5 Mistakes High School Athletes Make in the Weight Room

5 Mistakes High School Athletes Make in the Weight Room

You know you can’t just roll off the couch after months of inactivity, show up on game day, and expect to be successful—if you want to be competitive, you’ve got to get in the weight room. But showing up to the weight room is only one piece of the puzzle—you have to know how to utilize the weight room THE RIGHT WAY in order to see the results you’re after. Here are the top 5 most common mistakes we see high school athletes making in the weight room, and what YOU can do to avoid them.

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3 Ways Champions Succeed in the Face of Adversity

3 Ways Champions Succeed in the Face of Adversity

Adversity is a necessary part of sport. Without challenges there are no opportunities to grow, to learn, to develop. In essence, without adversity where is the fun? Yet many athletes view adversity in a bad light and as a result they are not prepared for when it comes. Guest author, Brandyn Fisher, PhD, outlines three ways champions succeed when challenges and adverse situations appear.

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Performance Killers: Not Managing Athletes' Arousal Levels

Performance Killers: Not Managing Athletes' Arousal Levels

Ever wondered why your athletes play great one half, and poorly the next? Or why they score 10 points one game, and 30 points the next? Consistency has a lot to do with your athletes' "arousal level," a measure of their internal energy level (or butterflies). Guest author Lindsey Wilson of Positive Performance explains how to quantify arousal level and use it to help your athletes perform better, and more consistently.

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3 Quick Tips for Rest and Recovery After Your Season

3 Quick Tips for Rest and Recovery After Your Season

If your sport season is coming to a close, it can be tempting to attack the weight room with new enthusiasm. As the volume of practices and games dwindles, many athletes feel the need to start lifting heavy right right away, to counteract the slowing momentum of the competitive season. But while you may be itching to hit the ground sprinting, it’s important to take some time for rest and recovery before you begin your post-season championship run or look toward next season. Here are three quick tips to help you maximize your rest and recovery before you start training again in earnest.

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3 Techniques to Help Teams and Athletes Get Ready to Compete

3 Techniques to Help Teams and Athletes Get Ready to Compete

Sometimes, mental preparation can be just as important for your athletes' success as their physical preparation. Guest author Lindsey Wilson of Positive Performance shares 3 easy techniques coaches can use to help their athletes get ready to compete at their highest level.

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The Vital Importance of In-Season Training

The Vital Importance of In-Season Training

Stopping your training in-season is kind of like playing Super Mario Bros., getting to the final boss, then shutting off your Super Nintendo: you lose your progress! There's a lot more to it than that, but the importance of in-season strength and conditioning cannot be understated. Guest author and strength coach Doug Berninger tells us why in-season training helps athletes prevent injuries and perform at their best—and why coaches MUST make it a priority.

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Sets, Reps, and Negligence: How to Be a Safe and Effective High School Strength Coach, Part 2

Sets, Reps, and Negligence: How to Be a Safe and Effective High School Strength Coach, Part 2

Legendary high school coach Mike Nitka shares his tips on creating a strength and conditioning program that both keeps student-athletes safe in the weight room AND protects strength coaches from liability. Part 2 of a 3-part, must-read series!

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3 BIG Tips to Improve Your Hang Clean

3 BIG Tips to Improve Your Hang Clean

Athletes from almost every sport need strength and explosiveness to be competitive. Not only do these traits improve athletic performance, they also help reduce an athlete’s risk of injury—which makes the weight room, where strength and power are developed and honed, a critical component of athletic success. The hang clean is an effective movement at developing strength and explosiveness, but it's also a difficult lift to master. Here are our 3 BIG tips to help improve your hang clean!

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Avoid Injuries By Correcting These 3 Mistakes

Avoid Injuries By Correcting These 3 Mistakes

Injuries are part of the game in any sport, but especially in sports where physicality is necessary to compete, like football, lacrosse, or hockey. While some elements of contact sports are unavoidable, what can make the difference in keeping you healthy and safe for competition is to focus on reducing non-contact injuries. Avoid injuries by correcting these 3 mistakes. 

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