We offer personal and small group strength and conditioning for all athletes! But is it right for you? Ask yourself these simple questions.

1. Does your athlete predominantly play one sport?
2. Does your athlete have a tendency to perform skills with incorrect technique, or compensate for lack of strength or mobility to perform a task?
3. Can your athlete touch their toes, perform a full squat with heels down and chest up, grab hands behind their head, or have full range of motion in all joints?
4. Does your athlete have any injuries? Or any constantly nagging issues they continue to play through? Or injuries that keep coming back?
5. Is your athlete slow on the court/field, or unable to play for long days without getting tired and sore? Even at the end of the season?
6. Could they learn to jump higher, have more power, or change direction quicker?

If you have answered yes to most of these questions, then your athlete could definitely benefit from some extra athletic training. The best way for an athlete to get better at their sport is to play that sport- a lot! But there are 3 main reasons you should consider adding the element of athletic training.

1. The problem most kids face is when they play a sport that uses one side predominantly, (volleyball, basketball, softball, baseball, lacrosse, etc.), or never take time off to rest, they start to create injures from imbalances and over use on that side.

2.The other things that factors in, is athletes can be really good at skills and their sport, but lack the strength and stability to continually play sports at a high level, for a long period of time. Kids that are young and healthy can play through pain and suffering for a long time. But, if they are weak or doing something wrong, eventually their body won't be able to keep up with the constant pressure and strain before it starts to break down. Kids go into the weight room in high school but have no idea what they are doing. They can be strong in one area that creates aesthetics, but does nothing for their actual performance. A lot of coaches know very little about exercise science and want their kids to lift heavy. The problem is they are building strength on all sorts of un-functional movements. Which will make injuries even greater. People in the weight room tend to stick with old school body building lifts that do nothing for correct movement patterns and deep muscle activation the athletes actually use. Having big biceps does not stop your rotator cuff from hurting.

3. You can't play through pain forever. Most athletes we come in contact with, especially those who play one sport, have some sort of reoccurring injury or pain in a joint or muscle. When we are in the midst of a season, we have to tape, wrap, and play through the discomfort. Unfortunately, when something hurts, you can't play through it forever. Your body is an amazing machine. It can heal and repair itself with time, and it can work under huge amounts of stress. We tend to mask the problems and not usually take the time to fix them until they are too late. When pain starts to happen, that is not an indicator that something just started. It is an indicator that your body can no longer compensate for the stress. Luckily, with proper care and management, injuries can go away or never occur in the first place. You shouldn't tape an ankle or wear a brace forever, you should make the ankle strong so it doesn't have to have support. You should have proper mobility in your shoulder so you can sleep at night and lift your arm without pain. Pain means it's time to work on the engine.

With all that being said. We offer programs to work on:

A. Correct Movement Patterns
B. Proper Mobility- Most technique issues and pain are due from the inability to move a joint in the correct pattern because of lack of motion in that joint or tight surrounding muscles.
C. Strengthening the deep muscles for stability and making sure both muscles (agonist and antagonist) are in balance.
D. Creating overall strength to jump higher, move quicker, and create speed.
E. Prevent injuries by creating balance and strength in the entire body.

Your coaches are great at teaching you how to play the game. But, don't neglect the need to stay healthy and strong enough to continue to play at high levels.

If you are interested in this type of training or have any questions. Please feel free to call Bree at 801-518-3080

* Bree Anderson has been coaching athletes for over 10 years and is currently working with collegiate athletes from volleyball to cross country. She is a CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist), has a USAW Certification, Personal Training Certification, and a Certified Nutrition Specialist. She loves working as a strength and conditioning coach for collegient athletes and helping her younger athletes stay strong and healthy.