The two greatest pitchers of our time is Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. Their success came from their genetic make up and also their work ethics. Both of these pitchers had intense training programs. Roger Clemens was even using illegal drugs to enhance his work ethic and increase his improvements. Both of these pitchers grew bigger, stronger, faster in their careers and they both threw harder the older they got. This is because their work ethics improved their overall strength, which helped keep their flawless mechanics consistent and efficient. If they had slacked on their off-season training programs then you would have noticed a decline in their careers. This wasn’t the case and it is known today that they both where extremely hard workers.

Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens careers are proof that proper weight training and plyometric training will lead to a successful career. So why do coaches ignore this fact? Because they usually do not have first hand experience. If you want to be a high performance machine then you must train your body to become one.

Why should pitchers use a good strength and conditioning program?

1. To enhance pitching mechanical efficiency, which will lead to more consistency and increased longevity.
2. Help the body heal faster.
3. Develop fast twitch muscle fibers which have a higher capacity for explosive energy.

I am not talking about hormone levels like body builders talk about hormone levels. I am speaking for athletes who are always looking to grow more athletic. Your hormone levels are a major component to your athletic ability, so it is essential that you learn about your Endocrine System. The chart below comes from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. This chart describes how to manipulate your hormone levels naturally to gain athletic benefits.

What this chart teaches us athletes is that performing lifts that recruit major muscle groups and as many muscle fibers as possible, will cause more muscle fiber damage overall. In return the body is forced to heal this massive  event of controlled muscle damage as quickly as possible, to prevent damage from continuing. The body then sends out and army of natural occurring anabolic hormones to heal up the damaged muscle fibers.To make sure this event doesn’t continue, the body builds more muscle fibers for future events.

The difference in training muscles without recruiting as many groups of muscle fibers per repetition, like with aerobic conditioning or light weight training, is the body dumps only a small about of testosterone and GH to heal the small amount of damage. This is why body builders are bigger and more powerful than long distance runners.

To take advantage of this new information, it is important that you train smart. Training smart is not going one extreme to the other. So DO NOT take off with this new information and start throwing on weight that you can’t handle and perform 1-2 reps a set. That is unsafe. Just like pitching everything must be controlled and you must make small adjustments for a healthy career. This information should motivate you to start working for quality lifts instead of quantity. Another important piece of advice is not to take this mentality of bigger, stronger, faster into the weight room while in season. This is an off season mentality only.

So you have pain in triceps or biceps or both and it has more than likely been hurting for a while. You are searching the web for answers because you need this pain to go away so you can get back to business. I get it! I was you!

When I had this problem and I couldn’t find the answers to a quick fix of the problem, I just looked for ways to hide the pain. I was taking Advil almost everyday and I started to have to take tons more of it because the pain was getting worse. The pain first started in my elbow and then it moved up my bicep into my shoulder.

It got so bad that I had to take the maximum dose of pain killers, along with icy hot and in between innings, I had to hit my arm so I would feel the pain of the hit and not the pain coming from my throbbing arm. This was the day that my rotator cuff tore and my career completely stopped. I was shocked and depressed, at this time in my life, because I had let the pain get so bad, that it ended my career.

I am writing this article here to help you because I wish someone would have helped me at that point in my pitching career when the pain first started. If you have pain in your lower, or upper bicep, or your lower or upper tricep and maybe even in the back or front of your upper forearm, you are overusing and abusing your arm. If you have anyone or all of these pains, then you need to stop and listen to your body.

Pain is your bodies way of telling you that something is wrong. Pain does not just go away. It will only get worse, like it did in my career, if you do not make some changes immediately. Unfortunately, you should have not waited this long to make the changes but better late than never!

Why the Pain?

Here is a list of possible reasons you have pain in your arm.

1. Inflammation of soft tissue due to pattern overload of the joint. Here is a great article to learn about pattern overload and pitching.
2. Bone spurs or bone to bone contact.
3. Muscle or tendon damage.
4. Pain caused from twisting or torquing the hinge joint of the elbow. This is due to poor mechanics.

I believe that most arm pain is the sign of not just one thing but a few. It usually is the cause of poor mechanics, poor joint integrity (strength and conditioning) and overuse. Most pitchers who have this pain, all they need to do is address one of these issues and the pain will usually go away if there is not damage to the muscles, tendons or bone. Fixing all three of these issues, will not only remove the pain completely, but it will also increase performance. Most performance can be enhanced by more effectively distributing the stress of the sport through the body effectively, instead of putting it all in the arm.

In my career, if someone would have told me that all you needed is a program that will teach you to pitch with pitching mechanics that will take away your pain and in return will help you increase your velocity, I would have done a back flip. This program exists and it is called 3X Pitching. This program is what I learned and developed when I fought to overcome my career ending injury because I didn’t listen to my body. You arm pain is caused mainly by poor mechanics and overuse. The 3X Pitching Velocity Program will teach you how to use less of your arm and more of your body. This will allow you to pitch pain free, so you can focus on getting better. This program will also develop you as an elite athlete, so your body can handle a lot more stress than what you are currently conditioned to endure.

Steps to Pain Relief

If you are serious about fixing your arm problems and you do not want to go down the road to destruction like I did, then follow these steps to relieving your arm of this abuse.

1. Take a few weeks off from throwing if possible.
2. Ice your arm to start the healing process. Read this article on how to ice your arm.
3. Visit a medical professional who can examine your arm for serious muscle, tendon or bone damage.
4. Start eating better. Eat more protein.
5. Purchase the 3X Pitching Velocity Program and start learning why you are abusing your arm. Start the strength and conditioning program to start building joint integrity.

BONUS TIP: Learn about proper pitching pronation. This mechanical adjustment can have an immediate effect on arm pain. Read this article to learn more, Proper Pronation Pitching.

This will get you on the right track and will definitely save your career. If your pain sounds like the pain I had before I tore my rotator cuff then I suggest you contact me above and tell me about your pain. I will advise you if you need medical help! Best of luck!

If you are a tall and skinny freak who throws 90+mph then stop reading and have a great career. If you are like most of us, average in size and believe you have the potential to throw a lot harder without causing injury, then you must begin to learn what the strength and conditioning world has discovered.

The strength and conditioning profession has proven that pitching is an anaerobic exercise. An exercise that does not involve oxidation. The systems involved in creating energy for pitching, during the anaerobic exercise, are phosphagen and glycolysis systems. This is the use of creatine phosphate and sugars to make ATP (energy). What this means is, if a pitcher trains these systems in the off season then the muscles will develop more fast twitch muscle fibers to support the anaerobic exercise. More fast twitch muscle fibers means you have a higher capacity and storage of ATP. You also have the ability to recruit more muscle fibers, to add to the intensity of the workload. More muscle fiber recruitment creates more muscle strength during exercise. This increased muscle fiber recruitment during exercise causes more damage in the muscle during fatigue and in return promotes more testosterone to be released in the muscles to heal the damage tissue. This will build more muscle mass for future damage control. These side effects of high intensity anaerobic training, without a doubt, will lead to an increase in velocity. This is why pitchers who get bigger, stronger, faster, throw harder. When I say bigger, I do not exactly mean larger muscles like a body builder. I am talking about muscles that are more dense. A good example would be a light weight Olympic lifter. They look like little kids and can lift like machines.

I have dedicated this website to the secrets of velocity. They are velocity secrets because conventional wisdom doesn’t want you to know. Conventional wisdom sees pitching more as an art, instead of a science. If you have the desire to take it to the next level of pitching, you are going to have to overcome the old school techniques of coaching this position. You must learn the science of strength and conditioning for athletes. You must understand that if you need the most out of your body, you must learn what that is and what does it take. The first step in this process is questioning conventional wisdom and learning the science in everything you do. The next step is training fast twitch muscle fiber in the off season and maintaining the gains into the season. It isn’t an easy task but done correctly, it will mean the difference from a college career to a professional career.

I recommend the Ace Pitcher Handbook as an excellent off-season and in-season program that will promote fast twitch muscle fiber development.

Using the overload to underload approach to train the pitchers body and central nervous system to increase arm speed is the right concept but the wrong approach when using weighted balls. The problem with using weighted balls is that it sacrifices the arm to teach the body how to move weight more quickly. To understand how backwards this weighted ball approach is we must first look at what role the arm plays in the pitching delivery.

The Role of the Arm in the Pitching Delivery

The role of the arm is to get into position to allow for the transfer of energy from the lower kinetic chain into the upper kinetic chain. Once this energy has coiled the shoulder during external rotation the arm’s role is to deliver the pitch to its desired location. Never does the arm work to generate velocity except for using the elastic properties of the arm muscles when coiling during the energy transfer. To better understand the sequence of events through the entire kinetic chain, which leads to the top velocity of the pitcher, you need to learn the revolutionary approach to pitching velocity called 3X Pitching. 3X Pitching proves that to increase the coil of the shoulder during external rotation the pitcher must first increase linear stride power and then transfer that power into core torque at front foot strike.

Why Weightballs are a Waste of Time for Pitchers?

Based on the understanding of how velocity is generated through the entire kinetic chain of the body stated above and also in the 3X Pitching approach, you can see that training with weighted balls using an overload to underload approach is a waste of time because it does not work with power pitching mechanics. Yes, this weighted balls approach may increase arm strength, using the weights, and may increase some arm speed, through training the central nervous system to rotate the arm faster, but the final result will be much less effective than taking a total body approach to velocity like with the 3X Pitching Velocity program.

I used the Overload Underload weighted balls throwing program for years when Dick Mill’s once preached it back in the 90′s. He now credits it to causing injury. It happened that I was using this program the year I torn my rotator cuff. I am not saying that this program was the reason for my tear but it did speed up the process of the injury. My problem was I had bad mechanics. I was an all arm pitcher and when I used this program it made everything even worse. The overloading with the weighted balls put more wear and tear on my cuff and in the end, even if I had added a few mph, it wouldn’t have been worth the extra wear and tear that came with it.

If you are looking to use weighted balls to increase velocity, I really believe that you are looking for the easy answer here. Increasing velocity is developing power pitching mechanics and also developing yourself into a power pitcher. The 3X Pitching Velocity program gives you all of this with a revolutionary approach to pitching velocity. This approach uses the famous 3X Velocity System throwing program to develop the 3X mechanics and the famous Fusion system which is the strength and conditioning program to develop you into an elite power pitcher.So, stop looking for the easy way out and get serious with a serious velocity program like 3X!

To prevent or overcome shoulder surgery starts here with this diagram.

You must learn these small muscle. These muscle are your career. They are here to internally and externally rotate your arm. The most important information to remember about these muscles are that they can only handle around 5 pounds of pressure each. The deltoids take over if the pressure exceeds this amount. So this means, all we need is 3 to 5 pounds to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Anything more will prevent you from isolating them properly, for development.

The most important muscle of the rotator cuff, for throwers, is the supraspinatous. This muscle lives under the acromion tip of the clavicle. This is the end of the collar bone. This muscle takes a lot of abuse, when the elbow is above the shoulder. This is because it is being impinged by the acrominon tip. If your arm is internally rotated to far forward, when you pull your arm back to throw, this can cause the supraspinatous to “pop” or “grind” under the acrominon. Over time, this can tear the muscle. To prevent this impingement, you must learn good throwing mechanics and how to build joint integrity. You can not do one without the other, to prevent an injury.

You can learn the correct mechanics to prevent injury from the Ace Pitcher Instructional Videos. To build joint integrity, you need two 3 or 5 pound weights to get started. All of the exercise you will need are listed in the AcePitcher Handbook. You can then stream the instructional videos on how to perform the exercises on this site.

The first sign of poor joint integrity is posture. If you are someone who slouches over when sitting or standing, this could be a sign of poor shoulder joint integrity. Another sign is when the ball of the shoulder socket is protruding forward past the chest and the shoulder blade is sticking out like a wing. This means that the anterior muscles are stronger than the posterior muscles. This is the definition of poor joint integrity. This will lead to a shoulder injury.

Common pain that is a sign of an impingement is usually referred pain from the supraspinatous. Most of the pain from the cuff is referred pain. Referred pain means pain that originates in one part of the body, but is felt in another part of the body. If you feel pain on the outside of your arm, between the bicep and tricep muscles, just below the mid deltoid, then this is an impingement. Don’t be alarmed, it isn’t a tear. The supraspinatous is probably inflamed. This can be remedied with ice. You should only ice your arm for 15-20 minutes on and 15-20 minutes off. You can repeat the process but anymore than 15-20 minutes on, can cause nerve damage. Always finish with ice. Never finish with heat. Heat inflames the muscle tissue, and when the tissue is inflamed, it isn’t healing. It is also not a good idea to ice an arm just after pitching. It is best to flush the system. This is when you do some good sprints, to get your heart beating, so you can get your blood pumping. This will help flush the breakdown of waste from pitching out of your arm. Then you can ice. Also never ice your Ulnar nerve. You can also take anti inflammatories, recommended by your Doctor. This is a symptom you can pitch through, but remember when the supraspinatous is inflamed, this will cause more wear and tear on the cuff. So try hard to take care of it ASAP.

The sign of a rotator cuff tear is very obvious. You have considerable loss in movement in your arm, with serious pain. If the supraspinatous is torn, which is the most common tear for throwers, you will not be able to turn your hand thumb down and raise it straight out in front of your body. This is because this movement requires a lot of work from the supraspinatous. If this is the case I am sure you have already seen a Doctor and unfortunately you need surgery. This was my case. It is a hard reality to face. Especially when you are 18, like I was. There was one moment that got me thinking positive and it was a saying I saw on a wall just after the Doctor diagnosed the tear. “Where there is a Will, there is a Way.” Ever six months the body regenerates itself. This means ever muscle has grown new tissue from the inside out. Like your skin. If you can get yourself on the right track, you can start over again and this is exactly what it will feel like. You are starting over at this point and you may not get another chance. It is a tough road but laced with so many rewards. If you are someone who is post surgery and needs a little boost to get back to the game you love, then please contact me and I will get you on the right track.

In conclusion, your rotator cuff is your life support as a pitcher. It is like a par of tires that you can never change on your race car. It is vital that you learn how to take care of it, if you want to play well into your twenties and beyond. I hope this article gets you going and please contact me with any questions or post them in the discussion board.

When someone tells me that working out is bad for pitching I then ask them then why is about 70% of Major League Ball Players on Steroids or Human Growth Hormone? It isn’t because they just want to look good on TV. I then ask them why was the majority of the ball players listed on the Michell Report pitchers? I always get a few stutters followed by silence.

This does make a good point so I wanted to back up this claims with the list of pitchers who are on the Mitchell Report. It definitly does make a big statement. These pitchers where suspended for using steroids or HGH.

Agusten Montero
Juan Rincen
Rafael Betancourt
Ryan Franklin
Carlos Almanzar
Felix Heredia
Yusaku Iriki
Jason Grimsley
Guillermo Mota
Juan Salas
Clay Hensley
Grant Roberts
Matt Whiteside
Nerio Rodreguez
Henry Owens
Roger Clemens
Andy Pettitte
Kevin Brown
Jason Christiansen
Brendan Donnelly
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Matt Herges
Josias Manzanillo
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Denny Neagle
Jim Parque
Stephen Randolph
Mike Stanton
Ron Villone
Jeff Williams
Todd Williams
Paul Byrd
Darren Holmes
John Rocker
Scott Schoeneweis
Ismael Valdez
Steve Woodard
Daniel Naulty
Ricky Bones
Paxton Crawford
Mike Judd
Ricky Stone

Believe me this is a short list. Think of all the Pitchers who didn’t make the list who are on these performance enhancers. If you need a reference to this information here are the links to the Mitchell report and all Pitchers suspended after the report came out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_named_in_the_Mitchell_Report

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_suspended_for_performance-enhancing_drugs

I mean honestly, how could someone truly believe that strength and conditioning will not improve your velocity or speed? This is the only reason athletes take performance enhancers like steroids and HGH. Those of us in pro sports who didn’t take them where definitely tempted. We all knew that if you took human growth hormone, Deca-Durabolin, Winstrol, Sustanon, and Anadrol separately or all together before a workout, without dying, after a few months you would be throwing a lot harder. Notice I said dying. Yes, we knew it was dangerous and that is why some of us didn’t take it. Also because the league wasn’t offering us “No Namers” millions of dollars to play better.

It is just absurd to say that strength and conditioning does not increase velocity. It is even more absurd to follow that with “Only pitching mechanics improvement can do that while using mental rehearsal prior to each pitch with the intention of moving the body faster.” If your body is growing stronger, will it not have more ability to move faster? If strength and conditioning didn’t increase pitching velocity, personally I would have never played ball again after my rotator cuff surgery.

I am in NO way promoting steroid or HGH use to increase velocity. I believe this to be more destructive than helpful in the long term. This is why I recommend the 3X Pitching Velocity Program. This is the same program I used to not only make it back to baseball after a career ending rotator cuff tear but also play pro ball and top out at 94mph.

Read my article on “Olympic Lifting Increases Pitching Velocity,” to learn more about this topic.

What should you be doing now and into the Christmas break? You should be doing everything in your power to make yourself Bigger, Stronger, Faster. I am not talking body building here. I am talking athletic performance. As much as some pitchers and critics do not want to believe, pitchers are athletes. The best pitchers in the game, are some of the best athletes in the game.

So how do you get Bigger, Stronger, Faster? With a smart program and a hard working attitude! Remember these three words come together in a package deal. They do not role separately. I didn’t say, Bigger, Stronger or just Bigger. I said Bigger, Stronger, Faster. So every workout, every sprint, every lift should be performed within a routine that is built around these three words. I recommend the Ace Pitcher Handbook, which has the Fusion system, for a great training program that focuses on these three words. I would not use the Ace Pitcher Handbook if you are looking for a quick fix before the season. This Handbook is serious stuff. For you to see the results that I had using this program, you must follow it exactly. This is because if you want to throw 90mph or speed your recovery time or overcome an injury, this will not happen overnight or by just picking up a few tips. It will only happen, if you devote yourself to this life changing event of defeating mediocrecy and embracing an extraordinary career. Look at it like you are 600 pounds and you know you need to go on a diet to lose the weight. You will not lose the weight if you decide to just eat rice cakes instead of bunny bread. You will only lose the weight, if you make a complete transformation.

I know I sound like Dr. Phil and this all sounds very dramatic but what it comes down to is the perspective of the baseball pyramid of success. Your career is based on this pyramid. If you are in high school or college, you are about in the middle of the pyramid. So if this pyramid had five floors within it, like the picture abpve, you would be on the second or third floor. Every time you make it to the next floor or next level, there is less room. This means, there is less opportunity. So if you see your career in this perspective, everything I am saying here doesn’t seem so dramatic as much as it seems like a good kick in the ass.

So ask yourself, “Have I been doing what it takes to grow Bigger, Stronger, Faster?” and if not, “What must I do with these last few months to improve my athletic performance before I start the season?” Because once the season starts, your body will not have the opportunity to grow. It will only have the ability to maintain. This is why pitchers have different training programs in-season as opposed to the off-season.

Take it from someone who has been in your position many times. If you haven’t started yet, find yourself a trainer or program that can get you what you need to improve your athletic performance in these last few months. Because when the games begin, you do not want to find yourself wishing you would have worked harder and smarter, this off-season.

To prevent or overcome shoulder surgery starts here with this diagram.

You must learn these small muscle. These muscle are your career. They are here to internally and externally rotate your arm. The most important information to remember about these muscles are that they can only handle around 5 pounds of pressure each. The deltoids take over if the pressure exceeds this amount. So this means, all we need is 3 to 5 pounds to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Anything more will prevent you from isolating them properly, for development.

The most important muscle of the rotator cuff, for throwers, is the supraspinatous. This muscle lives under the acromion tip of the clavicle. This is the end of the collar bone. This muscle takes a lot of abuse, when the elbow is above the shoulder. This is because it is being impinged by the acrominon tip. If your arm is internally rotated to far forward, when you pull your arm back to throw, this can cause the supraspinatous to “pop” or “grind” under the acrominon. Over time, this can tear the muscle. To prevent this impingement, you must learn good throwing mechanics and how to build joint integrity. You can not do one without the other, to prevent an injury.

You can learn the correct mechanics to prevent injury from the Ace Pitcher Instructional Videos. To build joint integrity, you need two 3 or 5 pound weights to get started. All of the exercise you will need are listed in the AcePitcher Handbook. You can then stream the instructional videos on how to perform the exercises on this site.

The first sign of poor joint integrity is posture. If you are someone who slouches over when sitting or standing, this could be a sign of poor shoulder joint integrity. Another sign is when the ball of the shoulder socket is protruding forward past the chest and the shoulder blade is sticking out like a wing. This means that the anterior muscles are stronger than the posterior muscles. This is the definition of poor joint integrity. This will lead to a shoulder injury.

Common pain that is a sign of an impingement is usually referred pain from the supraspinatous. Most of the pain from the cuff is referred pain. Referred pain means pain that originates in one part of the body, but is felt in another part of the body. If you feel pain on the outside of your arm, between the bicep and tricep muscles, just below the mid deltoid, then this is an impingement. Don’t be alarmed, it isn’t a tear. The supraspinatous is probably inflamed. This can be remedied with ice. You should only ice your arm for 15-20 minutes on and 15-20 minutes off. You can repeat the process but anymore than 15-20 minutes on, can cause nerve damage. Always finish with ice. Never finish with heat. Heat inflames the muscle tissue, and when the tissue is inflamed, it isn’t healing. It is also not a good idea to ice an arm just after pitching. It is best to flush the system. This is when you do some good sprints, to get your heart beating, so you can get your blood pumping. This will help flush the breakdown of waste from pitching out of your arm. Then you can ice. Also never ice your Ulnar nerve. You can also take anti inflammatories, recommended by your Doctor. This is a symptom you can pitch through, but remember when the supraspinatous is inflamed, this will cause more wear and tear on the cuff. So try hard to take care of it ASAP.

The sign of a rotator cuff tear is very obvious. You have considerable loss in movement in your arm, with serious pain. If the supraspinatous is torn, which is the most common tear for throwers, you will not be able to turn your hand thumb down and raise it straight out in front of your body. This is because this movement requires a lot of work from the supraspinatous. If this is the case I am sure you have already seen a Doctor and unfortunately you need surgery. This was my case. It is a hard reality to face. Especially when you are 18, like I was. There was one moment that got me thinking positive and it was a saying I saw on a wall just after the Doctor diagnosed the tear. “Where there is a Will, there is a Way.” Ever six months the body regenerates itself. This means ever muscle has grown new tissue from the inside out. Like your skin. If you can get yourself on the right track, you can start over again and this is exactly what it will feel like. You are starting over at this point and you may not get another chance. It is a tough road but laced with so many rewards. If you are someone who is post surgery and needs a little boost to get back to the game you love, then please contact me and I will get you on the right track.

In conclusion, your rotator cuff is your life support as a pitcher. It is like a par of tires that you can never change on your race car. It is vital that you learn how to take care of it, if you want to play well into your twenties and beyond. I hope this article gets you going and please contact me with any questions or post them in the discussion board.

Introduction

Specificity of Training principle is one of the most utilized training principles used by exercise professionals today. (Kramer et al., 2002) discussed the principle of training specificity and explained that the training responses elicited by a given exercise mode are directly related to the physiological elements involved with coping with the specific exercise stress. What this means is that if an athlete wants to perform better at a particular event or skill they must train specifically for that particular skill. For example, if an athlete wants to become stronger one must lift heavy weights and if an athlete wants to jump higher one must jump. As a strength and conditioning professional one must know if the movement patterns as well as the methods of the training will lead to neuromuscular or metabolic training adaptations to their specific sport. This goes back to an important rule of coaching which is, “Know your athletes.” This is important because if a strength and speed coach wants to work on a vertical jump for a 15 year old female volleyball player and she does not have the lower body strength to handle the eccentric load of landing or she does not know how to land she could injure herself. Therefore, before training specifically to enhance particular sports movements always evaluate the athlete first.

The principle of specificity is also important for Strength and Speed coaches when designing strength and speed programs to their particular sport. The coach must know the type neuromuscular adaptations the athletes need during the particular time of the year whether; it is off-season, pre-season or in-season this is important because as a coach, one does not want to stress the neuromuscular system. Ronnie McKeefey Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for The University of South Florida believes that sport specificity goes too far when exercises that are prescribed place undue orthopedic stress on the body and are not principled based. He goes on to explain that there must be more exercise than just trying to mimic sport movements while under load (2). Specificity is important principle in all of these training modules because the exercise or training protocol must be specific to the type of action required so that the body is neuromuscular adapted to the particular demands of the type of training.

Research Finding and Specificity

As professionals coaches understand that explosive Olympic lifting and other forms of weight training will help athletes on the field however, many coaches feel that a sprint training program should also include strength specific exercises like sled sprints or weighted sprints. Young, W., Grant, D., and Pryor, J., (2001) did a study on resistance training for short sprints and maximum-speed sprints and found that the quadriceps muscles were important for short sprints and the hamstrings were more important for maximum sprinting. They go on to explain some specificity exercises for sprinting, for the short sprints 10 meter or less the exercises are sled sprints and inclined sprints both from static standing starts. The maximum speed exercise were speed bounding and weighted vest sprinting. As strength and conditioning professional these are great specific exercises to help become a faster athlete. The short sprint exercises really target the quadriceps and glutes, helps with stride frequency and helps increase the force on the motor units. The max speed exercises target the hamstrings, helps with stride length and helps increase the rate of the motor units. This is a great specificity example for speed because through this specificity training an athlete has increased the size and force of the motor unit as well as the rate at which the motor unit fires which in turn with proper mechanics should make the athlete a faster runner. Alcaraz, P., Palao, J., Elvira, J., and Linthorne, N., (2008) also did a study on resistance sprinting but they wanted to find out more specifically the effects of three different types of resisted sprint training on the kinematics of sprinting at maximum velocity. They used three types of resisted sprint training devices which were a sled, parachute, and weighted belt to compare sprinting kinematics during maximum velocity. What they found was that all three types were appropriate training for the maximum velocity phase of sprinting and only induced minor changes in the athletes running technique. These two studies are great examples on the specificity principle they show if an athlete’s wants to get faster than the athlete must sprint to become faster.

Another athletic movement that we train specifically is the vertical jump. Although as professionals one knows that resistance training and explosive training can get you stronger but if an athlete wants to jump higher than they must train using plyometrics. McClenton, L., Brown, J., Coburn, J., and Kersey, R., (2008) did a short term study on the Verti-max vs. Depth jump training and its effect on vertical performance. The verti-max is a training apparatus that uses rubber bands and a pulley system that fully loads the athlete in the low squat position, and then maintains this same level of resistance all the way to the top of the jump. The depth jump is a plyometric exercise that rapidly utilizes the stretch shortening cycle. This exercise consists on stepping off a box landing with both feet, then jumping off the ground as fast and as high as possible. During this six week study they found that the verti-max had no improvement on the vertical jump and the depth jump had significant improvement. Both are very good specific exercises but the verti-max costs nearly $2,000.00 and for the depth jump all an athlete needs is a box. The depth jump also in my opinion is a better exercise if strong enough because of the rapid eccentric movements which in turn causes a rapid concentric movement. Wagner, DR and Kocak, MS (1997) explains that the faster a muscle is stretched the greater the force production and the more powerful the muscle action; which, explains why the depth jump is a more efficient exercise when coached and performed properly.

Resistance training is one of the most important aspects to the specificity principle. There are many types of possible outcomes in resistance training; which include endurance, hypertrophy, strength, and power. As strength and conditioning professionals one must know what to train for and at what time of the year to train for the particular outcome. Behm, D. (1995) did a study on the neuromuscular implications and applications of resistance training specifically on strength and power training. This study explained that the high rate of force development achieved with ballistic contractions should serve as a template for power training; and that muscle hypertrophy is dependent upon protein degradation and synthesis, which may be enhanced through high intensity, high volume eccentric work and concentric contractions. One of the most interesting parts of this research was the part on power training. Behm believes that the high-speed training may increase the rate of force development through an increase in the firing frequency or the motor units. He goes on to explain that to guarantee high-specific adaptations in a power training program the speed of the contraction must be high and that the movement speed is not essential as long as the intent of the contraction is explosive. Saltin and Gollnick (1983) showed through their research that with endurance training, muscle fibers shift towards a slow profile thus allowing those muscles fibers to increase their endurance capacity. Staron, Malickly, Leonardi, Falkel, Hagerman, and Dudley (1990) did a study on muscle hypertrophy and fast fiber types in heavy resistance-trained women and found that heavy resistance training results in a shifting of the rarely used fast twitch B fibers to heavily used fast twitch A fibers; which, allow more fibers to be called upon to produce force for faster and more forceful explosive movements. This type of research on resistance training shows that if an athlete requires muscular endurance, strength, size or explosiveness there are specific training patterns. The strength and conditioning professional must follow the specific training protocols to ensure that the neuromuscular system is adapting to the training properly so that the athletes body can perform better in his or her sport.

Conclusion

In closing, Zatsiorsky (1995) explains that the training principle on specificity is well accepted and suggests that for training to be effective, it should be similar to the demands of the sport. Usually, the more specific the training, the better the transfer to sports performance. All though that last statement may be true, many strength and conditioning professionals including myself believe non-specific training should also take place in a training program not only to achieve a higher level of ability but for also injury prevention. Keep in mind, training first started to prevent injury and later professionals discovered that training can also improve performance. Finally, as a strength and conditioning professional one must know the performance goals of the sport which will help the professional dictate the type of training for the athlete or team; and while every possible type of sports movement cannot be simulated in the weight room, there are other non-specific sports movements and exercises that will stimulate the neuromuscular system which will help athletes when they go into competition.

References

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