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The Training Lab is the knowledge hub for online Strength and Conditioning content. We have curated articles designed to empower you to Be Your Best inside and outside the weight room.
This isn’t some fitness blog trying to sell you a cheap diet or a new magic pill. Our writers are sourced from the top minds in the strength training industry. The Training Lab is a forum to share knowledge within a vast network of coaches and athletes around the globe.
Above all, we are here to bring performance to the people.
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Youth Sports Part 2: Drink to Thirst Doesn’t Work & Other Surprising Truths About Hydration for Young Athletes
For this second part in the series, we’re shifting our attention from behavior to physiology – namely, to hydration for young athletes.
Youth Sports Part 3: Tapping into Learning Styles
It’d be so easy to coach if every young athlete learned in the same way, wouldn’t it? But unfortunately, that isn’t the case. So even though you might be very comfortable communicating and teaching in a certain fashion, a one-size-fits-all approach is only going to benefit a fraction of the players you’re trying to coach. The rest are either going to have sub-optimal learning experiences or the lessons will go completely over their heads.
Coach as Counselor Part 3 – How to Spot Mental Health Red Flags
In the previous two posts in this series, we explored ways to clean up your athletes’ mental hygiene and how to use your situational awareness to spot intuitively when someone is struggling. For this third installment, we’re turning our attention to how we can combine subjective observation and objective measurements to monitor players’ mental health and hopefully spot any red flags so we can address an issue like anxiety or depression before it escalates.
Insights into a Strength + Conditioning Internship
Every organization has a selection process, from fraternities with their pledging to the navy seals with buds. In Strength and Conditioning it is the internship, the initial introduction to what it takes to be a strength and conditioning coach. The time to see if you can cut the long hours, minimum pay and appreciation. You can come away with a great experience or one that's not so good, but that is up to you.
Max Out Lifting: 4 Tips to Going Beast Mode
Every once in a while, we like to max out lifting on major lifts to get an idea how your training is progressing and to give a relatively accurate number we can use for weight selection in upcoming workouts.
Power Through Plateaus With These 3 Isometric Training Protocols
Are we right to think that full-range “up-and-down” lifts against resistance are the only way to train for athletic speed, power, and even muscle endurance?
Granted, many powerful athletes have a great ability to execute big time traditional lifts. But is this because they worked their tails off to hit those numbers...or because they were athletically gifted in the power department?
Preventing Coach Burnout: 101
Yes, I said it. We need to change the way we think about our jobs and profession. No longer should we idolize the grind of 60 hour plus work weeks. The Strength and Conditioning profession is notorious for long hours. Coaches can go weeks or months without a full day off of work. They are truly dedicated people with a workhorse mentality. Listen, we love our job and spend a significant amount of our free time thinking about it.
The Great Max Out Debate: What Olympic Weightlifting Coaches Should Know About Testing Their Athletes Top End
The elusive one rep max - as a weightlifter, setting a new personal record is a lot like chasing a pot of gold strapped to a unicorn that shows up at the strangest times. You never know when you're going to get it, but it's totally Instagram worthy when it happens.
Strength Coaches Build Athletes, Not Bodybuilders (Plus More Wisdom From A Strength Legend)
It has been a long, strange journey since I first tried to clean and press the Sears' Ted Williams Barbell in 1965. I have seen utter nonsense, flat out lies, and enough silliness to make a Monty Python skit. Things that were normal training when I first started lifting have now become reinvented.
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Mobility 101: A Complete Guide
Mobility is hot topic, and vital for anyone spending time in the weightroom.
The ability to have full range of motion in your muscles and joints is one of the most important aspects of training. Improving your mobility can help you workout for longer, reduces joint pain, and can reduce the risk of injury.
In this guide you’ll learn more about mobility, who it impacts, why you should be focusing on it no matter what your age or training history, and how to tame common mobility hot spots from head to toe.
Olympic Weightlifting 101: A Complete Guide
In this article, Mike Dewar shares a basic template on how to build an Olympic weightlifting program geared toward the beginner and intermediate lifter.
Mike covers everything from the 8 goals of an Olympic Weightlifting program, how to build your own 4 week program including full sample sessions, the 5 key variables in Olympic Weightlifting, and 30 exercises perfect for beginners.
10 ways to build an unstoppable engine for competitive crossfit
To succeed in CrossFit, you need the ability to repeat near maximum efforts with as little rest as possible.
It’s not enough to simply have a high one rep max or a large unbroken set of muscle-ups. How many reps at 90% of your max power clean can you do in 8 minutes?
In this article, Todd Nief gives us a full breakdown of the 10 ways he helps Crossfit athletes build an unstoppable engine for competition.
How to Zercher Squat: One Exercise to rule them all
We all want that golden ticket. The one-size-fits-all exercise and perfect program. You know – the one that makes us look like the Hulk as long as we follow that program to the T.
Well folks, that all sounds great. But in reality, we know there is no one-size-fits-all exercise, program, food, or supplement… PERIOD. However, coach Ryan Leibreich has a secret weapon exercise that will get us close; it has a lot of bang for its buck. It builds massive quads, big glutes, a wide back, and some awesome biceps. Exactly what every athlete needs.
4 scientifically proven ways to develop explosive power
Building athletic power is one of the most desired, if not the most desired, quality in athletic performance today. It’s as important for the athlete training for the sport of life as it is for a D1 high performance athlete.
The question is…how do we optimally train it?
In this article coach Joel Smith, a long-time D1 S&C coach, gives us the lowdown on creating explosive power in the weightroom. From Olympic lifting to plyometrics, this is your one-stop guide on all things athletic power.
Nervous system training 101: The creation of superhuman strength and athleticism
Consider the following: pound for pound apes have double the strength of a human being.
They can also jump about 30-40% higher than top human jumpers.
How is this possible given their similar amount of muscle mass?
Our simian friends have an interesting piece of their brain and spinal cord that allows them stronger muscle contractions: less grey matter.
TrainHeroic Instagram: For Athletes, By Athletes
Looking for some Monday motivation? How about a new training session to shake things up a bit?
TrainHeroic’s Instagram is for for athletes, by athletes. We share news and notes on the latest in the strength game, valuable training insights and tips from thought leaders in the fitness game, exercise guides, sample training sessions and more.
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