Driven by a relentless desire to excel, I immersed myself in the world of pitching. I trained rigorously, analyzed game footage, and delved into every available resource to enhance my skills. One recurring question in my quest for mastery was the ongoing debate among experts: what holds more weight: location or stuff? In other words, is it more crucial to hit your spots consistently or to possess a repertoire of formidable pitches?

Location or Stuff?

For decades, that answer was location. If you could hit the corners, you could make it far. Mark Buehrle, Jamie Moyer, and many other crafty lefties and even some righties had great careers with near-surgical precision despite having sub-par MLB pitches. But the end of their careers in the mid-2000s seemed to mark the end of the location era. More and more pitchers could throw hard—really hard.

Enter the velocity era. With the explosion of technology and the high demands of youth sports, pitchers with great “stuff” are everywhere, and it’s highly coveted. Every MLB franchise has multiple pitchers that can hit 100+ mph now, and those numbers will continue to grow.

However, with high velocities and increased workloads come greater risks. Youth and professional pitcher injuries have skyrocketed across the board. It’s no coincidence. Higher velocities and greater repetition at the youth level have primarily contributed to the massive throwing injury epidemic.

The Research

A decade-long study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found a strong correlation between high workloads and injuries for youth pitchers. They found that young pitchers who threw more than 100 innings per year had a 350% greater incidence of injuries than those who threw fewer innings per year. And when I refer to injuries, I don’t mean tendinitis or sore shoulders. The criteria for injury in the study meant you either had surgery or had to retire from baseball due to arm pains or injuries. These kids were 9-14 years old, and they followed their careers for 10 years after.

One hundred innings is a lot. Way more than can be covered in your standard Little League season. However, factoring in today’s youth sports hysteria, 100 innings for a talented young pitcher is far too attainable. School teams, travel teams, fall ball, indoor winter ball, and baseball can become a year-round commitment for many.

There are many ways to reduce the likelihood of injury. Like anything in life, the way we move matters. Having proper mechanics can be very effective at reducing intra and post-game pains in addition to reducing the overall likelihood of injury. Nutrition matters, exercise matters, stress matters. There are many deterrents to injury. But all those things combined do not touch the value of proper workloads and volume of throwing. You can have the best mechanics, best coaches, and best technology, but those do not matter much if the workload isn’t managed.

The governing bodies of baseball have done a good job of stopping some of these reckless tactics on youth pitchers. I get it, the best pitcher on the team is the best pitcher, and largely determines your wins and losses. Coaches and players should be competitive, and sometimes that competitive spirit means overusing your best players. However, youth leagues and tournament officials have implemented more and more rules restricting the number of pitches and innings that are thrown, per the recommendations of some of the world’s best surgeons and trainers. But again, travel teams that go from one tournament to the next each weekend for 9+ months out of the year can easily eclipse throwing recommendations for their players.

The moral of the story is this: young athletes are growing. Repetition of the same motion does not cater to growth or skill development. Practicing something the wrong way for 10,000 reps will lead to dysfunction and injury. The key to the development of any skill requires the right dose. Athletes do need lots of reps to develop. But they also need rest and to not get overly fatigued during a game. More importantly, they need time to develop other skills away from baseball so as to not develop too much wear and tear on the same baseball motions year-round.

Youth pitchers should not exceed 100 innings per calendar year. They probably shouldn’t even surpass 75. Pitchers should also be encouraged to be willing to let the coach know their arm is tired and they should be done for the day. Limiting the number of pitches and innings is far and away the most important factor in preserving a young athlete’s future potential career.

Did you ever have a dog that would lick you all the time? And did that dog particularly lick you like crazy when you were sweaty? Hopefully, you figured out that it was the salt that the dog loved. All sweat excretes salt, but some people are especially “salty sweaters.” So the next time you go for a run or a hot practice, just know you’re a walking salt-lick to all nearby dogs. And yes, they can smell it.

And as we all know, sweating leads to a loss of water, which can lead to dehydration and muscle cramps.

Muscle Cramps

A muscle cramp is an uncontrollable spasm of a muscle. It is typically painful and can last several seconds to several minutes. Any muscle can spasm and cramp, but muscle cramps most commonly occur in the legs, particularly in the calf or hamstring regions.

The exact cause of muscle cramps is still unknown. But we do know they’re heavily associated with rigorous physical activity, dehydration, and an imbalance of electrolytes. Obviously, rigorous physical activity is not something people are willing to change or compromise on. Exercise and sport are healthy and are a large part of cultures around the world. So, preventing cramps likely needs to focus on hydration status.

Electrolytes

There are four electrolytes: potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium. Some argue that water is itself an electrolyte. We don’t need to get too science-y here, but here’s what you should know about electrolytes.

1. Potassium: the poster child of preventing cramps. And bananas are the poster child of potassium itself. It is well-known and documented that potassium is crucial for optimal health. A low potassium status can lead to chronic muscle spasms and cramps. When an athlete suffers a cramp, or your doctor says your potassium is low, bananas are the go-to remedy. (Side note: bananas are by no means the food, or even fruit, highest in potassium. Beans, potatoes, most vegetables, oranges, and watermelon are all higher in potassium than bananas. So, if you want more potassium, just eat whatever fruits and veggies you prefer. I’m not a huge banana guy, so this PSA needs to be said.)
2. Sodium, aka salt, is the “yin” to potassium’s “yang.” These two electrolytes work well together, but they need balance. Too much salt leads to poor sodium levels and vice versa.
3. Calcium: not just for building strong bones. Calcium is the electrolyte that allows for all muscle contractions to happen, including your own heartbeat.
4. Magnesium: the other “yin”; in this case, it’s the calcium’s “yang.” Magnesium helps with relaxing said muscles, and calcium helps those muscles contract.

Calcium levels in the blood are very tightly regulated in the body. Over 99% of your body’s calcium levels are in the bones, with the rest in the bloodstream. For the sake of simplicity, we will leave calcium out of the conversation, as it appears to be unrelated to muscle cramping.

Athletes and Cramps

So, how do we fix cramping? It seems that in every basketball game, each team’s fans’ hearts stop once or twice because a player gets hurt and goes down. And then we are relieved to know when the announcer says it’s “just” cramps. Still, cramps continue to take our favorite players out of the game for a while, which obviously is detrimental to winning.

And on the sidelines, you will see them get stretched, massaged, and waterboarded with sports drinks and force-fed bananas.

When Toronto Blue Jays baseball player Munenori Kawasaki missed a game due to cramps, he told reporters he was eating three bananas a day now because “Monkey, never, cramps!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdGai72Tt8Y

Remedies

But do bananas actually prevent said cramps? The obvious answer is if you are cramping because of low potassium. Yes, bananas (and all fruits and veggies) will help.

But remember, that dog wasn’t licking your leg because you tasted like a banana-flavored popsicle. It was the salt. When we sweat, we excrete a lot of sodium and a little potassium. Your sweat can contain up to 11 times more sodium than potassium.

So typically, when an athlete suffers a cramp during competition, it is more likely due to water and salt losses. Logically, replenishing said water and salt losses is probably best.

Research

Unfortunately, the research is far from conclusive. There is no research that shows eating bananas or potassium-rich foods help reduce cramping during activity. And there is limited research that shows sodium intake can help, but it’s inconsistent.

Still, consuming electrolytes to combat cramps doesn’t seem to hurt. Regardless, water and salt likely need to be prioritized when trying to maintain optimal hydration and electrolyte levels. Eating bananas is great, and I want to continue encouraging that. But salty foods or drinks are likely the better way to fight cramping.

Preventing Cramps

It is difficult to stop cramps from returning. Water and salt might help, but potassium likely won’t. Calcium and magnesium appear to have an effect, too, in a pinch.

However, the most effective way to stop cramps is to prevent them in the first place. That means going into a game, practice, or activity in a well-hydrated state. If rigorous activity goes beyond 60 minutes, it’s recommended to opt for sports drinks over water. The drink should contain both sodium and potassium.

Post-workout, drinking 1.5 times the amount of water lost within 4-6 hours after activity is recommended. That will maintain an optimal hydration level in preparation for the next game or practice.

Magnesium

One particular interest of mine is magnesium. There seems to be little research on magnesium’s role in preventing and stopping cramps. Yet there’s abundant research on magnesium’s roles in cardiovascular health, even in emergency situations. I don’t have anything too insightful to say on magnesium. Still, I do hope that researchers look more into how magnesium might play a role in muscle cramps, in addition to helping with various other conditions. Remember, magnesium helps muscles to relax. It opens up blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more efficiently throughout the body. It sounds helpful for fighting off cramps to me, but the research has yet to be seen.

Pass the Chips

So, if you cramp up, have muscle spasms, or are generally interested in optimizing hydration levels and preventing cramps, I hope this is helpful information. Continue to eat fruits and veggies for potassium levels, but pass the chips and pretzels if you cramp up during competition.

Talk To Your Doctor

Most importantly, talk to your doctor. Every body is different, and you may have different needs than someone else. Everyone, athlete or not, should consult their doctor to make sure an alternative nutrition/hydration strategy isn’t needed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6901412/

https://blog.bridgeathletic.com/preventing-treating-exercise-associated-muscle-cramps

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-loaded-with-potassium#:~:text=Although%20bananas%20are%20a%20good,cup%20as%20a%20medium%20banana.

https://www.sportsrd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Whats-In-Your-Sweat.pdf

But really, changes in weather can bring a shock to the body. Heat, coupled with humidity, can quickly sap energy and endurance levels. Ever run for a long time in the heat? You know what I’m talking about.

Obviously, anything we can do to improve performance is something an athlete would be interested in. Finding ways to cool down during a hot day can be a game-changer for performance. Staying hydrated, spending time in the shade if the sport allows, using cold rags, etc., can all be helpful.

Performance Enhancing Temperature

An interesting new study sheds some light on a specific strategy that can be used for athletes. A university in the Czech Republic performed an experiment to see if using cold can improve performance in rock climbers. Rock climbing is a sport that heavily relies on one particular muscle group: the forearms. The forearms are often the limiting factor when it comes to climbing performance. And when trying to climb on a hot day, performance can rapidly drop.

What they found in the study was that immersing the forearms in cold water prior to climbing helped stave off forearm fatigue. By their measures, a 9-14% endurance increase. There was also evidence that cooling the muscles during a break in the climb seemed to help in performance immediately after.

Cold Water for All Athletes

Let’s be honest, you probably aren’t a rock climber. If you are, much respect. And no offense, but your sport just isn’t that popular. But the practical application of the study can apply to virtually any athlete susceptible to overheating, aka every athlete.

Warming up is still essential. Elevating the body’s temperature prior to completition has overwhelming evidence of improved performance and reduction of injuries.

However, given the particular sport or activity, certain muscles can overheat quickly, impeding performance. For running and jumping athletes (cross country, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, football, track, volleyball) the quads and calves come to mind.

Here’s What To Do

So, on those hot days, here is a broad but practical recommendation to possibly improve your endurance by 9-14%:

1. Go through your normal warmup routine.
2. 5 minutes before competing, get something cold onto the muscles that fatigue you the most. In most sports, the quads (thighs) come to mind. Apply that cold for two minutes.
3. Give it a go. If you can, find a way to measure if there’s an endurance increase.

I strongly recommend experimenting with this during a practice or workout. Find what works for you. You may need something colder and/or soak it longer to get the desired effects.

Remember, this is a broad recommendation. You have your own unique situation. Your body, sport, and weather conditions can also influence how much you need.

Will this give you a 10% boost in performance? I can’t promise. But I do promise that a serious athlete not only works hard but also prepares their body to win. If part of that winning strategy is to put ice packs on your calves before a race, then let’s do it.

The concept of cooling the body down before and during competition to boost performance has always existed. Keeping the body at a comfortable temperature is intuitive and advantageous to athletic performance. Pre-cooling muscles likely to overheat can be a legal and ethical sports performance hack.

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2024/03000/muscle_cooling_before_and_in_the_middle_of_a.13.aspx

While uphill work gets the heart pumping, downhill running is surprisingly taxing. Running downhill places unique demands on your hips and knees, enhancing performance for many sports and preventing injury.

Why Downhill Work Is Valuable (and Underrated)

Injury Prevention

Downhill movement strengthens the quads and patellar tendons in the knee. This is essential, as many running injuries relate to weaknesses in this area. Conversely, uphill runs strengthen your hips.

Performance Boost

A strong patellar tendon improves stride power and running efficiency. It is like adding an incline bench press to enhance your flat bench. Stronger quads and tendons from downhill running translate to a more powerful and efficient stride.

Enhanced Stability

Stability is vital for our body’s movement and coordination. It helps us walk, run, and move around without falling. In sports and exercise, stability is crucial because it is essential for agility. Stability allows you to move explosively and with power. If your joints lack stability, especially in the knees, it slows you down and makes it harder to move quickly. You can become more agile and improve overall coordination by enhancing your body’s ability to stabilize and handle more force.

Body Awareness and Coordination

Downhill running hones your sense of your body’s position in space (proprioception) and improves the interplay between your muscles and nervous system. These adaptations make changes in directions smoother and faster.

The Science of Downhill Training

It’s not about mindlessly bombing down hills. Controlled downhill running focused on the ankles’ and knees’ eccentric phase is first. Downhill running, done slowly and controlled first eccentrically, strengthens the tendons and muscles surrounding these joints, providing a foundation for better shock absorption.

Eccentrically strong muscles are better at controlling deceleration forces. This is crucial for reducing strain on tendons and joints, especially in activities with many changes in direction and stopping. Consider eccentric training as a way to armor your body against common injuries in general and for sports.

Enhanced Neuromuscular Coordination

Eccentric training stimulates both muscle spindles (which sense changes in muscle length) and Golgi Tendon Organs (GTOs, which sense tension). The increased communication between these sensory organs improves your body’s ability to coordinate precise movements and teaches muscles to absorb force effectively before powerfully transitioning to a concentric contraction. Stronger muscles in the eccentric phase allow for greater energy storage and return. This makes movements like running or jumping feel more effortless and improves your ability to generate power during the concentric phase of muscle contractions.

This eccentric loading strengthens the quads, patellar tendon, and other muscles and tendons in your knees and lower legs. These are all essential structures for absorbing impact and generating power during running, walking, etc.

Improved Stride Efficiency

Going downhill puts a strong emphasis on the eccentric phase of your stride (when your muscles lengthen under tension).

Stretch Shortening Cycle

Eccentric training improves the stretch-shortening cycle of your muscles, meaning you get more energy return as you transition from the eccentric to the concentric phase of your run. This can make you faster with less effort. You create greater energy storage and release potential by strengthening a movement’s eccentric (lengthening) phase. This translates to more power and explosiveness in the concentric (shortening) phase, like when you push off the ground in a sprint.

Increased Strength

The increased force during eccentric movements causes more micro-tears in muscle fibers. As these repairs, the muscle grows larger and stronger. Eccentric contractions generate more force than concentric (shortening) movements. Training eccentrically helps you recruit more muscle fibers, leading to significant strength gains.

Rehabilitation

Eccentric training is often used in physical therapy to help regain strength after an injury. Its controlled nature can be beneficial in the recovery process.

Important Notes

Downhill running shouldn’t replace your regular training entirely. It’s a powerful tool that should be strategically integrated into your training program.

• Proper form is crucial to prevent injuries on downhills. It involves a shorter stride, maintaining control, and avoiding overstriding.
• Consult a coach or trainer to integrate downhill running safely, especially if you’re new to this type of work.

Who Can Benefit Most from Downhill Training?

While anyone can incorporate downhill movement into their workouts, athletes in these sports often see tremendous gains:

• Trail Runners: Navigating technical descents safely and quickly is essential for trail running success. Downhill training builds lower body strength specifically geared towards this type of terrain.
• Soccer Players: Constant changes in direction and explosive sprints put a lot of stress on the knees. Downhill work strengthens these vulnerable areas.
• Basketball Players: Jumping, landing, and sudden stops are common in basketball. The focus on knee stability gained from downhill training can help reduce the risk of injury.
• Others: Anyone who plays a sport or position where deceleration and speed are needed. Or who want to strengthen their knees.

Downhill Running Training Programs

Downhill Strength Training

• Slow Walking- Walk down a hill or incline slowly, taking about 30 seconds to complete the walk. Rest for 2 minutes and perform again. Do it five times. Once you are comfortable, add resistance, like carrying a light medicine ball or sandbag.
• Strength Endurance Drill- Downhill Trail Running with Obstacles: Find a trail with natural obstacles like rocks or tree roots. The uneven terrain will engage various muscle groups.

Downhill Endurance Training

• Long Downhill Runs- Increase the duration of your downhill runs gradually. Start with 30 minutes and add 5-10 minutes each week until you reach your desired duration.
• Interval Downhill Runs- Incorporate intervals into your downhill runs. For example, run at a challenging pace for 2 minutes, followed by a slower recovery pace for 1 minute. Repeat for the desired duration.

Downhill Speed Training

• Downhill Sprints- Perform short, intense downhill sprints. Start with 8-10 sets of 20-30 seconds, focusing on maximum speed and proper form.

• Speed Intervals- Mix short and long downhill intervals. For instance, alternate between 1-minute sprints and 3-minute recovery jogs. Gradually increase the intensity and duration.
• Downhill Strides- Add downhill strides to the end of your regular runs. Stride at near-maximum speed for 50-100 meters, focusing on quick turnover and proper form.

Downhill Intermittent Training

• Fartlek Downhill Runs- During a downhill run, incorporate bursts of speed at irregular intervals. For example, sprint between two landmarks then recovers slower before the next burst.

• Hill Repeats- Choose a downhill slope and perform hill repeats. Run at a challenging pace downhill for a specific duration, then jog back up.

Before you begin any training program, go slow, especially running downhill, because you can fall as speed increases. So, ensure your shoelaces are doubled-tied and tight to avoid tripping.

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2024/01000/patellar_tendon_adaptations_to_downhill_running.3.aspx

In the mid-2000s, five-finger/toed shoes gained some popularity with the idea that separating your toes allowed your feet to move more naturally. The toes could splay and wiggle as natural motions allowed, preventing the restrictions a narrow toe box typically created. Those shoes are still a thing, with more companies making them beyond the OG’s of Vibram. Shoutout to Vibram for pioneering the idea of toe shoes and the weird looks I got when I wore mine in public.

In 2009, the best-selling book Born to Run described to the masses in detail that barefoot-styled shoes, or even running barefoot, would give you superhuman strength, speed, and endurance, unlocking a primitive strength that modern footwear has since ruined for us. Since then, many shoe manufacturers have joined the barefoot shoe phenomenon, producing their own minimal-type shoes.

What is a Barefoot Shoe?

While there are no formal criteria for a barefoot shoe, it is widely agreed that a barefoot shoe has a close-to-the-ground, minimal sole that allows you to feel the ground. It also has a zero heel drop, meaning there is no elevation at all at the heel. You may not have even known your favorite shoes had a feel lift. Pretty much every brand and shoe pretty much ever made has some type of elevated heel, until recently with barefoot shoes. Lastly and maybe most importantly, a wide-toe box is needed for a barefoot shoe. In summary, it’s a shoe that tries to replicate the freedoms of being barefoot while wearing a shoe. In the industry, they call them foot-shaped shoes. Shoes that don’t constrict the toes into a triangle shape, shoes that don’t lift the heel, and have thick, cushiony soles for the sake of comfort. These attributes that make up a barefoot shoe are thought to lead to improved posture, foot strength, ankle mobility, and toe dexterity, which in turn can indirectly improve the total health of the body.

The Benefits and Research

The claims are there, and the logic is certainly there. But does the research agree? In short, yes. Like I said, it’s logical; of course, barefoot shoes work! They make your toes, feet, ankles, and calves move more freely and work harder. The lack of heel drop allows you to stand straighter. Heel lifts push the body forward, so of course that messes with your posture, even if only by a few millimeters, which is what most heel lifts are.

Another theoretical benefit is that a barefoot shoe changes gait mechanics. Everyone should run this little experiment: go outside, walk, and run on the sidewalk or pavement with regular shoes. Next, do the same thing barefoot. I bet you run a little differently when barefoot. The ground hurts! Without a pillowy shoe protecting you, you’ll be less likely to land on your heel with as much force, if at all. Heel striking is thought to cause more stress to the ankles, knees, hips, and back. Wearing thick shoes removes the heel pain, allowing a pain-free heel strike when running and walking. Running on harder surfaces when barefoot encourages the user to place more weight and force into the forefoot, shortening the stride, and increasing stride frequency. This allows you to use your arches more, strengthening the foot. Vivobarefoot, a popular barefoot shoe brand, showed us a recent study that wearing their shoes can increase foot strength by up to 60%!

The reason we heel strike is because it makes life easier. The knees, hips, and back can take a beating. But as you can tell by running barefoot, the heels cannot. Running with barefoot shoes improves running posture and overall biomechanics by forcing you to use your muscles more, as shown in a meta-analysis study in 2023. Unfortunately, running barefoot tires you more quickly, which can be frustrating.

As I like to tell my clients, better isn’t always better. Your shoes may be “better” because they’re more comfortable, have more support, and help you balance better. But in the long run, normal shoes are doing the work your muscles are supposed to be doing. And when you don’t use them, you lose them. And that has tough consequences.

Should Athletes Use Them?

I think I’ve made it clear that I like barefoot shoes. They improve the health of the entire body. But, as with anything, there’s such thing as too much of a good thing. Barefoot shoes do strengthen the feet, but that also means it stresses the feet. Transitioning from normal shoes to barefoot shoes can be painful, even dangerous. The zero heel drop creates greater stress to the dreaded Achilles tendon. If you’re an athlete or fantasy football manager, you know you don’t want a stressed Achilles. Increased foot stress can also aggravate plantar fasciitis, and pretty much any toe, foot, or ankle ailment there is.

You wouldn’t ask a sedentary, morbidly obese old man to run a 10k. A 10k is a great thing to do, but it’d hurt someone out of shape. There’s a gradual process that needs to be done. I recommend simply walking outside barefoot where appropriate. Take mental notes on how you feel before, during, after, and even the day after. Slowly increase your distance and maybe speed each time. If you feel pretty good, maybe you could look at getting your first pair of barefoot shoes. There are lots of brands out there for every type of shoe for athletics, casual wear, and even boots.

Utilizing barefoot shoes as an athlete has to be a personal decision. They do make you work harder, which can lead to slower times that you may not be able to afford. Depending on the sport, I generally recommend my athletes to slowly transition during their offseason training. From there, they need to decide if barefoot shoes are right for their in-season training and perhaps, even competition. It really depends on the sport and athlete, though. Find what works best for you, but I would recommend giving barefoot shoes a cautious but genuine try.

References

https://www.nsca.com/certification/ceu-quizzes/influence-of-minimalist-footwear/

https://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/blog/foot-strength-behind-the-science

https://www.youtube.com/embed/TDJaF_5ZhZA

Warm Ups

The best ways to warm up are, of course, hotly debated. Luckily, that’s why we have research. The field of strength and conditioning has exploded in the past couple of decades. Technology that measures health and performance has dramatically improved, which has allowed for much progress in groundbreaking research. Athletes are, without question, bigger, faster, and stronger than ever before. Much of that is credited to science.

Stretching

For decades now, stretching, primarily static stretching, has been a go-to method to prepare muscles and joints for competition. Stretching is intuitive. It literally brings length to muscle, increases the joints’ ranges of motion, and feels good. However, recent scientific revelations have pointed out that stretching may not be a great idea. Prolonged static stretching has been proven to slow you down. It can reduce speed and power output and even increase the risk of injury. However, when programmed properly, it can still have its place at times. Instead, dynamic stretching has been shown to be a superior alternative to static stretching most of the time. In short, dynamic stretching is all static stretching tries to be, but without the negatives. It improves mobility, yet it’s been shown to IMPROVE strength and power, as opposed to the other way around.

Foam Rolling

If you pay attention to the strength and conditioning world at all, you’ve heard of a foam roller. You may have used one before. Foam rolling is basically a poor man’s massage. Foam rolling (and all other massage or “myofascial release” tools) allow for increased blood flow and improved range of motion to muscles and their related joints. Foam rollers have proven to be a safe and perhaps just as effective tool as stretching if one so chooses to warm up that way.

As you can guess by the title of the article, I’m about to advocate for foam rolling. Sort of.

Every morning when you wake up, your first move is to intuitively stretch. That’s because you haven’t moved in a long time. Motion is lotion, and your body ain’t lubricated. You are also dehydrated. All that creates stiff muscles and swollen joints. Not a bad thing, but it isn’t good for the movement. Those problems quickly go away once you start moving around, for the most part. But, over time, those muscles and joints can become really stiff, no matter how much you move. That’s because we all have poor postures and movement habits. If you never move in one particular direction, that part of you becomes chronically dehydrated, inviting scar tissue-ey adhesions and faulty movement patterns.

Foam rollers and the like can be practical tools for releasing these movement-ignored body parts. Foam rolling can help break up these adhesions and force new blood and hydration into these soft tissues. This allows the user to effectively warm up the area by improving its range of motion and helping it recover from various traumas.

However, a study in Germany shed a not-so-bright light on the topic of foam rolling. The study demonstrated that while foam rolling did improve ranges of motion, it was the least effective method between static and dynamic stretching. It did not have an effect on strength levels. However, some research shows that, like static stretching, prolonged foam rolling relaxes muscles and can be detrimental to athletic performance.

It is theorized that foam rolling partially increases the range of motion because it reduces the pain receptor signals to the brain, which is why it often feels good to the body. Reduced pain levels can be good or a bad thing; I’m not going to speculate.

I don’t believe that there should be a foam rolling vs. stretching debate. They are two different things, and I’m a big advocate of both dynamic stretching and foam rolling. I think they complement each other well when used properly.

Moral of the story: foam rolling is great. I advocate its use for all my personal training clients. It helps warm muscles up, improves ranges of motion, and helps release muscle groups that are tight or overactive, making it very useful for corrective exercise. It can also be used for recovery, stress relief, and better sleep. It promotes both short and long-term health. However, prolonged use, probably longer than 1 minute per muscle group and 5 minutes total, can relax the muscle group(s) too much and literally slow you down. Being slow is never good in any sport. I recommend around 30 seconds per muscle group, with the athlete doing about 3-5 muscle groups. Doing more is usually too much of a good thing. But doing none of it can leave a big hole in your programming. Following the foam rolling, I highly recommend a proper dynamic stretching routine to further warm up the joints and prepare the body for high-level activity. And that is what the absolute perfect warmup looks like.

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2022/03000/Effect_of_Static_Stretching,_Dynamic_Stretching,.12.aspx

I’m a baseball guy. When I was a kid, you could count on one hand the number of guys that threw 100mph in the big leagues. Now, there are dozens. The average MLB fastball is five miles per hour faster than when I was a kid. And every other sport shows similar performance improvements. Athletes are throwing harder, running faster, and hitting harder.

And nowhere is that more prevalent than in women’s sports. Again, when I was a kid, team USA dominated everything in the Olympics. But now, with growing women’s rights and ease of access to training methodologies around the globe, the playing fields are leveling.

This leads me to the point of this article. It’s becoming harder and harder for all athletes to rely on talent alone. More and more “ungifted athletes” can overcome their obstacles through advanced training methods. If you aren’t in a well-suited strength and conditioning program, you’ll likely fall behind, even at the youth levels.

While there are many types of training that each individual athlete needs, one thing is universally clear for all sports: all athletes should be lifting weights. Sadly, more than any other demographic, it’s female athletes that are mostly staying away from the weight room. And that needs to change.

I’m not going to try to convince you of the benefits of weightlifting. Hopefully, if you came so far as to read this article, you have a basic understanding that weightlifting can help you become faster, stronger, more powerful, resilient to injury, and overall more athletic. Sounds great for any athlete, male or female.

Young Female Athletes Should Lift Weights

So why aren’t more female athletes weight training? There are, of course, lots of varying reasons why. But not seeing that weightlifting will benefit them in their sport and in life shouldn’t be one of those reasons. A 2019 study in New Zealand conducted an observational study of over 100 fourteen-year-old girls and measured their strength and athletic performance metrics. There was an overwhelming correlation that the stronger girls were also the fastest and could jump the highest. Further research tells us that kids that are strong in their youth will be strong adults and will have lower injury rates.

Other reasons include the parents not wanting their kids to lift weights. They are worried that weightlifting may make them bulky, lose flexibility, get hurt, and stunt their growth. My response to that is all those are simply false myths. They’ve all been debunked time and time again. Well-planned and even poorly planned strength training programs do not make kids bulky because they lack the hormone profile, they don’t lose their mobility, and weightlifting certainly has never stunted the growth of a child. Ever!

Lifting weights, even at young, pre-pubescent ages, are good for kids. They develop strength, stronger bones, better coordination, and motor control, and are associated with being healthier adults later in life.

Adult Female Athletes Should Really Lift Weights

After they’re done growing as kids, the common excuse to avoid the weights is that they don’t want to get bulky. I’m a personal trainer by trade, and I deal with this question a lot. There’s a lot of complexity to the answer, but to keep things simple, MOST (and I emphasize most, but not all!) women lack the amount of testosterone and other hormones that will make them appear bulky. And the funny part is, if they do begin to bulk up in a way that truly bothers them, I promise it’s not a permanent change. If you feel like you’re turning into the Hulk, then we can make some changes to help the big scary muscles go away again.

If your goal is to be a better athlete, the research is overwhelming for ladies that a proper strength and conditioning program will provide them with greater performance, athleticism, and resilience to injury. Weight training in the adult stage of life for female athletes should be a no-brainer, no matter the sport.

Older Adult Female Athletes Should Definitely Lift Weights

If you are a little seasoned for the example of athletes I’ve given, I got you too. Strength training, like all forms of exercise, should be a lifestyle. It’s not something you do in your 20s for looks or to be better in your “prime.” Weightlifting will continue to allow you to perform at a high level while simultaneously reducing your risk of injury. Avoiding injury, of course, becomes more valuable as we age.

One of the unique concerns for aging women is bone density. Osteopenia and osteoporosis are serious health concerns, especially if you are continuing your athletic endeavors. But for those who continue to lift weights and strength train, that isn’t a concern. Nothing on this planet builds stronger bones than strength training does. Lift weights. Do it! Your bones will thank you.

Are You an Athlete?

YES! You are an athlete. I convince every one of my personal training clients that they are an athlete, whether they play a traditional sport or not. One such client of mine has a hobby of playing the handbells. She’s an athlete. Those handbells are heavy, and she performs thousands of reps with them per year. So in my programming, I need her to have especially strong and stable wrists, shoulders, posterior chain, and grip strength. She’s also a nurse, which means she walks more than you and I ever will. She needs to train in ways that her job won’t break her down.

See where I’m getting? Men and women of all ages, we are all athletes. We all encounter unique demands in our daily lives that require unique strength, whether it’s on a playing field, in our jobs, or in hobbies. Regardless, strength training is appropriate for all of us in all stages of life. You are an athlete, and you need to train like one!

https://www.nsca.com/education/articles/ptq/kids-must-strength-train-a-call-to-action/

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2009/10000/Youth_Versus_Adult__Weightlifting__Injuries.20.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2022/03000/Relationship_Between_Strength,_Athletic.11.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Fulltext/2012/06000/The_Youth_Physical_Development_Model___A_New.8.aspx

And ever since your grandpa was in high school, the methodology for improving agility has been the same. Good old sprints, plyometrics, and that ridiculous hop-scotch drill with tires that guaranteed at least one broken nose faceplant per practice were the only ways to get athletes quicker. Sure, there’s fancier equipment nowadays, but the principles remain the same: various sprints and plyometrics.

Weightlifting for sports performance is still relatively new. We aren’t far removed from the schools of thought that weightlifting makes you stiff, bulky, and slow. If you still are of that mindset, please quit your job.

Proper application of weightlifting:

1. Improves mobility
2. Can build strength while minimizing body weight gain
3. Helps athletes move quicker

And depending on the goal, athletes can lift via different methods to improve different athletic attributes. To complement an athlete’s bodyweight speed and agility drills, lifting weights can also improve an athlete’s ability to accelerate, decelerate, and change direction.

When people think of weightlifting, they primarily think of building bigger muscles by lifting lots of reps. To build strength, they think of low reps but heavy weights. But to build power, speed, and agility, one needs to learn to be explosive and able to quickly react.

Weightlifting

Speed is all about how much force is placed into the ground. The more force, the more speed produced. Therefore, to be faster, athletes must learn to put more force into the ground.

For a novice lifter, simply lifting weights and getting stronger will teach an athlete to produce force with greater efficiency and intensity. For beginners, any form of weightlifting will improve their strength, speed, agility, and ability to quickly change directions.

Olympic Weightlifting

For athletes that have spent some time in the weight room and have developed an appreciable level of strength, Olympic weightlifting may be the next best step. Once a proficient level of strength is achieved, further developing strength will provide a limited amount of bang for your buck’s progress in speed and agility development. However, developing the Olympic lifts is all about the rate of force development.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VMLmgIgGjs

The Olympic lifts can efficiently teach an athlete to be explosive while rapidly coordinating compound movements in rapidly changing speeds and directions. That’s exactly what happens on every sports field and court. A basketball player has to quickly change directions at a high rate of speed to get by a defender. A wide receiver has to stop on a dime on his route to create separation from a cornerback. A goalie has to rapidly jump to block a ball. You get the idea.

Your dad’s backyard jumping drills can help improve your ability to do this, but high levels of sport demand higher than bodyweight levels of force. Modern sports science knows that overloading a joint with weights creates extra demand on the muscles to quickly overcome a given resistance. This extra stimulus teaches the body to continually gain better explosive abilities, improving overall performance. Progressing weight lifting abilities with the Olympic lifts teach the body to do just that. This is why every high-level collegiate, professional, and Olympic team uses variations of Olympic weightlifting to improve their athletes’ performances.

You cannot be weak and quick at the same time. However, you can be strong but not necessarily quick or agile. Learning to apply strength in an explosive manner through methods like Olympic weightlifting, however, will drastically improve an athlete’s ability to accelerate, decelerate, change direction, and improve overall speed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9213388/

https://breakingmuscle.com/use-olympic-lifts-to-increase-speed-and-agility/

Caffeine consumption is consumed regularly in the workforce and even at home. It’s also popular among athletes. The research is very interesting on caffeine in regards to sports performance. Most research demonstrates that a caffeine boost does not include making you stronger, faster, or more powerful. However, it does appear that caffeine boosts cognition and endurance. This can lead to better in-game decision-making, quicker reaction times, and boosts the ability to last longer at higher rates of speed. Those are significant advantages that any athlete could benefit from. The issue with caffeine, however, is its delivery system. For athletes to get the best benefits of caffeine, it must work immediately without causing detrimental side effects.

The Problem with Caffeine Products

Caffeine is primarily consumed as a liquid. Coffee, soda, and tea are the most popular choices. Here are the issues:

1. Tea is too low in caffeine.
2. Coffee has enough, but it isn’t easy to consume quickly and isn’t appetizing before a sporting match.
3. A lot of liquid must be consumed to get a high dose of caffeine from soda. When an athlete needs caffeine in a pinch, soda isn’t an easy way to consume caffeine quickly and can cause bloating and gas, given that it’s a carbonated beverage.

Caffeine pills exist, but their delivery system is slow. Chocolate naturally has caffeine, but only in small amounts. So food is out too.

Caffeinated Gum

So, imagine you are a basketball player. For whatever reason, you are already exhausted at halftime when you usually aren’t. The team needs you. YOU need you. You need a boost of caffeine. No, you can’t chug a bottle of soda, and you certainly aren’t drinking coffee. That’s where caffeinated gum comes in.

Caffeinated gum was invented in the ’70s but gained popularity in the health and performance sector recently. Given recent research that demonstrates athletes can perform at their high levels for more extended periods of time when caffeinated, the fast-acting delivery system of chewing caffeinated gum is the most efficient way to get caffeine in the bloodstream without having to chug 30 oz. of bubbly soda. The secret sauce is in the concept of gum. You chew it, but don’t swallow it. Chewing with saliva naturally pulls out the flavors of gum into an easy-to-digest liquid form. In this case, caffeine is naturally pulled out of the gum, down the hatch, and into the bloodstream. Research shows that the effects of caffeine from gum are achieved in as little as 5 minutes.

Side note: one research paper found that caffeinated gum increased salivary testosterone, whereas all other caffeine products did not. Does this make caffeine gum a PED? Probably not. But it’s worth investigating more. Perhaps more research will be done on that.

The optimal dose isn’t clear. There isn’t enough research, and every athlete will react differently. Most research points to around 200-300mg of caffeine for optimal performance. I would strongly recommend starting with a lower dose and seeing how your body reacts, however.

Any athlete can have caffeine gum in their bag and quickly get the “energy boost” during halftime or even a timeout. No need to consume a lot of liquid or eat calories. Chewing caffeinated gum is the best way to quickly deliver caffeine into the bloodstream with ease, which can lead to improved performance. Although a drug, caffeine is deemed safe to consume and is an approved supplement by all professional, collegiate, and recreational levels of sport.

Practical Recommendations

To make a quick recommendation on caffeinated gum, I would suggest:

• Consume 200-300mg of caffeinated gum roughly 10 minutes prior to competition or immediately during halftime or a time out
• Do not exceed 400mg of caffeine in a day, as beyond that is not deemed safe
• Always experiment outside of competition first to be sure your body positively reacts to the dosage

References

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2021/06000/Effects_of_Caffeine_Chewing_Gum_on_Exercise.26.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2013/01000/Caffeine_Gum_and_Cycling_Performance__A_Timing.36.aspx

https://www.mysportscience.com/post/caffeinated-chewing-gum

Sometimes it’s better to explain things in a video than by typing my jibberish. Give this video a watch to see the Earthquake Bar and how it works.

Personally, I think it looks awesome and fun in a weird way. But as with all exercise equipment, we must ask if it works or is a gimmick? The Earthquake Bar has garnered enough intrigue to have its own dedicated research.

Studies on the Earthquake Bar

The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research has conducted 5 different studies involving the Earthquake Bar. The results are simple: it works! But before you hit add to cart for $300 plus shipping, you need to see if it’s right for you.

Outside of writing beautifully written articles like this, I wear two other hats. I work in physical therapy and as a personal trainer, focusing on functional training. Pieces of equipment like the Earthquake Bar particularly intrigue me both as a piece of functional equipment for training AND as a rehab tool.

Earthquake Bar Uses

The Earthquake Bar can be used in basically any way you use a regular barbell. However, its unstable nature gears it primarily for upper body lifts, namely bench, and overhead pressing. As an athlete goes through repetition on the bar, the bar inevitably shakes, causing different groups of muscles to quickly contract to maintain proper balance. This increased contraction of the surrounding muscles forces the smaller muscles (such as the rotator cuff) to be firing on all cylinders. This extra contraction of the deep, stabilizing musculature creates a more stable, stronger contraction. That much is proven in research. What is yet to be proven (though I’m optimistic it will happen in the future) is that with the proper doses and frequency, the Earthquake Bar can create stronger, more stable, and more resilient to-injury athletes.

My Recommendation

From my perspective, I actually would recommend this to novice lifters. One of the big mistakes I see in weightlifting is young lifters doing too much too soon. Building an appreciable amount of strength through the barbell lifts takes a lot of time and even more consistency. However, one of the knocks on the barbell lifts is that they disproportionately engage the big muscles. When lifters go heavy all the time with pushing lifts, they build strong and muscular pecs, deltoids, traps, triceps, and whatever else you can see when taking that selfie in the gym bathroom mirror. That, of course, is a good thing. Still, the problem is that the smaller muscles underneath do not develop strength in the same way, lessening their ability to support the joints. And that’s where a tool like the Earthquake Bar can be helpful. It helps strengthen the smaller muscle groups dedicated to stabilizing the shoulder, scapula, and spine.

Additionally, the Earthquake bar teaches more efficient mechanics to young lifters, which can establish muscle memory with great technique. Lastly, the research shows that the Earthquake Bar gives tactile cues to “get tight.” Strength and conditioning coaches know that the key to lifting heavy and getting the most out of lifts is to get tight. Getting tight refers to the lifter squeezing every muscle with all their might to create a solid, stable foundation the lifter can use to lift with. The tighter you get, the stronger the lift.

Benefits of the Earthquake Bar

All these benefits can benefit any lifter, especially when first starting a lifting program. It teaches the lifter to use good technique by getting tight, and it builds up the smaller, deeper muscles that are responsible for keeping joints healthy. Using the Earthquake Bar can be a fantastic way to begin a strength and conditioning program involving major barbell lifts such as the squat, bench press, overhead lifting, and deadlifting.

However, it must be recognized that the Earthquake Bar is a highly specialized tool. The Earthquake Bar is not meant to take the place of standard barbell lifting. You can’t lift very heavy with an unstable bar, and heavy lifting is very necessary for building strength and muscle.

The unstable nature of the Earthquake Bar makes it more dangerous than a standard barbell. All lifting needs to be supervised by a coach or a highly experienced lifter. The Earthquake Bar has abundant resources on how to properly load and train with it. So, make sure you use it wisely, stay safe, happy lifting,

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oP1oYpMPwG8

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2017/05000/Nonlinear_Analysis_of_an_Unstable_Bench_Press_Bar.6.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2020/01000/Activity_of_Shoulder_Stabilizers_and_Prime_Movers.9.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2017/02000/Effect_of_an_Unstable_Load_on_Primary_and.19.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2022/04000/Effects_of_Various_Forms_of_Unstable_Load_on.1.aspx

https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Fulltext/2018/04000/Effects_of_a_6_Week_Bench_Press_Program_Using_the.7.aspx