1. Strength is the foundation for power and explosiveness.
2. Strength training drastically reduces your risk of injury on and off of the court. It helps create physical and mental resilience that is a crucial for athletes of all levels.
3. It is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health.

You want to be powerful, right? Well what is power? Put simply, power is the expression of strength in a short time. For all of you fellow nerds out there…

          Power = Force * Velocity

So, if we want to get more powerful, we can (1) increase of force production or (2) increase our velocity. If you do not prioritizing maximal strength as part of your program, you will be leaving inches off of your jump

Athletic performance is the beautiful collaboration of multiple physical traits. When it comes to being a well-rounded athlete, there are many complimentary qualities we aim to develop. Here are the qualities that we consider when programming, as well as some specific interventions we use:

1. Maximal Strength
   Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Pull-ups, Sled Pushes, Stability Accessories
2. Reactivity & Rhythmicity
   Pogo Variations, Hops, Skips, Bounds
3. Force Absorption & Stability
   Paused Hops, Altitude Falls, Olympic variations
4. Explosiveness & Power
   Jumps (loaded or bodyweight), Olympic Lifts, Sprints, Shuffles
5. Technical Drills
   Penultimate Pushes, Block Steps, Full Approaches

Feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start? Check out our Introductory Program Here

Much like how stepping into a car doesn’t automatically make you a Nascar Driver, lifting weights doesn’t automatically turn you into a bodybuilder.

Building muscle is a slow process that depends on both training and diet. To be frank, it isn’t something that happens by accident. This is true for both men and women, but sadly this misconception is often the cause of athletes avoiding resistance training.  Some people are scared that some extra muscle will slow them down (which is often not the case anyways) and others simply don’t want a muscular physique.

So will you gain some muscle if you start training? Probably! Is that a bad thing? Not at all. Is it the main focus of training for volleyball players? Not usually. Will you accidentally turn into the next Mr. or Ms. Olympia? Hard no.

The tired and achy feeling in your muscles you get 24-48 hours after your workout is referred to as DOMS- Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Unfortunately, there is no way to completely avoid them completely and little evidence supporting the use of modalities to reduce their onset.

That being said, slow and sustainable progression is the key here. When creating a program, start just below an intensity and volume that you can do comfortably. Then, slowly add intensity and volume over the following weeks to minimize the effects of DOMS. Just remember, as a beginner DOMS tend to be most uncomfortable but do decline in intensity overtime as your body adapts.

Nope! Squats, lunges, and many other lower body exercises are actually one of the best things that you can do for your knees! When we dose exercise accordingly, we slowly adapt and build our body’s ability to handle stress.

Many of us have been told that we need to be careful when it comes to our back. In reality, our backs are robust and strong when we treat them right. When dosed appropriately, exercises like deadlifts help us to build a strong back that is capable of handling a lot of stress. Remember, we need that strength, robustness, and stability to handle the physical stressors of daily like and those of the court! 

Resistance training 2-3x/week is the standard recommendation for everyone to stay healthy and capable. A typical session that includes compound movements, accessories, and conditioning can run anywhere from 45-120 minutes. If you are just getting started, remember that any action is a step forward. Small, sustainable changes are the key to long term changes, so starting twice per week could be a fantastic entry point. In general, try not to focus too much on the time of each session, but instead focus on the intent. If you are not sure where to start, check out our Introductory Program Here.

Anyone who is new to resistance training and engaging in additional sport activity may want to start with fewer sessions for a period to allow the body to adapt to the extra training stress. Additional resistance training sessions may be added depending on the individual and their goals. 

No, you will not lose all of your hard-earned gains if you don’t eat in the 30-45 minute period following your workout. The ideas of this short Anabolic Window has been debunked! In reality, your body is primed for muscle protein synthesis for 24-48 hours.

Instead, focus on making sure that you are getting enough calories over the course of the day. If you want to take the next step in your performance with nutrition, being consistent with your macronutrients day-to-day will still be more important than your meal timing. 

The amount of protein you need each day depends on a number of factors. These include your goals, activity level, age, weight, and more.

A good place to start is to take your bodyweight in kg and multiply it by 1.6-2.2. That will give you an idea of how much you need in a given day. So if you weight 80 kg, you would be between 128-176 g each day. This can be split up however you want, but if you are looking to really fine tune your intake, make sure to spread your protein throughout the day.

This is highly dependent on your schedule and fluctuations in energy throughout the day. Some people don’t have a choice- but if you do, opt for times where you are most alert and energetic. If you are slow to wake up in the morning, it might be best you don’t schedule your session at 8am. For those that enjoy evening training, we suggest trying to keep it a few hours away from bedtime to make sure you have enough time to wind down so sleep is not impaired. But remember, perfection is the enemy of progress, so don’t let the idea of a perfect time to train hold you back.

Let’s set this straight: The point of training is to increase strength, resilience, work capacity, endurance, power, reactivity, and so much more. Do we burn calories when we train? Yes. Are there some training forms that burn more calories than others? Yes. Are those differences so big that we should spend time and mental energy worrying about them? No.

If your main concern is creating a caloric deficit, focus on your diet and find a training program that you enjoy – ideally with a mix of resistance training and some form of cardio. It takes a lot of training time to burn any considerable amount of calories and training should never be used as punishment for eating too much.