Total Body Movements
I am a strong believer in utilizing total body movements throughout the training year. Total body movements involve a combination of pushing, pulling movements and squat derivative movements. The advantages of total body movements are:
All major muscle groups are utilized and linked.
Movement is through a full range.
Movement is ballistic.
There is limb acceleration and deceleration.
Technical demand is high. Balance and timing are necessary for success.
The athlete must be fully engaged mentally to achieve progress.
There is a mistaken notion that total body movements must be done with an Olympic bar. I think that a bar is inappropriate for many body types and many sports. Using a dumbbell as illustrated in the picture of squat to press allows
the resistance to fit the body rather than trying to make the body fit the resistance. I have found total body dumbbell movements really effective in season where time is limited. It is possible to get a great workout in 15 to 20 minutes. You get a lot of bang for your buck.
posted by Vern Gambetta @ 4/26/2006 08:36:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Amen! Very good point about not needing to make the resistance fit the body and not the body fit the resistance. Too many under-prepared athletes are forced to use bars when they are not ready.
And how sad it is to see these ads of shiny new weightrooms full of benches and racks and platforms--when what is most needed is space and the right number of dumbbells, medballs, etc to do some really effective total body training! Imagine the money that could be spent elsewhere!
Tracy Fober
It's a great way to keep your athletes lean also. When one thinks of "cardio" right away we think of running or eliptical trainers. A series of total body movements properly organized into a circuit really gets the heart rate up! By the way, what ever happened to those, "Burn with Vern" T shirts I used to see?
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