Everyday we wake up we want to know we have a certain level of strength. It could be strength in our physical bodies or can include strength of our belief in ourselves. Actually how often do you audit your strength of how worthy we feel as a human being?
In sports this is even more important. In the world of sports today nearly all the focus gets put on how physically strong and talented individuals are. Yet the million dollar question is, if you do not have an adequate level of mental and emotional strength how much are you truly living?
That’s where I want to dive in today because even as parents it’s easy to get caught up in the hype behind purely focusing on your child’s physical development. Again this is an important piece of the puzzle but not the only piece of the puzzle.
3 Types of Strength Training
There are three primary types of strength training and it’s what we have built our entire program around at The Underground. They include:
- Physical Strength
- Emotional Strength
- Mental Strength
The interesting thing about this is when you start focusing on all three it has a multiplier effect. 1+1+1=5. That’s the magic in this but where most athletes and coaches fail to truly understand.
Let’s take a minute and dive into each one of them at a more in depth look and give some examples to better understand…
Physical Strength Training
Physical strength development is important for any athlete. It’s one of the top reasons both athletes and parents seek out sports training facilities. This includes resistance training, speed training plus any overall development of athletes. That might include body awareness, power, jumping, conditioning, agility training, quickness and much more.
These are extremely important to improve overall athleticism. Yet this is where it begins and ends with most other performance facilities. While numbers are important like measuring how much running times have improved, improved vertical, gains in strength by lifting more weight etc…
Most facilities obsess over these numbers. We do pay attention and measure these but more importantly we want to know if it’s translating over to their sport…
For instance the gymnasts I am looking for more powerful tumbling and improved jumps on the beam. Some of the basketball players, are they getting to the rim quicker, how much has their first step improved to cut off a player on defense?
Football players, how is their reaction time and coming in and out of their breaks? Soccer players, there is specifically a goalkeeper I work with. Are you able to defend a greater area than before…
These are the questions I want to sit down and discuss with athletes and parents. It’s easy to see that their squat, bench and broad jump has improved. Within our system it does not end there.
Better questions drive better results. It’s also a higher standard.
More importantly great leaders know how to use these answers and results to pour into their emotional and mental performance. Most athletes I have come in contact with have encountered one coach who said one comment that destroyed their belief in themselves…
It does not always mean they were ill intended comments but it doesn’t matter what you say it’s how the other side interprets those comments.
That’s why we hardwire new beliefs and emotions into these kids because ultimately that’s what they are craving! The squat number is great but the feeling and worthiness is even better!
Sample Physical Strength Workout
Dynamic Warm Up
Hang Snatch: 4×5
-Hanging Knee Raises 4×20
Dumbbell Bulgarians Split Squats: 4×6
-Skater Ploys: 4×8
Dumbbell Squat Jumps: 3×8
-Calf Raises 3×25
Incline Bench Press: 2×6; 2×3
-Weighted Sit Ups 4×20
Pull Ups and Dips 4×10; 4×15
Lateral Raises: 4×10
-Push ups: 4×25
Good Mornings: 4×10
-V-Ups: 4×20
Conditioning: 12- 80 Yard Sprints
This concludes part one of these three part series of the types of strength training. Again physical strength training is important but it does not end here as you will see over the next couple of days.
If you are seeking a performance facility for your child and truly want to develop the total person and athlete you should ask them about these areas. We all know sports come to and end at some point in their life and how will they handle the emotional and mental side of life…
When you find the right training facility for your child it’s an investment in their future development as a human being. That’s the way we have designed our system here at Underground Performance.
Stayed tuned for Part Two on Emotional Strength Training!
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