Optimum Strength

www.optimum-strength.com

[optimumstrength-blog]

Some simple hurdle drills we use with our HS #athletes and some personal #training clients. Top Left: High Knee Run Top Right: Lateral High Knee Run Bottom Left: Hop and Stick Bottom Right: Continuous Hop (progression from Hop and Stick) Typically these are a part of our warm up and each ends with 10yd sprint or jog (depends on who we are working with). #agility #athleticdevelopment #fitness #fitfam #functionaltraining #ecu #greenvilleNC

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Working on hip rotation as it relates to change of direction and foot speed is important in athletic development and overall performance. Here are two more #agility ladder drills that we use with our #athletes and general personal #training clients. Front crossover (left) has the outside foot crossing over the inside foot into the box of the ladder. Back crossover (right) is the same thing but the outside foot crosses behind the inside foot into the box. Some have asked why we use agility ladder drills with our general clients that aren't necessarily looking for athletic development. There are a few different reasons: 1) studies have shown that we rarely walk at a constant velocity for many consecutive steps. We are constantly accelerating, decelerating, and changing direction...ladder drills incorporate all of these things. 2) training for lower extremity power development is all relative. While some people can perform box jumps, Olympic lifts, etc, not all can. Ladder drills are more appropriate for our beginners and older clients. 3) when people learn these drills and have the ability to move a little faster through them, it gets their heart rate up and provides a good general warm up before moving into their individual workout. #functionaltraining #fitness #fitfam #greenvillNC #ecu (at Next Level Training Center)

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The majority of our general personal training clients, and all of our athletes, perform #agility ladder drills as part of their warm up. This is @rabideaub13 demonstrating "One-Two Stick," a very simple, yet effective, drill for training deceleration of body weight on one leg. The ability to control the deceleration of your own body weight on one leg is extremely important in preventing non-contact ACL tears, especially if your sport requires cutting and quick changes in direction. #decelerationBEFOREacceleration #fitness #functionaltraining #training #athleticdevelopment #greenvillenc (at Next Level Training Center)

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5 dot drill sequence for #speed and #agility work. Top Left: Hop Scotch Top Right: Hop Scotch w/ 180 turn (turn towards the same direction every time to ensure you're turning both left and right) Bottom Left: Figure 8 Bottom Right: Single Leg Figure 8 (this should go without saying but you'd be surprised...make sure to do each leg) #footwork #functionaltraining #fitness #fitfam #greenvilleNC #ecu #eastcarolina #training (at Next Level Training Center)

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#valslide or slideboard hamstring curl progressions. Top Left: Eccentric-only hamstring curl. Keep a straight line from your shoulders through your hips to your knees during the eccentric phase and lower your butt to the ground for the concentric phase. Top Right: Bridged Hamstring Curl. Maintain the straight line from your shoulders through your hips to your knees throughout both the eccentric and concentric phases. Bottom Left: Single Leg Eccentric Only. (When I've had clients do this, I typically have them flex the knee of the opposite leg. Keeping it straight is more challenging but also easier to slip into lumbar hyperextension) Bottom Right: Single Leg Bridged. #fitfam #functionaltraining #performbetter #strengthandconditioning #fitness #ecu #eastcarolinauniversity #greenvilleNC (at Next Level Training Center)

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#Kettlebell swings Key Points: 1) Start as if you're about to hike a football, flexing at the hips, not the lower back. 2) 4) When going into hip flexion, keep the shoulders packed, push your butt toward the wall behind you, and make sure that the Kettlebell stays in the triangle made up of your knees and groin area. 3) Keep a neutral spine throughout the movement by contracting the glutes and abdominals at peak hip extension and forcefully exhaling during the swing phase. 4) Let your hips do the work, not your arms. Your shoulders should stay packed throughout so the KB should only be swinging a little higher than your bellybutton (and really no higher than parallel to the ground). #functionaltraining #strengthandconditioning #training #fitness #fitfam #greenvilleNC #ecu #eastcarolinauniversity (at Next Level Training Center)

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@rabideaub13 doing 1/2 Kneeling Push/Pulls. This is a great anti-rotation core exercise made a lot more comfortable with our new airex pad from @perform_better. Setup: 1. Front leg = knee over the ankle 2. Back leg = hip over the knee 3. Back foot = toes planted in the ground 4. Squeeze the #glutes to protect the lumbar spine 5. Pushing arm starting/ending position = fingers right next to the ribs 6. Push and pull at the same time keeping the #core tight to resist rotation. #functionaltraining #functionalfitness #strength #strengthtraining #ecu #greenville #antirotation #sweat (at Next Level Training Center)

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Single Leg Deadlift progression... Top Left - Opposite Toe Touch Top Right - DB SLDL (you can use kettlebells too. In fact, I prefer them over DBs) Bottom Left - Offset DB SLDL (hold the DB or KB on the opposite side of the standing leg) Bottom Right - Barbell SLDL @rabideaub13 @shane9117 #SLDL #deadlift #hiphinge #functionaltraining #strengthtraining #fitness #balance #unilateral

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@rabideaub13 getting in some half kneeling landmine presses towards the end of our workout this morning. Ideally his front foot would be pulled back a little bit more so that his ankle is directly under the knee. Other than that, form is near perfect... 1) left hip over the knee 2) toes dug into the ground behind him 3) glutes squeezed to protect the lower back 4) he leans into the press while forcefully exhaling to engage the core keeping the spine neutral 5) controls the bar back down to the original starting position He's come a long, LONG way since the labrum repair. #progress #LandminePress #functionaltraining #ProgressionsAndRegressions #strengthtraining

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My Missed Goal: 500lb Deadlift My goal of a 500lb #deadlift by May 2015 was not reached. I can list several reasons why I didn't make it, but that won't really make a difference in the amount of weight I can, or can't, pull. What I can say is that, much like my brother @rabideaub13, both my absolute (slightly) and relative #strength (greatly) have gone up as the weight and body fat I accumulated throughout grad school has gone down significantly the past few months, which was obviously another goal of mine. Sometimes we set conflicting #goals for ourselves and it's important to recognize that. That's not to say you shouldn't still have those same goals, however, one may be achieved before the other. Because of that, you may have to actually work harder at the latter goal. Such is the case here with my desire to pull 500. Don't let your "short-comings" deter you. Instead, figure out the why's and the how's and then attack. I'll be happier pulling 500 at 185/190 lbs than I would be at 200+ anyway...and that's the new goal. #perspective #progress #roadto500

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@rabideaub13 hitting his new #deadlift PR at 460 x 1 a few days ago and then pumping out some #hipthrusts this morning. Started at 135 x 8 and added 90 lbs each set after that ending at 495 x 3 (video is 405 x 6 --- 5 reps shown because I'm too lazy to speed up the video). It's important to mention that both his absolute and relative strength is going up in these lifts as he has dropped over 20lbs in the last 4 months and lean mass has stayed almost exactly the same. #progress #bendthebar

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A few people have been asking why I like #frontsquats so much. The truth is, like most people, I really don't enjoy doing front squats or any other type of #squat. I only like them when I'm done and don't have to think about them for a few days. However, there are great advantages to the front squat that you may or may not already know. I'll post a few of them here but if you want a more in depth analysis check of "Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training" by Mark Rippetoe. Advantages: 1) Quad development - because the back is more vertical than when performing a back squat, the knees farther forward. Having the knees farther forward reduces efficiency of knee extension stressing the quads more. 2) Glute development - at the bottom of the squat (either parallel or slightly below) the hamstrings are shortened (contracted) even more than when performing a back squat. Due to this shortened position, the hamstrings are rendered ineffective as a hip extensor during the ascent phase. This forces the glutes and hip adductors to do most of the work. The glutes are also doing more eccentrically (during the descent) than the hamstrings causing most of the soreness you feel the next day when trying to go upstairs or get off the toilet. 3) The Anti-Flexion Component - as you can see in the video above, as I become more fatigued I begin to lose some of that core stability and the bar pulls me (just slightly) into flexion. In order to keep the bar over the midfoot, you have to keep your back vertical and to prevent the bar from pulling you forward. This stresses the erector spinae more than a backsquat, which certainly has carryover to other lifts including the #deadlift. 4) To me, it's way easier to bail on a front squat than a back squat because you're dropping the weight in front of you rather than behind. The video above has my last two sets at 245. I imported these videos into Dartfish Express for iPhone and tracked my bar path. The video on the left shows decent form and bar path. The video on the right passes the "sh*t test" but fatigue caused me to stray a bit more from the correct bar path. #functionaltraining #trainsmart #strengthtraining

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High #boxjumps make great YouTube and Instagram videos...but the risk is rarely worth the reward. It only takes one miss to bust up your shins, knees, or worse. Box jumps are all about putting force into the ground and sticking the landing. If you can't land with both feet fully on the box and in an athletic position, you're not getting the full benefit. I'd much rather add a weighted vest and stick to a box between 18-22". With that I know I'm going to land in a good position and the risk of killing my shins/knees is drastically reduced. And, this should go without saying, but step down from the box and reset. Why risk an ACL tear just so you can do it a little faster? #functionaltraining #trainsmart

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Bodyweight offset #TRX Rows are a great way to challenge core #stability while improving scapular stability and symmetrical strength between your right and left sides. Start by adjusting the suspension trainer to the appropriate height and use both handles to get into the same starting position you would if you were doing a bilateral row. Drop one of the handles and begin to slowly descend making sure that your knees are slightly bent (about 20 degrees) and shoulders are square to the apparatus from which the suspension trainer hangs. At the bottom of the descent your shoulder should remain packed. As you ascend, maintain square shoulders and prevent hyperextension of the lumbar spine by keeping the core tight and squeezing the glutes. As this becomes easier, you can increase the difficulty by holding a kettlebell in the opposite hand. #strengthtraining #functionaltraining #antirotation #antiextension #pulls #rows #coretraining

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I'm a few days late in posting this but I'm still extremely pumped for @jamiehibbert #progress over the past 4 weeks (and really over the past few months). A month ago she pulled 210 x 2 and here she is on the left pulling 225 x 2 (I accidentally stopped recording for the second rep) and on the right she gets 235 x 1 (1.9 x bodyweight). Jamie only actually trains with me one time per week but she is in the gym at least 4 days a week and follows the program we've set rigidly. In addition to her improvement on #deadlift, she set new #PRs in #frontsquat, #pullups, #pushups, and #benchpress. It takes a lot of time and #dedication but in the end it pays off. #strength #strengthtraining #fitness #womenshouldliftheavytoo #youllgetleannotbulky

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Brendan talked about using the #bodyblade at PT when he was rehabbing his surgically repaired labrum. I used it quite a bit with patients when I was interning at a PT clinic and now we have one of our own. The rhythmic vibrations of the blade force creates an unstable environment increasing activation of stabilizers throughout the body. This particular exercise has a lot going on. Brendan is in an isometric #lunge and bringing the bodyblade diagonally from overhead to his opposite hip. This is, as they say, a HUGE #bangforyourbuck #exercise as it strengthens the #rotatorcuff and addresses #scapular, #core, and knee #stability. #functionaltraining #prehab #personaltraining #strengthtraining #training #trainsmart #fitness