Becoming a better athlete is actually a pretty simple process: GET STRONGER! No seriously, it’s really that simple. As the living legend Mike Boyle has said before, “The key to speed is force put into the ground. Force production is what makes people fast.”

Now to be clear, I’m not saying that every athlete needs to go squat their house, curl the gallon of milk in their fridge, and bench press their dressers. No! That’s definitely not the point I’m trying to make. What I’m saying is that you can do all the aesthetic speed training you want, but you will only get so fast. Athletes that get into a SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) program without any prior experience, usually see great gains in their athletic performance in the first few weeks. However, this curve of improvement tends to somewhat decline over time until they reach a plateau.

Now what? Well this is where strength training comes into effect. I will reiterate:

The key to speed is force put into the ground.

Once an athlete is able to demonstrate that they possess a good amount of stabilization endurance, then they are ready to engage in an athletic strength training program (Notice how I clearly mentioned “athletic strength training” as opposed to “strength training”). I will not get into the type of athletic strength training program that athletes need in this article. That is another topic that will be discussed in the near future.

In conclusion, if you want to become a better athlete, you need to get stronger. Working on running form and doing speed ladders is only going to get you so far. To gain that “edge” on the rest of the athletic population, you must clearly be stronger than them.

The Roman Colosseum was once a beautiful structure that marveled many spectators and was the center of many great events. Before any of this was ever achieved, one thing was developed first: a strong foundation. An athlete cannot achieve greatness and endure a long, injury-free career without possessing a functionally strong body. Weak foundation… weak results.

Question: Should female athletes train differently than male athletes?

Answer: YES!!

Females can train like Tarzan AND still look like Jane

Female athletes most definitely must be training differently than male athletes simply because they are females and female athletics aren’t taken as seriously as male athletics!

Now before you start thinking this article was written by a male chauvinistic pig, let me explain myself.

When it comes to sports, which ones are covered more frequently and taken more seriously? The male sports or the female sports? We always see male sports highlights on Sportscenter. We usually see male superstars lighting up the billboards while endorsing sports drinks and workout apparel. However, you rarely see a dominant female athlete in the same spotlight.

Going back to the original question at hand, yes, female athletes absolutely must train differently than male athletes because the general course of history for female athletic shows that they aren’t taken as seriously. As an athlete, you should not strive to be the best that you can possibly be, but instead strive to be the best that anyone will ever see. Female athletes should strive to be the best athlete that both males and females will ever see and know!

Like male athletes, female athletes should sprint, jump, and lift heavy weights. They should also focus on developing a strong posterior chain (lats, glutes, and hamstrings). Also, females, just because you wear high heels to portray that you may have some sort of a developed butt, you really don’t. So cut out the false advertisement and get in the gym! That fake butt will NOT yield real athletic results. That false appearance of a healthy butt will not provide adequate hip drive to thrive as an athlete. The fake portrayal of strong glutes due to the use of high heels will only lead to serious injury down the road. America has had a small handful of female athletes shine as a picture of health and athletic success. Let’s create a lot more and start getting more female athletes in the gym ASAP before it’s too late.

Yeah, that’s right (no pun intended). You definitely read that title right. At Overdrive Fitness, ALL athletes enrolled in the Speed School are engage in Strength Training sessions as a regular part of their Speed School curriculum.

But wait, everybody knows that you can’t start strength training and working out until you’re at least in high school because it’ll stunt your growth…

See, the whole “stunt your growth” thing is actually just nonsense. The only way that a kid will stunt his/her growth in height is if they simply go way too heavy, way too fast, at too young of an age (“too young” meaning prepubescent).

However, the following are definite results of strength training when performed correctly in a controlled environment:

The Hex Bar Deadlift is one of the staple exercises for all of our athletes

• Stronger muscles
• Stronger bones
• Increased level of confidence
• Higher testosterone levels in males necessary to increase muscle mass AND reduce fat
• Injury prevention

At Overdrive Fitness, the goal of each Strength Training session is to create a strong athlete through properly programmed workouts designed to help athletes dominate basic movements performed in every sport. Yes we work very hard to perfect every athletes’ running mechanics and also teach them how to properly decelerate, land, plant & cut, but you cannot excel at those movements as an athlete without getting stronger.

“The key to speed is force put into the ground. Force production is what makes people fast.”
-Mike Boyle

All our athletes progress through strength training exercises at their own rate. Starting with bodyweight movements or jumping right into free weights is all dependent on the outcome of the initial Athletic Evaluation. All great athletes strive to compete at an elite level, therefore one of the long-term goals for the Strength Training sessions is to get each athlete to properly execute the same exercises that collegiate and professional athletes perform. This does not mean that each athlete will turn into a competitive Olympic Lifter or Powerlifter. That outcome is a personal decision that each athlete can make later on down the road when he/she has perfected and progressed through basic exercises.

• Greg Mooney - Behind the Back Shot

   

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• Courtney McGrath - UMASS

   

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• Lauren Kahn - UCONN

   

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• Greg Mooney - Union

   

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• Greg Mooney - Nanuet 2010

   

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Believe it or not, but the 2012 High School Lacrosse season will be here before you know it. With most high school lacrosse games scheduled to start April 4th, that only gives athletes 17 weeks to prepare!

If you play lacrosse, and you were to start you training the first week of January, that would only give you 13 weeks to get fully prepared for the upcoming season. That’s including the pre-season practices with your school team. Let’s figure you take out those pre-season practices; that gives you approximately 11 weeks to prepare. In 11 weeks, with training a minimum 2 times a week, you would have 22 workouts to maximize your speed, agility, quickness, strength, and flexibility. Doesn’t sound like too much time to reach your maximum capability, huh? Well with the help of Overdrive Fitness leading your workouts in preparation for your lacrosse season, you can be assured that you will be at the peak of your lacrosse game by the first week of April 2012!

Remember, for the month of December, we are offering our Athletic Evaluation for FREE! Just click here and fill out the corresponding form to redeem your free evaluation. The first step toward reaching your full potential is assessing your current situation and measuring the progress you’ve made along the way. That is why the Athletic Evaluation is necessary for ALL SERIOUS ATHLETES!

Jason Vosler, Northeastern University Class of 2015, Don Bosco Prep Class of 2011

Baseball season will be here before you know it! Will you, or your youth athlete, be ready to dominate? Overdrive Fitness knows that Jason Vosler of Northeastern University is! Jason Vosler played 3 years of Varsity Shortstop for the Don Bosco Prep Ironmen. He is now attending Northeastern University on a baseball scholarship! However, none of his achievements came easy. It is all the result of hard work. Jason is one of many serious NCAA athletes. Serious athletes are always prepared. They don’t just sign up for your local youth fitness school. They seek out the best in order to yield elite results. Don’t just sign up for any program. Enroll with Overdrive Fitness in order to reach your full potential!

Contact info@OverdriveFitnessNY.com today to sign up for your Athletic Evaluation! Mention this article to waive the Athletic Evaluation Fee. Remember, time is money. We don’t waste time, and we won’t waste your money! We value every single minute an athlete invests in us and that’s why we charge for our Athletic Evaluations. You can’t improve what you don’t measure.