Torso rotation plays a significant role in sports fitness training. 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 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 for torso rotation are to use a closed chain position (standing up on your feet), wei... Read more

Sports Fitness Training - Slastix™ Push Pull Rotation •    Purpose – As part of sports conditioning this exercise trains rotary core force production in conjunction with whole body strength.•    Set up – have the athlete begin in a split stance position with 1 Slastix performance tubing in each hand (resistance from the left and the right side of the athlete) with chest up, core braced and legs loaded in triple flexion of the hips, knees and ankles.  Coordination of this exercise is... Read more

Sports Training - BOSU® Balance Trainer up, up, down, down Begin 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.... Read more

To instill positive physical change, the body must be challenged beyond the current comfort level.  Athletes and trainers must all commit to engage in this style of workout to maximize athletic training results and also guarantee safety.  Coaches and trainers must be fully engaged using a critical mechanical eye that instantly corrects errors using well established cueing techniques and demands precision over repetition.  Interesting exercises gain much greater adherence than simple repetitious exercises.   Safe interes... 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.  There is a sports training paradox 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 t... 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, throug... Read more

Fit Ball Rotary Passes •    Purpose – this exercise trains rotary core force production (throwing) and deceleration (catching) in a standing position.•    Set up – have the athlete begin in a low athletic position with chest up, core braced and legs loaded in triple flexion of the hips, knees and ankles.•    Execution – during the catch phase the ball is caught out in front of the body while the Athlete’s mass shifts over their rear leg setting them up in a... 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

Regular workout produces results.  Make it convenient to not miss workouts - take your workout with you - at home, the office, the field, the arena, a hotel room, the beach.  Real people get real performance results from consistently challenging the body to adapt to positive stimulus.  Use smart muscle methodology to create exciting workouts that resolve the time and space challenges athletes experience while they are busy living life.  Athletes are challenged to commit to workouts as they juggle school, work, sport practice... Read more

Smart Toner Core Slow Rotation Set Up:  Begin in athletic position with the smart toner anchored with tension on the toner. Execution:  Initiate with the legs, begin a weight shift from rear to front foot and slowly rotate through the core while pulling on the smart toner.  Finish with a long range of motion, pause hold and then control the recoil of the smart toner back to starting position.... Read more

Smart Toner / Smart Stick Squat to Overhead Press Set Up:  Begin in low athletic position, load the smart toner under the feet and the smart stick behind the head, core braced. Execution:  Slowly lower into a squat position (triple flex), then initiating with the legs, triple extend (ankle, knee, hip) while simultaneously performing an overhead shoulder press and finish on the toes.... Read more

Smart Toner Single Arm Drop Step to Press Set Up:  Begin in athletic position with the elbow up holding the smart toner grip at shoulder level. Execution:  Keep the elbow up, step laterally back 45º to load the rear leg (triple flexion), then initiating with the legs push off the back foot and press with the arm to finish extended with triple flexion at shoulder level.... Read more

Smart Toner Squat to Row Set Up:  Begin in athletic position with a smart toner handle in each hand, arms extended, core braced.Execution:  Slowly lower into a squat position with triple flexion at hip, knee and ankle, body tall, then transition into triple extension at hip, knee, ankle finishing on the toes while simultaneously forcefully drawing the elbows back into a row movement, hands finish at the rib cage.... Read more

Smart Toner / Smart Stick Split Lunge Set Up:  Place the feet in a split stance with weight evenly distributed, load the smart toner under the front foot and the smart stick loaded behind the head with hands in a wide grip, core braced.Execution:  Slowly lower the legs into a triple flex position of hips, knees and ankles under resistance, pause hold and then triple extend through the hips, knees and ankles to return to the starting position.... Read more

Training Energetics Players’ Positions on the field dictates specific energetics training.  By looking at the position specific movement tempos and speeds it is easier to determine what training program should be implemented. Midfielders are constantly in motion throughout the game, helping to come back and defend but also helping to set up plays and attack in the opposing end.  In this position players rarely reach top end speed.   Midfielders are in motion for minutes at a time and therefore must train to develop a h... Read more

Rotary PowerRotation is occurring throughout the body during a match of Soccer. Tasks as simple as a player running down the field and changing directions by driving the arms across the body, to the player kicking a corner kick who initiates power by firing the hip forward so force can be sequentially transferred down the leg for the foot to contact the ball all require creation and management of rotation.Soccer players like other athletes must initially be taught to stabilize the core and stabilize against rotation. Once this base foundation h... Read more

Core Stability The core functions to stabilize the spine and provide a platform for the upper and lower limbs to move. Prior to a player receiving a pass and one touching the ball to a teammate, the player must engage the core which acts as a foundation from which the leg can produce force. This stability provides leverage from which the player can bring the leg through to make contact with the ball. During deceleration of movement, the core functions to control movement by controlling lateral flexion in unison with the ankle, knee and hip goin... Read more

Linked System StrengthThe nature of soccer necessitates that Agility should be trained in parallel with Strength.  Multi directional stopping and starting requires a foundation of strength and therefore a step away from a traditional linear based strength training model is required. Soccer players must be able to produce strength in multiple planes and various ranges of motion for sport success. While concentric strength is required to overcome inertia and accelerate into open space, eccentric strength is needed to absorb ground reaction f... Read more

Speed, Agility, Quickness and Reactivity Soccer is a fast sport that involves movement in various directions, requiring athletes to view the field, process the information and then react to opponents and team mates to achieve the desired outcome.  A purposeful teaching progression is required to develop Speed, Agility and Quickness so that mechanics and reactivity are optimized.  To maximize the potential for skill mastery, a player should:  1.    Be taught the skill with perfect mechanics.2.    Prac... Read more

Movement Skills and MechanicsSoccer is a multi directional Sport that involves quick change of direction, fast cuts, and movement transitioning. Teaching fundamental movement skills such as the open step (to change direction moving forward), the drop step (to initiate movement at an angle in the opposite direction) as well as proper arm movement will make a big difference in helping the athlete maneuver around the field, getting to balls faster, and taking away space from an opponent. Players should be taught how to dissipate ground reaction fo... Read more

An increasing number of athletes are using the services of a Sport Conditioning Coach to improve their personal performance.  An educated Sport Conditioning Coach (SCC), who understands the demands of the game as well as position specific requirements, can provide the individual athlete with a significant competitive edge in their sport.   Among other benefits, the SCC trains the athlete to improve their movement ability and efficiency, increase strength, become more powerful and durable, as well as give them more confidence in t... Read more

Midfielders: Movement:  Multi directional, various tempos and speed.  Great spatial and field awareness. Act as transition between both ends of fields Activity during the match- In motion more than any other position on the team. High Aerobic demand. Sustained movement interspersed with anaerobic bursts. Co-ordination under fatigue. Forwards: Movement:  More Linear movement than other midfield players.  Requires field awareness. Have to time run onto balls and adjust position to open up field.  Activity during th... Read more

Keepers: Movement:  Multi directional with great spatial awareness (know where body is relative to the net and other players) Activity during the match- Significant downtime combined with intense short bursts of activity. Keepers have to be powerful to jump for the ball and durable so as to challenge safely for the ball as contact is common. Defense: Movement:  Multi directional with ability to transition from backward to forward movement Great spatial and field awareness (know where body is relative to the net and other defens... Read more

Success in Soccer performance is dependent on a player possessing a foundation of strength, speed, movement skills and sport specific energetics (aerobic and anaerobic capacity).  The sport demands necessitate that each position places varying time and attention on building each of the primary and secondary fitness characteristics. The training foundation will provide a base from which the player can accelerate faster, stop quicker, change direction efficiently, and become more skillful with the ball.   Analyzing each position wi... Read more

SMART Muscle™ exercises are more stimulating and therefore gain much greater adherence than simple repetitious exercises.   Safe interesting whole body challenges at a pace adult athletes are comfortable attempting produce a powerful combination. This develops a strong yet responsive and skilled body for an adult athlete who enjoys the exercise experience and lives the results. Repeating movement patterns improves mind–muscle communication and creates SMART Muscles™ that comply quickly and accurately.   Lif... Read more

To instill positive physical change, the body must be challenged beyond the current comfort level.  Athletes and coaches must all commit to engage in this style of workout to maximize results and guarantee safety.  Coaches must be fully engaged using a critical eye that instantly identifies and corrects mechanical errors using well established cueing techniques.   We have carefully designed Smart Muscle™ exercises which are actually combinations of several lifts, some concurrently, some sequentially. For example, a lat... Read more

Smart Muscle™ training is a recommended methodology that combines appearance goals with real life function and sport performance goals.   Using a blend of dynamic balance challenges, multi directional movement skills and whole body strength exercises, an efficient and effective workout is built.  The training style creates a maximum metabolic cost through exercise that recruits various muscles from prime movers, to synergists and stabilizers to handle whole body, purposeful movement sequentially from toe to fingertip. ... Read more

Children experience different physical changes at different stages of growth and development from birth to adulthood.  A full understanding of the physical changes by age can also provide great insight into sport and training focus over time.  AGE 0-2    Neural gain at it’s highest, rapid skeletal growth, slow gradual muscle increase, begin to develop motor skills. AGE 2-4    Continuing neural gain, rapid skeletal growth, slow muscle growth and early development of fine and gross motor skill. AGE 4-... Read more

Sport conditioning is considered to be one of the 10 top trends in fitness as amateur and pro athletes, sport coaches, parents, weekend warriors and adult recreationalists all demand this new training style.  Traditional fitness training is great for helping people to look good and achieve basic fitness goals (lose weight, improve basic strength and cardiovascular endurance and be more mobile) but athletes of all levels and abilities need a more sport oriented training focus.  For health clubs and related businesses aiming to add spor... Read more

Twist Conditioning’s sport conditioning certifications have 3 primary pillars of training to reflect all of the secondary fitness characteristics. The athletic training style revolves around training sport movement (agility, quickness, speed, reaction skills, power, coordination, acceleration), sport strength (muscular strength, endurance, power and whole body strength) as well as sport balance (stability, kinesthetic awareness, proprioception, neuromuscular pathways, transitional balance and peak power).  Training all aspects of spo... Read more

We now understand that sport requires coordinated movement, full body strength, balance and overall enhanced mechanics to reduce the chance of injury and to improve athlete performance.  Children, youth and adults today do not get enough varied activity and even within the sport experience few venture outside of scheduled practice to play the game.  Where kids in the past would develop overall athleticism by participating in multiple sports throughout the year, many are specializing in one sport at an early age and lack the well round... Read more

Over the past decade there has been a considerable growth in the science and practical training in sport conditioning.  In the past, athlete training focused on the development of sport specific skill, strategies and tactics with most of the training coming from a sport coach during regularly scheduled team practices.  Many sports have been using extra training (strength, endurance and flexibility training) to compliment sport skill development especially as an athlete shows sports promise and excels to a higher competitive level.&nbs... Read more

3.  Consider adding exercises that require movement in multiple planes, demanding 3 dimensional motion in the sagittal, frontal and transverse planes at the same time.  These exercises are complex to execute, but challenge clients to control their bodies with powerful coordination, a strong mind to muscle connection, fueling movements similar to sport skills.Olympic Bar Single Arm Push with RotationSet Up:  Begin in athletic position, hand holding the Olympic bar at arms length, core set.Eccentric Phase:  Keep the elbow up, ... Read more

2.  Design exercises that link common movement patterns together to challenge the mind to command 2 motor patterns systematically.  This type of exercise increases the neural complexity requiring power production in a closed kinetic chain position. BOSU® Balance Trainer SMART Toner™ Lateral Lunge to Wood ChopSet Up:  Stand on back leg, holding SMART Toner™ in 2 hands, arms extended (slight bend in elbow), upper torso rotated towards partner, core set. Concentric Phase:  Initiate the movement by transferring w... Read more