How to Launch a Human Rocket: The Jump-X

By Jason Avedesian, MS, CSCS, PhD Candidate @ UNLV Interdisciplinary Health Sciences (Biomechanics) A previous blog addressed the importance of developing lower body strength and power for athletic performance and reducing the risk of injury.  Strength and conditioning coaches can utilize a variety of techniques such as barbell or dumbbell training, bodyweight exercises, resistance cords, […]

Northwestern Leads Way in Innovative Sports Performance

The Innovators One of the objectives of the Northwestern Sports Performance program is to “strive to be leaders in the industry, providing exemplary service to our student-athletes along with being at the forefront in current advances in the sports performance field.” From this statement, it should be recognized that Director of Sports Performance Jason Pullara […]

From Training Room to Playing Field: Michigan Athletic Medicine

In the world of sports performance, we tend to be so focused on strength and conditioning aimed at performance enhancement.  This is true at Perform-X and within many athletic programs and facilities. However, the reality is that a majority of athletes will get injured at some time during their playing career, and their training program […]

The 750 Club: Bench-Squat-Clean

Many high school and college strength and conditioning programs test the squat, bench press, and clean to evaluate muscular strength and power.  These exercises may also form the foundational lifts of the strength training program given that they are compound, large muscle group movements. In terms of testing and assessment, the one-rep max (1-RM) of […]

Train the Hips (Part II)

In a previous blog the importance of strengthening and mobilizing the hip joint using the Perform-X Hip-X Machine. Although this is a great piece of equipment, not every program can afford it or may only be able to afford one or two – not 16 of them like the University of Michigan Football program! With […]

Tools of the Trade: Trak-Rak

The barbell is arguably the single most important tool when it comes to strength training.  However, the centerpiece of most weight rooms is the ‘rack’.   These metal cages were originally developed to serve as a mechanical spotter for heavy loads during squatting and hence became known as a “squat cage” or a “squat rack”.  However, […]

Train the Hips for Better Movement

How many coaches have you heard say, “He/she really doesn’t have ‘good hips’. He/she just doesn’t move well”. If you have been around coaches, then you have probably heard this statement. The hip joint (also called the hip girdle or pelvic girdle) is arguably one of the most important joints in the human body. It […]

An Innovative Approach to Cord-loaded Deadlifting

Besides traditional training methods using the barbell, many coaches and athletes are adding resistance with bands– known as variable resistance training. This method of training aligns with the Dynamic Effort method outlined by Russian sport scientist Vladimir Zatsiorsky in Science and Practice of Strength Training and also popularized by Louie Simmons’ Westside Barbell method of […]

Improving Speed and Explosiveness

There is old but common adage in sports – speed kills! Every coach has said at one time or another, “He/she is just not fast enough”. Or, they may have said, “He/she is just not explosive enough”.  Either statement usually refers to acceleration or top-end or maximal sprinting speed or both. So what are you […]

Training the Female Athlete: Ask the Experts

When it comes to strength and conditioning, much of the attention is focused on the male athlete and in particular football.  However, some strength and conditioning coaches prefer to work with female athletes for a variety of reasons, and over the course of their careers have developed great practical expertise in training the female athlete. […]