Medicine Men & the Truth of Strength

"Strength is the single greatest equalizer in sport and therefore strength training is the most important physical preparation quality" - Alwyn Cosgrove

Notice he didn't say a specific sport, but all sports.

Here's the full article. Smart writings from an industry leader.

http://alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com/2008/04/moments-of-clarity-part-iv.html

Here's a fantastic article on Medicine Balls that everyone should read.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3336435

"When you're talking about optimizing performance, from gladiators to the
French Open, this simple ball might have more power to unlock an athlete's
potential than any other tool ever invented."- Mark Verstegen, a trainer, author
and founder of Athletes' Performance Institute

While hoisting weights on a bar controlled by a machine is a user-friendly and efficient way to build muscle mass and fundamental strength, it also reduces the dynamic elements of balance, explosion and sport-specific movement that are gained from resistance training. In fact, the very idea of functional training got lost during the machine craze as performance took a backseat to looking good. With static, mass building training ascendant in the States, the Soviet Union and East Germany began to dominate Olympic-medal counts in the 1960s and 1970s. Heavy doses of illegal drugs aside, athletes in Eastern-bloc countries had developed faster contractions from dynamic methods kinesiologists call jump training or plyometrics—lighter weights and faster reps that produce more elastic, efficient and explosive muscle contractions.

While the ball itself is simple, the kinetic science behind it is anything but. The unpredictable path of a med ball as it flies through the air forces the exerciser to use entire muscle groups instead of, say, just the biceps or deltoids. After aeons of evolved movement, the body can still grow more kinetically efficient as it links dozens of its smaller muscles to adjust to the ball's flight. Adaptation is the key to athletic development, and no two med-ball reps are the same. "If the game you play is chaotic, you have to train chaotic," says Titans tight end Alge Crumpler. "How are you going to do that with a machine?"
Human power is determined by the level of contraction in the muscles. By lengthening the muscle just before contraction (more so than in static weight lifting), the med ball creates stored elastic energy that dramatically increases the speed and strength of the contraction. (The farther you stretch a rubber band, the more it stings your little brother when it snaps back.) It's the difference between standing flat-footed as you take an arms-only chop at a golf ball (static) and the violent entire uncoiling Tiger uses to explode off the tee (dynamic). "That's the foundation, the operating system that has developed all human movement," says Verstegen. "The med ball has always been smart. It just had to wait 3,000 years for athletes to catch up."

A simple medicine ball workout: (best done with a partner, but can be done against a wall)

-Chest pass- 15 reps
-Chest pass w/squat- 15 reps
-Overhead pass- 15
-Overhead pass in split/squat stance- 15
- Sideways twist toss-15 (both sides)
- Sumo-squat backwards toss w/jump - 20
- Overhead slam w/jump - 20
- Front-squat toss w/jump- 20

The medicine ball is whatever you make it. If you train boring, don't be suprised if you're bored. Create your own explosive movements. Incorporate throws-to-sprint, hop into explosive throws, lateral movement, 1 arm throws, hooverball, rotational jumping (180's etc), anything that involves explosive footwork and core control. etc, etc, etc. No limits.

The best medicine ball is the bouncy hard-rubber ones. Nike makes a great one, just make sure whichever one you get has the bounce-back ability.

Some youtube examples. Pay attention to how they move with an athletic base.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB4Seksx0zw (this one is great)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9STVOgSdO8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzGynV5TDRM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9SlDRkiRTI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPNRHV1CeCc

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