How To Turn a Gym Wall into a Training Space

Many high schools across America are tight on gym space, and even tighter on space in the weight room.  And because of this second point, some coaches may claim there is not enough time to get to the weight room. Here’s a solution… Turn your gym wall into a training space. “With over 300 students […]

A Checklist for Designing Strength and Conditioning Programs

By Joe Eisenmann, PhD In my role here at Perform-X, I get a chance to ‘coach the coaches’ and also learn from them.  These coaches range from volunteer high school coaches with little educational background in strength and conditioning to well-educated and certified strength and conditioning coaches at the high school, collegiate and professional levels […]

5 things to remember for summer workouts

By Joe Eisenmann, PhD   This blog serves as a follow-up to a recent tweet, and allows for the opportunity to expand a bit on each key tenet or basic principle of strength and conditioning. Summer offers a two-month window to focus on training and conditioning for many high school coaches & athletes.  Of course, […]

3 things every high school coach should know about training the female athlete

The National Federation of State High School Associations estimates that there are approximately 3.4 million females who participated in high school sports during 2016-17.  High school sports provides a myriad of physical, mental and social benefits for girls. But, female athletes also need to be physically prepared for the increased competitive demands of the sports. […]

Resistance Cords vs. Weight Machine Resistance: Middle School Athlete Development

By Dan Hutchison, MS, ATC, CSCS The middle school fitness/weight training space, as mentioned in previous blog posts, is either highly elaborate or next to nothing in regards to space, equipment, and functionality.  The importance of educating and practicing certain fundamental movements has been at the forefront of long-term athlete development (LTAD) discussions.  The safety […]

3 Essential Movements for Young Athlete Development

By Dan Hutchison, MS, ATC, CSCS Human movement patterns are established the minute we begin to ambulate.  Crawling, sitting, standing, walking, etc., all require practice and a little incentive instruction. Mostly, these patterns are learned through the process of trial and error, as well as acquiring the strength to perform these movements as we progress […]

Changing the Traditional Landscape of Middle School Fitness and Physical Education Spaces

By Dan Hutchison, MS, ATC, CSCS With the recent emphasis on youth fitness and youth sports performance, middle schools have taken more initiative in beginning the strength and conditioning process for individual and athletic development through structured sports training times and physical education (PE) classes. A variety of PE and fitness environments exist and fall […]