BOSU- Drop & Pop Burpee Progressions

A New BOSU Exercise from Douglas Brooks

Drop-pop-burpee to quick coupling with a line of pull (LOP) utlizing the Twist Smart Muscle Technology- Sling Shot as resistance from behind the old guy..."yeah baby"..."quick/quick!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es9kM-EtrLE

Have you got anything better? Then, show us here at Twist!

Send your videos or pictures to belliott@twistconditioning.com

Secondary Fitness Characteristics in Young Athletes

The secondary fitness characteristics include balance, multi joint strength, power, speed, quickness, agility, movement skills and reaction skills. Together, the secondary characteristics of fitness enhance the movement abilities needed for real life actions and sport participation. The goal is to improve the mind-muscle connection, making the muscles more compliant to the brains commands, while enhancing inter segmental communication, linking the kinetic chain for more skillful movement. Training the secondary characteristics of fitness involves creating “smart muscles” through enhanced neural circuitry and muscle recruitment.

For young athletes, these attributes help improve athleticism which provides a better base from which to train specific sport skills. Athleticism must precede sport-specificity. It also sets them up to so well in other activities. I strongly discourage early streamlining in one sport which often leads to burn out, disinterest and overuse injury. The best athletes will rise to the top, and early sport specialization narrows kids athletic potential.

Obese children need balance and agility however these demands must be regressed to a simple and safe prescription. Keep exercises less complex, low impact and low speed. Obese children can do well on selectorized weight stack machines. In fact it is one activity they might out perform their peers of average body composition. Isolation strength training takes away coordination demands and allows them to enjoy success, pushing good weight and seeing quantified results. Early success may be helpful towards exercise adherence and buy-in. Having said that, there are some low impact, in-place supine, prone and CKC ball, dumbbell and tubing exercises that can also be trained safely, increase the metabolic cost and subsequent caloric expenditure, and begin to improve coordination. At the end of the day, this population must also feel more competent in movement if we hope to inspire them to lifelong activity.

The Twist Team!

Child to Champion Athlete - Giving Kids the Right Start

When it comes to children and fitness, there are two main trends in developed countries. A growing number of children tend to be less active and more obese. At the other end of the continuum, there is also a trend to physically train young sport participants at younger and younger ages.

From a fitness and health perspective, we do have an epidemic on our hands. Many obese children as young as 8-10 years old possess symptoms of heart disease and diabetes, raising a red flag that cries out for strong national intervention strategies. In fact, if this trend continues unabated, the children of today may be the first generation in history to have a shortened life expectancy and die before their parents.

The childhood obesity epidemic has been linked to calorie-dense fast foods and nutrient-lean packaged super market food, concurrent with an increased proliferation of sedentary activities. Thanks to the help of adults, technology and profit-driven business, kids are now consumers of passive entertainment, often at the expense of spontaneous play and physical activity.

For kids who are active, there is a trend towards early sport specialization, which accelerates short term competence in one sport’s specific skill sets, yet may rob them of a solid base of well rounded athleticism.

Defining fun and inspiring methods to explore fundamental movement skills may help reverse the trend of inactivity and obesity and provide young aspiring athletes with a better toolbox of overall athleticism. Teaching all children how to move with greater coordination and competence increases their self-esteem, making them more confident and comfortable joining new activities. Children with increased movement capabilities enjoy greater self-efficacy and a sense that “I can do it”! This can lead to increased participation and help keep them in the game.

The Twist Team!

New School Sitting

What do schools, corporate workplaces and home offices all have in common? Each is experimenting to replace traditional chairs with stability balls. Many have found the BOSU® Ballast® Ball to work particularly well, since it does not roll away.

When sitting on an exercise ball, the body is constantly making adjustments with key postural muscles that include abdominals, lower back muscles, gluteals and leg muscles. But, user beware! Similar to expensive ergonomic chairs, individuals can still have poor posture on the stability ball.

The following is a suggested approach to implementing the “new school sitting” concept:

Allow participants to switch between stability ball and traditional chair.
Build up duration sitting. Start with half hour progressions, and eventually, participants can sit throughout the day.

Teach that posture is learned. Participants must be physically and mentally engaged.
Inflate the ball so thighs are parallel to the ground and hips are level. Be sure the ball height is appropriate for desk height.

Integrate exercise breaks throughout the day to avoid fatigue from poor posture habits, whether seated on a stability ball or chair. Check out the Ballast Ball http://cdnstore.twistconditioning.com/BOSU-Ballast-Ball_p_2274.html

Over time, the stability ball contributes to good posture, stronger core musculature and dynamic flexibility and movement capability. Also, ball chair users report being more focused, alert and motivated while sitting. As a result, schools and corporate wellness programs are able to integrate key fitness elements into daily life that could save on health costs, increase productivity and improve quality of life for students and employees.

Douglas S. Brooks is the head physiologist/strength & conditioning coach for Mammoth Power Sports and in 2007, was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame. Coach Brooks is the author of six major texts and is a Twist Conditioning Senior Master Coach. To contact him, visit http://www.movesintfitness.com/

BOSU Programming...a note from Peter Twist

I am back from California from working with a stellar team of sport and fitness leaders on Bosu programming. Inspiring days immersed with Group Xers Mindy Mylrea and Jay Blahnik, all round Douglas Brooks, program leader Candice Brooks, multi talented Kelli Roberts, football coach Todd Durkin, all high energy teachers and first class people - true professionals. For myself, with a focus on multi directional, anaerobic based sports, learning from other disciplines is always an interesting opportunity.

The Bosu Balance Trainer is the world's number one fitness accessory - and with most exercise professionals adopting Bosu in their curriculum, we are focused on helping ensure application is always purpose driven. Our programming goal this past weekend was to generate intense workouts with heavy strength challenges which are fun and interesting to execute.
What is your approach? Most often, strength and body control with a unified, linked system that best sums power is my focus. How strength, movement and balance are integrated determines the relative focus on prime mover, stabilizer, capacity, reactivity, energetics, metabolic cost, load, etc. Our ultimate goal for athletes is applying and absorbing forces during more fluid movement and for general population pain free fluid whole body movement.

How do you Bosu and what part of your workout do you utilize Bosu?

Send us your comments...

Coach Twist

Twist Conditioning’s Featured Exercises

BOSU, Stability Ball Standing Core Stability

• Purpose – this exercise trains core stabilization in a standing position with a balance challenge
• Set up – have the athlete stand on 2 feet on the BOSU Balance Trainer, holding a stability ball with arms extended, in a low athletic position with the core braced.
• Execution – have the Coach press on the stability ball from random locations (up, down, side) while the Athlete attempts to keep the ball from moving. Cue the Athlete “don’t let the ball move” as this helps develop the core to stabilize and absorb force. Repeat 2 sets with 10 pushes per set.

Fit Ball Rotary Passes

• Purpose – this exercise trains rotary core force production (throwing) and deceleration (catching) in a standing position.
• Set up – have the athlete begin in a low athletic position with chest up, core braced and legs loaded in triple flexion of the hips, knees and ankles.
• Execution – during the catch phase the ball is caught out in front of the body while the Athlete’s mass shifts over their rear leg setting them up in a strong power position. Focus on using the core to absorb the force of the throw. In the throw phase triple extension of the lower body and upper body occurs in sequence to create power through the entire kinetic chain. It is important to release the heel freeing up the hips to trigger rotation.

Smart Toner™ Push Pull Rotation

• Purpose – this exercise trains rotary core force production in conjunction with whole body strength
• Set up – have the athlete begin in a split stance position with 1 Smart Toner performance tubing in each hand (resistance from the left and the right side of the athlete) with chest up, core braced and legs loaded in triple flexion of the hips, knees and ankles. Coordination of this exercise is initially very challenging because the sequencing overloads the nervous system. (Coach should pre teach the push movement and the pull movements separately).
• Execution – the pulling arm executes a row as the pushing arm executes a chest press action along with linked rotation of the core and a pivot of the feet. The body rotates as a whole and pivots in the direction of the pulling arm. Increase the speed of the entire movement when coordination is refined.

The Twist Team!