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Should Athletes Emphasize Velocity-Based Training?

Velocity-based training (VBT) is a relatively new term in strength & conditioning, but the concept itself is definitely not new. Medicine ball throws, reactive plyometric jumps, Olympic Lifts and other similar exercises have been around for a long time. What has changed is technology. Today, there are a growing number of tools and apps that measure the speed of your lifts and other sport skills. You see them used in college and pro training programs on a fairly regular basis now. This ties right into the way athletes are evaluated at the highest levels. You see an emphasis on exit velocity in baseball, hockey slap shots and tennis serves measured in miles per hour, plus numerous ....
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5 Nutrition Tips I Was Wrong About

As we get older, we tend to see the mistakes of our younger years a bit more clearly. And nutrition advice from fitness & health professionals tends to declare each new finding a 'total breakthrough' that is likely the cause of all your extra weight, low energy and other various ailments despite having incomplete information from which to draw that conclusion. Put those two things together, and you're going to have a lot of mistakes to own up to. Just like anyone else, my beliefs on what you should and shouldn't focus on when trying to eat healthier has evolved over time. With hindsight, I can see many things that I preached to athletes of all ages that, if I could take it back ....
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Ancient Nutrition Secrets That Can Help You Today

I'm very much of the belief that the greatest contributor to our nation's health problems comes from the way we've changed our dietary habits over the last 50+ years. Looking at the popularity of the Paleo diet, intermittent fasting, and other 'back to basics' nutritional trends, this viewpoint is likely a fairly popular one now. Lots of these newer trends find their roots in the oldest of human civilizations - the Chinese Taoist beliefs that stretch back roughly 5,000 years. It is a culture that has looked for ways to enhance health and longevity throughout that time. Because of that, there just might be a few more valuable tips for you that they uncovered many years ago, but have ....
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Train to Win By Training Ugly

A youth basketball team runs its plays in a 5 v 0 environment, and without any defenders everything is executed flawlessly. Then the coach inserts a defense (5 v 5), and things don't look so good. Which is better for the long-term development of these players? As coaches, we always want to see things look right - exercises, sport skills, plays. It makes us feel like we are on the right track and everything is working out well. Parents usually see things the same way. If their child looks competent at practice and during skill work, they must be doing well.. If they're struggling, that is a bad thing. The problem with this approach is that we are emphasizing performance in practice over ....
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Why Use The 60 Yard Shuttle Test?

Performance testing is a great way to track progress, modify future workout programming, and challenge athletes to train at a level that generates real results. There certainly are a long list of tests to choose from, measuring strength, power, speed, agility, conditioning, and much more. We've recently chosen to use just two tests - the vertical jump and 60 yard shuttle run - for our tracking system. With a limited amount of time to administer tests, we needed two that capture as much information as possible in a short amount of time. Success in the vertical jump requires an excellent strength-to-body mass ratio, is predictive of speed potential, and is a hard test to cheat. For all ....
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Snow Cancellations & Other Helpful Member Tips

With the hustle and bustle of classes there are a few point regarding class cancellations, membership tips, and other things that sometimes get lost in translation. Snowstorm protocol is typically the #1 most asked policy, so this seems like as good a time as any to cover these!
WHAT HAPPENS TO CLASSES IN SNOW STORMS?

For smaller snow totals we, like most businesses, typically stay open. However, for 2 foot snowstorms or other hefty amounts we do occasionally close. You can always check the status of classes on our Mindbody schedule page: Click Here To Access Power Source Schedule Page You'll see CANCELLED in red if we do decide to close. This page updates in real time so it is ....
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6 Random Thoughts On Training, Nutrition & More

A few scattered thoughts pertaining to success in athletics and general well-being for you on a Sunday where (for most of you) your New England Patriots are about to battle my Philadelphia Eagles... - With performance training it is important to remember that all development is incremental, and thus takes a prolonged period of time to truly make an impact on your overall athletic future. Think of it like the stock market, there are times where prices increase dramatically and others where it sort of just meanders for awhile, but you need to stay in the game over the long-term to reap the full benefits. The ones who stick with it when everyone else bails are the ones who get the ....
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Tri-Planar Movement Training

Training like a bodybuilder and training like an athlete are not the same. Sure, there is overlap in certain areas. Getting stronger is valuable for both groups, and athletes want to build muscle to some degree just like bodybuilders (how much is dependent on your sport, position, and current physical condition). Even certain exercises work well for both, with squatting, pressing and deadlifting movements being by far the most common. But the similarities end there. Velocity-based training, minimizing isolation movements, set and rep schemes, and the variety of exercises needed to excel is very different for a bodybuilder than it is for a serious athlete. And one of the greatest ....
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Warm Up Correction: Heel Kicks

Just about every kid who plays sports knows what a heel kick, or butt kick, warm up drill is. And yet nearly 100% of them do it incorrectly. It is unfortunate, because one simple change can take it from a really bad to a very useful corrective sprint exercise.
HEEL KICKS DONE WRONG

Sprinters are at their fastest when they can get their back side leg to snap forward through the most efficient path, and as we all learned in school the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. When watching someone sprint, you want to see their back-side foot snap in front of the body in as close to a straight line path as possible once it leaves the ground. This means that as the ....
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How Often Kids Should Train?

One of the more common questions we get here from parents is "How often should my child work out?" Kids whoplay sports are already quite busy, so adding workouts on top of that schedule can be tricky. There is of course the practical side for families, as in how often they can actually get to a training facility within the parameters of work and other commitments. But from the training side, there are factors that can help you to understand what is the right amount for your situation. It really boils down to these five factors:
How Old Is Your Child?

For actual speed and strength training, the age of the athlete is critical to understanding how often to train. Forthose ages ....
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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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