So what I'm doing my, My external rotations, I want to have the cable slightly lower. I just don't, I don't want them. I want to make sure I'm not pulling it straight across for internal and external like you do most of the time when you see most people do. So when you're doing external rotations, think pulling from low to high, so it's a little more in line with the fibers of the Innsbruck infraspinatus. So when I do them at 90 degrees, the cables down low and I pull it up as externally rotate, and same thing when it's at Side. It's lower than you would think and then you pull your hand higher closer to shoulder height as you externally rotate. And with internal rotation, it's the opposite to work your subscapular and the muscle fibers. How they run on your sub scap, you want to pull from high to low. So if it's at your side, you're pulling the cable from maybe just under shoulder height down towards your belly button, for a internal rotation, with your arm at your side and then with your arm up at 90 degrees, put the cable slightly of your shoulders. So when you pull it down, it doesn't hit your arm. You can kind of get the resistance from the band or the cable throughout the whole strength curve. So make those tweaks when you're doing those simple movements and then another thing that I like to try to incorporate is doing them in like a three dimensional plane. So kind of like doing a TRX Road external rotation but make it a little more kind of like a circle where you kind of grow up and back. You externally rotate and then kind of pull your elbows down a little Whoa, and then same thing, when you go back, make it more like a throwing ish motion where you kind of go up out and then down it's not just row, externally rotate, and then go back and same thing. When you do internal rotations I'll see if I can post a video of a manual that I like to do with athletes where you're kind of internally rotating while also pulling your arm forward and kind of put it in your pocket and then resisting yourself all the way back up to 90 degrees.

To strengthen your rotator cuff, you can do exercises such as external and internal rotations. When doing external rotations, pull from low to high and when doing internal rotations, pull from high to low. Additionally, you can also incorporate 3D plane movements for a more well-rounded exercise.

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Exercises to strengthen your rotator cuff involve internal and external rotations of your shoulder. For external rotations, position the cable slightly lower and pull it from low to high, in line with the fibers of the infraspinatus muscle. When your arm is at your side, the cable should be lower, and as you externally rotate, pull your hand closer to shoulder height.

For internal rotations, pull the cable from high to low to target the subscapular muscle. When your arm is at your side, pull the cable from just under shoulder height down towards your belly button. With your arm at 90 degrees, position the cable slightly off your shoulders to avoid hitting your arm as you pull it down.

To add variation, incorporate three-dimensional movements, such as a circular motion with TRX or resistance bands. For example, externally rotate and pull your elbows down, then go back in a throwing motion. For internal rotations, try a movement where you internally rotate while pulling your arm forward and then resisting the movement back up to 90 degrees.

These exercises target specific muscles of the rotator cuff and can be adjusted based on the position of the cable or resistance band.

What are some good strength & mobility exercises to help with skating?

Skate stronger with these key strength and mobility exercises!

So I'm not a skater but I know lots of strength coaches and athletes that play hockey and skating and do things and work with people that do that. So, some good strength and Mobility exercises to help with that, you got to think about what you're doing and what you can do to kind of counteract, what you're doing to make your body feel better, and then also to help what you're doing. So when you're skating using lots of hips, you'd probably getting into anterior pelvic tilt so exercises, That can help you find a more neutral pelvis, doing some bridging doing some hamstring doing some hip stability, things to kind of stabilize and strengthen, your pelvis posteriorly, things to strengthen, your adductors, your abductors, all the muscles that you're going to be lengthening and shortening quickly in skating. I like to do. Lots of bunkies with my athletes funky hip stabilizing exercises. You can do a many different ways, but if you just have a little bench, you can basically work some n range hip stability. Lots of lower abs, just to kind of keep the pelvis pulling in the right direction. Belly button down, strength training, getting your lower abs to fire, getting your glutes, to fire. I said Bridges, I said, bunkies, basically anything you can do to get your glutes on, open up your hip flexors. So if we can do the couch trip, Which do some hip flexor stretches do some active and range adductor stretching things to kind of train you to get in the end ranges that you're going to be exposed to in the act of skating, being strong in those short, and ranges, and those lengthened and ranges, and also having them ability to hit those motions, but also the strength in those and ranges. So that, when you're doing it, you're not going to get hurt. Hope that helps

To help with skating, good strength and mobility exercises include bridging, hip stability exercises, lower ab exercises, glute activation exercises, hip flexor stretches, and adductor stretches. These will help strengthen and activate the muscles used in skating, as well as give the body the range of motion and flexibility needed to perform the movements without getting injured.

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As someone who isn't a skater, I've gathered insights from strength coaches and athletes who specialize in hockey and skating. Here are some recommended strength and mobility exercises to improve skating performance:

1. Focus on addressing anterior pelvic tilt, which is common during skating. Perform exercises like bridging, hamstring exercises, and hip stability exercises to help find a more neutral pelvis and strengthen the posterior pelvic region.

2. Strengthen the adductors and abductors, as these muscles are involved in the quick lengthening and shortening movements during skating. Incorporate exercises that target these muscle groups.

3. Include funky hip stabilizing exercises, which can be done in various ways, such as using a bench to work on hip stability in different ranges of motion.

4. Prioritize lower abdominal strength to maintain proper pelvic alignment. Engage the lower abs by focusing on exercises that activate them, along with glute activation exercises like bridges.

5. Stretch and open up the hip flexors with exercises like the couch stretch. Additionally, incorporate active and range adductor stretching to train your body for the end ranges of motion experienced during skating.

The goal is to develop strength in both the shortened and lengthened positions, as well as the ability to safely and effectively perform these movements. By incorporating these exercises, you can enhance your skating abilities and reduce the risk of injury.

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Matt Eiden is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach (RSCC) with 14 years of experience. He was a strength coach for the Washington Nationals from 2009 to 2022. He is also Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) certified. After graduating from St. Mary's with a BS degree in Sports Management in 2008, he played two professional seasons of independent baseball before joining the Nationals as an intern in 2009. In 2016, he was promoted to Head MLB Strength and Conditioning Coach. During the off-season, he resides in Hilton Head, SC with his wife, Ashley. His hobbies include golf, basketball, reading, and spending time with his wife and family. Matt believes that moving well is essential and coaches must be able to connect with athletes to help them work toward the greater goals of the player and team.

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