Strength and Conditioning Knowledge Center

Performance improvement in vertical jumping is largely related to performance in many sports. Throughout this article I will try to explain in a theoretical way what mechanical capabilities affect vertical jumping first hand and how to perform it in a practical way. So, let’s start.   What are the most important mechanical abilities when measuring …

Exercise can be seen as a type of stressor which, like any other stressor, is able to exert a biological response (or stress response). A common feature of all stressors is that there is an acute phase, during which homeostatic adjustments occur; a more chronic phase, during which the stressor can be accommodated by the …

Are you interested in taking your performance to the next level? Feeling stuck in a plateau? Not sure how to properly auto-regulate your training? Confused about all the information out there? Well you have come to the right place!   Who Am I? My Name is Ben Langley, I have been lifting weights for just …

In the previous article we talked about the scientific background of eccentric training and its physiological characteristics. In this article we will take a look at the main physiological adaptations that occur after eccentric training. Contraction type appears to mediate a region-specific hypertrophy; eccentric training tends to induce greater increases in distal muscle size, while …

My name is Jason Tremblay. I’m a 28-year-old Strength & Conditioning professional, Sports Science template designer for the Calgary Flames, and business owner of The Strength Guys Inc., with a bachelor’s degree in Health & Physical Education as well as the Personal Fitness Trainer Certificate from Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. During the first …

Everyone in the sports science world has ever heard of the pioneering work of Archibald V. Hill in 19221 and 19382 about the relationships among muscle force, velocity and power. His work not only derived in the award-winning of the 1922 Nobel Prize in Medicine but also it was a cornerstone of muscle physiology field …

Testing and data collecting are cornerstones of both sports coaches and scientist. During the last decades growing technology made testing simpler than ever. However, having the latest state of the art gadget does not equals getting the right data and improving the decision-making process to improve training programs. I´m a big fan of Nassim Taleb …

Travelling and training: The Do’s , The Don’ts and the Valuable tool of VBT Are you like me? Always trying to fit your training around a busy life? Traveling for work and priorities need to change? Or maybe you’re just looking for a new regime. Look no further as I explain my experiences and the …

Sleep is the most powerful recovery and performance-enhancing tool on earth Introduction Sleep is increasingly gaining attention among sport scientists and practitioners as an important element to optimise sports performance and recovery. In fact, due to its restorative aspect, sleep is a critical aspect of the recovery processes in athletes. Both physical and cognitive stress …

Autoregulating Volume With Absolute Velocity Stops: A Solution to Accurately Quantify Proximity to Failure Currently, the most commonly employed method of volume autoregulation is the RPE stop; however, it is limited by its inability to accurately quantify proximity to failure. Join me as I address six different examples of employing absolute velocity stops as a …

Velocity-based training has gained traction among fitness trainers in this day and age. Although the concept of VBT is not new, it has become more prevalent due to technological advancements that have brought forward some pretty nice tools to monitor and manage training velocity. And this velocity measurement is both objective and precise. The primary …

Everyone knows that performance varies, even on a day-to-day basis. This variation is not trivial and you don´t need a fancy and complex methodology to detect it. We´ve all been there, running our best time, being the man of the match or nailing a PB one day and struggling with light weights, losing a race …