Growing up we played sports to develop our fitness and athleticism. We weren't aware of LTAD, the risks of early specialization and the benefits of being a multi-sport athlete. We played football at school, swam competitively, rode our bikes in the summer and skied in the winter. And for the most part this worked pretty well based on the fact we pl...
Youth Summer Athletic Program Attention Kelowna Athletes!Okanagan Peak Performance Inc is hosting the Youth Summer Athletic Program. This program is fully coached, follows LTAD protocols and includes access to the Okanagan Peak Performance Inc training facility.There are programs for athletes 8-11 years and 12-15 years with 2 training days in June and 3 training days in July and August.To register call 250.212.2972, email athletetraining (at) shaw (dot) ca or stop in to the training facility on Sutherland ave.
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Dr. Robert Reid of the Norwegian Alpine Ski Team. Dr. Reid had previously worked with the US Ski Team and presented 'A Day Without Training is a Day Without Meaning'.If you followed the Olympics this year you'll have noticed the success Norway had with skiing in North Korea. And a big part of this has to do with Norway's Long Term Athlete Development model. While Canada is considered a leader in this area there are still lessons to be learned by countries such as Norway. Below are some of my takeaways from this presentation.Isolation Leads To Stagnation - Dr. Reid emphasized the need for integration of different teams and practitioners. There is a synergy that comes from training as a team. Personally I know my own training, and competition, was better with others than alone. When someone is a specialist this is at the expense of being the best at lots of things. For example, the best dietitian in the world probably doesn't have a lot of tips to share with a sprinter on their mechanics. We need to work in groups, share, learn and get better together.Numbers Are Less Important Than Principles - In skiing you can measure how many gates someone did, how many ski days they had or even how many pairs of skis they own. What is more important is the big picture principles that last forever. Do no harm. Eat quality nutrition. Get enough sleep. Give your best effort. When you focus too much on the numbers you narrow it down too much and may exclude those that could become something great but haven't put up the numbers at a young age yet.Don't Shut Down Or Exclude Wild Ideas - Sometimes we know who geniuses are...
Recently the father of a young athlete called to inquire about some sport-specific coaching for his daughter.I asked him about her goals. And if she had any previous injuries. And what she was currently doing, strength training-wise, to achieve her goals.And he said nothing because he was too busy. Otherwise he could just do it himself.Now I had never met this parent before. I don't know what his educational background was, what type of training credential he held (or previously held), if any, and what experience he had training himself or others.I just asked the questions, listened and made notes.Then I asked if his daughter was small, average or tall for her age? And he said she was small.I then asked how old she was and explained that based on her chronological age (candles on a birthday cake), developmental age (how close to an adult she was in terms of development) and her sport would determine how we would approach her training to ensure it was safe, appropriate and effective for her goals.There was then a long pause at the other end of the line.So I had to ask 'are you still there?'. To which he answered 'Yes. I never knew any of that so it's probably a good thing I didn't get started trying to help her.'No problem I said. That's why we're here.Obviously safety is priority number one when working with young athletes. We take the time to make sure our athletes understand the proper way to warm up. We make sure they learn optimal technique for all lifts. We make sure they can read their program and understand the acute variables such as reps, sets, load, intensity, tempo and rest periods. And while we want to make sure the process is enjoyable we demand that the athletes that...
Have you been to a peewee or bantam hockey tournament lately? If so, you may have noticed something about the players. And that is the variation in sizes. You can have a situation where there is a 5'2" thirteen year old taking a face-off against a 6'2" player. Not only is the one player a foot taller than the other but he can also outweigh him by 50 lbs or more. Fast forward five years or so and these players could be much closer in size. And it's possible the smaller player could pass the other in size. Given all the variations in size that we see in young athletes it only makes sense that we train these athletes differently. But instead what we typically see is a one-size-fits-all program for all athletes. And the elements selected for this program may be based on what the best athlete is able to do with the hope this will spur the other athletes on to achieve the same. Worse there also instances where a coach tries to do what pro athletes in their sport do for training. How effective would it be for a 12 or 13 year old to try and replicate Sidney Crosby's off-season training program? Not only will not be the best option in the short term for this hockey player it also stunts the long term development of the player. Long Term Athlete Development, or LTAD, refers to training the right things at the right time for the athlete. There are 'windows' of training where it is more effective to train certain athletic abilities and skills than to simply do what the pros are doing. [caption id="attachment_4639" align="aligncenter" width="300"] LTAD - Training the right things at the right time. While having fun. For example, girls...
We're a week into June and it seems like we've gone back a page or two on the calendar. The temperatures have dropped and we're getting more rain. But besides the weather changes we know we're into June because the school year is almost done. And a number of young athletes will be looking for something to do. They'll have their days open and have energy to burn. With that in mind I should probably tell you about our Youth Summer Athletic Training Camp (YSATC). You can find all the details below. But I thought it would be important to tell you what makes our camps special. Here are 5 Unique Features About our YSATC. Feature #1 - New Camps for Younger and Older AthletesWe started these camps 2 years ago and there were 3 athletes that attended. Last year this grew to 31 participants. So for this year we're splitting the groups into two different times and 2 different groups. This will allow each group to work on things more relevant to their needs and goals. And for the older athletes they will have a better start time in the afternoon. Some teenagers seem to like to sleep in during the summer. Feature #2 - Effective & Safe Coaching of All Exercises Some of the athletes we work with will attend high school in the fall. And many schools now have weight rooms for the students. And unfortunately there aren't budgets to allow for proper instruction or supervision of these weight rooms. We want to make sure that these athletes have the basics in place before they step foot in a high school weight room. We want them to know what precautions to take. We want them to know the fundamental technique points on the major lifts. And we want them to be...