August 2010 Blog Posts (28)

This is a post that appeared yesterday on my blog at www.zachdechant.wordpress.com. It is Part I of a series on the shoulder that I am doing.

Since the first week of school is upon us this means one thing for the baseball program at TCU; movement screens. The last 4 days of my life have been evaluating, measuring, and deciphering movement. I recently uploaded a few videos that give some quality examples of the overhead squat,…

Counting A Rep

Counting A Rep

The rep is in three parts

1. Shortening phase

2. Pause and wait for a number

3. The lengthening phase which elicits growth.

The Rep is Everything

Do not lose tension on a rep

Finish where you start

Pause at the top of each rep

Work until you cannot control the descent of…

I just spoke to one of the most respected danish strength coaches/powerlifting coaches/olympic weigthlifting coaches.

My friend participated in Seoul 1988 in the heavyweigth class. He later went on to become the national olympicweigthlifting coach and later the national powerlifting coachs.

In the past 7 years he has coached his atheltes to several world championships and several european championships.

Is asked him about his methods: Non linear…

Every Rep Counts

Here is a link to a blog post on neck training by physical therapist Charlie Weingroff:

http://charlieweingroff.com/2010/08/training-the-neck-dynamically/

Some flexibility programs promise to double your flexibility "overnigth" and these programs MAY deliver what they promise, depending on the cause of this restriction.

But how often have you seen your athletes "double their flexibility" on the monday only to lose these gains again on the tuesday?

However, in my opinon the best measure of a succesfull flexibility program is a reduced need for stretching over time.

One…

Ralph is currently a PhD candidate at Virginia Tech University, where he is conducting research on the effects of neck strengthening protocols on the reduction of traumatic head and neck injuries in sports (that’s not the official title of his research, which I’m sure sounds much better than what I just said-but you get the idea).

Obviously, serious head injuries are a huge problem in sports, and the problem is finally getting a lot of attention. Even The U.S. Congress is now getting…

Pad-Up With Muscular Tissue

Movement is necessary for accurate perception.

Mike Gittleson was the Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Michigan for 30 years and was a part of 15 Football Championships in that time. He explains, how to look at your drills through prism glasses.

Perception is the first requirement for acquisition of a motor skill and conversely movement is necessary for accurate perception. Movement gives us the size, shape and depth…

Just wanted to share this response to a client of mine (54 year old sprinter), who chose to do a 300 even though his program called for 200's. Before this workout he had already missed several workouts due to a sore achilles tendon…

Mike Gittleson was the Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Michigan for 30 years and was a part of 15 Football Championships in that time.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from my friend and colleague Brijesh Patel discussing the most ideal way to coach a footstrike in plyometric activities taking into account how the foot and ankle spring systems

work. B wanted to know if there is any difference in between “landing

on your arch” and a forefoot strike in the efficiency of the response.

As is often the case, I think the answer is that “it depends” and,

provided the “on your arch” cue doesn’t force the athlete’s…