A major concern with balance and joint-stabilization exercises is to avoid potentially dangerous movements that depend on the preparedness of the athlete or patient and on the state of the healing tissue. Learn about progressions that minimize risk to the athlete or patient.
CoachesExercise ScienceProgram designbalance exercisesjoint-stabilization exercisesstrength and conditioninginjury avoidanceprehabilitation
Research shows that the appropriate integration of resistance training into the endurance athlete’s training can result in significantly better performance when compared to classic endurance training plans that focus only on aerobic endurance.
CoachesExercise Sciencetraining for runnersweight trainingstrength trainingsport performance trainingEndurance training
Coaches can also benefit from understanding the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment as they relate to motivation. Although coaches use a mixture of both reward and punishment, using rewards and a positive approach is arguably the best approach because it focuses on what athletes should do and what they did right.
Endurance sports are typically not thought of as highly technical endeavors, but proper movement during training and competition for endurance sports can affect both performance and health.
Scientific research has identified lactate threshold (LT) and maximal exercise performance as being very important contributors to endurance performance. A well-designed endurance training program can lead to improvement in both LT and maximal exercise performance within a single season and from season to season.
When integrating resistance training, endurance athletes must ensure that the sessions or workouts are sequenced in the context of the overall workload. Giving careful thought to these factors when designing the training plan will increase the chances of success.
CoachesExercise ScienceProgram designendurance trainingstrength trainingweight training
Static and dynamic conditioning of the core musculature is important in activities of daily living and in sport. This book excerpt includes sample static exercises to strengthen the core muscles responsible for stabilization against, or movement through, the four basic movement patterns.
Scenarios that provide a stimulus relevant to the sporting environment may help athletes develop better anticipation skills through the refinement of search strategies, response speed and accuracy, pattern recognition, and decision-making abilities.
Two factors that determine running speed are stride cadence and stride length. Because athletes propel themselves forward only when their foot is in contact with the ground, the stance phase of the running stride should be the focus of speed enhancement programs.
CoachesExercise ScienceMechanics of runninghow to run fasterspeed trainingrunning mechanics