athletics apply to recreational athletes, functional fitness clients and partici- pants of varying ages. The ability to stop and control the eccentric load of movement is a key element in prevent- ing joint and musculotendonous inju- ries in athletes of all ages and abilities. Recreational adults are often less

active, carry excess body fat and typi- cally participate in linear activities and isolation exercise. When they oc- casionally jump into multi-direction- al sport, their diminishing strength, detrained neural systems and excess mass all add to the risk of injury. ACL and MCL knee injuries caused from deceleration forces coupled with direc- tion change can be combated by inte- grating neuromuscular components and movement skills into an exercise program. The highest incidence of emergency

room visits for sports-related injuries occurs among five- to 14-year-olds and then tapers gradually with age. Pre- pubertal children can harness eccen- tric loading during movement-based exercises to establish more skillful mo- tor skills. During puberty, kids enter an awkward stage when their bones grow faster than their muscles. Safe eccentric loading by learning fluid agility movement skills helps them co- ordinate their new longer levers. Post-puberty kids are more

“Every sport conditioning

exercise must be purposeful with a tangible outcome in mind.”

vulnerable to deceleration injuries be- cause circulating androgens cause de- velopment of greater mass and speed. At this stage they have the circulating hormones to support anaerobic, mus- cle hypertrophy and strength gains that can fuel greater speeds. They need the muscular strength, neuromuscular coordination and motor control to safe- ly brake from these higher speeds.

Skills and Drills with Purpose and Progression

Every sport conditioning exercise

must be purposeful with a tangible outcome in mind. The athletes must be challenged to create and refine strong movement skills (postural control, coordination, step by step phases of agility, quickness, speed and reactiv- ity), develop linked system strength (from toe to fingertip, along the entire kinetic chain, driven by neurological intelligence, activating multiple mus- cles at various tempos) and intuitive balance (body control, read and react

1. Deceleration

Teach athletes to stop effectively before shiſt- ing the focus to accel- eration. Athletes must absorb a considerable amount of impact during eccentric landing phas- es. Shock absorption is best accomplished using simultaneous flexion of hips, knees, ankles to dis- perse the force. Eccentric forces travel from the ground up, so quick changes in direction, landing jumps and hard aggressive cuts must be managed by lower body triple flexion.

SKILL AND DRILL PROGRESSION

2

1

responses, changes in symmetry, deep stabilization, neurological complexity) in search of a more athletic body.

Smart Muscle™ Training

Movement patterns are driven by

the neuromuscular system where the mind generates a command and the muscles comply to produce the desired movement. The more often a pattern is repeated, the faster the command/ response time and the more accurate the movement execution. Adding a balance challenge to a movement pat- tern layers the complexity of the drill requiring athletes to retain their bal- ance while completing the pattern first efficiently then with speed and power. Training deceleration skills on a BOSU lets athletes learn to absorb force in an unbalanced position creating internal reactivity in the muscles’ and joints’ mechanoreceptors. The result is the development of Smart Muscles that quickly and accurately comply with the mind’s commands.

Exercise: Two-Foot Jump and Land Floor to BOSU

SET UP – Stand behind the BOSU in an athletic stance, hips, knees and ankles flexed

EXECUTION – Jump onto the BOSU initiating the move- ment with the arms leading the legs using triple extension of the hips, knees and ankles and sticking the landing by absorbing the force with triple flexion.

PROGRESSION – two-foot jump and land for height, one- foot jump and land, two-foot lateral jump and land, one- foot lateral jump and land

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