While muscle oximetry devices are most often utilized by endurance athletes to monitor steady state or repeated bouts of exercise, considerable evidence has provided a case for their use within the strength and power realm. John Abbott, a coach and physiologist, explains how using muscle oxygenation as an athlete-monitoring tool can benefit day-to-day training and provide insight on chronic adaptations.

This is the third and final installment of a series on the use and relevance of weightlifting exercises in today’s sports performance training, summarizing the content of several discussions between coaches Al Vermeil and Carl Valle.

The Strength Continuum in resistance training is a common means of categorizing the core subsections of strength—which incorporate power, velocity, and force—during the concentric phase of a resistance exercise. In this article, Coach Ty Sevin clarifies basic qualities and protocols within each subsection of strength to help performance coaches improve their implementation of training modalities.

Research and real-world evidence disputes the claims of those promoting the hip thrust, which has little value to a sprinter and may cause injury. There are better options to develop faster sprinters.

If Coach Derek Hansen had a wish, it would be that every health, wellness, rehabilitation, and performance practitioner could have a high-quality electrical muscle stimulation unit in their hands. Read his key reasons for promoting electrical stimulation as a “front-and-center” feature of his return-to-play process.

Coach Al Vermeil doesn’t engage on social media, but he does read it. This is the second article based on conversations between Coach Vermeil and Coach Valle on the use of weightlifting exercises in the modern performance world, specifically the catch, as well as load optimization.

In a high school athletic season, plyometrics are certainly not the only focus. Instead of trying to implement too many things at once, Coach Graham Eaton recommends these essential plyometric drills, centered around themed practice days.

Coach Carmen Pata points out that there is a huge difference between just programming and truly running a program. Here are the five principles he put in place to help guarantee that all his athletes have the same experience. While they might not work for you, you can use them to start thinking about what important ideas you might hold your athletes accountable to.