What Makes an Athlete 'Fast'

Have you ever noticed how some young athletes seem to always be a little bit quicker than their teammates?  In most youth sports, coaches and parents can pick out the fastest or quickest athletes after only a few minutes of watching them play.  What is the one thing that these athletes have in common?  The ability to hit the ground hard and then drive their body in a specific direction!  Stiff ankles, “twitchy” muscle contractions, and body awareness all play a role in an athlete’s ability to accelerate quickly. And no matter what sport they end up playing, the fast kids always have an advantage!

An athlete’s quickness, acceleration, and top end speed all depend on what is happening at ground contact.  This is why some athletes are “stuck in the mud”, while some seam to run so fast it looks like they’re floating.

It boils down to Directional Force Production.  As you can see in the picture below, linear acceleration requires an explosive move into a “forward knee” position, and then the athlete must drive back with their forward leg positioned in the opposite direction that they are accelerating.

The same concept applies when an athlete accelerates laterally.  The key is to apply quick forces into the ground the opposite direction which you intend to move!  The direction of an athlete’s shins dictate which direction the athlete moves (laterally or in a straight line). The shin angle is controlled by the hips (with internal rotation and external rotation).

All directional forces MUST pass through the ankle complex.  This makes it well worth our time to improve our “ankle ability.”  Poor ankle mobility and poor ankle strength is analogous to a car with poor suspension or shock absorbers.

Here are 3 simple things that can help any athlete get more out of their ankles and accelerate better:

1.     Warm up barefoot

a.      Running and moving barefoot builds neuro-control and strength in muscles that our shoes may prevent us from using.

2.     Ankle wall-stretch paired with calf raises

a.      Mobility without stability is likely to lead to ankle injuries, however flexibility is necessary to drive into the ground. Adding some active stretches pre-workout and passive stretches post-workout can help safely achieve ankle mobility.

3.     Jump and land frequently and in different ways during training

a.      Jumping increases ankle durability (strength at length), decrease reaction time at ground contact, and increases the ability to translate force production directionally through the ankle. 

New to T3? What to learn more about speed?  Email Info@t3athlete.com to set up a free athlete orientation session with one of our performance coaches.

Maintaining Lean Muscle Mass

A Lot of concerns around losing muscle mass during these times of quarantine. Here are a few strategies to help maintain your gains!

Eat a wholesome diet high in protein: Keep fueling your body with high quality food. It will help your body function properly and maintain a healthy status. Protein is your best friend when maintaining muscle mass. Eating 1.5-2.0 grams of protein per kg of body weight is a great general guideline. Here are some high protein foods you can eat:

• Eggs

• Lean meat (beef, poultry, seafood)

• Beans

• Greek yogurt

• Protein shake (whey or plant based)

Continue to strength train with isometrics and eccentrics: Isometrics (holds) and eccentrics (control down phase) are great ways to make at home or body weight exercises more challenging. These types are more beneficial because they produce a greater rate of force development on the muscle fibers. Simply put, they challenge your body more! These can be done with or without equipment and are great for developing and maintaining strength and muscle mass.

Stay active: inactivity is the quickest way to lose muscle mass. Stay active with at home workouts, walking, and general physical activity. Sitting and laying down deloads your muscles causing atrophy.

Reducing Fatigue Through Active Recovery

Athlete Fatigue and The Overtraining Syndrome

At some point, all athletes experience fatigue.  Under regular circumstances, an athlete will be fatigued after a tough practice or game, and they will recover within a few hours.  During this recovery time, the muscular and cardiovascular systems adapt through improving efficiency of the heart, increasing capillaries in the muscles, and increasing glycogen stores and mitochondrial enzyme systems within the muscle cells.  All of these adaptations result in a higher level of performance.

Coaches expect a lot out of their athletes, and sometimes two-a-days are unavoidable.  Conditioning involves a combination of work overload and recovery, so you should expect to be tired after a few days of overload practices.  However, when sufficient rest is not taken by an athlete, regeneration cannot occur.  When insufficient rest periods continue (over a few weeks or more), performance will decline and overtraining syndrome may become present.  Overtraining can be dangerous if it occurs.  It takes a toll on the physical and mental health of the athlete, leading to a higher likelihood of injury and other issues.

Symptoms of Overtraining:

• Feeling washed-out, tired, or drained for multiple consecutive days

• Insomnia

• Irritability

• Headaches

• Decreased Immunity (Getting sick more often)

• Decreased training capacity (lowering intensity)

• Depression

• Decreased appetite 

Causes of Stress and Fatigue

• Inadequate rest periods (This includes sleep time and workout recovery time.)

• Inadequate nutrition

• Dehydration

• Mental stress or anxiety

How to Combat Stress and Fatigue
1. Sleep

Get 8-9 hours of sleep each night.  Your body needs this time to restore fuels and regenerate.

2. Drink Water

Dehydration will run you down very quickly.  The average person needs about a half- gallon a day to stay fully hydrated.  If you're working out and sweating often, you may need closer to a gallon of water a day.

3. Eat

Food supplies nutrients to your muscles and organs.  Carbohydrates will give you energy to use.  If you are working out for at least an hour a day, you should increase your caloric intake by 300-800 calories / day.

4. Allow your muscles to rest

When it comes to building muscle or athletic ability, more is not always better.  Your muscles need to rest in order to regenerate.  If you continually break them down without allowing 1-2 days of rest per week, your results will plateau and possibly decline.

5. Limit your stress

Make your goals attainable, rid yourself of negative influences, and don't take on too much.  Mental stress can be just as exhausting as physical stress.  Set your priorities and work on time management.

Why do I weigh more after working out?

This is a common question asked by people concerned about losing or maintaining a specific weight. Now, I personally, hate weighing in. I believe that you should base your lifestyle off of how you feel...not how much you weigh. But hey, people like to track their weight!

A question came up this weekend from a friend. She is an active adult athlete that completed a 12+ hour Ruck event. The days following, her weight was up, despite half a day worth of training. A few things happen during the event and following the event.

Your body naturally wants to get back to a balanced level; homeostasis. During the event, glycogen was depleted and muscle fibers were torn and damaged. So, her body was attempting to return to a healthy status.

1️⃣ Increased carbohydrate intake following exercise helps to replenish muscle and liver glycogen. Glycogen is osmotically active (a fancy term for “water-holding”). So in turn, this refueling process increases our overall fluid retention. 

2️⃣ Rapid or severe decrease in water and electrolytes (from exhaustive exercise for example), can activate the production of aldosterone, a hormone that regulates water and electrolyte levels in the body. It also regulates blood volume and blood pressure. A 12+ hour ruck can stimulate aldosterone, which stimulates sodium reabsorption, leading to further water retention.

This is a normal process! Don't panic. Your body will return to normal on it’s own as long as you're following appropriate eating habits and take the time to recover. 

Written By Ryan Richmond: @Richmond_Performance

Is Your Athlete Training During the Season?

The Importance of In-season Strength & Conditioning

Contrary to some beliefs, athletes should continue their strength and conditioning programs throughout the season. Yes, even when they are playing!

Continuing training provides many benefits for athletes. It allows them to maintain the strength and power that they developed during the off-season. It also helps them maintain their ever-important mobility. Mobility is absolutely necessary for athletes to perform at their peak performance and it is crucial for preventing injuries.

Injuries typically occur because of two things. One, there has been a decrease in strength. Or two, a movement pattern was improperly loaded. This means that if your body is required to move in a way that it is ill-prepared for (due to lack of training) then the likelihood of suffering an injury increases drastically.

Continuing a strength and conditioning program can help to maintain muscular strength, further aiding in performance and injury prevention. A well-rounded strength and conditioning program will also train an athlete in multiple planes of movement. This training addresses movement patterns, positions, and forces that are required during their competitive sport.

But what about OVER-training?!

In-season strength and conditioning programs should focus on lower volume (sets and reps) and moderate weight. A good rule of thumb is to have the athlete stay under 80% of their max during an in-season training program. This allows the athlete to maintain strength, power, and healthy musculature. As for recovery - simplicity reigns supreme! As long as your athlete is getting consistent sleep and eating correctly, their body will recover daily.

Written By Ryan Richmond: @Richmond_Performance

Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy has generated some recent hype in the athletic and medical communities from its use by many professional athletes including Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Floyd Mayweather. You may be wondering what exactly cryotherapy does that has brought it into such popularity. Cryotherapy, or cold therapy, is actually a recovery method that most people have already used at some point in their life. By definition, it is simply the use of cold temperatures to assist in the reduction of pain or inflammation. Newer technologies have allowed this type of treatment to go from an ice pack strapped to an ankle, to an entire body surrounded by liquid nitrogen at sub-zero temperatures.

The process involves a person stepping into a cryotherapy chamber, where liquid nitrogen at temperatures from -100 F to -274 F surround the body, lowering the skin temperature to approximately 30 F.  During this time, thermoreceptors in the skin send a signal to the brain telling it to send the blood to the body's core in order to maintain internal body temperature. This process is known as vasoconstriction. Toxins are flushed from peripheral tissues and the blood is enriched with oxygen, enzymes, and nutrients at the core. The body activates its natural healing abilities and releases endorphins for further benefit.

So, now the question stands: Does it work? Most who have used it will swear by it for everything from decreased recovery time, to improved immunity, to increased energy, and more. Overall, the support in favor of cryotherapy is strong. The risks, when performed in a controlled environment with professional instruction, are few.

Fortunately, cryotherapy isn't just for pro athletes. Many therapeutic locations in the area offer this type of treatment to the public, including locations like CryoActive in Rocky River.The old saying of "Don't knock it 'till you try it" seems to fit well when it comes to cryotherapy.