Tim Maxey named MLB S&C Coordinator

Tim Maxey was named Major League Baseball’s Joint Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced on Thursday.

Maxey will focus on providing guidance to and identifying best practices for clubs and players on issues involving conditioning, fitness, nutrition and other related subjects in this newly created position.

Maxey has plenty of experience in the field as he just completed his seventh season as the strength and conditioning coach for the Indians in 2009, and prior to working with the Indians, he worked in the Royals organization from 1998 to 2002.

As part of his new position, Maxey visit with every team during Spring Training to discuss fitness practices and conditioning. He will also be available to all Major League clubs during the season for all areas relating to strength and conditioning, including the development of educational programs and assisting with the establishment of industry-wide initiatives.

He also has experience working on a larger scale with baseball, as he has served MLB and the MLBPA on its Strength and Conditioning Advisory Board and has been an advisor to the Taylor Hooton Foundation, which raises awareness about the dangers of steroid abuse.

Maxey is a National Strength and Conditioning Association-Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach. The Ohio native is a graduate of Shawnee State University and holds a Master’s Degree in physical education from The Ohio State University.

2010 NIKE Football Combines

Dear Athletes,

Are you ready to attack the off-season and help yourself achieve  the goals of improving and possibly playing at the next level? If so, then we’d like to invite you  to register and attend one of our 17 FREENike Football Combines this spring.

ESPN RISE has introduced thousands of top prospects to the national recruiting scene over the past 20 years after top showings at the Nike Football Combines. These combines will give athletes an opportunity to showcase their athletic ability to the football recruiting world.

WHAT
The Nike Football Combines are exclusive events and are an opportunity for players to get an official SPARQ Rating in a professional setting. These combines are FREE of charge.

WHO CAN COME
Top rising seniors to be (Class of 2011) and all underclassmen (2012-13) looking to showcase their skills and play at the next level.

WHEN AND WHERE 
There are 17 Nike Football Combines scheduled for the 2010 tour. Log onto www.espnrise.com now to see the schedule and register online!

WHAT TO BRING 
Bring appropriate workout gear: Shorts, sweats, football cleats, and or training shoes –NO TRACK SPIKES. Your athletes will receive free NIKE PRO COMPETITION BASELAYER participant shirts if they pre-register online at www.ESPNRISE.com. DO NOT have them bring anything of value, as we are not responsible for lost or stolen items

COMBINE FORMAT
After a proper, supervised “dynamic warm-up”, your athletes will be tested in the 40-Yard Dash, Pro Agility Shuttle (5-10-5), Kneeling Power Ball Toss, and the Vertical Jump.

WHAT IS A SPARQ RATING?
SPARQ Training is the dynamic training method used at the Nike Football Training Camps. The SPARQ Rating is a number that identifies overall athletic ability and is used by top coaches and trainers around the nation as an initial indicator of an athlete’s potential on the field

BENEFITS
This is a great opportunity for you to take advantage of Nike’s commitment to football, which will give athletes an opportunity to get tested professionally. There is also an opportunity for great recruiting exposure and coverage. ESPNRISE.com and ESPN.com, home of the Nike Football Training Camps and producers of other top events such as Elite 11, Nike 7ON, and Gridiron Kings will be at the Nike Football Combines covering the event as well as taking photos and video. In addition the results will be distributed to major college football programs all over the country. Also, a good performance can mean a spot at the Nike Football Training Camps, which kickoff in April.

We look forward to hopefully seeing you and your athletes at a Nike Football Combine this spring. For a complete list of dates and locations, as well as other frequently asked questions, please visit www.espnrise.com and click on Nike Football Combines.

Quinn To Coach Bowl Game

Quinn To Coach Bowl Game

9 Rules to Motivate

1. Expect the best from the people you lead.

2. Make a thorough study of the other person's needs.

3. Establish high standards for excellence.

4. Create an environment where failure is not fatal.

5. Employ models to encourage success.

6. Recognize and applaude achievement.

7. Employ a mixture of positive and negative reinforcement.

8. Take steps to keep your own motivation high.

** From Bringing Out the Best in People...Alan Loy McGinnis

Coaching Leadership

This is the time of the year when I receive a lot of inquires from the local colleges to accept internship students into our Strength and Conditioning Mentorship Program.

The goal of the mentorship program is to develop young men and women who are interested in the field of strength and conditioning and would like to pursue it after graduation.

During their time in our program, we teach each student a variety of topics that will help them develop their own training philosophy and give them a better understanding of the athletic development process. With this in mind, we have created a Program of Instruction that covers all the seven components utilized to develop our athletes. But, the most important and critical component that we teach is leadership. Before we get into the nuts and bolts of our program, we make an effort to provide a realistic perspective to our soon to be graduates.

In life as in athletics, you win and succeed with great leaders. We strive to teach our coaches in training that the greatest achievement men and women can make is to influence others to accomplish great achievements by providing purpose, direction and motivation.

During our first meeting with our selected few, we cover six key characteristics that helps them understand the effort and consistency necessary to be successful. The six characteristics are:


1. Knowledge: Not only determined from experience, training, and formal education, but also through personal studies of the profession.

2. Vision: Develop a clear understanding of current state, define a desired end point, discern the sequence of activity that will complete the task from start to finish.

3. Judgement: Is a matter of common sense tempered by experience and training.

4. Initiative: This is a sustaining element in the coaching profession. It is essential for a coach to recognize, execute and take advantage of opportunities.

5. Self-confidence: Self-confidence is based on professional knowledge, training, education, faith in your own ability and that of your staff. Arrogance, on the other hand, is founded on appearance rather than substance; it focuses on self, rather than the mission or organization.

6. Integrity: High standards of personal conduct based on professional ethics and personal integrity are essential in all programs. Honesty and loyalty are indespensible attributes to the success of the team or organization.

Training Principles

TRAIN SMART
Have a plan. Your program should be based on a periodization-training model that divides the year into phases. Each phase has a specific purpose and incorporates different activities, different volumes, and different work intensities. Periodization training helps you make consistent gains, prevent injuries, avoid burnout, and give your best effort when you need it –during the season.

TRAIN HARD
Attack your workouts! You should focus on getting better in all areas, with good discipline, positive attitude and lots of hard work. Always try to use good technique and give 100% during your workouts.

TRAIN CONSISTENTLY
Avoid extremes in training by training at a reasonable level consistently. This will allow the body time to adapt to the stress of training and develop a solid fitness base. If a few days of training are missed, a few extra days of hard training will not compensate the lost conditioning. Instead, the athlete will overstress the body and will be more predisposed to injury.

COST TO BENEFIT RATIO
For every exercise that is incorporated into the program, the benefit of that exercise must outweigh the potential for injury. Each exercise in your program should meet this criteria.

PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Start slowly and be progressive. You should try to improve during every training session. Overload happens when the body has to respond to training loads that are greater than normal. Intensity and volume are the key factors used to progressively increase the load. Remember these three rules: Core strength before extremity strength, body weight before external resistance and fundamental movement skills before sport-specific skills.

NUTRITION CORNER: WATER

Your body is just like your car’s engine; if you can’t cool it off, it won’t perform. Overheat your body and you run the risk of breaking down entirely. That’s why it’s important to monitor your fluid intake during workouts and games to avoid dehydration and heat exhaustion. Be especially watchful on hot and/or humid days. To make sure that you stay hydrated, drink before and during practices/games and drink often. Remember, if your thirsty, you’re already dehydrated.

Your body is approximately 65% water. During games, drills and workouts, you lose body fluids through sweating. It’s not unusual for some athletes, especially pitchers and catchers, to lose four pounds of body weight (about two quarts of sweat) each hour. At this rate, you could lose 10-12 pounds in a 3-hour game. A 10-pound weight loss for a 200-pounder is a 5% loss in body weight. A 5% loss can be extremely detrimental to both your health and performance. Research indicates that even a 2% decrease in body weight due to dehydration can reduce performance by 8-10%. You’ll feel tired and drained. You won’t be able to train or compete at your best and you’ll significantly increase your risk of heat illness.

To determine dehydration status weigh yourself before and after practice and games. Replace each pound of weight lost with 24 ounces of fluid. Also monitor your urine. If it’s clear, you’re OK. If it’s dark and smells like ammonia, you’re approaching or have reached dehydration.

Coffee and alcohol are diuretics; they can cause you to lose water. Caffeine makes you feel more alert. Alcohol numbs the sense of fatigue and pain. Both cause you to lose body water. Drink each in moderation. Drinking 3-4 cups of coffee before and during a game contributes to dehydration. Beer also contains carbonation, which gives you a sense of fullness and tends to limit fluid consumption at a time when fluid consumption should be high.

You don’t have to be gasping for water to be dried out. One of the earliest signs of dehydration is fatigue. Other signs include red skin, loss of appetite, dizziness, muscle cramps or spasms and urine that is dark yellow and has a strong odor.

Napping: The Expert's Guide

Jennifer Ackerman
The Guardian

January 27, 2009

A short snooze during the day will boost your mood and your intelligence - but there's more to it than simply closing your eyes.

For years, napping has been derided as a sign of laziness. We are "caught" napping or "found asleep at the switch". But lately it has garnered new respect, thanks to scientific evidence that midday dozing benefits both mental acuity and overall health. A slew of recent studies have shown that naps boost alertness, creativity, mood, and productivity in the later hours of the day.

A nap of 60 minutes improves alertness for up to 10 hours. Research on pilots shows that a 26-minute "Nasa" nap in flight (while the plane is manned by a copilot) enhanced performance by 34% and overall alertness by 54%. One Harvard study published last year showed that a 45-minute nap improves learning and memory. Napping reduces stress and lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke, diabetes, and excessive weight gain.

Getting even the briefest nap is better than nothing. A 2008 study in Düsseldorf showed that the onset of sleep may trigger active memory processes that remain effective even if sleep is limited to only a few minutes. And last year, a British study suggested that just knowing a nap was coming was enough to lower blood pressure.

Naps make you brainier, healthier, safer. But to understand how you can nap best, you need to understand your body.

Jennifer Ackerman is the author of Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body

How long should you rest for?

In designing the optimal nap you need to grasp its potential components. During sleep, your brain's electrical activity goes through a five-phase cycle.

A short afternoon catnap of 20 minutes yields mostly Stage 2 sleep, which enhances alertness and concentration, elevates mood, and sharpens motor skills. To boost alertness on waking, you can drink a cup of coffee before you nap. Caffeine requires 20 or 30 minutes to take effect, so it will kick in just as you're waking. Naps of up to 45 minutes may also include rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which enhances creative thinking and boosts sensory processing.

Limit your nap to 45 minutes or less, if you need to spring into action after dozing. Otherwise, you may drift into slow-wave sleep. Waking from this stage results in sleep inertia, that grogginess and disorientation that can last for half an hour or more.

But you might want to take a long nap, at least 90 minutes. Many of us get about an hour to an hour-and-a-half less sleep a night than we need. One recent study shows that the sleep-deprived brain toggles between normal activity and complete lapses, or failures, a dangerous state of slowed responses and foggy inattention. Sound familiar?

Naps of 90 to 120 minutes usually comprise all stages, including REM and deep slow-wave sleep, which helps to clear your mind, improve memory recall, and recoup lost sleep. Longer naps in the morning yield more REM sleep, while those in the afternoon offer more slow-wave sleep. A nap that is long enough to include a full sleep cycle, at least 90 minutes, will limit sleep inertia by allowing you to wake from REM sleep.

The Science of Sleep

Why do we need to nap?

Most mammals sleep for short periods throughout the day. Humans have consolidated sleep into one long period, but our bodies are programmed for two periods of intense sleepiness: in the early morning, from about 2am to 4am, and in the afternoon, between 1pm and 3pm. This midday wave of drowsiness is not due to heat or a heavy lunch (it occurs even if we skip eating) but from an afternoon quiescent phase in our physiology, which diminishes our reaction time, memory, coordination, mood, and alertness.

Are You a Lark or An Owl?

To determine the best time to nap, it helps to know your "chronotype". What time would you get up and go to sleep if you were entirely free to plan your day? If you're a lark, apt to wake as early as 6am and go to sleep around 9pm or 10pm, you're going to feel your nap need around 1pm or 1.30 pm.

If you're an owl, preferring to go to bed after midnight or 1am, and to wake around 8am or 9am, your afternoon "sleep gate" will open later, closer to 2.30pm or 3pm.

Physical Strength, Fighting Ability Revealed In Human Faces

A study conducted by a team of scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara has found that a mechanism exists within the human brain that enables people to determine with uncanny accuracy the fighting ability of men around them by honing in on their upper body strength. What's more, that assessment can be made even when everything but the men's faces are obscured from view.

A paper highlighting the researchers' findings appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society. "Assessing fighting ability was important for our ancestors, and the characteristic that the mind implicitly equates with fighting ability is upper body strength," said Aaron Sell, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSB's Center for Evolutionary Psychology and the paper's lead author. "That's the component of strength that's most relevant to premodern combat. The visual assessment of fighting ability is almost perfectly correlated with the perception of strength, and both closely track actual upper body strength. What is a bit spooky is that upper body strength can even be read on a person's face.

Sell conducted the study with Leda Cosmides, a professor of psychology and co-director of the Center for Evolutionary Psychology; John Tooby, a professor of anthropology and also co-director of the Center for Evolutionary Psychology; Michael Gurven, an associate professor of anthropology; and graduate students Daniel Sznycer and Christopher von Rueden.

The study consisted of four sections, each of which asked the test subjects to assess the physical strength of individuals based on photographs of their faces, their bodies, or both. Subjects were asked to rank the physical strength or fighting ability of the people in the photographs on a scale of one to seven. When the photographs depicted men whose strength had been measured precisely on weight-lifting machines, the researchers found an almost perfect correlation between perceptions of fighting ability and perceptions of strength. "When you see that kind of correlation it's telling you you're measuring the same underlying variable," said Tooby.

They also found that perceptions of strength and fighting ability reflected the target's actual strength, as measured on weight-lifting machines at the gym. In other sections of the study, the researchers showed that this result extended far beyond the gym. Both men and women accurately judge men's strength, whether those men are drawn from a general campus population, a hunter-horticulturalist group in Bolivia, or a group of herder-horticulturalists living in the Argentinian Andes.

Leg strength was measured along with upper body strength in both the United States and Bolivian populations, but the results showed that perceptions of men's strength and fighting ability reflect upper body strength, not that of legs. "That makes sense," said Cosmides. "If, for example, you're trying to lift something really heavy, or run a long distance, your lower body –– your legs –– will also be significant. But for fighting at close quarters, it's the upper body that really matters." Added Tooby: "Whether people are assessing toughness or strength, it's upper body strength they implicitly register. And that's the critical information our ancestors needed in deciding –– or feeling –– whether to surrender a disputed resource or escalate aggressively."

The researchers suggest that the ability to judge physical strength and fighting ability serves different, but equally important, purposes for men and women. In men, the mechanism is a barometer for measuring potential threats and determining how aggressive or submissive they should be when facing a possible enemy. For women, the mechanism helps identify males who can adequately protect them and their children. Men have a lot more experience with rough and tumble play and direct experience with fighting, yet women are just as good at assessing these variables. The authors also point out that neither men nor women fare as well in assessing women's strength. This is entirely expected because, ancestrally, inflicting violence was mostly the province of men.

"The next step is to isolate what it is in the face that indicates upper body strength," said Sell. He suggests that the correlation may lie in the heavier brow ridge and thicker jaw that result from increased levels of testosterone. "Many studies have been done on the effects of testosterone on the face. There's a good chance testosterone is involved in regulating the body for battle, and men with high testosterone –– those with a heavy brow ridge and thicker jaw –– developed bodies that were more prepared for combat."

"One reason we evolved the ability to perceive physical strength in the face may be that it's where we focus our attention when we look at someone," said Cosmides.

"Even if we are able to see someone's body, we always look at the face. It's so rich in social information –– what a person is thinking or feeling –– and adding the assessment of physical strength is a huge benefit. A person who is angry and strong offers a much greater threat than the person who is angry but weak."

University of California - Santa Barbara (2008, October 25). Physical Strength, Fighting Ability Revealed In Human Faces. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/10/081022135809.htm

The Problem with Youth Training

"Our culture is based on the gratification system - we strive to see results now even if the act of trying to create results in the short-term proves to be contradictory to the science of motor development and blatantly less beneficial than a more holistic and long-term approach." Brian Grasso

Did you know that there are over 40 million young athletes participating in organized sports annually in the United States? Over 3.5 million sport-related injuries are reported every year.

During the last five years, I have been involved in the training of young athletes at the high school level. Prior to working at the high school level, I spent time in the college and pro ranks, working with some of the best athletes in the world. So I have had the opportunity to see first hand the progression in development from the youngest level to the most elite.

My thoughts on the development of youth athletic population has had to mature as I have spent more time working with young athletes. What I have notice through my work with athletes is that the younger the athlete learns skill and movement aptitude the more capable and injury-resistant he will be on the field. That you must teach how to execute the finer points of movement and allow them to improve systematically over time while being patient and focused in the long-term benefits to the athletes. I have seen coaches and trainers sacrifice long-term improvement for quick success and immediate on-field results.

This morning I was talking to my good friend Tim Maxey, strength and conditioning coach of the Cleveland Indians about the development of young baseball players around the country. What we see is the shortsighted approach to developing young athletes that is hurting their chances to develop the proper body awareness, balance, relative strength and proper movement technique that is essential in the development long-term systematic programs.

So lets take a step back, try to avoid falling into the lets win now mentality, allow our young athletes the opportunity to develop in slow incremental steps that are envisioned in a hollistic and long-term approach.

The Warm-Up

The best way to prepare for more strenuous exercise is to perform specific warm-up exercises because they provide a rehearsal of the activity and increase body temperature. Generally, there are three types of warm-up methods: passive (pre-warm up), general, and specific. Regardless of the types of warm-up activities used, the general purpose of warming up prior to physical activity is to increase core body and muscle temperature.

PASSIVE
Generally, a passive warm-up involves such methods as hot showers, massage, or heating pads, but most research has shown that this type of warm-up does not achieve the desired increases in tissue temperature needed to cause a warm-up effect. Due to this, a passive warm-up may be better termed as a pre-warm-up and may allow the athlete to relieve some muscle pain and stiffness and therefore enhance facilitation of body movements for the general warm-up to follow.

GENERAL
The general warm-up is probably the most commonly used technique and employs various movements not directly related to those to be employed in the activity itself, with the goal being to increase tissue temperature and improve the efficiency of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems for the physiological demands and processes that will soon be placed on it. These may start with joint rotation and gently twisting and bending movements usually followed by jogging, cycling, jumping rope or light calisthenics.

DYNAMIC
The final component of the warm-up is dynamic flexibility training. Active- Dynamic flexibility training consists of functional-based exercises that use sport-specific movements to prepare the body for activity. This type of training has been used for some time, but is still not common knowledge among coaches and athletes. While active- dynamic flexibility training is not as commonly used as other types of stretching (static, ballistic, and PNF); this type of training has some unique aspects that may warrant its use in an athlete’s warm-up.

Alcohol Slows Down Muscle Growth

Some of the great weight lifters and boxers from the early 1900s trained in the back saloons. Typically, they would drink beer, do a few reps or box a round, then drink some more. While this makes for a great story, it’s lousy way to train. Dr. C.H. Lang and colleagues from Penn State University found that even moderate drinking decreased the rate of protein synthesis by 20 percent. Alcohol interferes with the way amino acids are lined up to make specific proteins. It also blocks the action of the powerful anabolic hormone, insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). This is important information for athletes and other weight trained athletes. Even a few drinks can erase all the work you did in the gym.

Questions and Answers

Q - What are the guidelines about the maximum amount of weight a person should lose during one week of a weight reduction program?

A - In order to lose a pound of fat you must create a 3500-calorie deficit a week. This deficit is created in two ways: (1) decrease the number of calories you eat by 500 a day, or (2) increase the number of calories (500 calories/day) you expend in a program that includes proper conditioning and strength training.

For safe and effective weight loss, you must do both. The degree to which you can change your diet and your exercise regimen depends upon your lifestyle. If you are making healthy choices and exercising regularly, it may take more work to lose weight. If you are considerably overweight and have not been paying attention to diet and exercise, then little changes may produce initial results more rapidly. Strength training will help with your long-term body composition goals by increasing lean mass.

Safe and effective weight loss is a gradual process that can produce weight loss of a half-pound to two pounds a week. To lose more than two pounds per week, the amount of food has to be greatly restricted and the level of activity must be significantly increased. A high level of calorie restriction often leaves a person undernourished and burned out. By pacing yourself with quality food, proper amount of exercise, adequate amounts of rest and an adoption of a healthier lifestyle, you will ensure that the weight you lose will actually stay off.

Cavs Getting Ready for The Playoffs

It starts a little slow, but stick with it. It's worth it. This is surely to become a classic.

The Ten Commandments of Athletics

1. Thou Shalt Not Quit

2. Though Shalt Not Alibi

3. Thou Shalt Not Gloat Over Winning

4. Thou Shalt Not Sulk Over Losing

5. Thou Shalt Not Take Unfair Advantage

6. Thou Shalt Not Ask Of Others What Thou Art
Unwilling To Give Of Yourself

7. Thou Shalt Always Be Willing To Give Thine
Opponent Courtesy

8. Thou Shalt Not Understimate An Opponent Nor
Overestimate Thyself

9. Remember That The Game Is The Thing And He Who
Thinks Otherwise Is No True Sportsman

10. Honor The Sport Thou Playest, For He Who Plays
The Game Straight And Hard, Wins Even When He Loses

A little stress can be good for you

" The idea that we could - or should - live without stress is nonsense," says brain researcher Dr. Robert Sapolsky.

Stress in brief stretches - excitement, eagerness, and thrill - can make your blood circulate better, improve your memory, heighten your senses, and release mood-enhancing brain chemicals.

Unrelieved, long-lasting stress can compromise the immune system as well as lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. If you're always exhausted, overwhelmed, and irritable, there's probably too much stress in your life. Look at your responsibilities and let go of the things that aren't really necessary or important. Regular exercise, meditation, and adequate sleep also help relieve stress. Boredom, fatigue, and ongoing unhappiness can be signs of too little stress.

To put the difference between good and bad stress in perspective: A roller coaster ride lasts three minutes, not three days.
Source: The Brain, Vol. 12, No. 12, pg. 1

Muscle Is Nature's Fat Burner

People tend to get fatter as they age. That tight hard body you had when you were 20 is harder to maintain when you’re 30, 40, 50 and beyond. Your metabolism slows by 10 to 15 percent between ages 30 and 60. Coincidentally, muscle mass drops by about the same percentage. Muscle is like the California of energy using tissues- the more muscle you have the more calories you burn. You can prevent middle age spread by maintaining your muscle mass. Even lifting weights two times a week for 30 minutes can build muscle and turn you into a fat burner instead of a fat storer. The added muscle will consume more calories and help you maintain a healthy weight. What’s more, your new muscle will help make you look fit, healthy and young.

Schuster 4th straight no-hitter

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. -- A Florida high school pitcher tossed his fourth consecutive no-hitter.

Mitchell High senior Patrick Schuster did it Monday night on his home field at the suburban school northwest of Tampa.

The lanky left-hander struck out 17 to help his team beat rival Pasco High 5-0 in front of a full house of several hundred spectators.

"I never thought this would happen," he said. "I'm just having so much [fun] right now."

Schuster's streak began April 3. He's piled up 60 strikeouts in the four games, helping Mitchell to a 19-3 record. He's 7-0 on the season.

He said he was trying not to think about the streak, but late in the game he asked his outfielders to take a few steps because he didn't want to give up a bloop hit.

Mitchell coach Scot Wilcox called the performance "vintage Schuster."

"I'll tell you what, he's got command of every single pitch," Wilcox said. "His curveball, his slider, his change-up, he was just spotting it nicely. He was keeping their hitters off balance."

Schuster said the streak has been harder on his mother, Sharon, than it's been on him.

"I've got the confidence, and she's over there biting her nails and stuff," he said. "I'm having fun with it and she's nervous. She's probably going to make me cry as soon as I see her."

Schuster, whose fastball tops 90 mph, has signed to play at the University of Florida next year but hasn't ruled out going straight to professional baseball.

The record for consecutive no-hitters in high school baseball is six.


Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Jump Like A Champ

Why should you jump rope? Because, 10 minutes of jumping rope can provide the same calorie burn as 30 minutes of running. Rope jumping uses all your muscles and joints and also requires some skill and practice. Here is a sample program: With the basic bounce or alternate step, start with 10 sets of 10 jumps. Increase the number of jumps by 10 per set until you reach 100 jumps nonstop. Gradually work towards 5 to 10 minutes of continuous jumping.

Key Factors In Program Design

When developing your own athletic development program there must be certain intangibles that must be present for your program to be successful. These key factors where adapted from an article that Ken Mannie wrote more than 10 years ago. They are as important now, as they were when written a decade ago. These by any means are not all inclusive, but give you a good starting point as you develop your personal program philosophy.


ACCOUNTABILITY - Accountability is the most important factor in a successful program. Every player needs to be responsible for his designated work, whether that be stretching, conditioning, strength training or rehabilitation.

CONSISTENCY – Every athlete must understand, that to succeed in sports, consistency of fundamental skills, psychological preparation and physical development must all be addressed on a daily basis.

EDUCATION - Every athlete in your organization team should be educated on the organizational strength and conditioning philosophy, as well as the coaching staff, player development and athletic operations. Everyone should understand the practical application of the program.

TOTAL PARTICIPATION - Strength and Conditioning development is important for all team members, not just for a chosen few or for those who enjoy the activity. If for no other reason, the fact that strength and conditioning can be a deterrent to possible injury should make it the rule rather than the exception.

SUPERVISION - Regardless of the type of program you implement, make certain to provide the athletes with constant supervision. You will achieve better results if you approach it with the same enthusiasm and effort as you would a practice situation.

FREQUENCY OF WORKOUTS - Research and practical application indicate that three non-consecutive days in the off-season and two non-consecutive days during the in-season will achieve the required stimulation to maintain and increase muscular strength levels. A common mistake made by athletes and coaches is the abandonment of an in-season program. If strength and conditioning is completely eliminated during the season, the resulting decrease in strength levels may negatively affect performance and be a factor in an increased injury rate as the season progresses.

COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING - Adhering to a comprehensive approach will ensure balanced development and better prepare the players for the physical stresses of competition. A comprehensive training program should emphasize every aspect of the players’ physical development, including flexibility, strength, conditioning, agility and nutrition. It should also be evaluated during every rep, set, workout, day and week, to allow for adequate modifications. Never be satisfied.

Nike SPARQ Mini-Camp

Carlo Alvarez and Ethos Athletics will be hosting the Nike SPARQ Mini-Camp at Rivers Edge Sports Complex in Cleves on March 21st. Registration will begin at 9am and the camp will start at 10am. This will be a two hour camp that will focus on helping all athletes improve on their stability, mobility, speed, reaction, quickness and explosiveness.

Below are some of the most frequent Q and A's that we receive regarding the Mini-Camp. If you can't register over the internet, show up on Saturday and you can register in person. If you have any further questions, please call 513-509-9642. We look forward to seeing everyone at River Edge on Saturday.

Q: What are SPARQ Mini Camps?

SPARQ Mini Camps are a two hour dynamic training workout in which a local lead SPARQ trainer will instruct how to improve your athleticism by incorporating SPARQ Training.

Q: What are Nike Football Training Camps?

NFTC’s are invite-only specialty camps run by Nike and ESPN Rise. To be invited to an NFTC, it’s more than just a good SPARQ Rating. You should have a certified rating, should have a highlight reel in your Locker Room, and a letter of recommendation from your coach.

Q: How are the SPARQ Mini Camps different from the Nike Combines?

At the Nike Combines you will test in the four categories that make up the Football 2.0 SPARQ rating. The 40 Yard Dash (two tries, we'll take your best ones), the Agility Shuttle (two tries, we'll take your best one), the Kneeling Power Ball Toss (two tries and a warm up and we'll take the best of the two) and the Vertical Jump (jump until you decrease).

Then you'll receive an official SPARQ Rating which will go out to every college coach in country.

At the SPARQ Mini Camp there will be no testing involved, just hard dynamic training to get you ready for the off season workouts.

Q: Do you have to pay for the SPARQ Mini Camp?

All Nike Combines and SPARQ Mini Camps are free of charge.

Q: Can 8th graders attend the mini camps? Who CAN attend the mini camps?

SPARQ Mini-Camps are open to boys and girls from 8th grade to 11th grade. The skills you'll work on will be adjustable to any skill level. So grab a friend and get moving! Just sign up online before you come, grab your workout gear and bring your work hat cause you’re gonna get a good one in!

Q: How long are the mini-camps?

About 2 hours.

Q: If I was registered for a Mini-Camp and the date or location was later changed, am I still signed up?

Yes. You will also receive an email informing you of the change. Check your spam folder!

My Boy Kettler. Getting Some Press

Strength Coach Adds Muscle to WVU Hoops

By Bob Hertzel For the Times West Virginian

MORGANTOWN — A few games back, as West Virginia was defeating Notre Dame, freshman Devin Ebanks began soaring through the air as this long, lean freshman has done so many times this year. The basketball was in his hands, the basket in his sights.

The crowd gasped in anticipation of one of those thunderous dunks he has provided all so many times on a breakaway this season, but this time there was an opponent there, one who managed somehow to get a hand in there and leave the crowd wondering where this slam had gone.

Ebanks could not finish it off, a disappointing end to a moment that threatened to bring the house down.Later that day, when the play was brought up to Coach Bob Huggins, he repeated what he’s said all year.“Devin Ebanks has got to get bigger and stronger. A year from now, he’ll make that play.”

This is not news to the 6-foot, 9-inch freshman from New York.“I’ve known it my whole life,” he said. “It’s just a matter of me putting my mind to it.”When he does, he will punch his ticket to the National Basketball Association. Fortunately, it is a ride he is not taking alone.

Andy Kettler is his traveling partner. You probably don’t know who Andy Kettler is, although you’ve probably seen him around the bench at Mountaineer games. Shaved head, goatee, just about 30 years of age. Oh, yeah, he’s muscular, too. He has the kind of build NBA scouts would like to see Ebanks with and he’s in charge of getting him there.

Andy Kettler is the director of strength and conditioning for the Mountaineer basketball team. He comes from out of the large shadow Bob Huggins cast upon the city of Cincinnati, which is his hometown. His background is mostly in baseball after becoming a 2001 graduate of Ashland with a bachelor’s degree in sports industries/recreation. He worked a year with the Cleveland Indians’ Lake County Captains farm team, then spent six years as minor league strength and conditioning coordinator for the San Diego Padres before serving two years as the head strength and conditioning coordinator with the Kansas City Royals. But something was eating at him as he performed that job.“ Kim and I never saw each other,” he said, referring to his wife of three years. That made him itchy to try something new and that something new almost had to be college athletics.“

My mentality and the work ethic I want out of the kids fits better at the college level instead of with 35-year-oldathletes who have been through multiple surgeries,” he said. He left the Royals, joined Wintrhrop University as head of strength and conditioning for two years before Huggins grabbed him off for his program last July.

There can’t be too many more demanding jobs than strength and conditioning coach under the hard-driving Huggins, whose game is a physical one built on muscle and conditioning, pushing his players through three-hour practices, day after day.“ Strength and conditioning is important to him and, obviously, it’s important to me,” Kettler said. “It’s a double-edged sword. He’ll support you in every way but you’ve got to answer the bell. There are a lot of expectations.”

Kettler came into the West Virginia program at an interesting time, for there were a couple of major projects waiting for him.One was John Flowers, the other Ebanks. Flowers had been in the program for a year. He is a long, lean kid, a leaper who lacks only the strength that Huggins requires and the size to bang bodies with the bullies of the Big East.“ He’s gained 17 pounds since I’ve been here,” Kettler said. But the gem he really has to polish is Ebanks, who is listed at 6-9 and 205 and who figures to grow into someone who weighs around 230 by the end of college, maybe even bigger once he reaches the professional level.

What Kettler understands is that it can’t happen overnight, unless you apply something that no one even wants to talk about these days — steroids.“ Huggs has a two-word saying,” Kettler said. “Do right.” Steroid possession, he points out, is a felony.“ If you do drugs, you are not doing right,” he said.And so they are taking a slow approach with Ebanks, one so slow that Ebanks admits he actually has lost a couple of pounds as he’s gone through three-hour practices and played 30 to 35 minutes a game this year.“

A kid comes into college and he has lot on him. You need to understand that you have an 18-year-old kid coming to college for the first time, playing for a Hall of Fame coach in the Big East carrying an academic load,” Kettler said.“ Besides that, most 18-year-old kids are a—holes. This kid listens. This is a good kid who wants to succeed.” They’re hoping to get him to 225 by next year.“ If he doesn’t make it, say just gets to 220, fine,” said Kettler, not putting any pressure on Ebanks. The hard work will come during the offseason, when Huggins turns him over completely to Kettler.

History of Powerlifting, Weightlifting and Strength Training - Part Three

by Dr. Ken Leistner

The Quest For Knowledge.

In the days before the internet and immediate worldwide communication, the wonders of bodybuilding, especially in California, was brought to the attention of the many eager enthusiasts across the country, through the pages of Joe Weider’s various muscle building publications. It was necessary to present news from all of the weight training related activities. There weren’t enough of any one group of devotees that one could expect to publish and distribute a “muscle magazine” and make a living off of it if any particular group was completely ignored. Thus Joe and his various issues of Muscle Power, Muscle Builder, Muscle And Fitness, Mr. America, Young Mr. America, All American Athlete, and a few others covered all bases. The rare known athlete who admitted to utilizing weights as a training tool or as an adjunct to whatever made up the “regular training” and preparation for their sport would be featured. There would be a monthly column dedicated to Olympic weightlifting with brief contest results. Once powerlifting became popular or at least became a viable activity separate from bodybuilding or Olympic lifting, Weider always had at least one training feature and a standing monthly column that included gossip type of news, some training information, and the results of one or more contests, usually from the West Coast. I know that every lifter in the New York City area would pace the local luncheonettes and newsstands waiting for the clerk to cut open the packages that held the monthly nuggets of information, on the day of the distributor's delivery.

I would travel to Manhattan and hang out in bodybuilder Leroy Colbert’s health food store on Broadway at 84th Street. I met another fellow there, a bit older than me and a lot larger. Big, blonde, and very strong Dave Draper was a newcomer, like me a guy who trained at home from a very young age, who would sit in the back of Leroy’s store on a Saturday, and ask a lot of questions. We would drink quarts of milk, eat foot long ham or roast beef sandwiches, and learn from Leroy and whomever else came through the door and many of the best in the New York City area came to Lee for advice and supplements. Like gyms, this type of establishment was not frequently seen and certainly none could offer the expertise that Colbert and his legitimate 20” arms could. Leroy was friendly with and did a lot of work for Joe Weider at his Union City, New Jersey office and warehouse, just across the river from Manhattan. Through Leroy, I first met Joe Weider when I was fourteen, already a two year veteran of a haphazard but consistent weight training regimen. I would have started at the age of ten but was warned of the evils of training by my father and his cronies who made the racetrack their home when not toiling at their two and three concurrent jobs. “You’ll get musclebound,” “you’ll stove up” which was another way of saying “you’ll get stiff or musclebound,” “you’ll get slower” which for an aspiring athlete was of course the kiss of death, “you’ll go queer” which was the common parlance of the day for a gay lifestyle, and the ever present warning that “geez, these gyms got hop heads, queers, and losers in every one I seen, you can’t go in there.” I once wrote in Powerlifting USA regarding this above noted statement that even at the age of ten or eleven, I silently thought that the old man was referring to the boxing gyms in the area. We had plenty of those as boxing was extremely popular, as it is in all tough neighborhoods, with instruction available at the Police Boy’s Club, Police Athletic League, in many of the church programs, and from the Parks Department. The cigar smoking creeps doing illegitimate business was a stock stereotype but a true one. Decades later watching the steroid, cocaine, and heroin deals go down in many of the area gyms with activity being echoed across the country as organized crime figures took over ownership of some of the major chain type gyms and training facilities, I finally got to agree with my long dead father.

He gave me permission to train with weights when I was twelve and the catch was, I had to purchase them myself. That was a joke as we had been living in a summer bungalow that we utilized as a full time, year round residence. No heat, no hot water, the stove and oven on all night to augment electric heaters strung up all over the place so that pipes wouldn’t freeze and burst, water in the toilet freezing overnight, and heating water on the stove in order to take a bath in one-inch of tepid water. No, I don’t think my various part-time “kid jobs” were going to allow the purchase of any real weights. To the old man’s credit, he came through. We lived next to a lot where trucks and cars would be abandoned on a regular basis, thus, a truck axle and flywheels made up my first “barbell” and he was quick to weld up anything that would make my uninhibited attempts at copying what I saw in the magazines a bit safer. Pails of concrete and sand, the benefit of living in a beachside community, allowed me to mimic the dumbbell exercises I saw in the magazines. Weider’s Muscle Power and Young Mr. America were the primary sources of information, supplemented with Hoffman’s Strength And Health. Olympic lifting and bodybuilding were the focus for the York publication and of course, both of the major players in the iron sports used their magazines as product catalogues, hyping various protein pills and powders, Brewer’s yeast, wheat germ oil, and what even by 1975 appeared to be the flimsiest of training equipment.

I also had the advantage of the train station, bus, and subway, all of which allowed me to travel and seek out training information. Long before DVD’s, CD’s, the internet, and ubiquitous seminars, one gathered information about training “the old fashioned way”; you got off your ass, located those who were actually doing what you wanted to do, and discovered or created a way to watch, ask questions, and eventually perhaps, become part of the group. As a cult activity, weight training, most often done in basements and garages of private homes, in storefront gyms, in the YMCA’s of major cities, or in the warehouse of a “lifting guy” who had a business, was difficult to find and learn about. As a teenager, I would hitchhike to York, Pennsylvania, leaving the house at 3 or 4 AM on a Saturday that allowed me to take time off from one of my part time jobs, and spend the day literally hanging out and just watching the best American lifters do what they did. Taking the train, subway, and bus to Brooklyn allowed me to go to Mr. V’s Sport Shop, the only bodybuilding outlet in the borough at the time, to watch proprietor and mentor Jack Meniero work with Larry Powers, Freddie Ortiz, and others I had actually seen in the magazines. When powerlifting began to flourish, the accumulation of information was done in the same manner. Trips east out towards “the other end” of Long Island to watch a guy named Bob Meyers bench press the incredible weight of 500 pounds, a quick bus ride over the City line to Far Rockaway in order to find “these two guys who use a ton of weight” or hitchhiking to Inwood because “some kid” and that kid turned out to be Dennis Tennerino, a future Mr. America and Mr. Universe, “was using huge weights and looked freaky.” When The Silver Knight, a local bar, known for its weekend bloodbaths of mano-a-mano combat hired real, live, competitive powerlifters from the City to keep the peace, we had a place to go, or at least stand outside of, where we could engage the bouncers in bench press, squat, and deadlift conversation all night. For me, it was the start of a competitive adventure and a pursuit of pure strength that would augment my desire to “train to be a better football player” which had been the driving force behind my fascination with a barbell from the day I began to train.

The Power of Positive Thinking

You gotta listen to this. Great words to live by.

Michigan State University Football Strength & Conditioning Clinic

I just got back from speaking at the Michigan State Clinic and I have to tell you it was a great event. I got to see some the coaches that inspired me to follow my dream of becoming a strength and conditioning coach when I started in the field 15 years ago.

Thank you to Coach Ken Mannie and Mike Vorkapich for allowing me the opportunity to speak at their coaches clinic. As well, a thank you goes out to Mike Richardson of Power Lift for a great dinner on Friday night.

The clinic had some outstanding speakers and content. I personally spoke on Organizing Your Training Sessions and the benefits of being structured to allow for more organizined and consistent workouts. The overall topic discussed included steps to success, challenges, understanding your audience, goal setting, session structure, session breakdown, and current research on training youth athletes.

Dr. Ken Leistner spoke on Thoughts on Strength Training. This was an outstanding presentation on the history of Weightlifing, Powerlifting and Strength Training and the different types of exercises utilized with these different types of methodologies. He spoke on the importance of training the neck, upper back, mid-back, erector spine and low back to avoid serious cervical spine injuries, which have been on the rise in the last few years. Dr. Ken is a great speaker who makes his presentations very thought provoking due to his experience based knowledge, but humurous and fun, so there is never a dull moment. if you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, I highly recommend it. He will be speaking at the University of Florida Strength and Conditioning Coaches Clinic March 6-7, 2009.

Coach Mike Gittleson has some great content on linear progressions, rules of strength training, rules of engagement, the repetition and the molecular response to training. Coach Gittleson and Keith Barr have written a very in-depth article in Peak Performance titled Maximizing Strength - Time To Tear Up The Old Rule Book? This article highlights what molecular exercise physiologist have identified as the key regulator of muscle protein synthesis after strength training. What the article explains is that the activity of the protein is directly related to the intensity of the training session and over time to the increase in muscle size and strength. So in other words, the harder you work the more you stimulate protein synthesis and the ability to gain size and strength. As always, Coach Gittleson making things simple and easy to understand. He is also working with Rogers Athletic in designing some great pieces of strength training equipment. Keep an eye out for their up and coming Neck-Shrug Piece. This piece is lights out.

Jim Kielbaso of Total Performance spoke about Football Agility and Movement Training. Jim broke down his presentation into several components that would help any coach implement a thorough agility based program. The componenets included Uses for Agility Training, Athletic Abilities vs. Sports Skills, General, Lead Up & Specific drills, Open vs. Closed Loop Feed back, Skill Aquisition and Sports Specificity. Its always smart to be reminded of the benefits of understanding Skill Aquisition and how movement should be introduced. How the nervous systems begins to learn firing patterns and how motor patterns get formed after consistent practice. Jim wrote a very insightful book called Speed & Agility Revolution: Movement Training for Athletic Success that you should pick up if you are interested in imporving your athletes or teams movement efficiency.

Ted Lambrinides and Coach Mannie had a weightroom presentation on practical exercises to improve strength and power in athletes. Ted described and presented some drills and exercises that can be included in a program with limited resources and equipment. Coach Mannie took "Traps" one of his walk-on football players that had recently earned a scholarship through a Squat to Press, PowerLift Hex Bar Deadlift, Pendulum Seated Squat Pro circuit. The whole workout was performed with flawless technique.

It's always nice to see how other coaches go about their business. This allows you to see where you are and what type of adjustments you can make to your own program.There are a lot of clinics and seminars in the coming months, so make sure that you learn something this winter.

Our Melamine: There’s Mercury in High Fructose Corn Syrup, and the FDA Has Known for Years

January 27th, 2009 by Leslie Hatfield
Originally Posted on The Green Fork

Maybe Jeremy Piven didn’t get mercury poisoning from fish at all — according to the results of this new study released by the Institute for Agriculture and Trace Policy (IATP), the actor may well have been sickened by soda or candy or anything that contains high fructose corn syrup, which, if you eat processed food in this country means, well, just about anything.

Foodies and nutritionists alike have been griping about high fructose corn syrup for years, and the industry has responded with an “astroturf” campaign and a level of secrecy generally reserved for the military officials or secret societies (see Corn Refiners’ Association president Audrae Erickson’s stonewalling performance in King Corn).

Of course, I wouldn’t want to show my hand either, if the making of my product could be described as undertaking a small “Manhattan Project” (see eye-glazing production info here). But as it turns out, the HFCS industry has been hiding some major skeletons in its closet — according to the IATP study (pdf), over 30% of products containing the substance tested positive for mercury.

What makes this news truly shocking is not just that the manufacturers of high fructose corn syrup would put consumers’ health at risk, but that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) knew about the mercury in the syrup and has been sitting on this information since 2005.

Here’s the connection, according to the IATP press release (pdf) announcing the study: The IATP study comes on the heels of another study, conducted in 2005 but only recently published by the scientific journal, Environmental Health, which revealed that nearly 50 percent of commercial HFCS samples tested positive for the heavy metal. Renee Dufault, who was working for the FDA at the time, was among the 2005 study’s authors.

Here’s how the mercury gets in there, according to Janet at the Ethicurean:

How did the heavy metal get in there? In making HFCS — that “natural” sweetener, as the Corn Refiners Associaton likes to call it — caustic soda is one ingredient used to separate corn starch from the corn kernel. Apparently most caustic soda for years has been produced in industrial chlorine (chlor-alkali) plants, where it can be contaminated with mercury that it passes on to the HFCS, and then to consumers.

And here’s more from the press release:

“While the FDA had evidence that commercial HFCS was contaminated with mercury four years ago, the agency did not inform consumers, help change industry practice or conduct additional testing.”

And on why it matters:

“Mercury is toxic in all its forms,” said IATP’s David Wallinga, M.D., and a co-author in both studies. “Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the FDA to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply.”

In China, heads might roll over a scandal like this one, at least if the country received global attention for its allowing corrupt health officials’ greasy palms come before, um, public health.

Of course, in this country, Dufault’s neck is safe. But what about the health of American consumers? Let’s see the Corn Refiner’s Association try to spin this one.

Congratulations to Rick Court

The Toledo Rockets football program is hard at work with winter workouts right now and the program has a new Director of Speed, Strength and Conditioning. His name is Rick Court.

Court has spent the last six years on the strength and conditioning staff at Bowling Green. In September of 2008 he was promoted from Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at Bowling Green to Head Strength and Conditioning coach for the Falcons.

He is a 2002 graduate of Michigan State, where he received a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology. He also earned a master's degree in Sports Administration from Eastern Kentucky in 2003.

Rick was an intern in the Strength and Conditioning program at Michigan State in 2001 and 2002, working with the hockey and football teams at Michigan State. He also did an internship in strength training with the Detroit Tigers.

Then in 2003 he moved on to Bowling Green, within their Strength and Conditioning program. In 2006 he was named Assistant Strength and Conditioning coach at Bowling Green and then the Head Strength and Conditioning coach at BG in 2006.

Rick is a native of Grosse Point Woods, Michigan and is married to Molly. Prior to Rick Court's appointment as Director of Speed, Strength, and Conditioning the Rockets did not have a director on staff with Head Strength and Conditioning coach Steve Murray and his staff of interns and graduate assistants.

Exercise Suppresses Appetite By Affecting Appetite Hormones

A vigorous 60-minute workout on a treadmill affects the release of two key appetite hormones, ghrelin and peptide YY, while 90 minutes of weight lifting affects the level of only ghrelin, according to a new study. Taken together, the research shows that aerobic exercise is better at suppressing appetite than non-aerobic exercise and provides a possible explanation for how that happens.

This line of research may eventually lead to more effective ways to use exercise to help control weight, according to the senior author, David J. Stensel of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.

Treadmill Versus Weight Lifting

There are several hormones that help regulate appetite, but the researchers looked at two of the major ones, ghrelin and peptide YY. Ghrelin is the only hormone known to stimulate appetite. Peptide YY suppresses appetite.

Ghrelin was discovered by researchers in Japan only about 10 years ago and was originally identified for its role as a growth hormone. Only later did its role in stimulating appetite become known. Peptide YY was discovered less than 25 years ago. 

In this experiment, 11 male university students did three eight-hour sessions. During one session they ran for 60 minutes on a treadmill, and then rested for seven hours. During another session they did 90 minutes of weight lifting, and then rested for six hours and 30 minutes. During another session, the participants did not exercise at all.

During each of the sessions, the participants filled out surveys in which they rated how hungry they felt at various points. They also received two meals during each session. The researchers measured ghrelin and peptide YY levels at multiple points along the way.

They found that the treadmill (aerobic) session caused ghrelin levels to drop and peptide YY levels to increase, indicating the hormones were suppressing appetite. However, a weight-lifting (non-aerobic) session produced a mixed result. Ghrelin levels dropped, indicating appetite suppression, but peptide YY levels did not change significantly.

Based on the hunger ratings the participants filled out, both aerobic and resistance exercise suppressed hunger, but aerobic exercise produced a greater suppression of hunger. The changes the researchers observed were short term for both types of exercise, lasting about two hours, including the time spent exercising, Stensel reported.

“The finding that hunger is suppressed during and immediately after vigorous treadmill running is consistent with previous studies indicating that strenuous aerobic exercise transiently suppresses appetite,” Stensel said. “The findings suggest a similar, although slightly attenuated response, for weight lifting exercise.”

Focus on Active Ghrelin

Previous studies have been inconclusive about whether exercise decreases ghrelin levels, but this study may help explain those mixed results, according to the researchers.

Ghrelin comes in two forms, acylated and non-acylated. The researchers measured acylated ghrelin, also called active ghrelin, because it can cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the appetite center in the brain. Stensel suggests that future research concentrate on active ghrelin.

While the study showed that exercise suppresses appetite hormones, the next step is to establish whether this change actually causes the suppression of eating.

Journal reference:
Broom et al. The influence of resistance and aerobic exercise on hunger, circulating levels of acylated ghrelin and peptide YY in healthy males. AJP Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2008; DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu.90706.2008

History of Powerlifting, Weightlifting and Strength Training - Part Two

by Dr. Ken Leistner

One’s choice of lifting activity could have been very much determined by their geographic location in the 1940’s through the 1960’s. Referring to the first installment of this series, while most “training guys” did the same basic exercises, different parts of the country, different parts of some specific states, gravitated to one of the three major types of lifting expression. The most obvious example of this was the York Barbell Club located in York, Pennsylvania. The headquarters of Bob Hoffman’s York Barbell Company, he had funded America’s Olympic weightlifting activities, as the supplier of equipment, as the provider of funds necessary for travel, and as the sport’s chief administrator for decades. He was referred to and rightfully so, as “The Father Of American Weightlifting” and he took the title and the responsibility seriously. In fairness, while his reign was dictatorial he viewed himself as a benevolent dictator and the retrospect of a few decades indicates that he was indeed, just that. Hoffman may have called the shots for the entire sport, exerted his will to shape specific Olympic or national teams, and certainly played favorites, but no one disagrees that without him and his support, the sport would have withered and perhaps been little more than a footnote before anyone heard of John Grimek, Steve Stanko, Tommy Kono, the George Brothers, and Bob Bednarski. Many of the York Barbell Club lifters were imported from other parts of the country, provided with employment at “The Barbell” as the company was referred to by those on the inside or earlier in the century, in one of Bob’s related businesses, and perhaps to the surprise of the current generation, actually worked a full time daily job before entering the hallowed halls of the The York Barbell Club gym to train. Some of the jobs were difficult, others less so and I can recall the great Bill March, who handed Hoffman both lifting titles and a Mr. Universe physique victory loading cans of protein powder by day. Others heaved and hauled in the warehouse hefting what at times I’m sure seemed like an endless parade of 100 and 45 pound plates and Olympic bars through entire days and weeks. If one lived in the York area and desired to lift weights, there was the exposure to and the opportunity to train with some of the best Olympic lifters in the world and certainly, the best in the United States.

In California, especially Southern California, while there was Olympic lifting activity, it was perhaps the sun and surf and the exposure one’s physique would have all through the year due to the wonderful weather that made bodybuilding a major attraction. As the great Bill Pearl said to me in the late-1960’s as I talked about returning to the East Coast to continue college and collegiate football, “Go to school and play football out here. Why would you want to go back home? You can ride a bike, run on the beach, and wear a tee shirt and shorts all year and its ideal (weather) for training.” He was correct of course, explaining at least in part, the fact that the heart and soul of bodybuilding rested at Santa Monica’s famed Muscle Beach. By the time I arrived on the West Coast in the late-1960’s, “Muscle Beach” had moved from its original environs down the beach a bit to Venice, to New Yorkers like my buddy Jack and me, the epitome of “the land of fruits and nuts.” Among the strange sightings along the beach and boardwalk of Venice, there was the well-known weight pen where “power lifters”, even before the sport of powerlifting was officially christened, threw up huge chunks of iron in both the Olympic lifts but more formally, in the “odd lifts” such as the incline press, bench press, and deadlift. Steve Merjanian, Bill “Peanuts” West, Mike Barnett, Lee Phillips, and others known only to the California crowd had worked hard to earn a reputation as tremendously strong men among the bodybuilding crowd. Pat Casey, who by 1966 had become the first man to bench press 600 pounds under something akin to official conditions, later became a very dear friend, right up to the time of his death. This coterie of strongmen gave many the impression that California was indeed the birthplace of powerlifting. However, by the time 1964 rolled around and the first Tournament Of Champions was contested and billed as the inaugural United States championship in the squat, bench press, and deadlift, performed in that order, there were pockets of lifters throughout the nation that could have made the same claim.

Often its one individual who influences many others to do what he is doing and before anyone realizes it has occurred, that village, city, state, or region is “the place” for whatever activity has been the focus of the group’s attention. Parts of Texas had early advocates of what became the sport of powerlifting, men like Paul Barbee, Jim Witt, and to the credit of his everlasting self-promotion, Terry Todd. The entire state of Pennsylvania, perhaps as an outgrowth of having the York lifters as the fabric of “lifting” in the U.S. and of course, because of financial support and magazine exposure via Bob Hoffman and his publications, boasted some of the very best in the early years of the sport. Illinois and New England too, were hotbeds of this new activity, one that supported the popular notion that the less gifted athletically could compete at a barbell related activity that wasn’t Olympic lifting. The New York Metropolitan area with its overflowing population sample, had plenty of everything. Olympic lifters, powerlifters, and bodybuilders could be found wherever weights were lifted. All forms of the iron sports were still brandishing “cult status” but each permutation had its advocates and participants.

Volleyball Reasearch Project

Vizual Edge Performance Trainer (VEPT)
Volleyball Research Report
Dr. Frank Spaniol
Professor, Department of Kinesiology
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Fourteen (14) NCAA DI volleyball players participated in a study to investigate the relationship between visual skills and volleyball performance. Visual skills were determined by the VizualEdge Performance Trainer® (VEPT), a commercial software program designed to test and train visual skills. Individual test scores were determined for eye alignment, eye flexibility, visual recognition, visual memory, and visual tracking. A composite VEPT score was also calculated for each subject. Volleyball performance was determined by official NCAA statistics. Research results are as follows:

• Houston Baptist University (HBU) is a NCAA DI program that is transitioning to NCAA DI. The team finished the 2008 season with a record of 24-7 while winning the National Transitions Challenge Championship.

• The mean VEPT score for the fourteen subjects was 79.46 with a standard deviation of 12.56. The high and low scores were 91.14 and 41.02, respectively.

Top VEPT Scores

• The top VEPT score (91.14) was achieved by the team setter who ranked first in assists, second in serve aces, and fourth in digs.

• The second best VEPT score (89.93) was achieved by the team’s top attacker (outside hitter) who ranked first in attacks and kills, third in serve aces, and second in digs.

• The third best VEPT score (87.13) was achieved by the team’s top middle blocker who ranked third in attacks, first in blocks, and third in kills.

Top Volleyball Statistical Leaders

• The team’s best setter (9.51 assists per set) had the best VEPT score (91.14) on the team, while the best set percentage (.545) was achieved by fourth highest VEPT score (86.27) on the team.

• The team’s best attacker (828) had the second highest VEPT score on the team, while the best attack percentage (.348) was achieved by third highest VEPT score (87.13) on the team.

• The team’s best blocker (.75 blocks per set) had the third highest VEPT score (87.13) on the team.

• The player with the team’s best kill per set (3.30) had the second highest VEPT score on the team, while the best attack percentage (.348) was achieved by the player with the third highest VEPT score (87.13) on the team.

• The team’s best server (.45 serve aces per set) had the fourth highest VEPT score on the team, while the team’s top three servers had VEPT scores that ranked 4, 1, and 2, respectively.
• Three of the team’s four best diggers ranked in the top five VEPT scores.

Summary

• The results of this investigation indicate that the performance leaders in every major statistical category were dominated by players with the best visual skills (VEPT).

• The results of this investigation indicate statistical evidence that suggests a positive relationship between visual skills and volleyball performance of NCAA DI volleyball players.

Normative VEPT data for NCAA DI volleyball players (N=27) is as follows:

VEPT Scores – NCAA DI Volleyball

VEPT Score Category

86.86 and above Excellent

79.73-86.85 Good

73.19-79.72 Average

66.77-73.18 Fair

66.76 and below Poor