AE Articles
Ground Forces of Jumping & Running by James Walker
Ground force or ground impact or ground stress from the foot strike when jumping, running, sprinting may vary greatly depending on the landing height or depth, running speed, and landing surface. In 2005 I was visiting the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto Canada, which had this facinating interactive sports science center for kids and adults. One of the venues involved a force platform on the ground and a 14-16 inch step. Each participant would step or jump off the step onto the force platform, which would display the force usually between 9-20 G’s or 9-20 times their body weight when landing. Which is pretty significant, a 150 lb person would land with 1,350-3,000 lb of force or stress. So consider this when playing a game of basketball or volleyball where you may jump from 12-24” multiple times during a game. The repeated stress would be in the tens of thousands of lb.
Now research has suggested that jogging produces 3-6 G’s while sprinting may produce 8-11 G’s of force, which translate into 450-900 lb or 1,200-1,650 lb of force per foot each time it lands on the ground for the 150 lb person. So if that same 150 lb person was playing a game of full court basketball 84’ x 50’ and ran up and down the court for 31.4 laps equals a mile at an average of 45 steps per lap or 20,250-40,500 lb of force-stress total. Whereas a world class 100-meter sprinter at the same weight might take 45 steps, which would equal 54,000-74,250 lb of force. Now obviously the basketball playing requires crosscourt and lateral movement as well but you get the point that I’m making. The basket may occur over 8-12 minutes while the 100-meter sprint happens in less than 10 seconds.
Now if you add 16 jumps to the basketball 21,600-48,000 lbs your force totals would resemble something like this: 41,850-88,500 lb of force-stress over the time range. These are accumulative forces-stresses may lead or contribute to a soft tissue injury or a stress fracture over time. The only way to allow the body to perform at either of these levels requires proper preparation and adequate recovery.
In the next article we will talk about preparation and recovery.
References: UDaily and University of Delaware; and Biomechanical Analysis of Fundamental Human Movement by Arthur Chapman
Tags: Amateurs, Collegiate, Professionals, Sprinting, Students, Track & Field
Olympic Lifts In The Gym By James Walker
Olympic lifting! Olympic lifts and their variations such as the clean, clean and jerk, deadlift, jerk press, power pulls, snatch, etc are great exercises for athletics, fitness, and structural balance. When performed correctly they yield precise crossover results for jumping, power, speed, sports, and structural strength.
I see trainers and athletes performing them but with incorrect concept and technique that does something altogether different or that may lead to an injury.
You Tube has a few great instructional videos that explain the concept and correct technique. Please search these: Tommy Kono-former Olympic weightlifter, coach, and judge has a great instructional six part video and several others; Chad Ikei-former Olympic weightlifter and strength-performance coach has a two part series; and Cara Head-recently retired Olympic weightlifter has several training videos that shows great form and technique.
Lift safe, correct, and get results!
Tags: Collegiate, Gym, Professionals, Students
Fox Morning News Feature By Holly Morris
Fox Morning News with Holly Morris, featured cutting edge trends in training and weight management with James and Monica at Athletic Excellence in June 2005.
Tags: Amateur, Professionals, Video, Weight Management
Faster, Stronger, Better By Kersten Wills
Athletic Excellence was featured in an article about performance training in the March 2009 issue of the Washingtonian Magazine by Denise Kersten Wills
Training techniques used by pro athletes can help you shave strokes off your golf game or minutes off your marathon time.
“I always believed you’re either fast or you’re not,” says Tami Lenox, 50, a recreational-soccer player and former girls-soccer coach. Lenox began to rethink that assumption after she sent two of her slowest players to work with James and Monica Walker. Their business, Athletic Excellence, trains athletes.
Lenox hoped the girls would get fitter and become a little faster. Eight weeks later, she was stunned: They were among the fastest sprinters on the team.
She decided to see if James and Monica—he’s a former strength coach at the University of Maryland, she was a college sprinter who competed at the 1996 Olympic trials—might be able to help her, too. Continue reading Faster, Stronger, Better By Kersten Wills
Tags: Amateurs, Collegiate, Professionals, Students, Track & Field
Speed Training with Nick Sorensen By James Walker
Nick Sorensen has been training with AE since June of 2002. Initially we worked with him for five and a half weeks up to the pre-season camp with the Rams.
After the initial assessment we focused on improving his explosiveness, lean muscle mass, his lower core function, sprint technique, and reminding him of the correlation between all of those things and his speed. We simultaneously addressed scar tissue in his shoulders, rotator cuff, and lower legs, along with a few flexibility-imbalance issues. Nick never has had an issue with body-fat ratios or scores, in the off season his body-fat is 6% and in season 4%. That year Nick’s initial 40 time was 4.41 seconds, when he left it was 4.35 seconds.
By 2003 we wanted to make him completely healthy, muscular, and strong from the previous season’s injuries. By camp with the Jaguars Nick was performing 135 lb dips, 50 lb close grip pull-ups, and 225 jerk presses, all for 3 reps. Likewise his sprinting technique was superb, with excellent angles, tempos, power, and limb placement. His best 40-yard times were 4.28 and 4.23 seconds.
Since then we’ve worked with Nick through and around injuries to the elbow, shoulder, and lower leg, team off-season training restrictions, releases, transitions, and new team auditions. Through it all he has learned to be disciplined, consistent, knowledgeable, healthy, and prepared in all phases. Nick has been one of the fastest players on each of his teams.
Tags: Football, Professionals, Speed Training
Reflex Drills with Kato Serwanga By James Walker
Profile: Kato Serwanga
Kato going through a series of reflex motor skills to enhance his fast twich muscles.
Tags: Football, Professionals, Video
Training the Right Muscles for High Performance By James Walker
By James Walker, CCS Athletic Excellence | December 2007 Issue of Your Health Magazine
There are several components that enhance performance: speed, strength, power, flexibility, muscle imbalance or balance, neuro-muscle recruitment, biomechanics, technique, and body composition to name a few of the primary ones. All of these components listed are intertwined; each has its purpose and is specific to the needs of the individual attempting to improve his or her overall function towards performance. Continue reading Training the Right Muscles for High Performance By James Walker
Tags: Amateurs, Collegiate, Professionals
Interval Training for Fat Loss By James Walker
By James Walker, CSCS, Athletic Excellence | September 2007 Issue of Your Health Magazine
Have you ever considered interval training for fat loss? Athletes have been training this way for decades to enhance their performance and at the same time develop and maintain a lean physique. Interval training involves alternating lower levels of exercise with higher levels of exercise effort within the same workout. The lower effort parts are called active recovery because you are still moving or exercising but at a reduced effort. The higher effort portions are the actual interval or sprint components that art performed with a greater effort. Continue reading Interval Training for Fat Loss By James Walker
Tags: Amateurs, Collegiate, Fat Los, Professionals, Students
Consistency Equals Good Results By James Walker
Profile on Mat White
Matt first came to us in 2002 at 32 years of age with an opportunity to try out for the Orioles. Matt had been a phenomenal athlete in college playing Football and Baseball but gave up his professional aspirations to get married, start a business, and family. Matt out performed all of his young contemporaries including running the fastest time but chose to return to his business.
Matt returned to AE in March of 06 having gotten out of shape at 210 lb with a body-fat of 15 %. During his assessment it was determined that he had several areas of scar tissue, structural imbalances, and muscle weaknesses. Along with feeling sluggish and periods of incapacitation due the lower back.
Matt was placed on a meal and supplement plan to reduce body-fat, reduce stress, and improve over all heath. His plan consisted of reducing carbs and sugars, taking a good multivitamin-mineral and omega three fatty acid product, and supplements to address the bodyfat storage around his stomach and his cortisol-stress levels. By 8 months his weight was stable at 195 lb with 8 % body-fat. His short distant sprint speed improved by 12.3 %, lower back-hip strength by 175%, core function by 100%, and upper body pulling strength by 366%.
In addition to being more energetic, alert, athletic, and needing less sleep, his lower back issues were also resolved. With Mat’s dedication, discipline, and consistency the result that he desired were measured and guaranteed.
Tags: Amateurs, Assessments, Strength, Testing
Peak Performance for Over 40 Athletes By Monica Walker
Profile: Tami Lenox
Tami started training with us in December of 2002. She had a desire to improve her speed and explosive power but initially felt her age would not allow her to do so. She also had a women’s 40 and over national soccer tournament in August of 2002 and wanted to be well prepared to compete.
Over the years Tami remained extremely active and fit. She participated in three to four soccer leagues and also coached a women’s soccer team. However, she felt like she had lost several steps and found it difficult to keep up with her male counterparts on her co-ed team. Needless to say, Tami is a true soccer buff and has watched the sport develop and flourish locally and nationally over the last 30 plus years.
We did a comprehensive assessment to determine her strengths and weakness. Tami trained for almost eighteen weeks in 2002 – 2003. She only missed two scheduled appointments due to inclimate weather and averaged two workouts with us weekly.
When Tami started her training we planned a three-part plan to meet her goals. Her first six weeks emphasized flexibility, functional strength training, running drills, and introductory plyometrics. She was very sore in the beginning because the training emphasized developing fast twitch muscle fibers, which was something she had never done before.
The second phase continued to work from the previous plan but we added interval sprint training and also correcting her sprint mechanics. The last phase of the plan also continued building on the previous, however we started to do more sport specific training that was associated with her sport, to improve her mobility.
Tami made astonishing improvements to her athleticism over the eighteen weeks of training, which has even amazed herself! Tami found herself able to accelerate quickly, change direction, and compete with younger participants during her soccer games. Listed below are some of her stat’s she has recorded while training.
Test 1 (Jan 2003) Test 2 (April 2003) Test 3 (June 2003)
40 yard Sprint 6.13 sec 5.69 sec 5.01
Penta Jumps 7.65 meters 8.90 meters 9.88 meters (5 Double Leg Hops)
Body Fat 16.01% 14.20% 13.11%
Read more about Tami and our amateur athletes in the Washingtonian Article Faster, Stronger, Better
Tags: Over 40 Athletes, Soccer