Using medicine balls in your workouts?? If you’re not – start. Immediately. Medicine balls just might be the most versatile bang for your buck. I’ve been using Dynamax medicine balls for Upper Saint Clair’s preseason conditioning and can honestly see an overall difference the last 4 weeks. The girls are more fit, explosive, stronger, and aggressive than the last four years. Not sure what the season holds for the team, but I do know they’ll be ready physically.

Attached you’ll find the 46 medicine ball exercises I’m using, in different combinations, with the athletes. Print these out and get to work. (Note: not all the movements have descriptions. If you need explanations, shoot me an email and I’ll help you out.)

—>>Click Here For Your 46 Medicine Ball Exercises<<—

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Hey, hope you’re doing well and have the right mindset going into another week. I know I do as this weekend many ‘To Do’ lists were prepared around the Rizor household… shelving for the garage, new equipment for the gym, new light fixtures, basement redesign, etc. The list goes on..

If you’re following me on Twitter (follow me here) and Facebook (are we friends yet?) you also know I’m in the process of convincing the Mrs. that we need a new truck… I mean SUV.

We test drove one Saturday morning in the rain – had to see if she was comfortable in the big rig. Turns out Kel really liked it, enough to sit and talk numbers. Then the strangest thing happened. The dealership owner (who’s a friend) worked on some figures and slid the paper across his desk in our direction. We looked down, looked at the numbers, looked at each other, and without saying a word we both had the same thought: “We’ll, that was fun. Felt good to drive a new vehicle, but this guy is out of his G-D mind if he thinks we’re paying that for a vehicle.” Back to the drawing board and back to the internet to find the truck of my (our) dreams. Wish me luck!

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I really hope you’re not confused. I mean, with all the info I give you guys at workouts and on my blog I hope you’re still not under the impression a strength & conditioning coach and personal trainer are the same thing. With respect to personal trainers, I can tell you the #1 difference between their goals and mine lie in the depth of program design.

My goals for athletes, boiled down into the simplest terms are improved strength, speed, and conditioning. Athletes have to be strong to be fast. The have to be fast if they ever hope to play, and you gotta be in shape otherwise everything else is for nothing.

I bring up the topic of strength & conditioning coach and/or personal trainer because of a conversation I had last week. “All yea Ryan, I get it. You’re like a personal training or something.” I’ll take the ‘or something’. Take a look at this article and see what others have to say about the S&C coach vs. personal trainer debate. http://tinyurl.com/yd89zhu

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We can all get caught dwelling on what’s wrong with or lives – at least what we think is wrong:

 Not being as strong and fast as you want to be…

 Wishing you could put on more weight or drop some rocks…

 Upset because you’re not training as often…

 Mad because you should get more playing time…

 Parents on your case all the time…

 Kids driving you nuts…

 No time to relax…

 The list could go on but it’s gotta stop here. Stop dwelling on the BS you have in your life.

 You see, I think all the statements above boil down to one word: DRAMA. Find ways to get past the drama and concentrate on the big picture principles that drive your life and training.

 I know the little things can add up and test your nerves. That’s when you have to find your ‘Life Preserver’.

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This year there is a change for fall sports. Practice starts on August 17, which is a week later than usual.

No big deal right?

Ask any athletic director if they think it’s a big deal or not. A few months ago I was speaking in front of 20 athletic directors and the topic of fall scheduling came up… you would have thought the world was ending.

You see, this is a big deal. Not only do athletic directors have to find ways to schedule manditory competitions, they have to make sure all WPIAL guidelines are followed for practices.

What about the coaches? They have the task of implementing practices, depth charts, creating game plans, and preparing athletes physically for the season. All this in a shorter amount of time.

Physical preparation is where I wave the biggest red flag. This is where my unfortunate prediction comes in:

YOU WILL SEE MORE INJURIES THIS YEAR FOR FALL SPORTS THAN EVER BEFORE.

I know – a bold statement coming from someone who works to lessen the chance of injury. But the reality is I can only take care of so many athletes.

You’re going to see more injures because coaches will either try to cram all their normal preseason conditioning into less time or worse… they’ll skip it.

Some fortunate athletes that prepare all summer won’t have any worries. Schools that take strength and conditioing seriously will take the late start for practices as extra time to get the kids ready.

Unfortunaltly, you and I both know most schools and coaches won’t. They’ll take the ‘I can’t make the kids be there’ approach and blame the athletes for not ‘running’ more on their own.

I hope I’m wrong, but I think injuries will be high this year, espically for the schools that don’t have a structured strength-speed-conditioning program established.

To go a step further, female athletes will be at a higher risk.

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