Quick Tip: Concussions are becoming a serious concern among almost every athlete in today’s sports. There are a few things we can do to try and limit the frequency and severity of these injuries to the brain; improving equipment, making regulations to the rules in certain sports, and noticing the symptoms of a concussion are just a few. The one thing we can do at Peac Performance to help limit the frequency and severity of concussions is helping the athlete strengthen the muscle around the neck. This will decrease the impact the brain has once the body endures a large force of impact. Some good exercises include: shrugs, standing military press, neck flexion and extension exercises, neck rolls, and upright rows are just a few.  Concussions are not just any old injury, it is an injury to the most important part of your body and must be taken very seriously.

Good luck with your sport and please try to stay injury free

The article below provides some great information on how to increase your vertical jump efficiently and safely:

1. Flexibility- Flexibility is key in any program for strength and conditioning. This is because the hip flexors are so important for explosion upward. If we are tight in the hips it is very hard to explode through what is called triple extension (ankles, knees and hip alignment). This triple extension is the power behind the vertical. So we need to be properly warmed up using some various methods: foam rolling, active warm up, muscle activation and static stretching when exercising is completed. These four concepts will help improve your vertical immensely.

2. Proper Plyometrics – A big mistake people make is jumping right in to doing plyometrics and not know what the proper form must be for jumping/landing or might not be strong enough to perform the proper technique. A good way to start is with Depth jump landing to depth jumps- this allows the body to learn how to properly land. To work on depth jump landing simply stand on a box and step down and land. Making sure your feet are shoulder width and you’re in an athletic position. This is important because many athletes all use repetitive jumping and making sure you can land and jump again with the same power is important. We must always learn to land before we learn to jump. Depth jumps are simple and one of the most important exercises to do because of the quick response the body needs and how the central nervous system (cns) reacts to this type of training. You start off the same on the box, step down, and then jump up as quickly as possible. This is very intensive on the cns and has been used for many years as a training method to increase verts. To make this even more challenging put some hurdles in front of the box and do depth jumps that way.

3. Resisted Plyometrics- there are many ways to do resisted jumping and some of them are; the Vertimax, resisted cords and vests. These are the basis of resisted methods we use at Athletic Edge. The Vertimax is by far one of the best pieces of equipment you can get. It is one of the few if not only piece that resists the athlete from the waist down. This is important again because of the cns intensive training and triple extension. This resistance makes the body work extremely hard to overcome the interia the weight is putting the body through. Repeated use of resistant training gives the body muscle memory thus increasing the vertical. Plyometrics could include anything from box jumps, scissor jumps, long jumps, squat jumps, depth jumps and more.

4. Strength training specifically squats and posterior chain- squatting, whatever type it may be (back squats, front squats, box squats, safety squats and sumo squats) are one of the best things to do for increasing power in the lower body. Depending on your training history and age you can do anything from bodyweight squatting to heavy band squatting the point is you’re squatting. The muscles used to squat are the same muscles used to jump and explode upward. Again we are talking about overcoming inertia and driving the hips, butt and torso upward. The posterior chain, which is the glutes and the hamstrings, are very important not only in jumping but also acl prevention. This is especially true in women as there is a 5x more likely hood that acl tears will happen compared to men. This is due to poor activation of the posterior chain. Some exercises we do are: bridge series, RDL’s and SL RDL’s.

5. Single Leg training- While duel leg training like squatting and jumping are extremely important we must realize one leg is always stronger than the other. Single leg training (SL) is important to do because we need the most power out of each leg possible. Training in this fashion ensures proper acceleration and power when doing 2 legged jumping. Some exercises we do are lunge walks; rear leg elevated squats, pistol squats and SL RDL’s. These exercises are extremely vital to the athlete and give the athlete not only strength but most importantly power through the whole lower body. These types of exercises also help with prevention of ACL problems as many females suffer from over compensation. We also incorporate SL work into all keys of warm up including SL jump roping, agility ladder drills, mini SL jumps forward and lateral and over objects. We also incorporate SL jumps to double leg landing and Double leg jumps to SL landings.

Some of the information above provided by Ahtletic Edge

These 5 keys are very important to incorporate into your training. Remember to always warm up properly and consult with a certified strength and conditioning coach to ensure proper program design and conditioning. Here at Peac Performance we make sure that all of our athletes are doing some sort of these 5 keys to jumping. Remember there are many variations we use because of how many different age groups we have. If you have any questions or need descriptions of exercise don’t hesitate to ask. We also do offer on line training now at Peac Performance in speed, agility, strength training and jump training. Again don’t hesitate to ask. We hope this helps and gives description to how important these 5 keys are to increasing your vertical but also helping secure your ACL.

1)      Proper Mechanics/Technique – There are four main things an athlete must be concerned about when talking about sprinting mechanics:

1. The first is body angle - a sprinter must have a slight lean forward when sprinting, not too far forward where they are off balance but about a 5-10 degree lean forward.
2. Second is extremely important! arm action - an athlete’s arms should be bent at the elbow at 90 degrees or slightly less and then as the athlete sprints, his/her arm must swing only from the shoulder. The elbow stays bent and does not straighten or bend as the athlete is sprinting. The arms should stay next to the body and only move forward/backward. Any other motion is wasted energy and will cause the athlete’s momentum to move side to side, slowing them down. If done properly, arm action can create a great deal of momentum for the athlete, creating a higher top speed.
3. Foot Flexion/Contact – As an athlete’s foot is in the air, the foot should be dorsi flexed (toe pointing up), this will allow for as much power as possible to be generated once the foot hits the ground and the athlete’s foot moves to plantar flexion (toe pointing down). Think of it like loading a spring, it is the same concept with the foot/calf muscles. The athlete wants to load the muscles (spring) in the lower leg right before it hits the ground so he/she gets as much spring as possible. The athlete should only hit the ground on the ball of the foot, which is commonly referred to as pawing the ground (like a dog or horse runs).
4. Knee/Lower Leg Movement – When the leg comes through during a sprint, the hip should be flexed and knee should come up towards the chest and then straight down to the ground. The feet and lower legs should stay right under the body and not out to the side, which would waist energy and cause the athlete to move side to side, slowing them down.

2)      Overall Body Strength – Obviously lower body strength is important for sprinters, but do not undervalue upper body strength. A great deal of momentum is generated from the upper body (look at Olympic sprinters, their upper bodies are just as developed as their lower), so make sure your strength training program incorporates; upper, lower, core and hip flexor strength all equally.

3)      Overall Power – Strength is useless in sprinting unless you train these muscles to contract fast and powerful. Do not get confused, you must be strong in order to be powerful, but you can be strong and not powerful. A perfect example is a body builder, they may be very strong but if they do not train their muscles to contract fast so they are not going to be very powerful. The best way to develop overall power is with Plyometrics and Olympic Power Lifts. Please consult with a professional before doing these exercises, as improper form can lead to serious injury.

4)      Increase Stride Length – Once proper mechanics are established, increasing stride length can help an athlete increase speed. This can be done through resisted and overspeed training. Once again, please consult a professional before using these training techniques.

5)      Flexibility – Increasing flexibility will help an athlete increase stride length, develop more power from their muscles, and allow them to maintain proper mechanics during the sprint. A general rule of thumb is to stretch each muscle group for 3 sets of 15 seconds, up to 7 times a week.

A general rule of thumb is in order for your body to function properly (fight off diseases, prevent injuries, go through normal bodily functions to operate properly), take your body weight in kgs. (divide body weight in lbs. by 2.2) and then multiply by 24. Now this number is without any exercise, etc., it is only to function properly. So if you are trying to gain weight and your are exercising you must consume more then what you burn and visaversa.

Every body is different so this calorie number is a generalization but it is a good number to go off of.

How you should break down your calories according to proteins, fats and carbs also depend on your goals and activity habbits, but a good generalization would be:

Carbs – 50-60% – made up of complex carbs

Proteins – 20-30%

Fats – 10 – 20% – made up of healthy oils and fatty acids

The Importance of Pre ~ Post Game Meals

Peac Performance welcomed Crocket Middle School for a youth fitness day on Friday, January 27th. The kids got to participate in exercise drills, yoga and mediation and were educated on various nutritional aspects.

Follow this link for pictures and information. Great job kids!!

http://photos.nj.com/4506/gallery/healthy_living_field_trip_at_peac_health_fitness_center_in_ewing/index.html

Once upon a time Exercise used to be a normal
part of a child’s life, but since the emergence in technology, video games and
computers children have become more and more sedentary. Sadly enough and most
unfortunately the view by educational systems that physical
education is now viewed as an expendable part of the educational curriculum is
causing an deadly epidemic in our children, OBESITY!.

Below are some statistics that should
open up everyone’s eyes on how important physical fitness really is, not only
for physical health but mental strength as well:

• Nearly 250 elementary students given a daily 10-minute activity
  break increased on-task behavior by an average of 8 percent.
• A U.S. study of nearly 12,000 adolescents revealed that, when
  compared to their sedentary peers, students who participated in P.E., team
  sports or played sports with their parents were 20 percent more likely to earn
  “A’s” in math or English.
• The fitness levels of more than 300 middle school students were
  evaluated and those who were the most fit performed better academically as
  well.
• An analysis of the standardized fitness and academic test
  results for nearly 900,000.
• 5th, 7th, and 9th graders revealed a strong positive correlation
  between physical fitness and academic achievement.
• Additional research suggests that, compared to control groups,
  students who spend more time in school-based physical activity or P.E. (and
  therefore less time in the classroom), actually maintain or improve their
  grades and standard achievement test scores.
• All it requires is 60 minutes a day for a lifetime of health and
  fitness.

*Statistics thanks to American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR CHILD INVOLVED IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY:

If your child shows interest in a sport, show them that you are
interested in it as well

You become active and be a good role model

Try every sport, not just the traditional ones, look in to
fencing, dance, horseback riding, whatever works!

Take control of the TV – On average a child watches 5 hours of
TV a day, try cutting it in half.

Exercise and have fun together, take walks, race each other,
challenge them to a friendly sporting event, any type of movement activities
you can do together will make it more fun for your child.

LET YOUR CHILDREN PLAY! Yes, it is very important for your
children to work, study, etc., but at the same time it is equally important
that they play with friends as well. Not only does it give them a break from
work, but it stimulates their entire body, producing endorphins to the brain
and they are getting physical activity that doesn’t seem like  boring and exhausting exercising.

With Lacrosse and other spring season sports around the corner everyone’s attention is on pre-season training.  Planning out the year into phases, periodization training, gets the body ready for on the field action.  The goal of pre-season is to transition you into the in-season and have you “PEAC” at the right time.

This is the time of year off-field training is most important for the spring sport athletes.
Concentrating on agility and change of direction, and having a stick in hand while doing it is most beneficial to a lacrosse player.  This is the time to hit the resistance training and plyometrics to increase explosiveness.  Power is essential so we want to control the amount of conditioning we do so not to counter-act the gains we are making in the weight room and the training turf.  That being said, we do not want to eliminate it entirely, but let’s be smart about what we do.  A baseball pitcher will condition different than a lacrosse goalie who will condition
different than a soccer striker position.  More often than not if you can accomplish two goals with your training then you are ahead of the game, especially since everyone these days has busy, demanding schedules with school, sometimes work, and family commitments.  That’s why if you can get your conditioning by going through a well laid out speed, agility and quickness program you are that much further ahead of your competition.

Gone are the days of playing yourself into shape, everyone is expected to start the season ready to go. When I played professional baseball spring training was not to get in shape, you were expected to show up the first day ready, it’s a time to hone and fine tune the skills of the game.
Strength and conditioning programs like LAX Extreme should give you a strong foundation.

If you stretch a rubber band and then let it go, it will rapidly contract back
to its original size. Using bands in our training allows you to take advantage
of this effect by optimizing the eccentric portion of your movements.

For example, if you attach one end of a band to your foot and the other over your
shoulder, when you stand up you will be stretching the band out. Now, if you
bend your knees and descend as you would into a vertical jump, the elastic
nature of the band forcefully tries to contract back to its original size which
assists you in dropping down far quicker than if you were doing it without the
band. In other words it accelerates gravity.

     Why is this a benefit to a vertical jumper, or someone looking for explosive energy?
The extra acceleration on the downward movement created by the elasticity
improves your ability, through the stretch shortening cycle, to transfer kinetic
energy back in to an explosive, upward movement. In other words, the quicker you
descend, the more powerfully you come back up. The more powerfully you come up,
the higher you jump or the quicker you start.

Another benefit that using rubber bands have is that the further you stretch it
the more force you need to apply. If you have a rubber band attached near your
feet and over your shoulder, as you extend upwards you are required to exert
increasingly more and more force to push against the ever stretching band. By
regularly using a rubber band type attachment, you condition your body to
accelerate powerfully throughout the whole range of the jump or explosive
start.

The need to keep accelerating when using bands is a huge benefit, particularly with
weights. Normally when lifting weights you have to decelerate at the top of the
rep to control the weight and avoid injuring yourself. However, when you jump
you want to accelerate explosively all the way through the movement. Too much
weight training can potentially negatively teach your body the bad habit of
deceleration. The band training reduces that effect by forcing you to explode
the whole way through the lift.

These are only a few of the benefits, others include the ability to vary
resistance, and the ability to add resistance without adding weight which
overtime can help in injury prevention and reducing impact on your joints. Stop
in anytime to learn more about PEAC Performance and our band training

You sport is either aerobic, anaerobic or a power sport.  Aerobic are typically your endurance sports or events.  Power are the sports where the movement phase typically lasts less than 10-12 seconds.  Anaerobic basically encompasses everything else.  These sports have intermittent bouts of power mixed with prolonged bouts of competition.

Athletes in most team sports, may not improve in typical training programs, especially when the training is done with equipment that is not the athlete’s primary mode of training. Long runs used to improve the conditioning of athletes that play power sports will hinder their abilities that make them powerful.  They are also prone to injury when made to do long bouts of exercise their body is not built for.  We are firm believers that you train the way you play.

What skills or qualities make an athlete great at his or her sport?  The answer to that question is the foundation of your training.  When you look at your program don’t focus on what you can’t do, try to figure out why the great ones do things well. If a training method defies common sense and how your body works  then chances are its wrong.

Once you understand this principle, you will understand your sport. Every athlete and coach should be a constant student of the game, the great players and their common denominators.  PEAC Performance takes great pride in our research and development of the latest training protocols used for athletes of all sports.  We have the answers to the tough questions and know how to get the results you want.  Your success is limited only by your desire.