Rockland Sports Performance – The # 1 Exercise All Athletes Should Be Doing

What If I told You there is One Exercise you could do to increase your sports performance and make you a better athlete?

Yup,  just one exercise!

It Will Increase Speed, agility, coordination, power, strength, overall conditioning, etc…

Yes, In my opinion there is one exercise that will do all the above….

Can You Guess What It is?

Well, if you said the  “All mighty” Olympic Lift – Power Cleans , Clean & Jerk Or any of their variations…

You Were Right!

This Lift is a must have if your are a serious athlete and want to elevate your game – No Matter What Sport or Position You Play…

This exercise incorporates all major muscle groups in your body to work together as a unit, just as all sporting activities require.

However, this lift is a very technical compound movement and requires great skill to master. And without appropriate coaching and instruction – you can seriously hurt yourself or not see any of the “cleans” great benefits like increase explosion, speed, strength, coordination, etc…

That’s Why all of our performance coaches at Optimal Performance Training Center are highly educated on all aspects of Olympic weightlifting. A few of us even compete  in nationally sanctioned organizations.

So if you are an athlete and are seeking to achieve your best potential you need to incorporate this lift into your program, and you MUST DO IT CORRECTLY

here is how it’s done;

JZ

FYI – All Of our athletes programs incorporate the Olympic Lifts and variations of them. Come see for yourself with our Special Limited time Rockland Sports Training Trial offer…

Check it out here – http://www.optcfitness.com/athlete-training/athlete-membership/

Have you taken advantage of our Free – No Obligation Consultation Click here and schedule yours today

The Need For Speed…

What Every Athlete needs to apply to their training in order To enhance their sport specific speed

I’ve got the need…The NEED FOR SPEED!!! And you should too. Every athlete needs to realize that they should always be searching for new ways to improve their speed. That’s because in sport speed kills.

You can never be fast enough. However, it’s not just how fast you can run from point A to point B. You have to be able to be as fast as possible while moving in various directions, starting and stopping constantly. After all, what sport do you know of where change of direction doesn’t happen? Not Many.

So let’s cut right to the chase…

Here are the top ways to enhance your sport specific speed for any sport:

1.) Be specific – to the demands of what type of speed you need in order to excel at your respective sport. For example, the type of speed needed for a football defensive lineman is totally different than the speed needed for a midfielder in lacrosse, or a forward in basketball. So your speed training must reflect the demands of your specific sport.

2.) You won’t get faster by simply running around a track – A major misconception to speed training has been to just run like a maniac around a track and expect to get faster. The problem here is that you may need other methods of training such as stretching, strength training
, core training, balance and/or stability training in order for you to get faster.

Maybe it’s a lack of flexibility that’s slowing you down

3.) Stop training like a body builder – Instead of training on that hamstring curl machine, try some multi-muscle movements like Olympic lifts (snatch / Cleans), squats, and dead-lifts. Not only are these exercises better than any kind of isolation based exercise (hamstring curls and leg extensions), they actually strengthen your leg muscles (and entire body) and train them to work together as a unit. While you’re at it incorporate some single leg exercises such as lunges, and single leg deadlifts. By doing so you will further mimic your body’s running actions.

Add some cleans to your sports training program for some serious improvements in speed & power

4.) Find your weak links, and correct muscle imbalances – You are only as strong as your weakest link, and muscle imbalances will always lead to weak links in your body. Take 2 to athletes that are the same speed. Athlete 1 has poor hip flexibility and weak abdominals, while athlete 2 has weak hamstring muscles, and tight quads. If all these athletes did was work on hip flexibility and core strength, Athlete 1 may get faster, while athlete 2 may actually decrease performance. So getting faster isn’t a one size fits all approach – you need to focus on the individual first.

If you’re not assessing, you’re just guessing!!!

There you have it, 4 easy ways to immediately increase your speed through proper training and smart programming. The only thing left to do is ‘Just Do It’!

Yeah, Yeah, I know what you’re saying, “But how do I know what my weak links are, and what the best exercises for me to do?”

The easiest way is to seek the advice of a highly qualified professional who has experience assessing and training athletes. Visit, our website, and sign up for our free email newsletter. It provides the information regarding sports performance enhancement, and info about all programs run out of OPTC.

Wrestling Training At Optimal Performance Training center

Wrestling Training At Optimal Performance Training center

So last summer Optimal Performance was fortunate enough to pick up Sports Performance Coach and wrestling taining specialist John Hoke…

instead of going on a long winded rant about how effective his training methods are, I’ll let this video do the talking…

This is just a quick glimpse of what we got going on here at OPTC. Come check us out – get a free week of the best sports performance training Rockland County has to offer

www.performancepass.com

Rockland Athletes Killing it – Live and Uncut At Optimal Performance Training Center

Rockland Athletes Killing it – Live and Uncut At Optimal Performance Training Center

Here’s a Killer clip of one of our Rockland Sports Training groups getting after it in the 1st half of their workout on Tuesday….

Come get some for free – Thats right!!!! get a free week of training at Optimal pErformance Training Center – Rockland COunty’s # 1 Sports performance training facility…

Simply visit www.performancepass.com put in your info and you will get your free week instanlty!!!

JZ

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT – CHRIS MERKLE GETTING HIS SHOT!

Long time Optimal Performance Training Center Sports Performance Training Client, and good friend Chris Merkle is getting his chance at the Pro’s for Football.

I can’t say enough good things about Chris. He’s all heart and puts in even more hard work in the gym than anyone can imagine. And to say his efforts off the field pay off is an under statement…

Since this past football season we have been getting him ready with our combine prep program as he’s been getting some Pro looks.

Here is Chris’s private workout he did with his agents a few weeks ago;

Chris also has had pro day’s or football combines at Yale University’s “Pro” day as well as few other in the Northeast, with a BIG Time Private workout at Giants Stadium with The NY Football Giants earlier today.

Like I said Chris has been a long time Athlete of ours here at Optimal Performance and has become a great friend.

With his heart mindset and work effort , combined with his football skills – if he gets a shot in the pro’s, I know he’ll make some heads turn!

Good Luck Chris

JZ

Kettlebells Ring True At Optimal Performance

So it seems like there are literally hundreds of ways to increase sports performance these days…

From Olympic Weightlifting,Functional Strength Training, and teaching fundamentals with movement patterns and speed mechanics to the media popularized ground and pound type workouts that seem to only result in mental, physical, and neurological drainage (especially in younger athletes ranging from 10 – 18 years old)

Can you guess which style Optimal Performance uses?

You better have agreed with the first half of the above statements

Anyway, my point is that in today’s sports performance market there seems like there are a ton of different ways to train an athlete…but what works best?

Well to be honest, and I can go on about this subject at length – The Optimal Performance Training system is by far the most complete program for athletes of all ages and levels in the surrounding area.

However, today i want to talk about an old school training tool that is still somewhat a new concept to us in the western hemisphere – Kettlebell training

Kettlebells Ring True at Optimal Performance!

We have been dabling with Kettlebells for sometime now at Optimal Performance and with great results I’d like to add.

I began using Kettlebells 6 years ago. They challenged me unlike any
other training tool I ever used, and they also kicked my a**.

here a video of me going through a pretty nasty circuit

When used properly (and I stress properly) kettlebell training will
unleash your inner power on how to get stronger, bigger, faster, develop
mental toughness and tons more.

I see value in Kettlebell training for powerlifters, MMA fighters, basbeall palyers, tennis athletes,lacrosse players, football players, you name the sport – kettlebells will add benefit to their training. We first used Kettlebells as a basic conditoner utilizing the traditional “Swing” for metabolic endurance, but we are now using the kettlebell for the following:
- prehab / rehab
- strength
- speed & power development
- grip strength
- mental toughness
- improving conditioning and fitness levels

Plus, you can take them anywhere…

So Kettlebells get an A++ in my book!

JZ

PS – wanna learn how to utilize the bell with an expert Kettlebell certified instructor? Then call 845.268.3494 to find out more information regarding Optimal Kettlebell classes. For a limited time we are offering free kettlebell classes to athlete and fitness enthusiasts by a “REAL” certified Kettlebell Expert! Call 845.268.3494 or email me (jasonz@optcfitness.com) to find out when we are holding these free classes.

Spring Season Sports Specific Conditioning – Rotary Power

The Sun is shining the grass is getting greener and the birds are chirping… That means spring is here and so are spring sports!

Baseball, Lacrosse, Tennis, Softball, Golf, Track and Field… So many great sprig sports and they all have one thing in common (besides being played in the spring).

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Rockland Sports Training Trial

OPTC is now offering an unlimited group training package for 1 month, so you can try us out and let us prove to you that we are the best in sports performance enhancement training. Simply click the picture below and lock in your unlimited sports training month today!

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Rockland County’s # 1 Sports Performance Enhancement Training Expert Warns Sports

Training Programs Are Dangerous

Youth Fitness & Sports Training is a growing trend in the fitness industry today for good reason. It has been reported that;

1. 30% of U.S. youth population is overweight… 30%. Even more alarming – 15.2% are considered obese. These numbers are on the rise and as parents, teachers and coaches we have a huge responsibility to change the tide of this sad epidemic.

2. The injury rate of our youth athletes that are involved in sports is unacceptable and becoming far too common.

• over 3.5 million children under the age of 15 are treated for sports related injuries every year
• children ages 5-14 account for 40% of all reported sport related injuries
• more than half of these injuries occur at practice
These numbers are rising each year but they don’t have to.

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Is Lifting Weights For Youth Athletes Dangerous?

When it comes to lifting weights and the youth athlete, a huge red flag usually goes up. It is believed to big a BIG NO! It is said that lifting weights is potentially dangerous to the growth plates for these youngsters.

Well I hate to break it to you, but as long as the appropriate considerations are taken into account, the above statement is completely inaccurate. A matter of fact, following and executing a proper resistance training program will lead to improved sports performance, increased bone strength, increased muscular strength, increased muscular endurance, increased coordination, and most importantly a decreased injury rate for the youth athlete. Believe it or not, the demands of some of the most common sports children participate in today, place a lot more strain, wear and tear on kids than a properly executed resistance training program.

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