Power In Pink

Power In Pink

Posted October 1, 2009 By:

October kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness month and Under Armour's Power In Pink campaign. Today Council member Diane Vives speaks about specific exercises for our female athletes:

 

This past month I had something hit close to home here in Austin, TX.  One of my adult athletes was diagnosed last Thurs. Sept 17th.  It came as quite a shock to her because she was just going in for a routine annual examination.  Rochelle is only 34 and was preparing for the next stage in her life which was starting a family.  She is a marathon runner who lives for organic food, enhancing her training through every healthy practice she could wrap her mind around for the last 7 years.  The reality is that genetics can sometimes trump a healthy diet and lifestyle.  With a great attitude we sat down, talked about her training, and realized that she has a great chance to fight the cancer because of her dedication to healthy living and very conscious healthy eating.  So I wanted to share one of Rochelle's training hurdles that she leaped over this past year.   

 
Solving the "Push-up" dilemma that many female athletes face.  In the past most of us at one-time or another have been taught how to do the "modified push-up" (or by a more unflattering term, the "girl push-up").  Like many females Rochelle hated push-ups and said it was always one of her big weaknesses.  Well I want to share some exercises to train upper body strength and that will allow you to accomplish a push-up in your future.   The trick is we are not going to use the push-up to train the push-up.  Yes, that's what I said.  And then when your ready, I am going to give you the keys to having a strong position for the push-up to make you more successful especially for higher numbers of repetitions.  Check out below:  
 
The push-up takes upper body strength, great stability around the shoulders and great core strength.  Not only will these help with the push-up exercise but they will also enhance shoulder stability for any swinging and throwing athletes.  So here are some exercises to target these keys areas:
 
a)  Hand-lifts:  This exercise starts in a face-down plank (or what is also the starting "up" position of the push-up).  Then keeping a straight line from the ankles, hips, to shoulders brace the core.  (imagine someone is going to push your hips down and you are preparing to resist them).  Next simply lift the hands 2-4 inches off the ground by bending the elbow without moving the trunk, hips or legs.    20 repetitions x 3 sets
Progression:  When it's too easy, make it slightly more difficult by lifting arms straight out to side with hands rotated thumbs up.
 
b)  Side Plank:  laying on your side in a straight line, place your bottom elbow just beneath your bottom shoulder.  This will prop you up to create a straight line from shoulders, through hips and to feet.  You will only have contact with elbow/forearm and outside of the bottom shoe.  Keep back and front of body perpendicular to ground and keep head in line with the body.    Hold the plank motionless and steady for 30 secs on each side.  (goal is to work yourself up to a minute on each side) x 3 sets. 
Progression:  Perform a marching motion bringing the top knee toward chest repeatedly while stabilizing side plank on bottom leg.   Be sure not to let any part of the back round or lose position during the marches. 
 
c)  Stability Rolls:  Starting in the face-down plank position and with feet shoulder width apart.  Then roll or rotate onto one arm, keep hips up, and roll feet until you are stable on the sides of your shoes.  Looks like a "T" position from the side.  Very important step is to then slowly, under control roll back down until you are back in the starting position.  (don't fall back down or let momentum bring you down out of control).  Then repeat rolling to the opposite wide using same technique.    20 repetitions x 3 sets
 
d)  Clock walks:   Starting in the face-down plank position.  Then stack one foot on top of the other to create a nice pivot point at the feet.  While maintaining a flat back and level hip position, walk sideways in small steps with your hands.  This will allow you to walk your hands while body goes in a circle like the hands of a clock.  Walk clockwise in a full circle back to the start and then repeat in the opposite (counter clockwise direction) to make sure you lead the walks with other hand as well.    Walk for a full circle each way or count 20 steps each direction.  Repeat 3 times. 
 
e)  Partner Wheel Barrels:  Yes, good ole wheel barrels.  starting lying on the ground have a partner stand between your feet so they can support part of your body weight by picking up your lower body at the lower leg.  Support yourself on your hands and make sure your body is straight as a board from feet, to hips, to shoulders.  Then walk for 10 yards, down and back.  The partner should use safe lifting technique with slightly bent knees and flat back.  It's a great for the both of you in each position as the barrel or the person holding.   Walk the full distance for 3 sets.  
 
Choose 3 of these exercises to do every other day for 4 weeks in addition to your current training and program.  
 
I will go over the best way to perform the push-up to give you the best advantage and have success with the push-up in the next blog entry so keep an eye out for those tips.  
 
Until next time, take one step every day toward being the "female athletes of the future"!

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Softball Post-Season

Softball Post-Season

Posted June 1, 2009 By:

This is a great time for softball fans, players and coaches.  I'm talking, of
course, about the playoffs for collegiate divisions and where the media
coverage of the sport really starts to take off.  I was fortunate
enough to watch some Division I Regional Playoffs on an airline which
had direct TV on the back of the seat.  This is where your chances of
ending up in the World Series are decided and where all the training,
playing you best every game, and creating a great team effort pays
off.  This was my sport in college so it I appreciate how hard these
girls have worked and what great role models they have become to
future collegiate softball athletes.

As training the female athlete becomes more fine tuned and more
coaches are emphasizing strength and conditioning for performance, I
recognize that this truly is becoming a new era.  You can see the
power the hitters have at the plate and you have pitchers with
incredible power turning in unbelievable ERAs of .38 which is
absolutely insane.   These changes cannot happen without proper
performance training, good nutrition, and good recovery strategies. 
If you are a young athlete looking to increase your chances to compete
at this level, then there is no doubt that your heart, your passion
and love for the game has to include performance training.  Be your
best, all day everyday and let you passion for your sport push you to
the top of your game.

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Interval Training

Interval Training

Posted February 11, 2009 By:

Recently I had a female athlete named Catherine begin training with me because she has concerns about losing weight.  She was a very skilled basketball player who was slower than the other girls and felt her weight was a contributing factor in which I had to agree.  We evaluated what she was doing currently which was the conditioning that she was getting during basketball and her eating habits which were good with the exception of portion control. 

In her mind she believed there was not enough time in her schedule to add long, slow runs which she believed was the only way to "lose fat".   So she has been avoiding doing anything extra.  I shared with her that is not the case and for otherwise healthy individuals high intensity intervals have proven to be very effective.  Recently some new research out of the University of New South Wales in Australia showed that running sprints with intermittent rest periods, resulted in burning three times as much fat as running at slow, consistent speeds.  And I do not use only sprinting but create different varieties of high intensity intervals that relate to the athlete's specific sport in order to maximize the benefits.  And, to make it more game-like and fun. 


Remember, always do a dynamic warm-up before starting any type of high intensity intervals and make sure you are thoroughly warmed up.

Example of High Intensity Sprint Intervals:


REPS     EFFORT         TIME         REST
 
2             50 percent     60 sec         60 sec
 
2              75 percent    60 sec        60 sec
 
4 or 8    100 percent    30 sec        90 sec
 

Example of Agility High Intensity Drill:


Colored dot drill:


Starting at a cone in the corner of the basketball court (or any open space with good running surface) I spread dots out across the floor of 2-3 different colors with non-slip rubber dots which you can find pretty easily at department stores with a sporting goods section.  I purposely place them in either a straight line, triangle, box, or circle shape with the goal of covering approximately 20-40 linear yards total distance.  At the start I shout the color and the athlete must touch ever dot of that color sprinting in between as fast as they can control.  They then return to the start cone and I shout another color with a different pattern.  I do this for timed intervals such as 60 seconds of sprinting then rest for 90 seconds.  If you have other athletes to alternate this is a great conditioning drill that you can have fun with and time each other. 


Remember to hydrate properly and always maintain good form throughout drill. Catherine is loving it and has already begun to drop weight and feel faster on the court. 


Have fun! Work hard! And remember, the future is ours!


Diane Vives

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Training the Complete Athlete

Training the Complete Athlete

Posted January 4, 2009 By:

I get so fired up watching NCAA D1 Women's Basketball.  Recently, I went to the University of Texas and Tennessee game.  This game featured two of college basketball's best coaches and it was amazing to watch how both teams played with passion and fire.  These coaches bring out the best in their athletes. 

When Coach G. from Texas was interviewed after the game she asked what she felt made the difference for her girls because they won a very close game and upset Tennessee.  She said, "We stayed with the plan that we started from pre-season and we continue to train hard on and off the court. Our strength and conditioning program has made these girls better athletes by pushing them and we really stayed with Tennessee step for step."

Something that athletes face now is early specialization in one sport.  Although there is no doubt that you develop specific skills that allow you to master a sport when you choose to play just one sport and focus all your time and energy on it, there are also some experts that are questioning whether this contributes to over use injury at earlier ages and possible lack of well-rounded athleticism. 

I believe we can combat this issue by making sure that the athletes in our programs are getting more variety in their performance training program and we are focusing on ALL aspects of athleticism.  I believe if we develop the athlete we will make a better player for that sport.  Everyday we want to be the best part of that athletes day and we expect their best everyday! That is how we build the future UA athletes for success.  Challenge yourself everyday!

Diane Vives
 

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