As high school and college spring semesters come to a close, thousands of athletes will return home with little to no exercise program to follow. No matter what school you go to or what sport you play, taking a summer off of training will have negative effects on your overall athletic performance and success. Certainly any amount training is likely better than none but where should you focus your time and effort? 

My first full year as a college strength and conditioning coach was the 2017 college baseball season. I had worked in the private sector as a strength coach/personal trainer but had never been tasked with the responsibility of handling a full team. I quickly learned that it was a completely different animal than one-on-one or small group training. Designing a program for one athlete is hard enough but managing 30-40 different body types, goals, abilities, and personalities was a daunting task.

Now, halfway into my second season, everyday is still a learning experience but I have learned a few things that could've helped a younger me. 

In today's blog entry I want to provide template for designing your own exercise program. Program design is challenging and can become complicated the more specialized and specific you want to make it. However, specificity isn't always necessary in the initial stages. 

Yesterday I ran a pole on my Instagram Story that asked the question, "What is more important for increasing velocity, weighted/plyo-balls or overall strength?" In this brief blog post I will discuss which training technique is more important. 

In today's post I will weigh in on the following three strength and conditioning topics: 

1) When is strong, strong enough?
2) What's up with eccentric training? Is it better than concentric? 
​3) The number one reason you're not getting bigger/stronger

As  my college baseball guys return to start the fall season, it seems appropriate to write a baseball strength and conditioning article. I spent most of this morning explaining our program and the philosophy behind it to the athletes. Of everything that we discussed today, the bench press, Olympic Weightlifting, and distance running were the hottest topics. 

In a recent Facebook post I went into some detail about a basic Self Myofascial Release (SMR aka. Foam Rolling) routine. I felt that I left a few stones unturned, so I decided to go into further detail here on the Hash Fitness Blog. 

Foam Rolling Routine Video <<Video>>   

Starting and maintaining a workout program is not easy. If it were then trainers like me would be out of business. The biggest issue people have is not knowing where to start. With the amount of conflicting information on the Internet I can see why it is difficult for beginners to know what to do in the weight room. Below are three tips that will help you develop a plan that is safe and effective.         

While half of the people who tune into my weekly blogs are those who are trying to improve their fitness, the other half are current or aspiring personal trainers. In the three years that I have been a trainer I have made a lot of progress, made many mistakes, and learned a lot from those mistakes. Though I still have much to learn, I wanted to share my early mistakes and interpretations of the industry that I truly believe in for the benefit of the new or soon-to-be trainer.  

I'm not certain who originally said it but there's a quote that goes along the lines of "A smart man learns from his mistakes...A smarter man learns from the mistakes of others."