Think about the last great thing that you accomplished in your life… Did you know exactly how you were going to accomplish it?

My guess would be probably not.  You may have plans and direction in the beginning, but the path is rarely what you envisioned it to be.  Sometimes the outcome is even better than expected!!

I think it depends on how you look at things.  Like, “the glass half empty, glass half full” cliche….

With any endeavor there will be set-backs.  But, I truly believe that every scenario has a positive and a negative to it. 

Depending on which is more ”true” for you will determine the speed at which you reach your goals and the magnitude of the result.

Judging by my inbox, this is the HIGHLY anticipated
video about which machines are best for your abs… Enjoy!

Today I recieved a message from a member about training on the machines.

Hey Frank!

I have a few questions for you regarding the machines at the gym. The ones that are lined up between the treadmills and the front desk (arms, back, chest), would you recommend doing them all in one day or is it better to split them up between different days?

Also, some of the machines (like the lat pull- down) has 2 different ways to hold the handles. Do you work different muscles by using the differnt handles or is it just personal preference?

And last question - which machine works best for abs?? I usually use a ball at home but want to try something new. Thanks much!! BTW - the gym looks great…love all the new things you’ve changed and added!

I think a lot of people have the same questions so I figured I would answer them here by video….

Why do people pack on the pounds in Winter?

Is it because we wear more clothing and are more likely to get away without people noticing, or is it the holiday barrage of parties and events that tend to bring plenty of alcohol consumption and caloric intake. Or could it be something scientific in our DNA that tries to accumulate fatty tissue to keep us warm in the winter months….

Maybe…

But I tend to have a different philosophy than most.  I can offer quite a different solution than the typical “watch what you eat and move more” prescription that does not seem to work for most of the American population.

Because I am a sports and fitness coach, you would think that I would preach to you about a sensible diet and regular physical activity, but the more and more I do what I do, I am fascinated to see how much the brain has to do with it.  Your “thinking” to be specific.

In the winter since it is cold and not as pleasant outside, people tend to not be as busy.  We spend a lot more time in the same place.  Which can lead to boredom, nothing to look forward to, and let’s face it mild depression.

For some people food is an outlet.  Something to look forward to or “crave”.  It fills the void during the winter months.

How can you avoid using food as a pick me up?  

Number One: Be aware of this fact… know that when you are grabbing that extra bag of potato chips to take with you for lunch you are in anticipation of using that to make you happy during the day.

Number Two: Get educated on what you should be eating to maintain a healthy weight and keep you energized all day long.  You can do this in our upcoming program called Metabolism Makeover at All 4 Sports and Fitness.  CLICK HERE for more details.

Number Three: Reverse the negative conditioning that food will fill the void of boredom, unhappiness, or something to look forward to.  This is the hard part, but now that you have the awareness, every time you recognize that you are doing this you can stop yourself and fill that boredom with 10 minutes of exercise, reading a positive book, or calling a positive person you know.  This will keep you energetic, inspired, and feel connected to more than just your day-to-day routine.

If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around…..

Does it make a sound?

If you come up to a stop sign in the middle of the night and nobody is around…

Do you roll through it?

When you exercise without a trainer….

Do you really push yourself as hard as you should?

When you are in the kitchen alone….

Do you grab a few Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups (I love those)?

Accountability is key, because when nobody is watching….

Well, you know what happens….

I received an interesting email today.

Governor Paterson’s proposed budget intended to close the $15 billion budget deficit will impose a tax of 4% to fitness memberships.

Not only does this affect the cost of your membership, but just think of all the increased cost in medical care due to non- exercise and unhealthy lifestyles in the long run!!

As if the cost of health care wasn’t enough, they seem to want to make it harder for people to stay fit.

In the long term this is completely ridiculous…especially considering that this is in complete contradiction to the Governor’s proposed “obesity taxes” which tax things like non-diet soda. How silly is this? Does that mean that diet soda is okay for you??

Please do me, yourself, and the tax payers who are paying for everyone else’s unhealthy lifestyle….visit http:// www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx? AID=469&APP=GAC&IssueID=15923&SiteID=1 to send a message and have your voice heard.

At the site they have a quick and easy way to submit a message.

It won’t take more than 5 minutes….

I had an interesting conversation today with someone on the topic of success.  And the theme of how to go about it… “by forcing or allowing?” has come up too many times over the last couple days so I felt compelled to write about it….

Now, this post may question all that you know about it, but try and have an open mind… This awareness has changed my life and it may do the same for you…

Growing up playing sports I believed that hard work was everything.  I pretty much identified myself with the fact that I was a hard worker.  I may not have been the most talented, but no one would out work me so I wore that badge of honor wherever I went.  I felt that it was why I was able to do everything in my athletic career.  I believed all that until now.

I think although some of that attitude was a reason for some of my successes, it was also my curse.  Who knows if I would have been better without that attitude, but I do know that I would have enjoyed myself more!!  And the truth is I probably would have played at the same level or better… without all that self imposed pressure.

Think of guys like Michael Jordan, who yes did work very hard, to get to where he was (they even make commercials about his hard work and dedication), but the truth is… he did make it look easy on the court.  

When he was in the zone…. It was effortless.  No amount of hard work, grit, and hours in the gym could have prepared him for those moments hitting 3 after 3.  That was purely a function of his mental state of allowing himself to perform.  Not by forcing, but by allowing…

I could honestly write for days and days on this topic and how I have put too much pressure on myself in my athletic career, in my business career, and just overall self esteem, all in the name of being a hard worker….. But I would rather just leave you with some questions…

There is training effort which should be diligent, hard working, and require some sacrifice.

Then there is performance time.

How often do you let a training mentality sacrifice your mental state when you need to perform?  Do you get nervous, anxious, or agitated before or during a game?  Do you let emotions lead to penalties or mistakes?  Have you ever analyzed what you should do too long that the play completely passed you by?

For me now, I apply this lesson to my life.  When I am forcing situations, they tend to get worse.  When I can relax into knowing that I am prepared and capable it frees me up to perform at my highest level.

If you feel that this is something that relates to you, think about how much time you spend getting better or practicing.  Then think about how much time you spend on your mental game and allowing.

Is it equal?

All 4 Sports and Fitness, West Islip, NY

I am constantly thinking about what gets people exercising, keeps them motivated to get in shape, and then ultimately create the habit of an active lifestyle.  I am always thinking about what we can do here at the club to help people get to that point.  Sometimes it is all I think about… It is like I am trying to crack some impossible code. 

What differentiates the people that create the habit, and the people that can never string a few weeks of workouts together on a consistant basis?  The more I think about it the more I realize that the answer comes way before anything that we have control over, like the programming, nutrition plan, the atmosphere we create, and the motivational emails…

It starts with a strong foundation…

If you truly believe in living a healthy lifestyle.. you will have success.  If you want to get in shape to look good on the beach…it may work in the short term, but be very difficult to create a lifetime of health.  I believe you have to make it part of who you are….

Why do you do it?  Is it for some egotistical, shallow, short term reason?  Or do you really believe in living a healthy lifestyle?

Today I was reading a blog post by well known fitness trainer and industry expert Alwyn Cosgrove about how the fitness industry is changing.  In this new economy, with a new type of consumer, and new training protocols, Alwyn states that “The only constant in today’s world is that everything is changing.”

I happen to strongly agree…

At All 4 Sports and Fitness we are constantly reinventing ourselves.  I think the biggest change that has taken place has been the shift from “Access” to “Participation”.  

Back in the 80’s when my dad ran clubs it was all about super fit people belonging to a sort of day time hot spot….

Now, it’s about value!!  Today’s member is coming in for a result.  And there is a pretty good chance that they are not really into fitness so they are going to need a lot of guidance!

Instead of showing people the pool, locker rooms, and the best place they can stand to watch the girls on the treadmill… Now we are explaining their options to get the most out of their membership.  Like our Fitness Boot Camp, Group Exercise Classes, our VIP Membership which includes Group Personal Training several times per week, and the incredible online support system being built at www.myvirtualfitnesscamp.com

The industry is surely changing but this is what clubs should have been providing all along….

I have been working with a couple of local High School Lacrosse Teams over the past couple weeks and something keeps coming to mind for me as I work with the players.  The request of the coaching staff in both cases was to increase speed and conditioning level going into the Spring season.  

So although we are working on the usual improvement of movement patterns, including mobility, stability, and strength (which are definitely a prerequisite to those things), I have been thinking more and more about how the increase of speed and conditioning will effect the teams this upcoming season.  What keeps coming to mind is the exponential change, in this case exponential decay, that they will experience as the team as a whole continues to decrease the amount of time it takes for them to perform specific skills.  

Skills such as deceleration, acceleration, and multi-directional speed are all well and good when one player increases his or her ability to do those things, but when you have an entire team working on improvement… Whoa!  

What will that do over the course of a game, when you are shaving seconds off of every short burst of action?  And add on an increase in anaerobic and aerobic conditioning…. Exponential change occurs!!

When each player can be faster in and out of a play and continually do that in and out over the course of a 4 quarters with the same efficiency, does skill level really matter.  Surely at the highest of levels it does, but the better the team’s ability to change direction quickly and maintain their wind for the entire game, the more likely that team will be victorious.

This time of year is the is when people tend to get back on track with their fitness programs.  The holiday binge is over and now it is time to take off that unwanted extra weight you have been carrying around since it started getting colder outside.  

The problem is that people typically tend to overwhelm themselves with trying to do everything and in turn do nothing or become victim to the New Years Resolution Syndrome.  People try to change their diet, activity level, and their schedule all in one week!!  

Usually this feels pretty good at first, because you feel like you are getting so much accomplished, but before you know it you’ll be back on the couch eating Doritos.  (I love Doritos by the way)

The way to overcome this syndrome is to do the exact opposite of what most would teach.  In fact I used to teach the exact same thing.  Planning things out.  

Writing down your plan of attack is very good when you are in the thick of things, like a business person trying to map out a 6 month marketing plan, or an olympian trying to set up a program to peak exactly for their event in the games.  But when you haven’t been exercising in a while, try and take one day at a time.  This will help you to form a habit.

What can you do today that is a healthy choice?  

Don’t worry about the past….

Don’t worry about the future…

Don’t worry about the planning (all the planning in the world won’t help you if you can’t create the habit!).

Think about what you can do today to get on track and stop overwhelming yourself with all that needs to be done.  

One day at a time….

What makes people want to get up at 5 in the morning to workout in our Fitness Boot Camp?  

What drives an athlete to push themselves 6 days a week towards a goal of making a team or winning a championship?

I work with people that improve themselves in this way every day and I don’t know if I have ever really asked myself that question.  Maybe I was too afraid to find that the real answer was kind of empty.

As a young athlete I know that for me there were two reasons.  

Looking back I think that the first reason was probably the one giving me that empty feeling.  I purely wanted to make the team to be identified as an athlete.  Then when I did make the team I wanted to be a starter.  Then when I made the team I wanted to be the best, whether that was win a championship or individual accolades.  Not a very humble way of doing things.  

I was wrapped up in being better than others to make myself feel better.  I didn’t really identify with this until I recently listened to an audio program by Dr. Wayne Dyer called “Change your Thoughts, Change your Life”.  It is basically his interpretation of the Tao Te Ching in which he describes this winning attitude scenario that ends with you “all alone in your trophy room”.  

I can personally identify with that.  At the end of my senior year as a baseball player I ended up in exactly that position.  I had accomplished more than I could have ever imagined that year.  I broke longstanding team records, made every 1st Team accolade that I could, but I still did not feel the joy of what I thought I was working towards.  I spent hours in the gym, hitting, taking ground balls…. Could this be all there is?  

I am sure you have felt that way from time to time about something your really anticipated.  It never truly gives you the satisfaction you thought it would because you are looking in the wrong place.

I’ve felt a little confused about this for years.  I make my living helping people achieve goals and somewhere deep inside of me I don’t think I believed in trying to reach goals.  I mean, on the surface I did.  I felt that to be successful you need to have goals to move forward and all, but deep down something was missing.  I guess that feeling of being “all alone in the trophy room” was still there.

I was looking in the wrong place.  It is not the actual achievement of the goal but the enjoyment in working towards the goal that gives you fulfillment.  ”The journey, not the destination”, or whatever other cliche you want to use.  

This new awareness brought me to understand the second reason to train… I loved it.  When I think back, all the memories are in the training…. The early 6 am practices in the gym, staying late after practice to work on things, late nights on the bike in the gym, and so on.  I barely remember the games!!

Do it because you love it, not because of what you get at the end when you are all alone.  Start living in the moment and you will also see your results skyrocket because you are focused on the right reasons!!

As I am writing this I am thinking of how I could spin this for someone who is not an athlete.  Someone who is looking to lose some weight.  

Well, you may not love training now, but it does make you feel really good when you are on a good routine.  That feeling is worth doing the work for it today.  Doing 6 months worth of work to lose 35 pounds doesn’t sound worth it to me…. And if it does to you I think your crazy…. But what is worth it right now is the way you will feel, just for today, when you get that workout in.  

When you stay in the present your results will be accelerated because you will be focused on the right reason.  

Feeling really good about yourself right now.

It grows from there.

Since I truly believe in the power of words and how what you say can affirm your situations.  It was a hard question for me to answer….”How’s business?”

Friends, family members, and customers have been asking me for months and I have generally shrugged off the question with a statement like, “things are great”, “It’s been busy”, or “It’s been the same as last year”.

But maybe what I was really doing was denying the inevitable.  That this economic slow down would eventually trickle down to the health club industry when people start to tighten up their wallet.  

But is that really true?  Will people start to cut out something as important as their physical fitness?  

Over the past several weeks I have been watching people and the energy around some of our new programs and I have come to the conclusion that it could not be further from the truth.  

I believe that the economic situation we are in has caused people to look a little closer at what they spend their money on.  Which in turn has created an opportunity for people to prioritize and think about what is important in life.

Maybe some people, or someone they know has lost their job, 401K plan, or equity in their home?  All that hard work, striving, reaching, and success has gone down the drain in a matter of months.  

But here is the funny thing.  Was that really what we want?  What do we really desire in life?  Is it stuff?  

Maybe at times… I like to have nice things, but I also know that the best things in life can be enjoyed in a healthy body.  

When we have our health we can live life to its fullest… Which doesn’t have a price tag.

Not in any economy.

Chronic stress can have harmful physical effects leading to fatigue, trouble concentrating and sleep problems.  You may also find that you are experiencing headaches or flareups of chronic pain.  Stress can compromise your immune system so you get sick easier (winter cold anyone?) and take longer to recover.  Christmas has been and gone and New Year’s Eve is just around the corner.  Hopefully you have had time to relax some between holidays but if not, here are a few tips to help you enjoy the rest of the year.

1. Think positively and spend time with others who think the same way. Give some serious consideration to avoiding chronically down-in-the-dumps people who have negative personalities.
2. Accept that you can’t control every situation and learn to be flexible.
3. Get plenty of sleep and keep consistency in mind to establish a regular bedtime and wake time.
4. Include at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days to boost your energy level and improve your mood.
5. Like exercise, healthy eating is a key component to a healthy body and mind.  During the holidays, and under stress, many people may make poor eating choices just because all of that holiday food is still in the fridge.  Choose your meals, and portions wisely and you will feel much better for it.
6. If possible, say no to tasks or social offers that you know will cause you anxiety.

There is something about birthdays that make you take a step back and look at your life….

Especially when you hit a milestone like thirty years old…

Today is the last day of my twenties.

Wow….

It’s weird when you say it like that.

I can’t help but think back over the last 10 years of my life:

• Finishing up college
• Playing baseball in Italy
• Opening All 4 Sports and Fitness with my Dad
• Changing my career path to becoming a trainer/coach
• Studying performance training under the Athletes’ Performance Mentorship Program in Tempe, AZ
• Running Fitness Boot Camps and Sports Performance programs for collegiate, high school, and junior high school athletes
• Training the NY Yankees in Spring Training
• And now going into our 7th year serving the community at All 4 Sports and Fitness

It really has been an amazing ride!

When I look back at all my accomplishments, mistakes, good times, and bad I realize that there were so many choices that led me here to this moment.

When I was a Freshman in college I was cut from the Cortland State Baseball Team.

I met so many great people and was having the time of my life at Cortland.

I loved it there but wanted to continue my baseball career.

At the end of the semester I left all my new friends and life behind and transferred to SUNY Brockport.

Who knows what my life would have been like if I would have ended my baseball career then???

Not many people know this but when my father and I first opened All 4 Sports back in 2001 I had no intention of becoming a trainer.

I was basically just managing the club, when one weekend I went out to a training seminar in NJ.

That afternoon I was introduced to Functional Training and I was hooked.

On the drive home I knew that was what I wanted to do.

I could have kept managing the club but I wanted something else.

If I didn’t make that choice I would have never had the opportunity to meet and coach some amazing people but more importantly start the coolest fitness community around the Fitness Boot Camp!!!

Over the past couple of years I have also done a lot of work around not being a complete workaholic and be able to enjoy myself in things other than sports and training.

I love what I do and it is a huge part of my life but I was way out of balance.

You can’t help anyone if you can’t help yourself so I had to make some changes.

I took dance lessons, improv classes, a train ride by myself to the Grand Canyon, and a few other things too weird to mention, hahaha.

All of this got me out of my comfort zone of being on my own and very one dimensional.

With balance in my life I feel more creative, comfortable with myself, and can enjoy myself without having to be busy or productive.

I also believe it is why I met my amazing girlfriend 7 months ago.

I didn’t even know that a relationship could be this great and it was all because a decision I made to change.

There are so many other decisions big and small that have led me to this moment right now, but what I really want to key in on in this newsletter is that our decisions do impact our life.

Sometimes (especially in such negative times) you can feel like you have no say in where your life goes.

But it could be a simple decision to change that can make all the difference.

For the next 10 years I am going to dedicate myself to helping people do the footwork around their decision to change.

Yeah it’s just a fitness center, but it is also a vehicle for changing lives.

If I can help you in any way please let me know….

When I first saw the use of Kettlebells I thought it was way too dangerous.  It looked like it put the shoulder in a compromised position, I didn’t like the posture people used when doing the swings, I kept watching the cannonball hit people in the back of the wrist on their cleans, and figured it would be pretty bad if someone swung one into their patella!!

As it turns out, the people I saw using them were very irresponsible and not executing the movements the right way.  No wonder it took me so long to purchase them…(I usually like to buy equipment…lots of it)

My first real experience with Kettlebells was up in Rochester with trainer and friend Mike Barone.  He took me and a few of the baseball coaches from The College at Brockport through the squat, turkish get up, and clean progressions. 

That was too years ago and it took me too long to bring him to the gym so this weekend Mike Barone will be training the trainers in the morning and the general population in the afternoon at All 4 Sports and Fitness.

Click Here for more details:  New Old Tool

I want to help people.  I think anyone that gets into the fitness industry generally wants to help people.  I suspect that most service industries are like that.  You have to really love what you do to be in a service industry.  And I do love it.  Being open 17 hours a day, 364 days a year, and a family run operation…you have to love it.  If I didn’t I would be doing something else. 

I spend some of my day working with our Fitness Boot Campers and Athletes, but most of my day is spent trying to figure out ways to get more people participating in our fitness programs. 

You see, I believe that the traditional fitness model is outdated.  I think sitting in a machine or running on a treadmill is just plain boring.  I think people should train like athletes because in most cases they need it more than athletes do.  In real life there is no off-season, no recovery days, high stress jobs, and a lot more at stake like how you interact with the people you love around you.  Our training is about performance.  And guess what….weight loss, looking great, and feeling great all come along with that. 

It is really cool that on a day to day basis I get to help people change their lives. 

But I think at times this can get confused.  You see, the key word in there is ”help”.  I can help.  That is all.  I know now that I cannot control when people stop coming to the gym.  Or when they cancel their membership.  Or when they decide to not work one of our programs like personal training or Fitness Boot Camp when I know that they really don’t know what they are doing.

For the next two weeks leading up to the holidays we are actually offering Free Group Personal Training.  Small groups for people who need extra attention and Regular groups for some great workouts and hopefully a lot of fun.  After sending out a newsletter last night I have received so many great emails and posts on the club blog but one email stood out that I could not ignore.  Here it is verbatim:

“Frank,

Please stop selling your fitness center.  My husband tried your center and your personal fitness consult.  They both failed my husband.  Your equipment and exercises are not geared for people who really need to lose weight.  I never complained or asked for a refund…..just never came back.”

At first I thought it was a joke but quickly realized it was not when I noticed that it didn’t come from a friend.  This is a serious problem to me.  I mean how many people are out there thinking that it is up to equipment, exercises, and me?  What would be a better solution in this case?  Not exercising and taking pills, or the next fad diet.  Even those inspiring stories on The Biggest Loser are proving to be failures in the end because people are gaining the weight back. 

When will people realize that it is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE??? 

It takes developing great habits and happens over a significant amount of time……discouraging?

Maybe….but it does work. 

Which should give people hope.

This past weekend All 4 Sports and Fitness hosted the 1st Major League Strength Coaches Clinic.  I was lucky enough to be a speaker alongside Dana Cavalea of the NY Yankees, Frank Velasquez of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Eric Cressey author of Maximum Strength, Dan Huff of www.baseballstrength.com, Brian Becker of Excel Physical Therapy, well-known nutritionist Karen Sossin and George Loft of Dowling College.  It proved to be a great event attended by high school and college baseball coaches as well as performance trainers.  Some attendees ventured from as far as Toronto and North Carolina to learn methods in the areas of function, power, speed, strength, recovery, and nutrition. 

One common thread that each one of the presenters seemed to really hit on was knowing your athletes.  From Dana and Frank V. at the pro level to talking nutrition with Karen Sossin, it seemed like so much of the decision making had to do with being able to read players.  In the training field we are always so keyed-in to exercises and periodization, but at the end of the day what seems to be most important is being able to adapt on the fly.  Watching for body language, breakdown in form, facial expressions, knowing their playing schedule, monitoring volume and intensity seem to play more of a role when you actually get into session.  Now I am not an advocate of going in without a plan, but I am becoming more and more a fan of having a general idea of what you are trying to accomplish in the workout and adapt accordingly to what the athlete is presenting to you.  This is truly the art of coaching and I think where cookie cutter programs drop the ball. 

My advice to new coaches would be to focus as much time on learning exercises and movements as you do developing your awareness and ability to progress or regress.

My father and I opened All 4 Sports and Fitness in November of 2001.  It was designed to be a full service health club with a children’s training center inside.  A true family fitness center, not just a place where they watch your kids where you workout, but where the kids would benefit from exercise as well.  After my breif 2 year stint as a manager I began dabbling in the training world.  I saw Juan Carlos Santana (not the guitarist) and Mike Boyle speak at a seminar given by Perform Better in Lawrenceville, NJ and I was hooked.  I knew from that point on that that was what I wanted to do.  They seemed to question everything about what I had thought about fitness and introduced me to the “functional” training world.  I began implementing programs at the gym right away, although I have to be honest I had no idea what the hell I was doing.  I started a class called the Ultimate Circuit which was basically a knock off of Carlos’ Fit Moves.  It was a fun quick way for people to work out in a group setting.  I few months later I took my CSCS exam and thought I was so cool that I passed it on the first try.  I thought that was the pinnacle, and I had no idea what a small piece it was.  From then on I read everything I could and attended every seminar I could find on “performance” and “functional” training.  At one point I flew out to Arizona for a two day seminar given by Jose Antonio and Amanda Carlson at Athletes’ Performance in Arizona.  That began my quarterly pilgrimage out there for the Athletes’ Performance mentorship programs.  While training football, baseball, tennis, and soccer athletes and teams at the gym I also kicked off a Fitness Boot Camp program, which to this day is still my most successful and rewarding program to date. 

The reason that I am on this rant about my background in “performance” and “functional” training is that although I believe in it, teach it, and live it every single day, I have been so reluctant to set the club up to cater to it.  I have run programs but haven’t really aggressively tried to teach and help people see the benefits of “performance” and “functional” training.  Yes we had the “Results Driven” Orientation but it only confused people because of the limited time together.  How can I be preaching this stuff for the past 4 years and not back it up in the club?  The answer is fear.  Fear that people will not except or understand the new wave (although it’s not so new any more) of training. 

After seeing Thomas Plummer, a great speaker on the business of fitness last week.  I realized that it is time for that change.  It’s time for me to start giving 150% to helping people train the right way.  I believe letting people try this type of training for 30 days will help create a movement of people working out the right way.  Now after a day sitting at the office, and sitting in the car, and sitting at the dinner table, we are going to get people on their feet instead of sitting them in a machine.  Not only to help them lose weight and stay in shape but feel accomplishment in every workout, and have fun doing it!! 

Now that you know my intention it can start as simply as this post and build from there.

Tonight we will be kicking off a new soccer performance program with a group coming in with well known soccer skill trainer Paul Maye. 

The 13 year old group will be starting out with one hour of performance training followed by a skill practice with Coach Maye. 

I figured the outline of the program would make a good post tonight.

10-Week Soccer Performance Program

Session One: Mobility and Stability

The foundation of our program relies on good sound movement.  Without it we are just adding strength, power, conditioning, and more skill work on dysfunctional movement patterns that develop over time.  From sitting most of the day, to old injuries, and bad movement habits, these will in the long run lead to injury especially in a situation where horsepower is being added to them.  In this session we will focus on the fundamental movements that make up our stretches, activation exercises, dynamic warm ups, and body awareness concepts that will be used throughout the 10-weeks.

Session Two: Intro to Acceleration

The common misconception among coaches and parents is that you cannot teach speed.  Yes it is true that some possess more speed than others but the fact is that by improving someone’s ability to apply force to the ground will increase their speed.  We do this in three ways:

1.       Increasing strength will lead to getting a body moving faster from a static position.  Simply increasing someone’s strength will enable them to overcome gravity easier to begin to accelerate.  This is sometimes the most overlooked factor, but probably the easiest thing to change.

2.       Improving running technique will also enable the athlete to more effectively apply force to the ground in that it will enable more efficient movement and put the body in position to maximize speed.  For example; a foot that hits that ground in dorsiflexion (toes to shins) is more likely to produce a more reactive response after contact.  Proper arm action will enable the legs to speed up and reduce wind resistance.  Core position will allow the body to efficiently transfer energy from the arms to the legs.  Running technique is a skill (like kicking a soccer ball) that can be learned.

3.       Improving reactiveness and power is the third factor to increasing speed.  Sometimes we can have all the strength in the world, great mechanics, no restrictions in movement patterns and still be slow.  This may be due to the nervous systems’ ability to fire at a rapid rate.  This is commonly seen as slow leg turn over or sometimes the legs moving very quickly without much horizontal displacement, like when the road runner gets started.  Spinning his wheels but not really going anywhere.  Working on low level plyometric drills and reaction drills will help to improve this commonly overlooked aspect of speed training.

Session Three: Intro to Deceleration

Just because an athlete has the fastest 40 yard dash time doesn’t mean he is the fastest player on the team.  In most team sports like soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and football it is not your ability to sprint straight very fast but your ability to slow down that can be the game changer.  In this session we will work on getting the athletes to understand center of mass and how they can angle their body to make the most out of their start and stop speed. 

Session Four: Intro to Multi-directional Speed

Building on the previous week’s lessons now we can take the ability to decelerate and link it into the next move.  Whether that be cutting, sprinting, jumping, crossing over, and drop-stepping the athlete will now be in a better position to efficiently get to what is next.  This is then reinforced with making the drills happen randomly so the athlete will receive a stimulus and create a quick response like they need to do on the field.  Transitional quickness is the goal in this session.

Session Five: Power Production

In this session the focus will now be on increasing the athletes’ ability to generate concentric power.  Up until now the primary focus has been on the deceleration or eccentric portion of movement to create body control and balance.  Now it is time to work on explosiveness and power.  This is basically strength with a time component to it including: medicine ball exercises and low level plyometrics.

Sessions Six through Ten: Putting it all together

For the second half of the program the focus will now be on the review and mastery of each of the previous lessons.  Here is the 60 minute session breakdown:

5 – 10 minutes – Mobility, Stability, and Patterns

10 minutes – Movement Preparation (Dynamic Warm Up)

20 minutes – Movement Skill (Acceleration, Deceleration, Multi-directional Speed)

10 minutes – Power Development

10 minutes – Strength and Conditioning Circuit Training

This weekend All 4 Sports and Fitness and I will be hosting the Major League Strength Coaches Clinic.  With the help of Dan Huff of baseballstrength.com and Dana Cavalea, the Strength Coach of the NY Yankees, it should prove to be a great event.  If you are interested in attending the event, I believe there are a few last minute spots available at www.mlscoachesclinic.com.  Here is the tentative schedule below:

Saturday

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – Registration

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM – Welcome and Introduction – Dana Cavalea

9:20 AM – 10:20 AM – Overview - Why We Train, Philosophy, and Foundation – Dana Cavalea

10:30 AM – 11:20 AM – Arm Care – Brian Becker

11:30 AM – 12:20 PM – Cause of Injury/Common Injury in Baseball/ Injury Prevention and Pre-Hab – Eric Cressy

12:30 PM – Q and A with the Specialists – Panel with Brian Becker and Eric Cressey

LUNCH

1:30 PM – 2:20 PM – Warm-Ups – Static vs. Dynamic – Dan Huff

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Core 101 – Frank Dolan

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM – Medball Power – George Loft

3:30 PM - 4:30 PM – Strength 101 – George Loft and Dana Cavalea

4:30 – Sport Specific Lifting – Panel with Dana Cavalea, George Loft, and Frank Dolan

8:00 PM – Dinner and Social with Dana Cavalea and the Presenters

Sunday

9:00 AM – 10:20 AM – Big League Speed….It goes Beyond the Drill – Frank Dolan

10:30 AM – 11:20 PM– Multidirectional Speed Concepts for Baseball – Frank Dolan

11:30 AM – 12:20 AM – Nutrition for the Modern Day Ball Player – Karen Sossin (tentative speaker)

LUNCH

1:30 PM – 2:20 PM – How to Coach – Dan Huff or Dana Cavalea

2:30 PM – 3:20 PM – The Mental Side of the Game – Panel with Dana Cavalea, George Loft, and Frank Dolan

3:30 PM – 4:20 PM – Pulling it all together – Q and A with Dana Cavalea, George Loft, and Frank Dolan

It is really amazing that although I have been writing a weekly blog for All 4 Sports and Fitness for several years now…I am having a hard time kicking this one off.

I think what I have been trying to do (until now) is figure out the perfect way to get started….sometimes when you wait for that perfect moment to start something, it never comes.

So in the spirit of getting started…there will be no perfection here today…..

No juicy content…

No great compelling opening post or offer…

Just getting started…. (more to come)

Welcome to Coach Frank Dolan.com. 

My mission is to help people see the truth about what they need to work on physically and mentally in order to achieve their health, fitness and sports goals.  We also provide the environment, support system and strategy to get them there.

My Story

Coach Frank Dolan -- #25

After 4 years of college baseball where I admit to not concentrating as avidly as I could have on my studies as a Health Science and Physical Education major, I charged around the country chasing my dream of becoming a professional baseball player.  Eventually I came to the realization that my running speed was not up to par which lead me to my current career.  My father and I started All 4 Sports and Fitness, a health club in West Islip, NY.  My father already had a strong background in the fitness industry having owned and operated his chain of clubs (Greg Buttle’s Health and Fitness Center and the Long Island Fitness Club) to TSI, the company who owns New York Sports Club.  Our interest in the fitness industry led us to create a facility that would offer traditional health club programming, but would also address the growing issues of overweight children as well as aspiring young athletes.  We are proud to say that our facility offers children’s membership plans and classes, sports lessons and team rentals.

After a full year of our new start up fitness club, I received a call to play professional baseball as well as coach two children’s teams in Italy for the summer.  It was an incredible experience! Upon my return I coached several young ball players who needed to focus on hitting and fielding.  While it was very rewarding and I built up a large client base of baseball teams and individual players, I still wasn’t feeling that I was working at my best and higest potential.  Working with children has its own set of frustrations and oftentimes I felt that I just wasn’t able to get them to concentrate long enough to learn the disciplines that they needed to achieve their goals.  This led me to study and research the physical side of improving sports performance. Biomechanics, Strength and Conditioning, and Sports Physiology became my passion, almost bordering on obsession it seemed at times.  I knew that the answers I sought was in these sciences.

It was time to put my degree field to work and I quickly added the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist exam to my list of accomplishments and began training athletes in earnest.  After enrolling in the Athletes’ Performance Mentorship under the tutelage of world renowned Performance Specialist Mark Verstegen, I stepped further back from my management role at the Fitness Club and stepped up to the role of Performance Director.  All of this led us to pioneer programs for overweight children, young athletes and college athletes.  We also created our flagship Fitness Boot Camp.

Our philosophy is simple. Provide an environment, support system and strategy to help people achieve results based on the truth.  In a world where there are a lot of different ideas on fitness and performance, equipment, fads and gimmicks, it can be difficult for a person to know what is the truth.  Our job is to get to the root of what people are intending to achieve and provide the best methods to get them there.  Through education for our trainers to equipment upgrades we continue to stay at the forefront of the fitness industry.