Last night I took in a high school basketball game to support some of my athletes. One of my ladies in particular looked very strong considering she is not a big girl at all. She was quick on the ball, agile as she darted through several defenders and she stood her ground on some violent collisions. There was one collision where it looked like she was thrown to the ground and I was waiting for her to get up and rip the assailants face off, but she kept her composure.

 Post game, I was talking with an assistant coach who happens to be my sister in law and she noted how stable and balanced my client looks, which was a contrast to last season.

 Much of the focus of our training is to improve strength, power and speed capabilities, but, after watching last nights game I came away with a few more benefits of strength training for athletes and, well, everyone.

 I spend so much time training people, writing about training people, eating and petting cats that I do not have much time to get to high school games. Until last night, I have to admit I was not aware of how physical basketball games get. There were collisions every 5 seconds it seemed. Girls were slammed to the hardwood floor or tossed into the walls. The physicality reminded me of how important muscular development is for winning the body on body collisions.  Much of the focus of our training is on the legs and hips, the regions that dictate speed and power. Athletes need to have strong, well-developed upper bodies, particularly the shoulders, chest and upper back to withstand and win battles for rebounds and late game collisions that might dictate the final score. Good news for my athletes; we will probably spend a little less time with the lunges, the bad news is that time will be made up with more shoulder presses and pullups!

 Injury prevention is click-bate for fitness professionals and athletes alike. The rationale is simple; injuries suck and it would be great if we could prevent them. The problem is, we cannot prevent injuries. If injury prevention were possible, would Carson Wentz have torn his ACL last year?

 Strength training might not be able to fully prevent injuries from happening but I do believe it can reduce the probability of injury. Lifting weights does more than make you look tremendous sans clothing, it also improves stability and instability is a big culprit of injuries.  Last nights contest featured a lot of cutting, starting and stopping. These movements stress the knees, ankles and hips and require strength and stability to perform safely and explosively. A quality strength training program will load the legs in different directions with heavy and lighter loads to prepare the body for the stress the sports season will place on it.

 To take things a little further, just because an injury does not occur, does not mean the athlete is fresh and healthy. A season of beating up the joints might not lead to a serious injury, but it will wear down the athletes ability to play at a high level as the post season approaches. I want my athletes playing at a high level from game 1 through 30.

 I hate being sick. So, I lift weights regularly and bang, I don’t get sick. A strength training session causes a cascade of hormonal processes that you probably do not care much about. What you should care about is how a strength training program that focuses on lifting heavy and moderately heavy weights improves the immune system when combined with a healthy lifestyle. Lift weights, drink plenty of water, eat healthy foods, keep stress levels low (I need to work on that one, I am stressed out of my gord just writing this) and sleep 6-8 hours per night. Lift weights and keep the thermometer out of your mouth.

 If you have any questions, drop me an email or a DM, I love chopping it up with people.