Well, it was a great week for a couple of our athletes at DSP!
I am sure you all have seen footage of Episcopal High School Pitcher Hughes Page working out. He is one of our hardest working athletes and has set the bar high for all future and current DSP athletes.
Well just in case you haven’t heard, Hughes has verbally committed to play baseball for the University of Virginia. This is AWESOME for so many reasons, but mainly because playing for UVA has been a childhood dream of Hughes’ since he was 10 years old. It’s also cool because we now will have attended the same High School and University. Everyone’s excited for Hughes and he just gave me another good reason to get my butt down to Charlottesville more!
Also last week, a couple of DSP Superstars got a chance to take batting practice in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium. Michelle Snyder and Sam Cobb both play on the USA Women’s Baseball Team and came to DSP to prepare for the Pan American games beginning on July 25th in Ontario. After watching Michelle and Sam swing the 62lb. kettlebell and perform our jump series effortlessly during their first workout, I would say that these girls are ready. Stay tuned for their updates..more to come!
You can learn more about the USA Women’s Baseball team here.
Why I Don’t Think Crossfit is Good For Athletes
There is no doubt that Crossfit is popular. Many of the top competitors are some of the most fit people that you’ll see. However, when it comes to improving athletic performance, Crossfit is not the way to go. There are a number of reasons why athletes should train differently then those that compete in Crossfit and Coach Mike Boyle lays them all out in this really good blog entry. This is our must read for the week!
Video of the Week – Advanced Skipping Drills
Our Video of the Week is footage of some Advanced Skipping Drills inspired by Frans Bosch. Frans Bosch is a professor of biomechanics and motor learning at Fontys University for Applied Science in Holland. He is the co-author of “Running: Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology in Practice”, which is widely regarded as one of the top sprinting resources for coaches worldwide.
In the video you’ll see our athletes doing skipping drills with a medicine ball. Frans refers to these types of drills as his “Constraint Based Approach to Speed Development”. I’ve been working on about 20 of these types of drills and I must admit that they are very challenging. I like them a lot and look forward to integrating more of these exercises into our programming at DSP. Check it out!
The Single Rep Dead Stop Swing, Clean, Snatch Workout
If you are looking for a workout that’s simple and sinister, look no further! My colleague and close friend Master R.K.C. Andrea Du Cane just wrote a good blog entry on what’s now one of my favorite workouts. After seeing the faces on the participants at our last Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification during this workout, I couldn’t wait to let our clients at DSP give it a shot. If you haven’t tried the Dead Stop Swing before, you’re in for a treat. Let us know how the workout goes!
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