2012 Summer Track and Field Camp!

We’re not quite ready to start taking registrations for this summer’s clinic, but I’m getting requests and questions every day so I wanted to at least give you some information so you can schedule vacations, etc. around the clinic.

The dates for this year’s clinic are July 19-22, 2012 at Brown University.

With the overwhelming success of last year’s clinic, we have decided to expand this year’s program. So here are some things that are new this year:

1. We’ve doubled the number of slots for the sprints and hurdles. Last year the clinic sold out almost 6 weeks before it was held and we want to make sure no one gets left out again this year.

So we will offer two sprints or hurdles sessions. One will be Thursday/Friday July 19-20 and the other session will be Saturday/Sunday July 21-22. This gives you the option of choosing the session that best fits your life and/or allows you to register for, say, sprints during the Thursday/Friday session and then jumps during Saturday/Sunday session.

2. We’re adding the throws for the Saturday/Sunday session. We haven’t lined up all of the staff for the shot put, discus and javelin just yet, but you can be assured it will be top notch like with the other events. Case in point: One of our lead throws instructors will be Brown University Director of Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Michelle Eisenreich.

3. We’re adding classroom session for coaches. On Friday night, July 19, we’ll be running seminar style classroom sessions for coaches. This way you can get some insight into the workout planning, philosophies and preparation side of coaching. Then, with that information and insight in hand, you’ll go out to the track sessions to see how we take ‘book information’ and specifically apply it to athletes. I don’t know of any other clinic that offers this (though I’m sure they’ll borrow the idea) and we think it’s going to be pretty cool.

I don’t know who is speaking on what quite yet, but we are certainly open to your feedback and suggestions since this clinic is about you and not about us.

4. We’re adding more staff. Last year I don’t think we had enough coaches covering the sprints. Most of last year’s staff has signed on to return this year, but we’ll be adding even more coaches to ensure low staff to athlete ratios. For starters, one of the best sprints coaches in New England, Wheaton College Men’s and Women’s Head Coach Dave Cusano, will be joining the sprints staff for both sessions.

Now those are the basics for now.

Registration for this summer’s Track & Field Clinic is underway.

As I’ve said there are limited spots in each event group so if you plan to attend, I recommend signing up as soon as possible to reserve your spot.

Hope to see you this summer!

2012 New England Track & Field Clinic

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Youth Strength and Conditioning: Systems, not just Sets and Reps
By: Eric Cressey

Back in November of 2010, a good buddy of mine who is a very accomplished college strength coach came up to Boston for a seminar we were holding at Cressey Performance. The seminar was on a Sunday, but he actually flew up Friday night so that he could observe on Saturday while we trained our clients – which was a nice blend of high school, college, and professional athletes, plus our adult clientele. All told, I’d say that high school athletes are 70% of our clientele.

That Tuesday morning, I woke up to this email from him:

“I just wanted to say thanks for everything. I had a great time. Your staff was outstanding and I really enjoyed watching you guys work on Saturday. I realize you are managers, but certainly technicians as well. Perfect form, I told Tony I saw two bad reps all weekend and someone was on the athlete before he had a chance to do another rep!!! Thanks so much and come visit anytime, we would love to have you.”

This isn’t an email to toot our own horn; it’s to make a very valuable point. If this coach had walked into every single private training facility and high school weight room in the country, in what percentage of cases do you think he would have come out with a favorable impression of the technique he witnessed in these strength and conditioning programs? If I had to venture an extremely conservative guess, I’d say less than 10%.

Simply stated, both in the public and private sectors, some coaches are letting kids get away with murder with respect to technique, not warming up, poor load selection in weight training programs, and a host of other factors.

What happens, then, when the s**t hits the fan and a kid gets hurt? I’ll tell you: certain exercises get “condemned” and strength and conditioning programs become more and more foo-foo; external loading is eliminated and kids wind up doing agility ladders and “speed training” for 60-90 minutes at a time in what can only be described as glorified babysitting. Or, worse yet, weight rooms get closed altogether. The door of opportunity gets slammed in the faces of a lot of kids who desperately need to get strong to stay healthy, improve performance, and build confidence.

That’s the reactive model, but what about a proactive model to prevent these issues in the first place? Again, I’ll tell you: assess kids up-front. Find out what is in their health history and evaluate how well they move. Actually learn their names and backgrounds. Then, program individually for them. Coach intensely in their initial sessions and get things right from the start. And, if an exercise doesn’t work for them, give them an alternative. As an example, take the squat. Some kids may not have sufficient ankle or hip mobility to squat deep in an Olympic style squat, so they’ll benefit more (and stay healthier) with box squat variations while you improve their mobility. Others may even be too immobile (or possess structural issues like femoroacetabular impingement) to even box squat safely, so you give them more single-leg work and deadlift variations. Regardless, you “coach ‘em up” well from the get-go – and they learn along the way.

In other words, the exercises aren’t the problem because exercises can be quickly and easily changed on the fly to match the athlete’s level of abilities. It’s the system in which they are placed that can be the stubborn, tough-to-change problem.

This is one reason why I’m super excited to be involved with the International Youth Conditioning Association. In my role on the IYCA’s Advisory Committee, I want to emphasize that you can have all the book smarts and coaching ability in the world, but if you aren’t put in a good system and business model, it simply won’t matter.

If you’re struggling to get results with your youth strength and conditioning programs – or your business itself is struggling – be sure to look at your business model and overall systems before you start tinkering with the individual exercises. Chances are that you need to rededicate yourself to relationship building and individualization more than you need to worry about sets and reps.

Eric Cressey is the president and co-founder of Cressey Performance, based just west of Boston. For more information on his training go to Show and Go Training today.

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On Monday night, I’m doing a teleseminar on the topic of Speed and Agility.

During the call, I’ll explain, among other things, why I’ve stop using ’speed drills’ in the conventional sense. It’s true.

I used to teach every speed drill in the book. Now, I don’t.

Watch this video to find out more:
As you’ll see, my video has elicited quite a reaction.

(If that surprises you, you probably haven’t been reading my stuff for very long…)

Some of you are really thinking it through and I can tell have a good sense of where I’m going with this.

Some are just intrigued to hear how my perspective has changed and want to learn something new.

Others are afraid that my stance on speed drills means they have to throw every program I’ve ever created in the trash. 

And, as always, a few grouches just hate Christmas, puppies and smiling babies and want everyone to know!

Whether your initial reaction is interest or offense, if you’re fascinated by the idea that there might be a better way to make your athletes faster, get on the call.

Speed and Agility Teleseminar Registration

Agree or disagree, my primary purpose is always to help you become a better coach. But as the saying goes:

“You can lead a horse to water…”
To your success,

Latif Thomas

P.S. The call is at 8pm Eastern on Monday. If you know you can’t make it, sign up anyway. We’ll send out a link to catch the replay.

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Just a quick message that I wanted to share with you.

If you run gym or are even thinking about opening your own place some day, you need to check this out.

My friend Alwyn Cosgrove runs the most profitable gym in the country. What makes this more impressive is that gyms are the second leading business to fail (behind restaurants) and 16 out of 17 go out of business in
the first 8 years.

Alwyn’s gym grows each year.

How does his gym continue to get more profitable while most gyms fail?

Well, Alwyn is putting on a free webinar to share his secrets with you. He is calling it the Death of Personal Training.

Register here:

Death of Personal Training

The fitness industry continues to change at a fast pace. It’s harder to get and keep clients now. Marketing your services has become more difficult and more expensive. Even finding quality staff is extremely difficult.

To find out what’s working at the most profitable gym in the country, you need to get on Alwyn’s webinar. He is going to pull back the curtain of his business and share with you exactly what you need to do to survive
in this atmosphere and dominate your area.

Reserve your spot here:

http://www.repstorevenue.com

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The 2011 International Youth Conditioning Association Summit has just been announced and Athletes Acceleration’s own Coach Latif Thomas will be speaking this year.

The event takes place in Louisville, KY on July 29-30th.

Here is the list of the other great coaches and trainers that will also be presenting:

Pat Rigsby, Carlo Alvarez, Dave Schmitz, David Gleason, Mike Robertson, Eric Cressey, Sue Falsone, David Jack, Pamela MacElree, Dr. Toby Brooks, Ryan Ketchum, Wil Fleming and Nick Berry.

You don’t want to miss this. To check out more details about the IYCA Summit and to register Click Here now >>

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