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3 Common Training Tips That Are Actually Making Your Kid Slower

There are a lot of different ideas, philosophies and tactics coaches use to try and make their players better. Some work, some don't. Personally, I have been guilty in the past 20 years of using tactics that seemed like a good idea at the time, but weren't generating the best results for our kids. Particularly when it comes to speed development, there are three popular ones that simply do not work. They don't match up to what truly fast athletes do in competition, nor are they used by the world's best speed coaches. For kids who do what their coaches tell them and use these strategies, it is actually making them run slower. "Run On Your Toes!" This exact phrase gets ....
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The Fight Against Mediocrity

There are a lot of things we are about average at. Walking, typing, driving, reading, these are just some of the skills that required some learning and repetition to become adequate at. Once you reached a level of proficiency, you were probably content to stay right where you were skill-wise forever. Academics, athletics, and our professions are three other areas where a vast majority of people must initially work to become competent. From there, most people seem just fine being good enough. Some people, though, want to be great. And, surprisingly, there are really just two life skills that separate the ones who are destined for excellence from everyone else. Hard ....
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Do I Always Need To Feel An Exercise Working?

"Where should I be feeling this exercise?" This is a question that comes up fairly often in a gym setting. The assumptions are that extreme muscle fatigue will not only be present in every useful exercise, but that if you don't feel it in the right area then you must be doing something wrong. Beware of this absolute mindset in your training. There are many valuable exercises, particularly in sports training, where you won't necessarily feel any specific area fatiguing. The most obvious example would be sprinting. Sprinting is the #1 strength exercise for all your lower leg muscles. Yet I've never heard someone run a 40 yard sprint and then say, "Ooh, I really feel that ....
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Train Your Sport Or Train In The Gym? Which Is Better For Speed?

There are two opposing viewpoints when it comes to speed development. On one side there are coaches, like us at Power Source, who train the technical side of sprinting and cutting. We act as if teaching everything in a controlled environment will magically transfer to the chaotic nature of sport. On the flip side are, primarily, sport coaches. Certainly not all of course, but those whose beliefs reside here feel that you need to play your sport more often to develop the exact movement skills needed for your sport and position. And guess what? We are both wrong. To see why, let's replace speed development with learning to read. Both are skills (yes, speed is a skill) ....
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Complete Athletic Development Membership

Back in the 1990's it was rare for a pro or college sports team to have even one strength coach. Nearly everything was about the sport itself. Today, elite teams have a staff of strength coaches, speed coaches, nutritionists, massage therapists, sports psychologists and more. The off-field side of the equation has become highly valued. This has trickled down to the youth level, where it is becoming increasingly difficult for kids who just play their sport to keep up with those who are training outside their sport, too. Around the country in all major cities, including Boston, there are all-inclusive training options for athletes and their parents who want to get an ....
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This Is The Most Accurate Way To Predict A Kid's Future Success

For kids who want to get into a top college, whether it be academically or athletically, the competition level has never been higher. As with anything where competition becomes more fierce, the time dedicated to gaining some sort of advantage increases right along with it. With seemingly every parent in America trying to get kids an edge in getting that acceptance letter, or earning that scholarship, it begs a very simple question. What should my kid be doing to get where they want to go? Luckily, researchers have been working on this question for decades and now have a very good idea. In the highly recommended book "Grit", by Angela Duckworth, one of the topics they ....
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Is Barbell Training BAD For Athletic Development?

One of the first pieces of equipment I've always considered essential to the complete development of an athlete is a barbell. It is the best tool for developing maximal strength, a trait that needs to be developed to succeed at elite levels of any sport. Then I read this article by Coach Steve Myrland, which presents a strong counterpoint: https://bodyzone.com/why-athletes-should-avoid-the-bars/ Here's a quote from that article which sums up his thinking: Peek into any high school weight-room and you will see big, slow guys lifting weights under the misguided notion that strength is the holy-grail.It isn’t.Big strong guys are a dime-a-dozen. Big strong guys ....
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Fear

" We live inside a circle, bounded by our fears." - Mahatma Gandhi In both athletic competition and in training, there is an underlying force constantly at work. Fear. So often we can see from the outside, as parents and coaches, what the right thing to do is in many situations. It can be frustrating to watch someone who holds themselves back without any clear reason. They don't try as hard as they seem capable of. They avoid actions that clearly will help them. They take the easy road over and over, even when it leads to smaller and smaller improvements over the years. What many times drives this behavior is fear. A fear of failure will cause someone to ....
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The #1 Reason Elite Performers Train Better Than Everyone Else

Angela Duckworth, author of the best-selling book 'Grit', wanted to know why she isn't any faster than she was years ago despite going for a run almost every day. She asked famous researcher Dr. Anders Ericsson, the world's foremost expert on elite performance who unearthed the '10,000 hour rule' concept, for answers. Duckworth told him she'd put in thousands of hours of running since she was eighteen, but her times are essentially the same. Dr. Ericsson asked her some critical questions. " Do you have a specific goal when you run?" "Do you keep a log of how far or how fast you ran each time?" "What do you think about when you run?" Duckworth replied to the ....
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Speed & Injury Prevention Starts With Foot Strength

While watching elite sprinters in a slow motion playback, something jumped out to me that previously had gone right over my head. When a top sprinter's foot hits the ground, it doesn't bend back practically at all, even as they land on the front half of their foot In fact, it almost seems like their feet are made of iron. Contrast that with slower runners whose ankle joint will give way when gravitational forces are imposed on there. Or worse, their foot rolls inward with a collapsed arch. The first and most obvious problem is that extra stretch keeps them on the ground longer in every stride, making them run slower. The second, and more concerning issue, is that if your ....
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Neal Darcy, Father of Elite HS Girls Soccer Player

I want to say that I have been so impressed by the way you run Powersource and the immediate impact you made with Alex's performance. I could not give a higher recommendation for you and Powersource to anyone looking to take their fitness, speed and on field performance to the next level. I only wish we had anything even remotely close to your business here in Raleigh.

Gary Inthirath

I took a few adult class sessions, and highly recommended them. The HIIT training sessions helped improved my cardio in a short time for rugby. Jim and Akhiel are awesome trainers that will help you achieved your fitness goals.

Tina Dale

My son wanted to gain muscle and work on his weak areas so he could be a better hockey player. One of his teammates had great results with Power Source so we gave it a try. Best decision ever! In the past few months, we’ve seen a big improvement in his strength and even other parents have commented on his skating strength. We have also seen an improvement in his confidence. I highly recommend checking out Power Source to help your athlete improve in every area of their sport.

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