I started Strength and Conditioning coaching back in 1998 as a personal trainer. I started coaching college rugby back in 2002. My coaching career led me to start and coach a high school team for ten years. During that time in the high school, I also did dryland coaching for some of the winter sports …
6 Mandatory Strength Movements
If you do the six major compound movements – the squat, hip hinge, vertical press, vertical pull, horizontal press, and horizontal pull – you’re bound to see success. These are the movement patterns every complete workout program contains. Problem is, not every variation is best for everybody. Just because a movement looks good on paper …
Fire Up Your CNS For Better Lifting
This is a great way to begin any lifting workout. The idea behind “rate of force development” is to do an exercise that’s explosive in nature and that utilizes all of the body’s major muscle groups. Doing an explosive exercise prior to lifting fires up your central nervous system and gets your body physically ready …
Don’t Short Change the Warm Up
One play, one hit, one rep is all it takes for an athlete to become injured. One of the ways to help prepare ourselves for sport, or for training, is with a warm up. Unfortunately, while the warm up is one of the most important things an athlete can do, time and again, I see …
Unilateral vs. Bilateral Training
For over a decade now, fitness pros have been arguing about unilateral and bilateral training. As a refresher, unilateral means “one side” or “one limb.” Think of a one-arm dumbbell bench press. Bilateral means using both arms or both legs, like a standard barbell bench press or squat. Which one should you put your focus …
3 Things You Can Do To Get Faster In The Weightroom
Life is full of timeless debates…. Which came first? The chicken or the egg? Peanut butter and jelly? Or Jelly with peanut butter? Is Pizza a pie? Obviously it is, so is quiche a pie? Crusts…fillings….now I’m making you think! Did Dez Bryant catch the ball? Now I’m just being a bitter Cowboys’ fan! …
3 Things You Can Do To Get Faster In The WeightroomRead More
3 Focus Areas of Acceleration
1. Force Output/Projection Factors: Start position ex: Track block stance, Football stance, Baseball stealing a base Transition Start ex: Soccer-breaking on the ball, Lacrosse turnover getting upfield The optimal body angle is 45 degrees to the ground at the initial start. This relates more to a traditional start position. The stronger the athlete, the lower …
Low Pogo Jump Progression
The low pogo jump is a staple in the Parisi warmup. When we think about increasing speed, we like to teach stiffness in the body: when our legs and core can remain stiff, we create more force into the ground and thus, more speed as we run. The low pogo progression is an excellent …
Understanding Hip Hinge & Squat Patterns
The Hip Hinge When performing a hip hinge, make sure the athlete is gripping the ground with their feet, stabilizing the core, pulling shoulders down and back. The critical component of a hip hinge is minimal flexion at the knee. All the range of motion is coming at the hip. This includes lower back activation, …
A Math Lesson In Speed
When an athlete is sprinting, their feet are either on the ground applying force or in the air recovering. To increase speed, we decrease ground contact time and leg recovery time. We apply fast force into the ground and cycle our leg through to apply another quick force. Let’s try to take .008 seconds off …
How to Maximize Top End Speed
It may seem contradictory, but in order to maximize top end speed, athletes need to understand negative foot speed. What is negative foot speed? If you are running forward, you need to put force in the ground behind you. If you’re running 18 mph, your foot has to hit the ground at least at 18 …
Improve Your Lower Body to Gain Speed
The Trap Bar Deadlift This is one of the staple lifts of the Parisi Speed School. This video offers a sneak peak of the valuable content included in the Strength for Speed Online Membership, featuring 30+ training videos, expert interviews and more!