Jogging: The Athleticism Grim Reaper

It always makes me go crazy when I hear that a sports coach, specifically for basketball or football, makes their players go on long runs of a mile or more. Most of the time it seems a coach just runs out of stuff to do, or actually believes that they are helping their athletes "get in shape".

I'm sure they mean well, but what they may not understand is that basketball falls in between an intermittent-sprint and transition sport, as defined by Vern Gambetta in his book, Athletic Development, which is a must read if you're a coach at any level. Gambetta defines basketball as, "a sport that requires a series of efforts of varied intensity that occur in random patterns, with recovery that allows for complete recovery, at times".
Gambetta goes on to say, "We need to get away from the idea that the endurance base is built by long, slow, steady aerobic work".

So now we know what basketball consists of. Now lets look at why jogging isn't the best answer for conditioning.

Jogging causes physiological changes that are detrimental to the transition and power athlete. Jogging targets type I muscle fibers, which are the aerobic fibers. These are great for marathon runners, but will not help you become a quicker, faster, more powerful athlete. Sprinting, jumping and strength training with relatively heavy weights and high speeds target the type II muscle fibers, which are the fast-twitch fibers we hear about when a plyometric jumping program pops up on your computer screen. A good comparison that is made a lot is posing the question, would you rather have a body of sprinters or marathon runners? My guess is most people concerned with performance, whether its on the court, field or just with physique development, would choose to look like a sprinter.

With this in mind, its important to train athletes for the most important aspects of their sport; sprinting, jumping, changing direction, side stepping, sliding, backpedaling and all the other movements players do throughout a contest. Also, its important to train athletes, especially basketball players, to produce power quickly so that they can get to a full speed sprint in as little time as possible. In high school its more important because the court is smaller, but even in college and the pro's, how long does it take them to sprint from one end to the other? Anywhere from 3-5 seconds, so if you can get to full speed faster than you're opponent, chances are you're getting to that loose ball or finishing the lay-up before getting fouled, and every coach and player knows that games can come down to 1 or 2 plays.

Does an athlete need to have the endurance to last an entire game? Of course they do, but they need to be able to sprint and produce maximum amounts of power at the end of the game. I think that's why so many coaches end practices with timed sprints, or place them at different times throughout a practice.

The question I always ask athletes and coaches is this: If you're consistently jogging during games, how many games do you think you'll win? A base of conditioning is necessary, but you would have to question your players commitment to becoming better if they are so out of shape at any time of year that they can't get up and down the court or field for a couple hours of pick up games.

In the next couple days I will post some drills to train first step quickness and speed that you can do as a seperate workout from strength training, or add in after a warm up and before strength training. Make sure not to forget that STRENGTH is a determining factor in speed and power. I'll touch on that again soon, as well.

Questions or comments? Post on facebook or email me.

Single Leg Strength

Single leg strength is important and necessary for athletes. Lunging and its variations more closely mimic the act of sprinting, can help with flexibility in the quads and hip flexors and can aid in core stability. All of this makes single leg exercises functional exercises. The word functional gets thrown around a lot and brings to mind squats on swiss balls. Squats on swiss balls aren't functional, they're stupid and as Master RKC David Whitley says, the first rule of strength training is, "Don't be stupid," followed by his second rule, "Don't do anything that will get you hurt." Advice to live by.

Anyway, I believe the biggest benefit is gaining strength throughout the full range of motion (front knee at or below parallel). If you aren't squatting below parallel you should be, but when you lunge your knee should be hitting the ground (softly) with every rep so the range of motion test is built in to the exercise. Below is the progression I use for the lunge, as well as variations I use and ways to load in order to train single leg strength.

Progression
- pump lunge
- reverse lunge
- reverse lunge from step
- forward walking lunge

Other variations
- step ups
- step downs
- rear leg elevated (split squat)
- side lunge

Loading
- overhead weight (medicine ball or plate)
- dumbbells
- barbell

Anybody that has done these exercises knows that they might leave you a little bit sore. That's why the progression is good so you can ease into it. If you do find yourself sore, be sure to do something to get the blood flowing through your muscles. The days I have DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness, generally the worst 24-48 hours after exercise) I like performing a few sets of bodyweight lunges in between upper body exercises or pushing the bench around for 10-15 minutes, as seen in the last video I posted - http://www.youtube.com/bobbyfisksandc

The squat and deadlift are great and should be staples in your training, but when you're done with them, make sure you're getting some single leg work in too!

Questions or comments? Email me or post on facebook.

An Easy 10 Pounds

If you're looking to bulk up a little so you don't fit into that xtra-shmedium sized shirt come beach season, its really a lot easier than you may think. I know this is normally the time to "slim down" for the beach, but if you're an off-season athlete, you should have bigger picture goals to get stronger and more muscular if it will help you become a better player. The process isn't easy, but the things you should be doing in the gym and in your kitchen certainly isn't rocket science.

Like I said, eating to gain weight is easy, because there's not a lot to think about. The hard part is most of the time people think they're eating more than they are. It's similar to when people are trying to lose weight and they think they're eating less than they actually are.

Here is a typical conversation with a skinny athlete in college:

Skinny athlete - "Coach, I eat a lot, I just can't gain weight."
Me - "Do you eat breakfast?"
Skinny athlete - "No. I have class at 8am."
Me - "What time does the dining hall open?" (I know it opens at 7:30, because that's when I'm there),
Skinny athlete - "7:30," he says with his head down.
Me - "Then I'll see you then."

I actually had a "breakfast club" while I was an assistant men's basketball coach. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long and it resulted in players not putting on weight, getting stronger and not seeing improvements in their game. Commitment is the name of the game in college. If you want to be good, you gotta do the things that are going to make you better on a consistent basis. Its just like strength training.

So here is what you need to do to put on an easy 10 pounds:
- drink milk - One of my favorite strength coach's, Mark Rippetoe, has a program called GOMAD, which is an acronym for Gallon Of Milk A Day. Sounds daunting, but it works. If you aren't already drinking milk on a regular basis, start with 2 large glasses at every meal. The milk helps specifically because of the calories and protein.
- eat 6 times a day - 3 full meals and at least 3 snacks in between meals. This is non-negotiable if your looking to put on some size. By the way, if you aren't eating a full breakfast, you're really not that committed to changing your body. Wake up a little earlier and eat as many eggs as you can with something else, like pancakes, waffles, french toast, sausage, bacon or a combination of them all. Lunch is not a ham sandwich. Its 3 ham sandwich's with cheese and mayo, an apple and a bag of chips with two glasses of milk. Dinner is as much as you can pile in of what mom or dad makes. If you're in college, the dining hall is perfect for weight gain. If you're on your own, hamburger helper is perfect. Snacks can be anything really, just find a way to get them in and don't miss one.
- compound movements - with all these extra calories you will be consuming, you have to hit the big lifts that I've stressed in other blog posts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, push press, pull ups and rows. Do them often. If you need a program, check out Rippetoe's Starting Strength. Just make sure you have good form on all of the exercises and are using a full range of motion. Doing quarter squats will probably still help you put on size, but you will be laughed at when you show somebody how strong you are in the quarter squat. Go down all the way.

So what makes me qualified to speak on weight gain? Well I was a "hard-gainer" all through high school. I graduated at 6'1'', 160lbs. I think back on what my diet looked like and its no wonder I couldn't put on any weight. Then I got to college and gained 10 pounds a year for 3 years. That isn't a lot, but with the amount of basketball I was playing, its not bad. Then during my year off from school I got up to 215, lost it during the next two years so I could play around 190-195 my senior year, and during my two plus years in VA I got up to 240 (thank you Averett dining hall). Not to mention I followed the type of diet I described above for the last 3 months while in VA in an attempt to gain as much strength and weight as I could and put on 20 lbs. So believe me when I say it works if you're committed to it.

I will also say that 10 pounds added all over your body is a lot less than you think. I remember wanting to get to 180 while I was in college. When I got there, I wanted to get to 190, then 200, then 210 and so on, just to see what my body would look and feel like at that weight. So chances are you will want to continue to gain until you have reached a good level of strength and size.

Now get eating!

Post questions and comments on Facebook and if you decide to man up and put on some weight, keep everybody posted on your progress!!

The "He-Man" Push Up/Pull Up Circuit

I do a lot of reading. Books, articles, blogs and anything else that has to do with strength training. When I see something I like, the first thing I usually do is try it myself. After that, I try it out on a friend. It used to be a couple of former basketball players at Averett, now its my brother. Then I try it on an athlete or client. Sometimes I give my own spin to what I originally read and tried.

The workout I'm about to give you is one that I got from Nick Tumminello, a strength coach in Baltimore, MD. He originally wrote an article on t-nation.com a couple years ago, but I just saw the same workout in Men's Fitness, which gave me the idea to give my variation to you. Here is the online article. - http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/everything_pushups
It gives a ton of great information on push ups, which I feel are greatly under-used

What Nick gives us is a push up circuit consisting of 4 different types of push ups with a medicine ball.

The 4 types of medicine ball push ups:
1 arm lock-offs - do a push up with one hand on the med ball and one hand on the ground. If the left hand is on the med ball, push up all the way so all the weight is on the med ball and with your right hand, touch your left shoulder. Complete all the reps before switching sides.

Alternating med ball push ups - do a push up with one hand on the ball and one on the ground. Upon completion of one rep, roll the ball to the opposite hand and perform a push up.

2 hand med ball push ups - like a diamond push up, both hands are on the med ball while performing the push up.

Med ball drop offs - begin with both hands on the med ball, then drop your hands off to the side of the med ball on the floor. Quickly pop back onto the ball with both hands. Don't let your elbows flex too much when dropping off and "jumping" back on.

Coach Tuminello's version has you go straight through this circuit, performing 5-10 reps (per side when necessary) per exercise for 3 sets.

My variation has you perform a set of pull ups after the first two push up exercises and after the last two. The pull ups are done for as many perfect reps as possible (full range of motion). With this variation, you get all the push ups, but also six sets of pull ups.

This is a great workout to do if you're short on time or if you just want to try something different. If you get some squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings or lunges in before doing the push up/chin up circuit you got yourself a pretty bad ass training session.

By the way, my variation has been termed the "He-Man" workout by the athletes and friends that have tried it, because of how it makes you feel when your done. Give it a shot sometime and let me know what you think.

Are You Using Progressions Properly?

So your off-season has started and you took a couple weeks off. The weather is getting a little bit nicer and you're going to start heading to the park every day after school to work on your game and play some pick-up ball. You know you need to strength train as well, so you get to the school's weight room before or after school. It's your first time strength training so you jump on board with the football team, doing bench press, reverse grip tricep pushdowns, single leg bosu ball barbell squats and all the plyometrics you read about on an info-website.

Is this using progressions properly? You know the answer to that question.

It's very interesting to me how we use progressions in all aspects of learning and education, but when it comes to strength training, everybody (including myself) think that we are ready for the most complex exercises the first day we step into a weightroom.

Think about this example of progression using basketball - how many of you started playing the game with a full size basketball, on a full size hoop? I'm sure some did, especially if you didn't start playing until later in life, but how many of you had a nerf ball and hoop and played in the hallway of your home? This is a simple example of progression. The same type of example can be given through school. Nobody started out doing calculus.

So when you first start out in the weightroom, use progressions to get stronger and better at performing movements that will help you become a better athlete on the court.

Before bench pressing, progress to doing 15 push ups with your feet on a weight bench with at least 25 pounds on your back.
Before you back squat, goblet squat 1/3 of your weight for 10 reps.
Once you can back squat, progress to doing 1.5x your bodyweight before starting an intense plyometric program.
Before performing the Olympic lifts, learn to hip hinge and perform the deadlift and high pull.
Before performing walking lunges, perform pump lunges.

There are many progressions that can prepare you for more complex exercises. Use these progressions thoughtfully and you will see strength and performance gains for a long time to come.

I am currently looking to speak to basketball or any athletic teams about off-season strength training. If you or anybody you know has a group of athletes that may be interested, please let me know and we can set something up.

Any questions or comments? Leave a post on the Bobby Fisk Strength and Conditioning facebook page!

The Truth About Calf Raises

While growing up I was constantly in search of ways to make myself a better basketball player. One of my main sources of information was magazines like Sports Illustrated for Kids and as I got older, Slam Magazine. I still remember one article I read from SI for Kids that interviewed Grant Hill. The question asked was how he become a high-flyer. For those of you too young to remember, Grant Hill was an amazing athlete while at Duke and during his early years in the league.

Hill's response, paraphrased, of course: "I used to do calf raises every night when I was young."

That statement was probably the worst and best thing I could have ever read.

With this great information on how to turn myself into a dunk machine, I hit calf raises hard and often. From approximately 7th grade until I got to college, I spent very little time standing around. I did calf raises everywhere - in the shower, during halftime of Siena Saints basketball games, while brushing my teeth, in class while sitting down, when walking up stairs, and even in church (when my mom wasn't looking). If I was standing in place I was doing calf raises.

So I turned into a dunk machine, right? Wrong. Turns out, your calves are only responsible for about 15% of your jump height. The more important muscles are the hamstrings, glutes and quads. So I spent all that time doing calf raises with no rewards. Not exactly...

What I didn't realize at the time, is that just about everything I was doing was building rock solid ankles. Not only was I doing tons of calf raises, but I also only tied my sneakers when playing basketball. I simply slipped my sneakers on and off and wore them loose, which also helped create my strong ankles.

Anybody that has played basketball seriously for any amount of time has dealt with ankle sprains. Except for myself. Throughout my entire high school and college basketball career and into my adult playing career (Y men's league) I have suffered only one ankle sprain, which occurred my sophomore year of high school. This is not luck, as I have stepped on other players shoes and rolled my ankle plenty of times, to the point where teammates cringe and ask if I'm ok. But nothing ever happens. No sprain, no soreness, no weakness.

Now this post isn't meant to make me sound like an ankle hero and I won't be signing up for a strongman competition because of my rock solid ankles. This post is to give you some things you can start doing immediately to keep your ankles healthy, strong and keep you worry free when you jump into a crowd for a rebound.

Here are the take away pointers:
- start doing calf raises - there is no limit, just do them as much as you can
- loosen your sneakers - whatever kicks you wear during the day, tie and knot them loose so you can slip them on and off. The great idea that high tops were for basketball playing was the worst idea for general day to day movement. When you lace your shoes up tight, your sneakers are giving you support. When you keep them loose, your feet learn to give support.
- stretch your calves - push against a wall and keep your back leg straight to stretch your calf muscles, and push against a wall and bend at the knee of the front leg to stretch your achilles
- perform ankle mobility drills - - I still do these a couple times a day when I feel like my ankles are tight. These will also help in your squat technique if your ankles are a limiting factor. Here is a video of me demonstrating http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFiskSandC?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/9tin_iwGVT8

- foam/pvc/tennis ball/lax ball roll your calves - this will help break up the tiny knots that develop from running, jumping, sliding, backpedaling and everything else you do when playing basketball. It may hurt at first, but it will increase the tissue quality of your calves and will eventually feel very good. Here is a video of me demonstrating
http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFiskSandC?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/0kkbzY31U9g

The calf raise may not be the vertical booster I thought it was, but it sure did help me build strong ankles. Start building yours today!

Any questions? Post on fb or email me. Also, sign up to follow my youtube channel as I will be posting more videos on a regular basis and also please "like" and share my facebook page since all of the blogs and videos will also be updated there. Your support is greatly appreciated!!

Now What?

So your season is over and the question that comes up is, "what do I do now?"

The immediate answer is NOTHING! A basketball season is long and grueling and your body needs time to rest. You don't have to rest completely, as in not get off the couch other than to go to the fridge and school, but ease off of the basketball for two weeks. Ever notice how after you take a couple weeks off from everyday practice and games and you go back to the gym and you can jump a little higher? Your body is fully recovered when you or others are surprised at how athletic you've become from resting.

So now that your rest is out of the way, you gotta jump right back on it. The off-season is a time for making yourself into a player. Adding elements to your game, becoming a better shooter from a certain distance, working on your weak hand and becoming a stronger all-around player is the goal of the off-season.

Another important aspect is strength training. One thing I hear a lot of younger athletes say is that they found a workout on a website that (insert NBA All-Star here) did during his off-season and thats what they are going to use. This may seem like a good idea, but its not. Pro athletes are a special breed of human being. You need a plan for YOU, that can make YOU a stronger athlete, that can make YOU a better basketball player.

Some quick tips to get you started:
- focus on quality of movement - make sure you don't have anything hindering your movement patterns before you start lifting weights. If you do, you can create or make any imbalances worse and also begin creating microtrauma, the last thing you want during the off-season.
- move your bodyweight - if you don't have a lot of experience in a weight room, work on moving your body first. Pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, dips and all of their variations are a great start. Be great at these before using external loads.
- play basketball - I can't stress this enough and it may sound silly but its the truth. During the off-season you have to play a ton of basketball to make yourself a better player. Strength training can help you on the court, but it will not help you if you aren't also playing basketball every day. You need to use your newly created strength against other players who are better than you constantly. Not once in a while, not once a week, DAILY!

I was just reminded of how people become succesful at a career or a task while I listened to the radio a couple hours ago. The host mentioned the 10,000 hour rule. It takes 10,000 hours to become great at what you do. Do you want to become a great basketball player? Start logging those hours.

Any questions or comments, be sure to post on the new fb page!

Are You Moving Without Restriction?

The other day I decided to jump back into a book I had started before, but never completely finished because of school, "Athletic Body in Balance," by Gray Cook. It's definitely one of those books where you learn something everytime you read it no matter how many times you do. And even if you don't learn something, there is a quote or an idea that puts things back in perspective and helps get your training back on track.

This book is a must read for athletes and for those who train athletes. It's simple to understand and constantly has you nodding your head in agreement.

Now, back to the title of this post. To start, what does it mean to be moving without restriction? It means that you are able to perform basic, fundamental movements efficiently. For example, can you squat to below parallel without your heels coming off of the ground? If you can, great. If not, you have some sort of restriction, which could be coming from your ankles, hips or a lack of stability.

The better question is this: who cares if you can't get into a full squat if I am the best and strongest player on my team?

As small a problem as it is right now, it can lead to issues down the road. If you don't move correctly now, it is likely going to cause other parts of your body to overcompensate for this restriction. Once again, this may not be a problem now, but after years of overcompensation, problems are going to come up.

An example given in the book (paraphrased) describes a runner who has a tight ankle joint. The runner doesn't know it, but now the knee is overcompensating for this lack of movement in the joint below it. Now the knee is doing more work then it is supposed to and begins to hurt. The runner takes anti-inflammatory medication and ices the knee as he continues to run. The knee doesn't get any better and the runner goes to the doctor who checks out the knee and prescribes more medication. What eventually happens is a major issue, possibly needing surgery to repair a knee that never had problems within its own joint. Because of a restrictive issue elsewhere, though, overcompensation for years has caused chronic knee problems that never needed to take place.

Another reason why you want to find restrictions is because they could be causing you to move inefficiently, expending more energy than you need to in order to perform the movements of your sport. The less energy you use, the less fatigued you will be at the end of the game or match, the better you are at finishing off your opponents. Simple stuff. You want to move efficiently.

So if you are an athlete or train athletes, the message is this: screen yourself or your athletes to look for restrictions. If you are not qualified, find somebody who is at www.functionalmovement.com. Another alternative is to purchase the book yourself and go through the self-test of the movement screen.

If you have any questions or comments, be sure to leave them on facebook or below.