Hash Fitness & Sports Performance
Hash Fitness & Sports Performance
Move Better. Perform Better. www.Travishashfitness.com
20/02/2020
Check this out!
We are now accepting applications for our 2020 Summer Strength & Conditioning Internship!
The internship...
1. Lasts 14 weeks starting June 1 and ending Sept 5th.
2. Provides a minimum of 15-20 hours per week of hands on coaching experience.
3. Follows a challenging course curriculum designed around improving the knowledge base and coaching competence of our interns.
Requirements...
1. Copy of your resume (including references)
2. Passion for strength and conditioning
3. Willingness to learn
Preferred but not mandatory...
1. College student with a major related to exercise science/sports medicine
2. General understanding of exercise and anatomy
Please email resume to: [email protected]
Prone Plyoball Drops are a great option to incorporate some rhythmic stabilization work without a partner or coach having to apply the perturbations.
Why do them❓
⬆️ Cuff strength and timing
⬆️ Dynamic scapular stability
Love using prolonged eccentrics:
⬆️ hypertrophy
⬆️ eccentric strength
⬆️ movement efficiency
⬆️ mobility
Also...⬆️ background commentary on the size of Mason’s () quads
Reference:
Eccentric Muscle Contractions: Risks and Benefits. Hody S, et al. 2019 Review Article
Partner Push Lateral Lunges
-Non-boring frontal plane movement ✅
-Overloading deceleration to acceleration transition ✅
-Forces adjustment to varying push forces ✅
(P.S. I’d prefer his right leg to be straighter, he knows this)
Three squats, all different, but all solid.
The textbook definition of good form rarely holds up in the trenches. (Though, to the textbook’s credit, NSCA Basics of Strength and Conditioning Manual does advise to pick the “stance that works for you.”)
The reason there is not singular correct way to squat is because every athlete is different. Variations in femor length, femoral neck angle, orientation and depth of acetabulofamoral joint are among the top influential factors.
Though technique differences should be expected, there are a few things I think are important in every quality squat.
1. Utilize full range of motion. If you have the ability to squat full depth, you should be squatting to full depth. a) They’re safe (Hartmann H, et al. 2013) and b)Full depth squats have greater “performance-enhancing transfer effects of dynamic maximal strength to dynamic speed-strength capacity of hip and knee extensors compared with quarter squats” Hartmann H, et al. 2012)
**Disclaimer: Like almost all training modalities, I still think there is a time and place for quarter squats in the right program.**
2. Core should be braced and trunk movement should be relatively constant throughout the movement. This is likely safer on the spine...even though much of the supporting research was done on either pig spines or biomechanical models.
3. Full and balanced foot contact. Squatting with your weight on your heels is not only less stable, but if you’re an athlete, it’s not really an advantageous position to be in...try to jump really high while only pushing through your heels.
4. Avoid knee valgus. Many studies have discussed the association between knee valgus but I also think it’s a less efficient path to produce force. If the goal is to rapidly extend the knees, any movement outside of the sagittal plane seems inefficient.
Who says overhead athletes can’t press heavy?
Benefits to heavy presses:
1. Basic strength training, including the bench press, had greater effects on increased throwing velocity than medicine ball throws in novice athletes (McEvoy et al, 1994).
2. The pecs play an important role in accelerating the arm towards ball release in baseball pitching (Jobe et al, 1984)(Gowan et al, 1987).
3. Upper body pressing exercises are correlated to increased overhead throwing velocity (Marques et al. 2007)(Freedston et al. 2016).
There are certainly a ton of factors that go into throwing gas but pressing should certainly have a place in your program ✅💪🏼
18/12/2019
Sure, you can’t develop everyone into a world champion sprinter...but you can definitely turn slow into fast and fast into faster.
Here’s one of our in-season soccer athletes (Christian Shertzer) pulling 315 for a double 🔥
At the start of the season, Christian’s 1RM was 295...now, at the end of the season, he’s moving 315 for 2.
With HS athletes we can do more than just “maintain” in-season ✅💪🏼
*As an add on, we do not test 1RM’s. We typically test 6 & 3 RMs but will pull heavy (9+ RPE) singles as part of some programs. This is where the 1RM number came from in this post.
20/10/2019
When designing a program for an athlete it is important to identify the most effective path to improvement 📈
Certainly there’s a multitude of factors at play but of the most important is the athlete’s place on the force-velocity curve
💥For the sake of this post I have simplified the Force-Velocity Curve into the 3 major categories💥
For Example 📋
💪🏼 An athlete with a very low training age and minimal strength, would benefit most from just getting stronger. They will see improvements in both power and speed by just spending more time on the maximal strength end of the curve.
However, an athlete who is already sufficiently strong, won’t see as great of benefits by only continuing to get stronger. They need to shift their training more towards the power and speed end of the spectrum 🏋🏻♂️🏃🏻♂️
In the absence of a sled (or in larger team settings where using just 1 or 2 sleds is impractical) banded runs can be a great alternative ✅
Why ❓
💪🏼 Increased amount of force required to propel forward
🏃🏻♂️Reinforces good joint angles
01/10/2019
With October marking the start of the baseball off-season for most of our guys...here’s 7 ways you can make it count!
What would you add to this list?
20/08/2019
As some of you probably saw on our other page we had Yael complete his final testing for the summer today. I’ve included his deadlift numbers above and the rest of his field/weight room data can be found Absolute Sports Performance.
While extremely impressive, particularly for a guy that’s just 150 pounds, that’s not the reason for this post.
For whatever reason, folks seem to look for the “magical secret” behind success. Over the summer Yael completed 10 weeks of training, attending lifts (4x/week) that included deadlifts, squats, floor press, Olympic variations, plyometrics, sprints, a plethora of accessory/arm care work, AND vacuuming the gym floor once a week.
Vacuuming the gym floor was the CLEARLY Yael’s secret behind the numbers! *Sarcasm*
The reality, though, is his “secret” was consistent-hard work, over an extended period of time, with a program that made sense for what he was trying to accomplish. Not the vacuuming. Don’t get lost in the secret searching sauce...put in the work and more often than not, you’ll be pretty happy where you end up 💯
As I’ve discussed at length in previous posts, I am a big fan of the “Anti-Abs” aka exercises that resist trunk movement (Anti-Extension, Anti-Rotation, and Anti-Lateral Flexion).
Here’s a fun variation to try that checks the Anti-Extension and Anti-Rotation boxes ✅
05/08/2019
‼️We are now taking applications for our Fall Strength & Conditioning Internship Program‼️
The overarching goal of the Absolute Sports Performance Strength & Conditioning Internship Program is to provide an educational and hands-on experience to help our interns develop the skills necessary to succeed as a strength and conditioning professional in the future.
Interns can expect to work along side Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists in assisting high school and college athletes through their training programs.
In addition to the time spent on the training floor, interns will have weekly readings and attend a meeting to discuss relevant topics in the technical, business, and art of coaching sides of strength and conditioning.
Internship Length/Types
* Volunteer and College Credit Options Available
* The Fall internship period is from September 7th-November 27.
Internship Prerequisites:
* Enthusiastic about athletic performance and development
* Positive attitude, open minded, willingness to learn
* Basic understanding of anatomy, physiology, strength training
If you meet the criteria and are interested in joining our program, please EMAIL your resume to [email protected] !
My all time favorite lift is the Conventional Deadlift. That being said, I haven’t consistently programmed it for myself in awhile because I was having an affair with the Hex Bar variation. Here’s a set from a 5x5x335 for a 6-7 RPE. My all time PR is 525. Hoping to get back there and then some 💪🏼👍🏼
No belt squat? No problem 😂✅
The belt squat is a great variation that allows the athlete to load the squat pattern without usage of the hands and mitigates some of the stress placed on the back during a traditional back squat.
The only problem is, not every gym has a belt squat machine or belt. Sometimes you have to improvise 😂
It’s no secret that single leg plyometrics can have a significant carryover to on-field play. Recently I’ve been using the RFE Jumps in our more advanced programs.
In the video we used a band to help with the overall contraction speed of the movement and to give the athlete a little assistance on the deceleration phase 👍🏼💪🏼
Here’s a quick and effective hip mobility series that you can use as a warm-up for the legs or as a mobility session on its own to improve your hip range of motion 👍🏼✅
Just a couple pitchers hammering out some lunges 💪🏼⚾️✅
16/05/2019
💪🏼 The Week of Shoulders Day 5 💪🏼
⏮ Now that we understand the importance of proper shoulder movement and strength, we can begin to get a bit deeper into exercise selection.
🏋🏻♂️ Heavy overhead lifts (Shoulder Press, OHP, etc.) can be great exercises to develop upper body strength in the shoulders, chest, and triceps. They’re also extremely popular lifts.
‼️ With that said, they’re probably not the best for everyone.
📋 The Back to Wall Shoulder Flexion assessment test is, in my opinion, a great determinant as to whether an individual is ready and able to safely execute a heavy overhead lift. If you cannot keep your back completely flat against the wall and raise your arms straight up and back to the wall without pain, you probably have no business doing heavy overhead lifts as you do not possess the core control, shoulder range of motion, or both to do so safely.
❓So what can you do❓
1️⃣ Work to improve your range of motion with some of the exercises we’ve discussed in previous days
And
2️⃣ Substitute in more shoulder friendly pressing variations in the the meantime.
-Landmine Press Variations
-Floor Press
-Cable Press Variations
-Weighted Push-Up variations
Forcing any lift on yourself that your body is not prepared for is a recipe for injury ✅
💪🏼 The Week of Shoulders Day 4 💪🏼
⏮ Continuing yesterday’s conversation about good scap movement, I wanted to showcase a few ways that we can load (or add weight to) these movements.
💡 Developing good scapular movement through wall slides and other body weight mobility drills is great but that doesn’t mean that we can’t add a load to these movements as well. Remember that poor movement can also stem from inadequate strength.
Here’s two great ways to train good scap movement under a load:
1️⃣ Landmine Press- Landmine Press variations are a great way to apply load to scapular elevation and upward rotation. These variations can be progressed and regressed from kneeling to standing and even to some rotational power applications !
2️⃣ Rows- I love the quote “if you throw, you must Row.” And I agree! But I would like to add to that statement: If you throw you must row with a full and controlled range of motion. I think it’s important that the scap moves both ways—retraction AND protraction. Overhead sports/overhead movements require scapular protraction, elevation, and upward rotation so it is important that we allow our scaps to move naturally in our training.
As we know, movement of the scapula, in relation to the glenohumeral joint (true shoulder joint), is a major key to overall shoulder health and performance!
💪🏼 The Week of Shoulders Day 3 💪🏼
⏮ Strong Rotator Cuffs are super important but that is not the only factor in shoulder health and performance.
🔑 Good movement at the Scapulothoracic Joint is absolutely critical to shoulder health and performance!
‼️ In order to understand the importance of the scapulothoracic joint, which is comprised of the scapula (shoulder blade) and the rib cage, we have to appreciate the functional anatomy behind it. The shoulder joint is made up of the head of the humerus and the glenoid cavity of the scapula. The humeral head sits right on top of the glenoid cavity like a golf ball on a tee. As the shoulder joint goes through various motions, the scapula has to move with it. It does this by gliding on top of the rib cage. For every two degrees that the shoulder moves, the scapula should move one degree (2:1 ratio).
💪🏼 If the scapula is unable to move close to a 2:1 ratio with the shoulder, then we are going to be limited with how far we can move our arm. This limit, when trying to throw a baseball, is problematic, as the thrower will place undue pressure on the shoulder and elbow in an attempt to reach the proper range of motion.
✅ Above are 2 of my favorite drills to address this! (There are plenty of others)
13/05/2019
💪🏼 The Week of Shoulders Day 2 💪🏼
⏮ Yesterday we discussed the 4 different rotator cuff muscles and their basic functions.
🏋🏻♂️ Today we will discuss how to train the Cuff for optimal shoulder safety and performance
For me, rotator cuff training falls into two categories:
1️⃣ Cuff Strength- These are probably the most common arm care exercises that we see. I think most throwing athletes probably have done some variation of them at some point in time. This is your bands, wrist weights, and cables. I posted a few from the J-Band Routine () in the graphic 👍🏼
2️⃣ Cuff Timing- General cuff strength is important but it also needs to be strong on time and when you need it. The rotator cuff muscles are responsible for keeping the head of the humerus in the glenoid cavity and decelerating the forces generated in the acceleration phase of the movement. So it is super important for them to fire on time as the arm transitions quickly, and powerfully, from external to internal rotation during the throw. Rhythmic stabilizations, shoulders tubes, and weighted ball catches work really well for developing this. @ Harford County, Maryland
12/05/2019
💪🏼 The Week of Shoulders 💪🏼
Since ’s opening there has been a lot of focus on posting consistently on that page and less so on this one. So, in effort to increase the post frequency and information on this I want to do a full week of info on shoulders!
Before we get too fancy, it is important to first understand the basic anatomy of the shoulder. Today we will discuss the Rotator Cuff. Though it is often referred to as one muscle, the Cuff is actually made up of 4 muscles that each have slightly different locations and functions.
By learning the functions of the muscles within the cuff we can strengthen them and reduce the risk of injury.
Primary action of each muscle of the Rotator Cuff at the Shoulder Complex:
1️⃣ Supraspinatus: Abduction
2️⃣ Infraspinatus: External Rotation
3️⃣ Subscapularis: Internal Rotation
4️⃣ Teres Minor: External Rotation (Greater activation at 90 degree arm angle)
*all act to stabilize the head of the Humerus in the Glenoid Cavity*
Of course with the complexity of the throwing motion many other muscles are involved but the muscles of the rotator cuff are of the most important.
Unilateral strength is a major factor in high performance. Virtually all major athletic movements take place on one leg so it’s probably a good idea to be able to both produce and accept force on 1 leg ✅
29/04/2019
Just a couple of weeks left on the Pre-Registration discounts for college athlete summer training!
https://www.absolutesportsperformancemd.com/collegesummertraining
College Summer Training | Baseball Training | Abingdon, MD | Absolute Sports Performance Our mission at Absolute Sports Performance is to provide ABSOLUTELY everything an athlete needs, from high level sports skills coaching, to research-based strength training, to the latest data-driven sports technology, all in one location.
25/04/2019
College Summer Training Pre-Registration is now open! LINK: https://www.absolutesportsperformancemd.com/collegesummertraining
20/04/2019
Anyone who claims to have athletic development completely figured out is either too inexperienced to know better or is flat out lying.
As a coach you are simultaneously trying to manage a myriad factors. Some of which you directly control:
-Exercise selection
-Training volume
-Intensity
-Frequency
Some of which you don’t:
-The athlete’s diet
-Sleep schedule
-Practice schedules
-Lifestyle choices
-Parents
The point being is:
1) You don’t know everything
2) Neither does anyone else.
So keep reading, keep learning, and keep trying to get better 👍🏼✅💪🏼
15/04/2019
Atta boy Ryan!
💥ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT💥
This week’s athlete in the spotlight is Fallston High School’s Junior LHP/OF Ryan Pickle!
Ryan was one of the original athletes and has continued to build on his success after making the switch over to ASP. Ryan is currently enrolled in our year long Elite Baseball Membership!
In addition to holding the ASP Junior Class 5-10-5, Broad Jump, and 3RM squat records, Ryan is off to a hot start on the mound for the Fallston Cougars striking out 12 and allowing just a handful of runs over 11.2 IP 💪🏼🔥
14/04/2019
Check this out!
‼️NEW‼️
Join us this week for our Group Fitness Classes by FirstR8 Fitness !!
These classes are a lot of fun and designed for all fitness levels...that means YOU parents! We see your young athletes working hard, now it’s time for you to get after it too!!
‼️New Class Schedule Below‼️
Monday & Wednesdays 6-6:45 am
Saturday’s 8-8:45 am
It’s just $10 drop in per class or we have a discounted monthly membership available!
We hope to see you tomorrow morning!
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