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MAKE 2020 YOUR BEST PERFORMING YEAR WITH THIS...

1/2/2020

First and foremost, I want to wish a happy, healthy and safe new year to all athletes, supporters and readers around the world. The interest and encouragement shared in 2019 is greatly appreciated. Helping you, and many more like you, make 2020 the best performing year ever is a top priority, whether in sports, school or work,

One way I try to offer assistance is through our Kilograms To Kilometers newsletter (sign up HERE if you haven't already). A movement or exercise is highlighted each week that can improve your training and/or performance. None of the movements are new or mind-blowing (not our goal anyway) but, rather, intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how you move. Maybe some demos provide a new variation you've not thought of before or give you a different cue to consider when doing a movement you've done hundreds of times.

So, to kick off 2020, the first High Performance Movement we want to share is just that.....MOVE.

Do SOMETHING and take ACTION!!!!

Numerous presentations to teams and conversations with folks have proven to me that most people, athlete or otherwise, know the WHAT (to do) and WHY (to do it).

Where they fall short, unfortunately, is actually DOING.

So, as you're thinking about the new year, think about what action needs to be taken in order to make that goal/resolution/target a reality.

Keep in mind, the action you take does not have to get you from a level 1 to a level 10. Instead, focus on actions that will get you from a level 3 to a level 4.

Maybe the goal should be to set out your gym clothes every night so you are ready for the morning walk/run when you wake up. Or to set an alarm in the evening to begin your pre-bedtime routine so you get more quality sleep.

Commit to taking action in the new year then decide on what actions will get you closer to where you want to go.

I hope everyone has had a safe, wonderful holiday season and we look forward to continuing along your health and fitness journey in 2020.

-Justin

PS: I have only 3 more spots available for athletes who are looking to improve their training and performance this year. Contact me this weekend to receive 3-months of coaching for just $149 (typically $149/mth or $299 for 3-mths). Send me an email with "2020" in the subject line to schedule a strategy session and get started right away.

INTRODUCING (OFFICIALLY) THE 12 HABITS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE

10/1/2019

INTRODUCING (OFFICIALLY) THE 12 HABITS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE

You have probably seen some new, helpful (hopefully) information being shared on our social media threads over the last 3-4 months.

During recent years of working with top level athletes (pro, national and international), it has become clear as to what sets apart those who could reach that level from those who not only reach it, but maintain that standard of performance. From that work, we came up with a list of routines, or habits, demonstrated by top athletes that helped maximize their training, performance and overall health.

12 HABITS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE

Sleep
Hydration
Recovery
Meals
Snacks
Pre-game/workout meals
Post-game/workout nutrition
Mobility
Activation
Physical Training (Strength, Power/Explosive, Weights, etc)
Running/Conditioning
The Mental Game

Are there certain exercises that help develop strength or power better than others? Maybe.
Is there a drill/exercise I can do to get faster or beat my competition? Probably so.
Would a certain supplement be better for me to take than another? Yes.

BUT…

Getting great at fitting these habits into your daily routine can prove to be more beneficial and keep you in the game longer.

We’ve helped a number of athletes this year prepare for national championships, World Cups and professional tryouts. Some of the feedback has been incredible:
“My teammates say I look leaner!”
“Coach says I look more explosive when I’m running”
“I went into camp feeling more fit than ever before”

If you, a teammate, or someone you know is interested in improving their training environment here’s what we recommend:

Sign up for the Kilograms To Kilometers (#KGtoKM) workout newsletter

Receive tips, techniques and strategies on how to incorporate the #12HighPerformanceHabits into your routine

Complete the Fitness Score Card to assess your current training environment.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter to receive new ideas that will enhance your training, performance and overall health!

SPECIAL (FREE) OFFER FOR FALL 2019...

9/2/2019

We are excited to launch this fall a new (and hopefully useful) feature for the athlete followers who are looking to maximize their physical training and preparation for competition.

Each week, we will send out a training routine for athletes to follow during their fall season. In addition to a 3-day weight lifting program, there will be suggested recovery sessions and, in the weeks to come, running routines to help maintain power, acceleration and speed.

In addition, one of our twelve (12) High Performance Habits will be highlighted in each email to help you maximize your nutrition, recovery, sleep and all around preparation within your daily training environment.

This feature is FREE to our supporters and followers who sign up for the Weekly Workout Newsletter.

Followers are also welcome to schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation to discuss the workout program and/or how it fits into their daily environment OR to discuss receiving more personalized training routines.

#universalsportstraining #universalsportsathlete #multisportathlete #kilogramstokilometers #wintherecovery #trainsmarter #stopguessingstopmeasuring

CRANKING UP THE VOLUME!!!!

7/31/2019

Don’t let the title fool you. We’re not talking about your favorite pump up tunes. The volume we are referring to is the amount of work you do over the course of a training week.

So what information do you use to measure just how much work you put in? Minutes trained/played? Number of reps or total weight lifted?

Everything you do (or don’t) regarding physical preparation needs to be factored into your build-up to competition. As an example, the following categories are just a few examples of what we factor in when creating training schedules and lifting programs for team environments:

minutes of engagement - film review, discussion, etc
time on feet - walking to/from training, standing around during practice
Work and recovery - amount of time training versus amount of time for recovery (naps, treatments, etc)
GPS metrics - total meters, high speed meters, contacts, etc

“So when should I be doing the most work?”

Many teams and/or athletes put A LOT of emphasis on running or conditioning early in the season to “get in shape” for the first match. Then, as the season progresses, the amount of running and conditioning work decreases.This can leave some athletes feeling sore and tired at the end of the season. Sometimes individuals go into survival mode, just making it from one week to the next because they experienced the most amount of volume early on in the year.

Our goal, when looking at full competition calendars, is for the athletes to feel fit and fresh going into the second half of the schedule and building into playoff time. One way to do that is to reduce the amount of work (load, sets/reps, etc) programmed in the weight room while progressively increasing the amount of high speed, intense running as the season continues. This avoids the athlete getting ‘shocked’ by a huge amount of volume up front and allows them to build up slowly.

The help of GPS monitoring gives coaches and athletes an accurate read on just how much work is being done over the course of the season. Awesome features, like SPT’s player readiness (pictured below), make it easy to see how intense a session is in relation to a short or long term period.

Not sure about how to schedule your Fall training? Need more than just a weight lifting program? We have only 5 spots remaining for our Kilograms to Kilometers Fall Training Program. Athletes who register will receive:
* 12-week strength training and running/conditioning program
* Weekly check-ins for advice or adjustments on workout routines
* Weekly High Performance Habits to improve training, performance, recovery and mental focus/attitude
* Digital copy of the Athlete Performance Manual

For more info, send us an email at universalsportsstrength@gmail.com or direct message on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

#KilogramstoKilometers #KGtoKM #knowyournumbers #stopguessingstartmeasuring #wintherecovery #multisportathletes #universalsportsstrength #universalsportsconditioning #universalsportstraining #universalsportsathlete #movebetterplaybetter #trainsmarter

A Different Kind of Off-Season Challenge

6/28/2019

I often use a race car team as an analogy for sports competitions. Sometimes, in the middle of a season, you only have time for a pit stop: to change the tires, re-fuel and get back onto the track. Other times, you can park in the garage, prop up the car on jacks and take a good, long look under the hood to see what is running good and what needs improving. With athletes, sometimes there are small injuries that they can tolerate (play with), with close management, until the end of the season when they can dedicate more time to resolving the issue 100%.

A concerning issue has come up recently around the amount of time (or lack thereof) that athletes allow themselves between sports and/or training periods. One athlete I spoke to recently had the following sports calendar: Football (Aug-Nov) into Wrestling (Nov-Jan), then Rugby (Jan-Jun) and finally Rugby 7’s/All-stars (May-Aug), with other sports training and camps mixed in.

I’m a fan of multi-sport athletes for a number of reasons (eliminate overuse injuries, develop multiple skills, etc). But, in doing so, are you eliminating the opportunity to hit “Reset”, mentally and physically, between seasons or sports? Are you allowing time to overcome the small niggles that you carried throughout the second half of the season? Or enjoying a fun getaway with family/friends that does not involve hotels, tournaments or tight schedules?

SO WHAT CAN I DO???

For starters, look at your calendar (Sunday to Saturday) to see how much activity (weight lifting, sports training, games, etc) you may engage with over the course of a week. An easy measurement is to use a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale of 1-10 to score each session based on difficulty, fatigue, etc (1 = no effort, 10 = maximal effort)

Then, look at the entire week to see how much variation you have from one day to the next. Here is an example of how that may look using a simple spreadsheet:

Now, imagine looking at this over the course of a few months. A number of strength and conditioning(S&C) coaches will schedule a deload week (less total volume to allow for more recovery) every 3-4 weeks. Do you have a series of weeks that stay at high levels? Or does your schedule allow for a few days off, allowing you to recover fully and be ready to go 100% for the next session?

To paraphrase what one coach said recently, the best ability an athlete can have is AVAILABILITY, referencing one's ability to stay healthy and fit to play rather than being unavailable due to injury or illness. Don’t let the fear of “getting out of shape” or "losing your spot" push you to the point of soreness or injury where you can’t participate.

Want to get the most out of your training without overdoing it? Curious about how best you can schedule recovery into your routine? Send us an email at universalsportsstrength@gmail.com or direct message on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

#kilograms2kilometers #kg2km #knowyournumbers #stopguessingstartmeasuring #wintherecovery #multisportathletes #universalsportsstrength #universalsportsconditioning #universalsportsathlete #movebetterplaybetter #trainsmarter

Know Your Numbers: How Player Tracking Units Make Training More Efficient

6/3/2019

You wake up one day after a match feeling like you just survived a train wreck. Your shoulders are sore as ever, you can barely walk and it seems like it takes a full week to recover. In another experience, you wake up after a match feeling like you did nothing more than a slightly challenging workout and you feel fully recovered in 1-2 days. Sound familiar? What's the difference?

As a coach or player, this is where player tracking technology helps understand what players are experiencing and if, or how, adjustments should be made to training plans. Some devices record hundreds of data points that show anything from how much distance is covered, and at what speeds, to number of impacts a player experiences and even on what foot you may favor while running. Being aware such information can help coaches improve fitness/conditioning very similar to how tracking weights used for certain lifts can help improve strength development in the weight room. There is also a risk-management aspect, in terms of minimizing non-contact injuries, that can be utilized by watching how much distance players cover each day, week or season.

Tracking athletes from three different codes of Rugby (Union, Sevens and Touch) has allowed me to become familiar with the average work endured by players in each position during local, national and international competitions. This information is extremely important for when athletes are preparing to make a jump up in competition (club to select or national to international) and allows me to prescribe "top-up" conditioning to prepare individuals for the faster, more intense competition they will face at the next level.

Earlier this year, quite the opposite effect was experienced. It was discovered after the first Rugby 7's training of the year that players had covered distances that were double what would be run during an entire tournament. Many might ask "Well, if they ran further, they would get more fit, right?"

Not necessarily.

Think about trying to lift 150% more thank you are accustomed to for a particular exercise. Not only may you miss the lift and need longer to recover, but you open yourself to a much greater risk of injury. . Same with your running. If you cover long distances too often at too great of an intensity you can increase your risk of experiencing soft tissue injuries (pulled hamstring, strained calf, etc)

"So how would one use this technology?"

While the technology may provide over 100 data points, there are only a handful of categories to focus on, initially. Here are the main categories we focus on with our current squads:

Total Distance: actual amount of distance covered during a training session, match or activity. Most coaches set targets for total volume within a session, week and/or season.

High Speed Distance: total distance covered over a certain speed level. Some coaches refer to this as 'work-rate' as it highlights whether an athlete is walking/jogging around the field or moving with urgency and purpose.

Sprint Efforts (accelerations/decelerations): number of times velocity increases and is maintained for more than 1-second

Impacts: number of instances that register 5G Forces or greater (tackles, jumps/dives, etc). This is important when considering recovery processes and upcoming weight workouts as certain areas of the body may be more sore than usual.

Top Speed: maximum speed reached. It is important to make sure athletes are reaching maximum or near-maximum speeds on a regular basis. Recognizing that players have not reached their speed max may call for some extra speed work outside of regular training.

Based on your code/sport, position and point in the season, there are certain benchmarks for each category that you will want to target on a short and long term scale.
Interested in learning more? Send me an email at universalsportsstrength@gmail.com to discuss the difference in workloads and speeds by position or to discuss how getting your own unit (it's more affordable than you think) can impact your training and performance.

#kilograms2kilometers #knowyournumbers #stopguessingstartmeasuring #wintherecovery

Strengthening Your Contact Skills: Standing Single-Arm Bench (or SA Landmine Press)

5/2/2019

“Stiff Arm”, “Fend Off”, The “Don’t Argue”
Creating separation from your opponent, no matter what you call it, is a great way to make the highlight reel when timed and executed perfectly. And while some may think that increasing your bench press max is great, it may be useless if the athlete can not transfer that strength to game-like scenarios (i.e. on your feet).
This month’s exercise highlight, the Landmine Press, is a great way for athletes to learn how to create a stable platform, from their feet up through their trunk/torso, while generating strength/power in movements similar to what they can/will use in a game.

Set-up    Place the barbell into the landmine base (if available) or securely into the corner of a frame/rack (to prevent movement of the base). Load the open end of the bar (not wedged into the corner or landmine base) with light/moderate weight).    Taking an even stance at the weighted end (with feet pointed parallel to the bars direction) grip the weighted end of the bar and lift/hold to the front of your shoulder (bar in right hand, bar in front of your right shoulder).

Execution    With a strong, balanced stance, press the bar up/away from your shoulder until your arm is fully extended (do not lock your elbow). Slowly return the bar to the starting position while keeping hips and shoulders square (try not to twist or rotate).

Sets/Reps    Three (3) sets of 3-5 reps is a great starting point for young athletes.

Variations
   Ipsilateral Split Stance (i.e. right hand pressing, right foot forward)    Contralateral Split Stance (i.e. right hand pressing, left foot forward    Explosive Press (even or split stance - from an even stance position, use a small dip/bounce to initiate the movement and explode the bar away from the shoulder/chest. Athlete can finish with an even or split stance.

Have specific questions about how to improve your performance in other positions? Send an email to universalsportsstrength@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook (@UniversalSportsStrength), Instagram (@universalsportsstrength) and Twitter (@UniversalS_C) to learn more in the coming weeks.

Want to be at your best while traveling for tournaments and tours? Want advice on what to do during the summer off-season? Be sure to follow us on social media for more information about our Kilograms to Kilometers webinar "WINNING THE RECOVERY" on Monday, May 13th.

Stop Guessing, Start Measuring

4/18/2019

The Workout with instant results…Does it exist?

3/26/2019

Watching a technical video/demonstration on the internet can make an immediate difference on one particular skill. Maybe changing hand positions on the ball results in a quicker, smoother pass. Or shifting your foot position creates a more stable base in your scrum profile. But can one, single workout make a difference in your physical development? Or can one meal, or one day, make a difference in your nutrition?

As we are in the days of instant news, instant updates and instant response, more and more young athletes seek the same out of their training plan: instant results. I checked in with an athlete recently who was just two weeks into a training plan. During the conversation, they mentioned having switched workout routines because they did not feel it was making a difference. Similarly, athletes have given up on nutrition habits (notice I didn’t say diet) after just one week.

The key is that, unlike technical adjustments, there are no instant fixes when it comes to workouts or nutrition. As one coach says, “Habits are like threads and as they are repeated over time they become strong cables.” Too often, we cut our threads (break our habits/routines) before they become strong enough to make a real difference in our lives. Rather, we have to know the bigger picture, trust in the process, see it through and then evaluate the results that were achieved.

For more information on how to create a bigger picture for your season, send an email to universalsportsstrength@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook (@UniversalSportsStrength), Instagram (@universalsportsstrength) and Twitter (@UniversalS_C) to learn more in the coming weeks.

Elevate Your Lineout Jumping: Drop Jump & Depth Jump

2/27/2019

Who would not want to have a 36-inch vertical? Especially a second row or backrow player with the responsibility of jumping in a line-out. I mean, how would the opposing team feel knowing they have to compete with that. Or how easy of a job would it be for the lifters/supporters if you could jump that high??

This month’s highlight exercises are geared towards getting off the ground in as little time as possible. The Drop Jump and Depth Jump are great helping athletes learn to convert strength into explosive power as quickly as possible. Here’s how:

DROP JUMP
Set-up
Use a surface that is 3-6 inches off the floor. A weight plate is a great starting point.

Execution:
Step straight (not down) off the plate/platform. Land on balls of the feet, simultaneously, while trying to keep your heels off the floor.

Sets/Reps:
Beginners should start with 3 or 4 sets of 3-5 reps. Keep in mind that speed off the ground is the objective, aiming for .25-.4 seconds time-on-ground (TOG) or better. Therefore, you may need to consider reducing the sets and/or reps if TOG increases too much.

Variations/Modifications:

Repeated hops (imagine jumping rope without the rope) on the floor can generate the same speed and quickness for a younger, less experienced lifter.
Progressions can include:
Double hops as you step off the plate/surface
Using a slightly taller box (as long as technique is maintained)
Single-leg variations (great for side steps)

DEPTH JUMP
Set-up
Use a 12-15” box or elevated surface (stacked plates, small stool, etc). Stand on with your toes on the outer edge

Execution
Slowly step forward off the box (not down) with a lead foot so that both feet land on the ground simultaneously with knees slightly bent. Immediately jump up as high as possible and land in a controlled, stable position.

Sets/Reps
Beginners should start with 3 or 4 sets of 3-5 reps. Keep in mind that speed off the ground is the objective, aiming for .25-.4 seconds time-on-ground (TOG) or better. Therefore, you may need to consider reducing the sets and/or reps if TOG increases too much.

Modifications

Use a shorter box/surface if your TOG is too much, or if your technique fails, use a shorter box or surface.
Progressions
Step off a 12-inch box and jump onto a taller box.
Stepping off a box and transitioning into a broad jump
Repeated Jumps (jumping onto multiple boxes or over hurdles

Have specific questions about how to improve your performance in other positions? Send an email to universalsportsstrength@gmail.com. Also, we are launching a new program on March 4th that is geared to giving athletes all the tools they need, in the weight room and beyond, to reach their peak performance. Follow us on Facebook (@UniversalSportsStrength), Instagram (@universalsportsstrength) and Twitter (@UniversalS_C) to learn more in the coming weeks.