Green Sports Performance Center INSIDE LOOK

Get an inside look at some recent training with Coach Anthony Colarusso at the Akron General Sports Performance Center in Green Ohio!

Posture, Pilates, and Your Athletic Success

Hello Everyone!

A short time ago AGSP's Adult Performance Class was treated to a couple of Pilates workouts by Certified Instructor Anne Laing. She had our class on a piece of equipment called The Reformer which allowed us to train our bodies in a low-impact way.

Did you know that some famous athletes have done private Pilates workouts at Akron General's Health and Wellness Center in Montrose?

Did you know that many professional athletes from all sports use Pilates as a way to decrease their injury risk and improve their performance?

Pilates can be a great compliment to all of an athlete's intense practices and sports performance training because it is geared to realigning the body back to optimal lengths and tensions.

One of my favorite sayings during training is, "if your posture isn't correct, there is no way you are the best athlete you can be." Can you think of one NBA, NFL, or MLB athlete that has horrible posture? How about one that has just poor posture? You will be hard-pressed to find one.

Proper posture means you are aligned in the best possible way for your body to perform. Muscles need to be at certain lengths and tensions, and having proper posture ensures that you are giving them the foundation to do that.

What a shame it would be to have your athletic career not be as successful as it could be because you didn't have proper posture! Pilates can be a great compliment to help you reach your fullest potential!

For a Pilates classes and their descriptions check out THIS LIFESTYLES SCHEDULE. To reach Anne directly, you can email her at  laing_anne@yahoo.com or visit her Linkden Page. 

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

You are only as Good as you are Strong

Hello Everyone!

What happens when you get stronger?

It might sound like a silly question, but as an athlete it's vital to understand the effects that getting stronger has on your performance.

Sports are, in a grand sense, displays of force. The amount of force you generate is directly limited by your strength. You could have flawless mechanics, but if you can't generate a lot of force, you won't be performing at a very high level.

Becoming stronger allows you to apply more of ANYTHING. Opportunities like:

• More force into the ground which can translate to more speed
• More force into your opponent which allows for better execution
• More force into the ground which can translate into higher jumps

But if you don't have the strength in the first place you are self-limiting yourself! You can't use what isn't there!

Strength gives you the opportunity to create more speed and higher jumps.

That's one of our "secrets" at AGSP. We train to make our athletes stronger which builds their "strength tanks" to give them as much opportunity to perform better as possible.

Maybe a better question to ask is, "What happens when you don't get stronger?".

Keep Training!

Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Athlete Spotlight #69) Chris Punka

Hello Everyone!

It’s time for another Akron General Sports Performance Athlete Spotlight! Our next athlete spotlight is a baseball player from Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. He been with us for a few off-seasons now and his transformation has been incredible to watch. He's dedicated to building as much speed, strength, and power as he can. It’s time to meet our newest athlete spotlight!

Athlete Name: Chris Punka
Sport(s): Baseball
Position(s): 1st Base and Pitcher
School: CVCA
Graduation Year: 2016
AGSP Athlete Since: 2010

  

Favorite Professional Sports Team: Boston Red Sox

Favorite Professional Athlete: Dustin Pedroia

Chris develops all aspects of his athleticism at AGSP.

Favorite Lift: Back Squat

Favorite Movement Skill: Acceleration

When I am not training at AGSP, I am: Doing baseball stuff and resting.

What are your short-term goals? To be the best player in our pac this year.
What are your long-term goals? To play at a D1 college in 3 years.
How has AGSP impacted your performance as an athlete?It made me faster, stronger, more powerful and a better athlete overall.

Keep Training! 
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Off-Season Programs and Recruiting

Coach Nicolas White is also a coach for Baldwin-Wallace University's Football team. Here he shares some of his powerful insights for athletes that want to play at the collegiate level.

Off-Season Programs and Recruiting

Generally speaking, collegiate coaches ask high school coaches 4 specific questions when evaluating potential recruits.

1. How are their grades? 
2. How are their test scores? 
3. How is their work ethic? 
4. Is he/she an athlete? 

The first three questions are straight-forward and there is only one way to attain great grades, test scores, and work ethic. The last question, is he/she an athlete, can have many roads to achieve success. Should I be multi-sport athlete? Should I train all-year-round for my one sport?

The method for evaluating athleticism, without film, for years has been recognizing multi-sport athletes. This idea is contradicting to the collegiate atmosphere where athletes train (sport-specifically) 365 days a year. If your off-season strength and conditioning program is multi-faceted attacking all aspects of movement and strength development then training becomes a sport.

Athletes, find a program that encompasses all elements of movement and strength training. It will pay dividends at the next-level. I see it every season at the college level; athletes that come from great programs are normally the first to impress. I believe a great understanding of movement and strength training will increase your “athletic ceiling.”

If your off-season strength & conditioning program is multi-faceted, then training becomes a sport.

Coaches, if an off-season program is operated properly it can foster an area to build toughness, leadership, responsibility, teamwork, and work ethic. Our job, as coaches, is to develop our student-athletes. Entice your athletes to stay and train within your off-season program. This will allow your staff more opportunities to instill your “characteristics of success” and team values. I believe a great understand of movement and strength training will increase your programs “championship ceiling.”

Keep Training!
Coach Nicolas White and Akron General Sports Performance