Nov 5, 2018Training More Efficiently
Strength coaches have varied needs based on the level they work at, the sports they work with, and the desires of their sport coaches. But one thing they all need is more time. Fortunately, these products and services can help you use your time as effectively as possible, both in the strength/ conditioning facility and outside of it.
Get the Most Out of Athletes
S-Drive Performance Trainer
www.matrixfitness.com
Only the S-Drive Performance Trainer combines everything performance training coaches get from self-powered treadmills, weighted sleds, resistance parachutes, and harness systems in one space-saving footprint. Athletes can improve overall agility through a mix of forward, lateral, and reverse movements, and a unique design makes it easier than ever for coaches and trainers to refine form with instant feedback and adjust resistance to create a program progression tailor-made for their athletes’ goals. Matrix Fitness even created signature training protocols to help you get the most out of the S-Drive Performance Trainer, so you can get the most out of your athletes.
Optimize Load, Reduce Injuries
AthleteMonitoring.com
www.AthleteMonitoring.com
Never before have strength and conditioning professionals had so much information about their athletes available to them. Now the challenge is finding ways to efficiently and productively use that data. AthleteMonitoring.com is a cutting-edge athlete management platform that helps strength and conditioning professionals monitor wellness and training loads; deliver periodized programs; track workouts, performance, and progress; and ensure athletes are trained at their full potential, while minimizing the risk of overtraining and injury.
User-friendly and customizable, AthleteMonitoring’s modular design means it can be tailored to fit any budget. The company’s CEO, Francois Gazzano, says, “From a simple wellness monitoring app, to a full-scale athlete management platform, AthleteMonitoring offers the best performance management solution to professionals looking to maximize performance and prevent injuries, while improving productivity and collaboration at all levels.”
Off-Site Preparation
Stretch Out Strap®
www.optp.com
One of the challenges of enhancing athletes’ performance is the time they spend away from you. Whether it’s for extended periods during the offseason or a few days on a road trip, you need a way to make sure your athletes continue doing their exercises correctly.
A great tool to help them do this is the Stretch Out Strap from OPTP, a leading provider of innovative physical therapy, fitness and wellness products. The Stretch Out Strap is a top-selling product that helps athletes improve flexibility by performing dynamic stretching exercises without a trainer or a stretching partner. Multiple loops permit deep, gradual stretching of major muscle groups with greater safety, control and effectiveness than is possible unaided.
Hemp Product Certification
Banned Substances Control Group (BSCG)
www.BSCG.org
Keeping up with developments in performance-enhancing substances can be a full-time job in itself. Fortunately, it’s one task that strength coaches can get help with.
The latest trend involves industrial hemp-derived oils and other products, commonly referred to as cannabidiol (CBD) products. These have grown popular with consumers and athletes, posing challenging questions to strength and conditioning professionals. Quality concerns have been raised over the possible presence of dangerous synthetic cannabinoids or whether psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the focus of drug testing, is limited to the 0.3% required to qualify as hemp. In an effort to address these and other important quality questions, BSCG is proud to introduce Certified HempTM, the first third-party certification program focused on industrial hemp products.
Count on It
PB Extreme Weight Equipment
www.performbetter.com
When it’s time to get to work, you need to be able to focus on your athletes, not the equipment they’re using. Perform Better continues to lead the industry in functional training products and education.
Their PB Extreme Weight Equipment is a high quality weight line that is ideal for any high school, collegiate, or professional setting. Everything from half racks and platforms to urethane dumbbells and bumper plates have been taking over weightrooms across the country. Perform Better has been helping coaches and athletes everywhere train more efficiently by providing the very best in weight equipment to accommodate everyone.
Versatility Anyone Can Afford
Bands from Bill Jacobs Power Company
www.coachbilljacobs.com
Bands are the most versatile strength and movement product available. They can go anywhere–weightroom, field, court, on the road, or at home–allowing you to make the most of the limited time you have with athletes.
Bands from Bill Jacobs Power Company are also incredibly cost-effective. According to Coach Bill “Jake” Jacobs, for coaches trying to stretch their budgets, bands are a great way to help athletes improve, prepare them for competition, and reduce their injury risk, all without breaking the bank. Go to his YouTube channel for multiple band-training videos for your athletes.
Reduce Soreness, Increase Recovery
PR Lotion
www.amphumanperformance.com
Smart coaches know recovery is just as important as preparation. The challenge is optimizing recovery in your athletes.
PR Lotion from Amp Human Performance uses proprietary technology to deliver the same bicarbonate the body produces to neutralize acid, battle fatigue, and reduce soreness. Peer-reviewed clinical studies have shown a significant reduction in next day muscle soreness by 53.5%, reduction in heart rate by three beats per minute on average, and an increase in high-intensity interval work by 25% (reps). “The science is simple,” says Patrick Dixon, CSCS, SCCC, PES, CES, Head of Human Performance at Amp Human Performance. “By acting as a buffer, PR Lotion allows muscles to work at a high level while maintaining the quality of that work.”
Uesaka FP Force Plate
Uesaka Barbell Co.
www.forceplateplatform.com
Time is precious. So it’s important to ensure you’re making the most of athletes’ time in the weightroom. If your goal is determining accurate peak force/rate of force development or functional assessment of symmetrical balance and strength, then Uesaka’s new Force Plate platforms are for you.
UESAKA has long been recognized as a leader in the field of weightlifting equipment. They are excited to announce their next generation of technology-based Force Plates designed specifically for the needs of the professional strength coach and sports medicine specialist.
Built for You
Legend Fitness
www.legendfitness.com
With so many strength companies vying for your dollar, why should you buy Legend? Because they are a company run by fitness experts and athletes, and everything they build is with the end user in mind. They always focus on offering the most versatile, robust, and value-driven equipment that just feels right when you use it.
Go ahead, try Legend for yourself and see if you don’t agree that it’s the finest American-made strength equipment in the industry. They look forward to being your new strength provider and will strive to keep you as a customer.
Sensory Performance Training Eyewear From Exertools
Exertools
www.exertools.com
Quads are the next generation of stroboscopic eyewear designed to improve reaction time, spatial awareness, balance, and visuomotor skills. Using liquid crystal technology, the lenses flicker between clear and opaque, removing visual information and forcing an individual to process more efficiently. Using a patented segmented design, the new Senaptec Quad Strobe eyewear allows the user to select regions of strobing to customize a performance or therapy activity. Available at Exertools.com.
Train Any Load at Any Speed at Any Angle
VersaPulley
www.versaclimber.com
VersaPulley is an inertial flywheel-training device relied upon by many of the world’s top teams, universities, therapists and trainers to prepare their athletes for the highest levels of competition.
According to High Performance Strategist Brandon Marcello, PhD, VersaPulley’s efficiency comes from its ability to perform exercises in both horizontal and vertical applications. This allows the user to train at any load, at any speed, and in any angle–both concentrically and eccentrically. Air, bands, and free weights cannot do this.
Early Sign–Up Savings
NSCA Coaches Conference and Live Stream
www.NSCA.com/Coaches
The NSCA Coaches Conference, Jan. 10-12, 2019, in Indianapolis, IN, is an experience that embodies the whole strength and conditioning profession– evidence-based knowledge, real-world application, community, and the unified ambition for helping athletes improve. The resources are relevant. The applied science is substantial. And the connections are genuine.
So if you’re looking for a way to impact your career at the start of a new year, this is it. Save an additional $25 on early registration when you sign up by November 12 with promo code TC19 at NSCA.com/Coaches.
A Strong Base
Mondo weightroom Flooring
www.mondoworldwide.com
The less time you spend thinking about your weightroom flooring, the more time you have for your athletes. Mondo’s 70 years of expertise goes into its vulcanized rubber weightroom flooring so that it can withstand the most demanding use and you can focus on other matters.
Their vulcanized rubber flooring is designed to help athletes safely reach their maximum potential. Mondo rubber weightroom surfaces ensure the athletes excellent stability, less muscle stress due to the embossed non-porous wear layer, and the underlayer guarantees uniform shock absorption and dimensional stability.
Bodyweight Training and More
ELEVATE Encompass
www.totalgym.com
Bodyweight training continues to be the bedrock upon which Total Gym is built, as it provides a unique, effective and safe way to train for trainers and athletes alike. Eliminating impact while increasing performance is an unbeatable combination.
Take that, and marry it up with the ability for athletes to move thru all three planes while training on key Total Gym Encompass, and trainers will find that the opportunity to strengthen muscles, improve range of motion, aid in joint stability, and provide a great cardio workout all at the same time.
Train Neck & Core Efficiently
Iron Neck
www.iron-neck.com
Stronger neck muscles have tremendous benefits for all athletes but effective neck training is hard to do safely and efficiently, especially for teams. Iron Neck solves this problem by training the neck, back and core through full kinetic chain isometrics, while you have complete freedom to move throughout a full range of motion. Iron Neck is a consistent, measurable and scalable solution that is trusted by hundreds of strength and conditioning coaches from the NFL and NCAA to gym owners and personal trainers.
Space-Saving Versatility
Samson Functional Training Rack
www.samsonequipment.com
The Samson FTR (Functional Training Rack) is a prime example of how they help customers achieve their goals and make the most of their space. This unique piece combines a half rack with a dual cable column. The weight stacks are infused into the rack frame itself, all while keeping a small footprint. Use the half rack just like you normally would for all the Olympic and power lifts, then store the bar/cups/safety catches and drop down the adjustable pulley systems and use just as you would a typical functional trainer. This provides unmatched versatility all within the typical half rack allotted space.
Get More Space
PowerBlock
www.powerblock.com
Free weights are a cornerstone of most weightrooms. But as important and popular as they are, dumbbells take up a lot of space where there’s usually little to spare. PowerBlock adjustable dumbbells can replace racks of dumbbells in the space of just one pair and at a fraction of the cost of traditional sets, freeing up space and money for other uses.
“PowerBlock is the most versatile and efficient dumbbells on the market,” says Dwight Galt, Assistant Athletic Director, Performance Enhancement at Penn State. “The versatility that PowerBlock provides the strength program at Penn State University allows us more time to train our athletes and gives us an edge on our competition.”
Bring Your Team Together
Power Plus 2
www.powerplus2.com
The problem coaches are having with building teamwork is that it takes time from skills and drills, and the results have always been unpredictable. The Power Plus 2 strength and team-building machine solves that problem every time. PP2 breaks down all barriers and creates instant teamwork. While lifting together, lifters do more reps and push more weight, getting stronger much faster. Explosive Athletes Institute calls Power Plus 2 “The number one thing a strength coach can have to take a team to the highest possible level.”
Strength coaches become heroes by sending out a stronger team with one heartbeat. And with no added workload!
Training Tools for Every Goal
Resistance cords from NZ Manufacturing
www.nzcordz.com
No matter the ultimate goal your athletes are pursuing, there’s a resistance-training solution from NZ Manufacturing to help them reach it efficiently. Noted for their high range of resistance levels and safety features, these cords are used by athletes at all levels–from high school to professional–to improve performance and rehabilitate injuries.
TurfCordz® training tools provide resistance training to increase stamina, improve agility, and speed at the highest levels of athletic training. Swimmers use StrechCordz® products to improve stroke, strength. MediCordz® resistance products facilitate rehabilitation from day one through an athlete’s return to competition.
This article appeared in the November 2018 issue of Training & Conditioning.
