Congratulations to ASI athlete Madison Piper who was named Sunflower League Player of the Year.
Madison averaged 19 points and 7 rebounds per game and is Free State High School‘s all-time leading scorer.
The post Congratulations! appeared first on Athletic Strength Institute: Sport Performance.
– in the 1940s. Many nutritionists, exercise physiologists, and doctors use the concept of body types to design effective training and nutrition programs for both fat loss, and to improve athletic performance. A person’s body type generally describes their body structure and muscle and fat storage distribution. Body type can also provide details about how someone responds to food intake and their hormonal environment.
Nutrition programs that are successful in helping one person reach their goals are often recommended to someone else with the belief that the program will work for them too. Unfortunately, this one-size-fits-all approach rarely works due to differences in metabolic function.
Because the physical demands are different between sports, a marathon runner has different dietary needs than a football offensive lineman. Once an individual’s somatotype has been identified their food intake can then be modified to reflect the general food intake guidelines associated with their body type while helping them reach their goals.
There are three primary categories of body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. Athletes with specific body types often select sports for which their body type is best suited. For example, endurance athletes are likely to be ectomorphs; bodybuilders tend to be mesomorphs; and football linemen are generally endomorphs.
The chart below highlights some of the primary physical and hormonal characteristics of each body type.
| Physical Characteristics of Body Type | |
| Ectomorphs
(Endurance athletes, basketball players, etc.) |
• High carbohydrate tolerance
• Smaller bone structure • Naturally lean & easily maintain low body fat • Thyroid dominant • Fast metabolic rate • High sympathetic nervous system activity |
| Mesomorphs
(Bodybuilders, wrestlers, gymnasts, etc.) |
• Moderate carbohydrate tolerance
• Medium bone structure • Naturally athletic and strong • Easily gain muscle while maintaining low body fat • Testosterone and growth hormone dominant • Moderate to high sympathetic nervous system activity |
| Endomorphs
(Football linemen, shot putters, powerlifters, etc.) |
• Low carbohydrate tolerance
• Large bone structure • High amounts of total body mass and fat mass • Naturally less active • Insulin dominant • Low sympathetic nervous system activity |
Generally, people do not fit perfectly into any one these categories and are often a mix of characteristics. For example, someone might be an ecto-mesomorph with an athletic build but still be thin; another person might be an endo-mesomorph that carries a lot of muscle mass yet still carries extra body fat.
Lifestyle choices can also affect someone’s natural body type to produce a hybrid type. For example, someone could be a genetic ectomorph that has trained hard and eaten well for a number of years that now appears to be more of a mesomorph. On the other hand, someone could be a genetic mesomorph, but doesn’t exercise and eats a poor diet now resembles more of an endomorph.
While all of this may sound confusing, in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter all that much. Since there’s no real way to determine exactly how someone’s body is going to respond to a nutrition program in advance, identifying someone’s body type primarily serves as a way of determining a person’s nutritional starting point.
As someone’s body composition begins to change, so do their nutritional needs. Their dietary needs also change depending on where they are in the competitive season. So, a good nutrition program should be flexible (while staying within certain parameters) and adjusted based on the individual. After all, the best training and nutrition programs are the ones that are individualized to the athlete.
Regardless of your body type, adopting a nutrition strategy that’s right for you and your goals can be overwhelming, confusing, and even frustrating. That’s why we’re here to help. Contact us today to learn how an individualized nutrition program would work for you and your goals.
Thanks for visiting, see you soon ASI.
The post Are You Eating Right for Your Body Type? appeared first on Athletic Strength Institute: Sport Performance.
– which refers to someone’s body type – in the 1940s. Many nutritionists, exercise physiologists, and doctors use the concept of body types to design effective training and nutrition programs for both fat loss, and to improve athletic performance.
A person’s body type generally describes their body structure and muscle and fat storage distribution. Body type can also provide details about how someone responds to food intake and their hormonal environment.
Nutrition programs that are successful in helping one person reach their goals are often recommended to someone else with the belief that the program will work for them too. Unfortunately, this one-size-fits-all approach rarely works due to differences in metabolic function.
Because the physical demands are different between sports, a marathon runner has different dietary needs than a football offensive lineman. Once an individual’s somatotype has been identified their food intake can then be modified to reflect the general food intake guidelines associated with their body type while helping them reach their goals.
There are three primary categories of body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. Athletes with specific body types often select sports for which their body type is best suited. For example, endurance athletes are likely to be ectomorphs; bodybuilders tend to be mesomorphs; and football linemen are generally endomorphs.
The chart below highlights some of the primary physical and hormonal characteristics of each body type.
Generally, people do not fit perfectly into any one these categories and are often a mix of characteristics. For example, someone might be an ecto-mesomorph with an athletic build but still be thin; another person might be an endo-mesomorph that carries a lot of muscle mass yet still carries extra body fat.
Lifestyle choices can also affect someone’s natural body type to produce a hybrid type. For example, someone could be a genetic ectomorph that has trained hard and eaten well for a number of years that now appears to be more of a mesomorph. On the other hand, someone could be a genetic mesomorph, but doesn’t exercise and eats a poor diet now resembles more of an endomorph.
While all of this may sound confusing, in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter all that much. Since there’s no real way to determine exactly how someone’s body is going to respond to a nutrition program in advance, identifying someone’s body type primarily serves as a way of determining a person’s nutritional starting point.
As someone’s body composition begins to change, so do their nutritional needs. Their dietary needs also change depending on where they are in the competitive season. So, a good nutrition program should be flexible (while staying within certain parameters) and adjusted based on the individual. After all, the best training and nutrition programs are the ones that are individualized to the athlete.
Regardless of your body type, adopting a nutrition strategy that’s right for you and your goals can be overwhelming, confusing, and even frustrating. That’s why we’re here to help.
Contact us today to learn how an individualized nutrition program would work for you and your goals.
The post Nutrition Programs -Are You Eating Right for Your Body Type? appeared first on Athletic Strength Institute: Sport Performance.
– strength that directly transfers to the field or court, improves performance, and enhances traditional strength-training programs. Strongman training is about lifting heavy, awkward objects and developing strength and endurance you never thought possible.
The body moves in three distinct planes of motion: the sagittal plane, which divides the body into left and right halves; the transverse plane, which divides the body into upper and lower halves; and the frontal plane, which divides the body into front and back halves.
Exercises such as squats work in the sagittal plane; movements that involve rotation are working in the transverse plane; and exercises like the overhead shoulder press functions in the frontal plane. Most conventional barbell and dumbbell exercises primarily require force production in only one plane of motion.
Multidirectional sports, however, require force production in multiple planes of motion simultaneously, such as running, twisting, jumping, throwing, catching, kicking, pushing, and pulling. Strongman training is beneficial for athletes because it also requires synchronized force production and stabilization in different planes of motion, which closely resembles how sports are played.
Functional strength training involves performing exercises that are closely related to the movement patterns that occur in a sport, with the sole intent of improving athletic performance. Not only does strongman training build strength and muscle, it also develops endurance, power, static strength (e.g. holding onto an opponent in wrestling or MMA), and mental toughness.
Strongman training picks up where traditional barbell and dumbbell exercises leave off. Strongman training enhances traditional lifting-based strength programs by strengthening and developing the body’s stabilizing and linkage systems (i.e. the “core”) more effectively than with barbells and dumbbells alone. Strongman training develops muscles that are difficult to strengthen with traditional strength-training exercises.
Commonly used strongman lifts include pushing & pulling sleds (or cars & trucks!), flipping tractor tires, carrying sand bags, Atlas stones, water-filled kegs, or farmer’s handles, and lifting steel logs. Strongman training is no more inherently dangerous than traditional strength training.
What makes this style of training so effective for athletes is the awkward, unbalanced nature of strongman equipment. The continuous shifting and unbalanced nature of strongman equipment provides “dynamic” resistance. This dynamic resistance forces an athlete to constantly make adjustments in body position and muscular tension in order to stabilize or move the object; similar to how an athlete would encounter an opponent in competition.
The dynamic resistance that strongman implements offer provides a better training stimulus than barbells and dumbbells alone. For example, tire flips and Atlas stone carries closely simulate the movements of blocking and tackling. Sled pushes simulate the acceleration phase of a sprint and enhance an athlete’s ability to break and make tackles.
An athlete’s strength-training program should be built around barbell and dumbbell exercises. However, integrating strongman training into their programs provides an athlete with the advantages of both forms of training.
While there are obvious differences between training for football, volleyball, track & field or any other sport, there are benefits of strongman training that are applicable to many sports. Integrating strongman training into an athletes traditional lifting-based program can develop stronger, more powerful athletes with a higher level of conditioning and endurance than standard strength & conditioning approaches.
Contact us today to find out how strongman training can help you perform better.
By Chris Dellasega, MS, CSCS
The post Strongman Training for Athletes appeared first on Athletic Strength Institute: Sport Performance.
Whether it’s a minor ache, a tight hamstring, knee pain, or tendinitis, these injuries turn an enjoyable run into an activity that can only be done with some degree of discomfort.
Sometimes these minor injuries disappear on their own. Other times what you think is a minor ache turns into a more serious injury – particularly when mileage isn’t reduced to heal the minor injury when it first appears.
Certain muscle groups are prone to injury due to the physical demands of running. Through research and our strength-training experience, we identify six areas of the body that are particularly susceptible to injury for runners. If you don’t address these issues now they could force you to take time off in the future (just when the weather is getting nice)!
Patellofemoral syndrome, or runner’s knee, is the irritation of the cartilage on the underside of the kneecap.
Who is at Risk?
Anyone with faulty running biomechanics who does not have strong and well-balanced quads, hips and glutes, is at risk of developing “runner’s knee”.
How To Prevent & Rehab Runner’s Knee
Progressing through corrective exercises that focus on single-leg strength and flexibility are key to protecting a runner’s knee. Once the quadriceps, hips, and gluteal muscles are appropriately balanced, the athlete can progress to more traditional strength exercises like squats.
The Achilles tendon connects the two major calf muscles to the heel. Under too much stress, the tendon becomes irritated and inflamed resulting in tendinitis.
Who is at Risk?
Runners who dramatically increase their mileage and have tight, weak calves are at risk of developing Achilles tendonitis.
How To Prevent & Rehab Achilles Tendinitis
Strengthening the calves through progressive exercises that isolate different components of the calf muscles will improve the flexibility and strength of the Achilles tendon. Strong calves are critical for runners. Not only do strong and flexible calves prevent tendonitis, but they also provide support for the ankle (which in turn stabilizes the knee joint). Furthermore, strong calves enable a runner to push harder off the ground.
Strong hamstrings are critical for proper running mechanics; they activate to “bend” the knee and also extend the hip. Strong hamstrings also absorb the ground impact forces associated with running, improve a runner’s hill climbing ability, and enable a stronger, more powerful finish-line kick.
Who is at Risk?
Hamstring problems are often a result of them being weak. Weak hamstrings are often overly-flexible, which makes them more vulnerable to injury.
However, those who have tight hamstrings (i.e. can barely touch their toes), are also at risk because tight, short hamstrings are under more tension and “over-stretching” a tight muscle can cause injury.
How To Prevent & Rehab Hamstring Injuries
Because hamstrings are bi-articular muscles (acting to both bend the knee and extend the hip), their contraction cannot be isolated to only the knee or only the hip. Therefore, both functions of the hamstrings should be strengthened for optimal development.
Exercise variations that train the knee flexion component and the hip extension component of the hamstrings should be included in every runner’s strength training program at certain times of the year.
The plantar fascia is a flat band of tissue that supports the arch of the foot and connects the heel bone to the toes. Under too much stress, this tissue can become irritated causing pain in the bottom of the foot.
Who is at Risk?
Runners who excessively roll their foot inwards or outwards have issues with plantar fasciitis. Increasing mileage too quickly is another common cause because the plantar fascia becomes over-stretched, causing irritation and inflammation of the tissue.
Tight hip flexors, calves, and hamstrings, combined with a weak lower back are common causes of plantar fasciitis. Tightness and weakness in these muscles causes other muscles to overcompensate, altering a runner’s stride and placing undue stress on the plantar fascia (and other areas of the body).
How To Prevent & Rehab Plantar Fasciitis
Strengthening the lower back, hamstrings, and calves is a good place to start. While these muscles aren’t necessarily all connected muscularly they are connected via fascia – a thin sheath of fibrous tissue. If the fascia connecting these muscles gets “knotted up” anywhere along the pathway to the heel, it can lead to plantar fasciitis.
“Shin-Splints” occur when small tears develop in the muscles around the tibia (shin bone). They are often considered overuse injuries and may result in hairline fractures.
Who is at Risk?
Shin splints are a common injury among new runners and those who have recently returned to running after extended time off. Typically, shin splints are an indication of increased mileage too soon. Shin splints affect runners with weak core, calf and shin muscles.
How To Prevent & Rehab Shin Splints
The most efficient way to prevent shin splints is to ensure you have a proper fitting shoe, gradually increase mileage, and strengthen the shin muscles. The anterior and posterior tibialis muscles can be strengthened with exercises such as anterior tibialis raises.
The iliotibial (IT) band extends along the outside of the thigh from the hip to the knee. Running causes the IT band to “rub” against the side of the femur. Over time, especially in those who have faulty running mechanics and/or weak hip abductors and gluteal muscles, this constant rubbing can cause irritation and inflammation of the IT band.
Who is at Risk?
Irritation of the IT band generally affects those who increase mileage too quickly, have a leg-length discrepancy, or have weak hip abductors and gluteal muscles. Weakness in these muscles can disrupt hip motion and ultimately lead to faulty running mechanics, which can over-stretch the IT band, causing irritation.
How To Prevent & Rehab IT Band Injuries
The best way to prevent and rehab IT band syndrome is to strengthen the hip abductors and gluteal muscles. Additionally, strengthening the adductors, quadriceps, and hamstrings can improve running mechanics by improving stride length and increasing stride frequency
The post How to Prevent & Rehab Common Running Injuries appeared first on Athletic Strength Institute: Sport Performance.
