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"7 Components To Optimal Athletic Development"

By Jason Zaretzky

There is a common flaw I see with the majority of athletic performance enhancement programs today. It is the over emphasis or under emphasis on different components of strength & conditioning. Whether it's doing too much strength work or not enough recovery work, there is typically no balance.

For any athlete trying to improve their performance there should be an equal emphasis on every component of performance enhancement training. However, the amount of emphasis can and should be altered based on an athlete's current abilities. For example, you may have two athletes who lack speed.

The first athlete may lack speed due to poor flexibility, and flawed technique. On the other hand athlete number two may lack speed due to the fact that he/she doesnt have sufficient maximal strength. Now comparing these two athletes, you should incorporate all components of athletic development, but there should be more flexibility and technique emphasis with the first athlete, and a focus on maximal strength work with athlete two.

Now the question at hand is, what exactly are the components, how should they be incorporated into an athletes training program, and how do we structure what should be emphasized? To answer, there are 7 basic components to "Optimal Athletic Development" and they are as follows in no particular order of importance:

1.) Assessments & evaluations 2.)Warm up & Activation 3.) Recovery, Nutrition & Regeneration 4.) ESD (energy system development) 5.) Flexibility, Mobility, & Stability 6.) Strength & Power Training 7.) Speed, Agility, & Quickness Training.

It's also important to realize that most sports training facilities will hit some of these components but their programs will almost always lack and underemphasize one or two (usually more) components. And by doing so it produces a less than optimal training environment for athletes.

Remember sports performance enhancement training should have the number one goal of decreasing injury rates of athletes, and then a secondary goal of increasing performance (and not just in the weight room, but training programs results need to transfer into the sporting arena)

I know! I know! The components listed above sound interesting but what are they? Let's take a closer look at what each component entails and learn exactly what every athlete must "NOT" neglect in order to develop into the complete athlete.

1.) Assessments & evaluations: If you not assess, you just guessing (Paul Chek). That's right. If you're not taking the appropriate time to go through an assessment process, then you will never really know what limitations you have. In order to precisely dial in and target the results you want out of a program you need to know what you are dealt with first.

In my experience when talking about evaluating athletes and designing performance enhancement programs you need to assess the following; Posture Length tension relationships Force Couples Core Function Movement, and Performance/Field tests.

After that you will then have the data needed to see muscle imbalances, weaknesses, where injuries may occur, and what performance based tests are lacking. With this data you will then be able to design a RESULTS oriented program based on what the athlete needs, instead of what is fun, or the in thing to do.

2.) Warm up & Activation - Warming up or as I call it "workout preparation" should have the goal to wake the body up. The traditional stretching routines that are usually seen are in my opinion useless; you know the "static" or stretch and hold routines.

We need to throw that static stretching stuff away, or better yet do it after you workouts! To prepare for you workouts we need to emphasize on an active warm-up that puts your body moving through full ranges of motion while actually moving in various angles, speeds, and directions.

In addition, we also need to perform a variety of exercises that wake up those muscles that don't fire correctly usually due to tightness in the antagonist (opposite) muscle group. For example, tight hip flexors usually lead to glute (butt) muscles that are weak, lengthened, and that don't fire correctly. So what we need to do is stretch the hip flexors (which should be taken care of during the warm-up) and wake up, strengthen, and activate the glute muscles.

3.) Recovery, Nutrition & Regeneration - Often over looked and never incorporated into a program. Aside from your workout prep, it's a must. Many people think that they are actually getting better while they're training. Nope that's not the case! You actually attain results from all of your hard training; you need to do a couple of things:

1) You need to "eat to compete". Proper nutrition is critical in complete athletic development, especially post workout. Try to get a carbohydrate/protein mixture of 3-4:1 carbs: protein (quick tip- Yoo-hoo is a cheap good source).

2) Post workout stretching/soft-tissue work. Now is where we put back in our static stretching? after workouts or even on off days, along with some form of soft-tissue work (message/self massage with the foam roller).

3) REST!!! Remember what I said, you attain results from your hard core training after you workouts. But to get the best results, engrain this in you head; "MORE IS NOT BETTER"!!! Give yourself at least 1-2 days off per week and never train more than 3 days in a row.

4.) ESD (energy system development) - Another component that is often done wrong! Most conditioning programs emphasize on running at a moderate to slow pace for longer distances to get in shape. Well is sport done by moving at a moderate to slow pace for long periods of time?

NO! Sports are usually played fast with short bursts of high energy output, and then in most cases you get some sort of break. That's how we have to train. ESD training performed the "Optimal" way will provide you with proper conditioning to improve work capacity.

5.) Flexibility, Mobility, & Stability: Muscles function best when they have an optimal length tension relationship. Anything less can result in anything from reduced force output, a reduction in strength, speed and endurance, to a career ending injury.

Having optimal mobility and/or stability in the correct joints and muscles will also aid in all the above, as well as provide optimal postural alignment. For instance, you want to look for mobile ankles, stable knees, mobile hips, stable lower back (lumbar spine), mobile mid/upper back (thoracic spine), stable neck (cervical spine), and a combination of mobility and stability through out the shoulder girdle.

6.) Strength & Power Training- Strength & explosive power training is just what the complete athlete ordered. Most sports are power sports, or at least require rapid bouts of fast powerful movement.

Explosive or power in my opinion is defined as, "as fast as possible, but under control." Without the control factor it's just plain dangerous! In addition the stronger you are the more explosive you have the potential to become. It's extremely important to be as efficient as possible in order to get optimal results.

When talking about strength & power training for athletes it is a must to incorporate exercises that provide you with the most bang for your buck! We are talking about structured progressive plyometrics and total body exercises (like Olympic lifts and variations) geared towards transferring tremendously high amounts of power onto the field or court. We're also looking for exercises like Squats lunges pushing and pulling. With the combination of maximal strength and power training modalities used in the "Optimal Performance Training System", you can't expect anything but freaky strength & power!

7.) Speed, Agility, & Quickness Training- In sport speed kills! A colleague of mine always says you never here any body say, "WOW that guy is to fast!" There is always room for speed improvement. However, lets not forget about how most sports are played.

There is usually a tremendous amount of starting and stopping along with rapid amounts of changes in direction. Speed work, developing quickness, and agility training, can simply be done by improving running mechanics from arm action to leg drive, using the agility ladder, and incorporating any kind of cone drills.

***BONUS*** - Injury Prevention: A solid physical preparation program will drastically reduce all injuries, increase performances and lengthen careers. The scientifically prepared athlete knows no limits. Our Training system at Optimal Performance has the goal to decrease the potential of injury for our athletes. Preventive measures are incorporated into training are to improve the following; Hip & Ankle stability Shoulder stability Core Strength & Stability Balance & Proprioception

Utilizing these 7 components will absolutely allow anyone to achieve "optimal athletic development", but only when incorporated into a program correctly. These components should be systematically placed into a progressive program that is broken down into different phases throughout the year (i.e. - off-season, in-season, post-season, etc?), then even further broken down into phases of an actual training session.

For example, all sports performance enhancement training programs need to start with an assessment. This will lay the ground work for designing the best program for each individual athlete as it will determine weak links, muscle imbalances, and provide pre-testing performance data. After the assessment we now can design a long term program with specific phases for each component of "optimal athletic development".

The program will include a strategy that is geared to enhance each component listed above. It is important to realize that each component needs to be emphasized in a format that will yield the biggest payoff. Through my experiences over the years of producing some great results (well get into more off that later), I have found that you need to structure each workout with the following order:

1. Warm Up /Activation: which includes Regeneration, Flexibility, Stability & Mobility
2. Speed, Agility & Quickness
3. Power Development
4. Strength Development
5. ESD, based on the energy demands of the respective sport
6. Recovery & Regeneration, which includes static stretching and/or soft tissue work (i.e. foam rolling)

This format was selected for a reason. IT GETS THE BEST RESULTS, PERIOD!!! We have found that manipulating this structure has only decreased results in one or more of each area of emphasis. So the take home message is "if it isn't broke don't fix it", unless you want inferior results.

You now know the 7 components to Optimal Athletic Development! You also know how to structure your training program. Now all you have to do is find you weak links and develop a plan to work on those weaknesses so they become just as strong as your strengths, that's the key to staying injury free and increased sports performance. By now you should also realize that it is almost necessary to seek the advice from a qualified high performance sports conditioning coach that can 1.) Assess and 2.) Develop a strategic long term plan that focuses on all areas of athletic development (the 7 components above), and more importantly puts the right emphasis on the areas that need more attention.

About the Author:

Jason Zaretzky is Owner and Program Director of Optimal Performance Training. He specializes in athletic performance enhancement, corrective exercise, and physique alteration. Jason is committed to optimizing your results. He has helped a countless number of individuals and athletes look, feel, and perform at optimal levels, through his system of scientific results oriented programming.

Jason Zaretzky is Rockland County's go to fat loss expert and owner of Optimal Performance Training Center located in Rockland County NY. For a FREE 1-week trial to his Rockland County Bootcamps, to experience the best fat loss training in Rockland County please visit RocklandCountyBootCamps.com

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