In the 21st century we should no longer need to convince anyone of the need for the proper strength and conditioning training for sports. At the highest level a good strength programme has become recognised as an essential part of on the field success and forms the off season cornerstone of all elite athletes training routines. So it is a sad indictment against many coaches (particularly here in Europe) that we still encounter shabby and ill conceived strength training protocols.
A key aspect of all our work at Ultimate Performance is our dedication and commitment to helping improve the athletic performance of our clients. It has become an increasingly significant part of our franchise and is an area where for a UK based organisation we have unrivalled access to some of the most sought after coaches in the world, including the likes of Charles Poliquin, possibly the most successful trainer of world championship and Olympic medal winning athletes in the western hemisphere.
Having been trained by the best ourselves, we are in the enviable position of knowing that we bring the highest standards and most modern training principles to bear upon our strength and conditioning work. Alongside traditional training principles aimed to improve power, strength, speed, and in some cases functional muscular bulk, we also utilise a wide variety of functional sports movements such as core stabilisation, multi planar movements, neuromuscular overload, deceleration, change of direction and plyometric training.
Our aim is to produce the most efficient athlete possible, so we also place great emphasis on prehabilitation procedures in order to stop problems before they happen. An integrated and progressive strength programme that properly addresses structural and muscular imbalances should make the body as bulletproof as possible from the inevitable knocks, collisions and sprains that occur on the field of play.
Jake Fisk, Southend Rugby Club
"Training with Ultimate Performanc'e's personal trainer and strength coach Glenn was a real eye opener. Over an 8 week period i experienced a 30% strength increase. This is more than i previously achieved in a year. Not only have i gained functional strength for my rugby but I have also acquired valuable knowledge for my training"
Proper nutritional intake is also an absolutely essential topic that is too often ignored by sports coaches. This is an area that is of fundamental importance as without it recovery, and subsequent adaptive improvements, will always be severely limited. Our expertise in this is unrivalled and we are widely acknowledged as being at the top of our field for getting our athletes into match winning shape in the shortest possible timeframe.
Every athlete presents a unique set of goals and requirements so the following is just a brief outline of the general way that we work when improving strength and conditioning for sports performance:
Initial Assessment & Consultation
This consists of a health and fitness questionnaire where we learn not just the hard facts of your previous training experience, sports specific goals and medical history, but also seek to understand exactly what motivates you in the pursuit of on the field success.
We also undertake an extensive body composition analysis whereby we calculate body fat percentages and take height and weight statistics so as to benchmark ongoing progress.
Structural, postural, and muscular balance testing – where are your weaknesses / strengths and how can they be addressed for a healthy, functional and injury free body
Developed by the one of the world’s best known physical therapists, Gray Cook, this consists of a functional movement screen with the following tests:
Deep Overhead Squat
Hurdle Step
In-Line Lunge
Active Straight Leg Raise
Seated Rotation
Muscle fibre testing - are you fast twitch or slow twitch, how many repetitions are ideal for your body type? This is of particular importance when it comes to training for maximum athletic performance as different muscle fibres (and their relevant training protocols) can be better suited for endurance work (slow twitch fibres) or speed and power work (fast twitch fibres).
We test you on several key major resistance exercises such as Bench Press, Chin up, Step up, and Scott Curl calculating your 1 repetition maximum load and then applying specific formulae to assist in calculating muscle fibre type and the structural balance of key supporting musculature such as the rotator cuff and vastus medialis. This is to ensure the long term integrity of your body’s muscles and soft tissue, keeping you healthy and on the playing field, and not on the physio’s table!
Nutritional Consultation and Audit
We ask every one of our athlete’s food diary of exactly what is consumed during the preceding week before starting with us. This way we can accurately conduct a full scale audit of dietary habits and make positive changes that are particular to how you eat, rather than making sweeping statements that apply generally, but not necessarily to you specifically. At the end of the day it is this attention to detail and specificity that translates into results.
Depending upon your specific goals, we also map out a full scale supplementation programme that includes every possible permutation of what food supplements you could take to enhance your progress.
Exercise Programme Design
A detailed, leave no stone unturned programme both based on the data gathered by the assessment and consultation process, by the way you will be eating during the programme (nutrition and exercise should always be taken into account as a whole, not two separate parts), and of course the results that you are looking to be translated onto your chosen field of play.
We also take into account the information gathered during the physical assessments, and construct a plan that takes into account any pre existing or potential structural / muscular imbalances, addressing weaknesses head on and eliminating them with the application of modern sports science programme design.
Depending upon your goals we generally prescribe a mix of resistance, energy systems, and flexibility focused training. The one consistent thing that all our athletes leave us with is the knowledge that they are to a man and woman always significantly stronger and fitter, often bigger, and invariably faster.
Training Sessions
Each training session will be conducted with the Ultimate Performance Coach of your choice, and entails 1- 2 hours of one to one work. We stay with you every step of the way, from dynamic stretching in the warm up, through to the challenge of pushing yourself with the weights or on the running track, up to the cool down and partner assisted PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching to end your workout.
We pay extremely close attention to everything that you do when exercising with us, always monitoring your form, your fitness and your progress, and view the “in the gym” part of our service as being a combination of motivator, educator, statistician and task master!
The human body is a remarkably adaptive organism, and by paying close attention to the way you progress in your workouts we know when is the right time to start changing your programme (usually within 2-4 weeks depending upon training experience) to ensure that you never reach the plateaus that limit the progress of all athletes.
If you are interested in discussing a sports specific training programme with us, please call 020 82690766 or email us and we can organise a free consultation at your convenience.
