10 (Training) Principles to Live By

1. Build from the ground up - Sports skills are performed by applying force in a closed chain; with your feet in contact with the ground. The more force you can apply against the ground you will find that you become a more effective athlete.
2. Multi-Joint Actions - Multiple joint movements will enhance your athletic performance such as but not limited to coordination and ability to create explosive force.
3. Three Dimensional Movements - Sport skills involve movements on three planes simultaneously, forward-backward, up-down, and side to side. When strength training, only free weights allow movement in three planes simultaneously. This makes the transfer of strength and power easier to assimilate with the development of sport skill. An added benefit of free weights is they also assist in the prevention of injury.
4. Train Explosively - In many cases an athlete will get stronger because of improvement in the ability of the nervous system to recruit motor units. A motor unit is a motor nerve and all of the muscle fibers that it innervates. The more fibers a motor unit consists of the more force it can generate. Training the body to recruit more motor units makes the body more efficient and effective.
5. Think Progressively - Application of the load plays a critical role in the maximizing of strength. Overload happens when the body responds to training loads greater than normal. Intensity and volume are key factors used to progressively increase the overload. The use of heaver loads and keeping repetitions low develops strength and power; where as increasing the number of repetitions and not adjusting the load causes improvements in muscular endurance and size.
6. Application or Periodization - Utilize different combinations of volume and intensity to assist in the translation of different body responses.
7. Split Protocol - This protocol is designed for advanced programs, which alternate the types of techniques performed and are exucted on alternate days. If you can’t do all of the techniques on one day, do half one day then do the other half the next day. The Split Protocol allows good recovery and rebuilding as well.
8. Easy-Hard System - You make more progress over a longer period of time if you do not work heavy loads everyday. To eliminate overtraining or just plain burnout allow one hard workout per week the other day should be a lighter workout.
9. Work the correct energy system - The objective of conditioning is to enhance your energy capacity and there for improve your performance. So in order to be effective training must occur at the same intensity and duration that is used tin competition In order to develop the proper system used predominately. This means no long distance running for athletes in power sports like football, basketball, baseball and tennis.
10. Training in Intervals - Work or exercise should be followed by a prescribed rest period. The protocol must meet the specific conditions for each sport. If the rest period is too short, the amount of energy is not sufficient to meet the demands of the next maximum intensity effort, thereby reducing force output.