Teaching Jump Rope

Back as a first year PE teacher and high school strength coach, one thing that surprised me most was the inability of many students and athletes to jump rope. I had assumed that jumping rope was a universal skill kids picked up along the way during childhood. Turns out, that’s not necessarily the case. Again…
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How to Teach Push Ups

We teachers and coaches are constantly faced with the challenging task of introducing new and inexperienced students and athletes to what many may call “the basics.” It is this foundation that we lay when they first walk into the gym, that serves as the basis for their long-term fitness and performance. Our responsibility, then, is to demonstrate and instill mastery of these basics within each and every athlete.
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Teaching the Thruster

The Thruster. Arguably one of our favorite movements, as well as one of the most challenging in almost any training scenario. The thruster is a true full body movement that combines a full-depth squat with a press to lockout overhead. It is a serious “bang for buck” movement when it comes to athletic development.
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Teaching the Front Squat

One of the 3 most common loaded variations of our standard air squat – the Front Squat is widely regarded as the most “athletic” of the weighted squat movements. When attempting the Front Squat for the first time, there are a few main coaching points to keep in mind.
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Teaching-the-Back-Squat

Teaching the Back Squat

Once our athletes have mastered the foundational air squat (and only then), the first loaded variation we introduce is the “High Bar Back Squat”. The back squat, along with the bench press and barbell deadlift, is one of the 3 “Power Lifts” and is widely considered one of the best tools for developing raw strength.
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Fix Your Deadlift

For good reason, the Deadlift is beloved by coaches everywhere. It is an excellent way to develop pure, total body strength as well as reinforce good posture and proper mechanics that relate to many other movements. Unfortunately, though, it is also a movement where strength can trump form – it’s too easy to do it the wrong way.
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snowbench

Snow Day? Workout Anyway.

Snowstorm ruining your week of training? A day off from school and away from the gym doesn’t have to be unproductive. Even being stuck in the house, we can put together a simple yet effective workout for our athletes.
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stretchmobility@0,5x

A Secret Weapon for Off-Season Training

Often, we see high school coaches and athletes get so caught up during the off-season with such a motivation and desire for intensity that they neglect proper scheduling, recovery, and injury prevention. Training with intensity is great, but we must have purpose and planning or we will never see true progress.
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3 Myths of Training Track Athletes

More so than almost any other sport at the high school level, Track and Field has the greatest expectation of specialization in it’s training. Many coaches we speak to believe their athletes require a different program from any other sport, and different programs within that for sprinters, throwers, distance runners, etc. We love that coaches are invested in their athletes’ success, but we believe it requires a shift in mentality.
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FixSquat2

Fix Your Squat: 4 Tips & Tricks

We believe the squat to be one of, if not the most important movement in which all athletes should become proficient. Learning a proper squat is crucial for athletes as it has applications in strength, mobility, stamina, injury prevention, and above all, sets a great foundation of strength and movement mechanics.
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