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In a lot of “functional” training programs you may find different carry variations. Why? Because carrying things is functional! Think about it. Everyday you are carrying your purse, suitcase, baby, grocery bags, dishes, or any other normal activity you can think of. So doing it during your training has functional benefits that carryover to real-life experiences.   Although carry variations have the functional component to them, they also have benefits that help you get stronger. It depends on the variation, intensity, and duration, but all rely heavily on the trunk to be stable. To keep it simple, a stable trunk...

Rightfully so, the sled is a very popular piece of equipment in strength and conditioning facilities everywhere. They are fairly inexpensive and don’t take up too much space while still being able to use in many different ways.   You may see a professional athlete pushing 1,000 lbs or others sprinting with them down the field. Either way there are various ways you can implement the sled into your workouts that can fit into the parameters you wish to train.   Off the top of my head, there are four reasons the sled is used by almost every athlete here...

We’ve all been there. Staring at the screen wondering what variation of whatever exercise we should program for that athlete. Then, perfectly pairing it up with the right core or mobility exercise that fits the best. It can be extremely frustrating because all of a sudden you just spent 20 minutes on one exercise.   In this article, I am not going to tell you the best progressions and rep/set schemes. My goal is to get you to relax and tell you that there is a more important other half to this: conducting the program.   As long as you...

The Pallof press has become one of the most popular anti-rotation core exercises in the strength and conditioning industry, and for good reason.    The Pallof press was created by John Pallof, a Physical Therapist In Massachusetts. The Pallof press is a fantastic core training exercise that teaches one to resist rotation (anti-rotation). The best part about it is that it is very easy to perform, you can use a band, cable, or manual resistance. Here at VSP, we mostly use bands due to the equipment we have, but have used manual resistance in large group training. In addition, any...

Three 2 minute periods (college: 3/2/2 mins) in a circle that is 28 feet in diameter (college: 32 feet) and just two wrestlers battling until one wins and one loses. I have always found wrestling unique compared to other sports, the demands of the activity are mentally and physically fatiguing. There are some days you will have to wrestle three or more matches and use every last bit of energy in your body. That’s why being prepared in every facet is critical for a wrestler.   Below, I listed the keys to a strength and conditioning program for a wrestler....