This blog will be updated on a weekly basis, so we encourage you to check back weekly for the latest post, or choose to "follow" this blog to get regular updates sent to you. Contributions to this Blog will come from a variety of sources- Peter Twist, Douglas Brooks, Janice Hutton and Twist Coaches and staff- from a variety of standpoints including; whats hot in the industry, current research reviews, upcoming events, discussion boards, training tips and more...We encourage you to provide your comments, ask questions, create discussion topics a...Read more

The evolution of athlete conditioning established roots in individual sports where coaches turned to physical development to get the most out of each athlete's performance. Individual sports like track sprinting found they could benefit from enhanced leg strength and power. Head coaches were the first trainers of athletes, taking them into the weight room with an eye on improving performance.The systems and strategies in sports such as football, cricket and tennis can best be described as organized chaos; during competition no one knows wha...Read more

The sport skills of kicking a football, swinging a tennis racket, shooting a hockey ball, getting air and spin on snowboards, spiking a volleyball, driving a golf ball and hitting a baseball are all dependent on a highly developed torso capable of explosive rotation. The paradox continues in that most exercise professionals, with their good intention of ensuring core exercises are safe, prescribe very limited exercises that ultimately under prepare their clients for sport demands and actually set them up to be injured.In the fitness world, &lsq...Read more

Throwing (football, softball, lacrosse) striking (hockey, tennis, golf), and kicking (soccer) sports all can benefit from stronger and more effective torso rotation. Examining the mechanics needed to optimize sport skills, rotary power is the key link from the weight room to the playing field. Preferred exercises use a closed chain position (standing up on your feet), weight shifts both laterally and horizontally (to pre-load the rear leg) and transfer of weight to lead leg at a high velocity.When working movement around the spine, through a tr...Read more

Success in the fitness and sport industries is measured by results. Professional athletes maintain sizable contracts by working diligently with well organized sport coaches who plan every aspect of the performance process from intricate workout design through to extensive season long cyclic training programs. Personal trainers in the fitness industry are hired and fired based on their ability to inspire clients to create short and long term tangible physical change. In a society that changes in an instant, moves at a lightening fast pace and pr...Read more

Twist Smart Muscle™ exercise captures the essence of elite athlete training and applies level appropriate programming to kids and aging boomers.Active Adults of all ages benefit from Smart Muscle™ training methodology by awakening movement patterns, activating extensive muscle groups, re-energizing neuromuscular communication pathways and restoring total body function mentally and physically. The result is enhanced mobility, reduced incidence of injury and a youthful sense of athletic confidence that brings new excitement to every r...Read more

Combining Strength with a Balance Challenge - BOSU® Balance Trainer up, up, down, downBegin in a plank position with forearms in contact with BOSU Place one hand on the BOSU, press up through the BOSU and place the other hand on top until shoulders are directly over hands and the body is flat from shoulders to toes. Establish stability before lowering one arm down placing forearm on the BOSU followed by the other arm to return to the starting position all the while moving with balance and torso control.Combining Movement with Strength - Sma...Read more

In the not so distant past, efforts at training athletes relied on expensive and bulky equipment which was designed to either isolate muscles or replicate mechanics in an attempt to “develop” the bodies of players into their specific sport. Today we know that only the athletes themselves are the machines. It is through a method of teaching the athlete to exploit their machine’s natural affinity for movement and reactivity that we can train both the physiology and mechanics needed to optimize skillfulness. Today we also use por...Read more

To instill positive physical change, the body must be challenged beyond the current comfort level. Athletes / clients and coaches / trainers must all commit to engage in this style of workout to maximize results and guarantee safety. Coaches / trainers must be fully engaged using a critical mechanical eye that instantly corrects errors using well established cueing techniques and demands precision over repetition.During Smart Muscle™ exercise, we have carefully designed exercises which are actually combinations of several lifts, some conc...Read more

To drive up your skill velocity, build for power through athletic rotation. After that, all you need to do is practice celebrating points and victories! To begin, safely, follow the progressions below that first build postural strength and as a last step fine tune high velocity rotation.Progressions   1. To achieve desired results as well as prevent lower back injury, athletes are cued to ‘set their core’. The easiest way to explain this is to experience the ‘clenching’ or ‘bracing’ of the core when...Read more

At Twist Conditioning we always ensure our curriculum and training style is supported in current day research. Every Month we will be showcasing some of the literature we have come across. This weeks literature review focuses on Static Stretching vs. Dynamic Warm Up pre-training.____________________________________________________________________SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF STATIC STRETCHING OF THE GASTROCNEMIUS ON VERTICAL JUMP PERFORMANCEWALLMANN, H.W, J.A MERCER, J.W MCWHORTERStretching should be incorporated into wa...Read more

With September just around the corner, many conditioning coaches and fitness professionals invested in their professional development and attended Twist sessions at conferences across North America this month. While many took vacation, the Twist Presenter Team was busy educating about the “in demand” Twist training style to enthusiastic crowds at every event. Twist training methodology was delivered at DCAC Washington for the first time this year with Douglas Brooks teaching an enthusiastic group of new Twist advocates. The 2 bigges...Read more