Lacrosse Strength » College

Princeton Fall Ball Highlights

Pete — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:12:04 +0000

I grabbed this from Inside Lacrosse.com. It shows my buddy Luke Armour and his Princeton teammates during a fall ball game a few days ago. Enjoy.

Low volume for lacrosse strength training

Pete — Sat, 15 May 2010 12:50:51 +0000

Lately, I’ve been lurking on the forums at Inside Lacrosse. More specifically, the training section. Every 10-15 posts, someone says they want to put on size and strength and posts a program for all to evaluate. This program ends up being some sort of split program where the upper body day has three exercises for every body part and the lower body has the same. I remember seeing these programs in the old Muscle & Fitness magazines in the 80′s. (Yes, I’m that old)

What we fail to understand is the body simply cannot handle the volume of work prescribed without some pharmacological help. Some of these programs were designed by those using anabolics for those taking anabolics. You’d need the drugs to recover from a program like this.

If you’re like most lacrosse players, your nutrition is barely on point, so recovery from training is challenged as it is. That being the case, you can get a great training effect from a program with a lower volume of exercise. I believe in whole body training, one exercise per movement. I have friends who subscribe to the Westside, Conjugate, Skinny Bastards method, and even they only do one heavy exercise per workout session.

The take home message is get your nose out of body building magazines and seek out the advice of a professional strength coach who has your best interests at heart.

PS. With summer coming, new camps and strength programs will be announced. Sign up for our newsletter to get the most up to date information.

Luke Armour’s First goal

Pete — Tue, 11 May 2010 00:21:07 +0000

For those who have been following this site for a while, you know Luke Armour has been a good friend for many years. He’s trained with me while he was in high school, roomed with me while on the road with the NJ Pride, and has become the kind of kid you can’t help but root for. This weekend he scored his first goal during the Ivy League tournament finals. His career at Princeton is looking up and I’m looking forward to his continued progress.

Strong – The Movie

Pete — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:39:03 +0000

Got a note this morning from my buddy Mike Guadango. He says “Strong”, the documentary about Defranco’s gym is available to purchase. Mike is one of the featured guys in the movie. So I went to the website this morning – www.strongmovie.com – and I’m stunned, emotional, motivated. Just looking at the trailer on the site (although I’ve seen it before), makes me look at these guys and appreciate the sacrifices they made to train with Joe and be the best they can be at whatever they do.

I was moved enough to immediately pull out my credit card and plop down the $29 bucks. I can’t wait to see the whole movie. If I’m feeling this way now after watching a 50 second trailer, I can’t imagine what emotions will stir after seeing the movie in it’s entirety.

Get Strong.

www.strongmovie.com

Tags: Strong, Mike, Guadango, Joe, Defranco, Movie

Lacrosse training programs vs. just working out

Pete — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:24:49 +0000

There is a huge difference between following a training program, for lacrosse or any other sport, and showing up to “get in a workout”. To me, that difference is your goal. Short term goals, long term goals, whatever. A program is designed to help you reach your goal in the required amount of time. It takes patience, determination, and focus to follow the specified program toward your goal. Sometimes it’s hard to stay on task. It would be easy to just show up at the gym and do whatever routine comes to mind. Spontaneous. But in the long run, working out without a goal, a direction, can lead you going in circles. You won’t improve any athletic ability: strength, power, speed, or agility. In the end, just working out, can end up being a waste of time.

Players should be starting their pre-season routines, if you haven’t already started. Your pre-season program should be tailored toward your goals, whatever they may be. So get a program, and stick to it. Don’t have one? Ask your coach, strength coach, hire a strength coach in your area, or even email a coach. Most coaches would be glad to give you some direction. However you do it, get a program, and work hard.

Tags: lacrosse, strength, program, goals

Upper body exercises for Lacrosse

Pete — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:06:01 +0000

Q: What are some good lacrosse specific upper body work out techniques? Thanks.
A: For upper body work, I look at some of the major movements first: pressing movements and pulling movements in different phases of gravity. To be more specific, I’ll look at exercises that are classified as vertical push & pull, or horizontal push & pull. Vertical pushing exercises would be a dumbbell shoulder press, or military press. A vertical pull is the pull up with varying grips. A horizontal push is a bench press or dumbbell press. A horizontal pull is an inverted pull up or one armed dumbbell row.

As long as these exercises are done with equal volume between all movements, your upper body will be balanced and you will prevent upper body overuse injuries that are common.

Other questions may be asked at www.asklacrossestrength.com.

Rehab of some common injuries-Hamstring strains

Pete — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 19:58:16 +0000

This is a tough column to write because everyone has different injuries, histories, mechanisms, etc. So we’ll just stick to the basics. To start with, if you have an injury, it’s best if you go get it properly diagnosed first before trying out the latest in rehabilitative techniques. You need to know what exacty you’re dealing with. And as we all should know by now, utilize the RICE priciple for acute inuries. That is Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

Hamstring strains: I’ve found hamstring strains to be the most common injuries across the board, from high school athletes through professionals. Hamstring strains occur for two main reasons: either the glute is not firing correctly and utilizing the hamstring for the bulk of hip extension, or the running technique is such that the foot pulls at the ground, rather than pushing it behind you.

Treatment of this injury is acutely, RICE and then start foam rolling and GENTLE stretching. I say gentle because you’re not trying to create new motion here, just maintain what you have. Gentle static stretching for 30 sec at a time should be sufficient. Then roll the hamstrings slowly for 8-10 passes.

Strength training, when able, should include squats, deadlifts, step ups and isolated hip extensions at some time througth the rehab process. Keep the reps between 8-10 at first, then drop to 5-8 and add resistance, when able.

To improve your running technique, the important thing to note is your stride foot should land beneath your hips. If your foot lands in front of the hips, your hamstrings will be at a poor angle and be utilized to PULL at the ground. Not good. Any drills, such as wall drills, will help improve your technique and reduce the amount of injury.

If you have any questions regarding rehabing hamstring strains, or anything else, stop by our forum at www.lacrossestrengthforum.com and our list of experts will be glad to lend a hand.

See you next time.

Lacrosse Strength Forum is online

Pete — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:41:55 +0000

Finally I got off my duff and created a forum. I tried to write about topics I thought needed to be written about. But in reality, I really don’t know what the readers of Lacrosse Strength would like to know about. So this forum will be a place you can ask questions, make suggestions, and really make the site more interactive. Now obviously there are some great forums out there with interests in the sport of lacrosse (I stop by LacrosseForums.com once in a while) or strength training (try the forum at strengthcoach.com), but this forum will be a strength and conditioning forum for lacrosse players, coaches, and parents. So if you have questions, ask them. You never know who might show up to answer them.

http://www.lacrossestrengthforum.com

Lacrosse Off-season Training

Pete — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:41:44 +0000

Sometimes it’s hard to know when off-season is actually here. The spring season rolls into the summer tournaments to fall ball, indoor tournaments, back to the spring season.

When does it end!

Although I don’t recommend it, some people are year-round lacrosse players. If that’s the case, when do you recover, recuperate, rehabilitate, and improve your physical abilities for the next season? Looking at the calendar, this might be the best time to take off and take part in a strong off-season training program. This program should focus on improving your total body strength, improving flexibility, and rehabing whatever injuries you may have incurred. This is the time to make significant changes to your body.

Recovery methods can include massage, contrast baths/showers, foam rolling. Find a good sports massage therapist in your area and get a massage once a week. Contrast baths/showers consist of changing water temperature at a timed rate. Start off with cold water for 2 minutes and change to hot for 3 minutes. Switch back and forth for 15 minutes, then end with cold. Foam rolling can be done multiple times a day. This will help break up and adhesions in the muscle tissue and increase blood flow. I wrote an article on foam rolling for Lax Speed, a magazine put out by Rashad Devoe at www.devoehp.com. Check it out.

Next time we’ll look at the rehabilitation of some common injuries.

Interview with Frank Giannantonio

Pete — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:09:38 +0000

Today we were able to interview Frank Giannantonio, owner of Frank’s Performance Training in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ. We were able to discuss many aspects of strength training, his methods and influences. Listed below are links of subjects we touched upon during the conversation.

Frank’s Performance Training

Westside Barbell

Elite Fitness Systems

Functional Movement Screen

Defranco’s Training

Starting Strength

Lacrosse looking for athletes

Pete — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:02:47 +0000

Did you happen to catch Inside Lacrosse: Season Preview on ESPN2 yesterday? If not, I’m sure they’ll have reruns on ESPNU. (Click HERE for the story.) But I thought it was a good hour long program. I liked listening to the college coaches talk about recruiting. Since I work with guys who are already established, I don’t really get to see things from the recruiting point of view. I was especially interested in a comment made by Dom Starsia, Head Coach of Virginia. He says he’s looking for athletes who can move their feet. And if they’re big and can move their feet…even better.

That comment gives me some satisfaction because that’s exactly what we’re trying to do with our personal training clients. Our goal is to get our athletes as strong as possible while improving agility, deceleration, and footwork. Honestly, I don’t consider these abilities to be separate. I believe strength will naturally improve speed, agility, acceleration, deceleration. Improving strength is also a factor of neurological training. The nervous system has to be functioning optimally in order to recruit more muscle fibers and gain strength. A highly functioning nervous system will also improve footwork, coordination, balance…all qualities posessed by an “athlete”.

How else can you become a better athlete? Play other sports. I’ve always felt it’s important for young players to be exposed to as many sports as possible. The experience can only help you. Not only will playing other sports improve your athletic abilities, but possibly improve other qualities such as vision, concentration, and mental toughness.

College coaches are looking for athletes. So go out and try new things and improve your athleticism. But don’t forget to play some wall ball, too.