Strong, Healthy Kids are BUILT in the Weight Room

In a contact sport such as football, Strength is the one thing relative to the action on the field. Building a proper foundation through Strength and Conditioning is crucial for long term development on and off the field. With kids and teens playing almost year round it becomes even more crucial for them to start training at younger ages. Strength and Conditioning is designed to help improve the quality of an athletes movement and performance. Better movement and improved performance sounds like a winning combination but how do we get access to these types of programs?

Our training methods support Off Season and In Season Strength Training. Athletes that continue training In Season are at less risk for injury and decrease in performance. When untrained and inconsistent we can see strength and speed severely diminish starting around 7 days when not included in one's programming. (Chaabene, H., Prieske, O., Moran, J. et al. Effects of Resistance Training on Change-of-Direction Speed in Youth and Young Physically Active and Athletic Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Sports Med 50, 1483–1499 (2020).

Since its inception in 2018, APL was built to provide World Class Coaching for athletes focusing on long term athletic development. From beginners to professionals, our programs have continued to pave the way for student athletes to live out their dreams of playing and competing at the highest levels.

The Summer of 2023 was special this year because we had our biggest group of incoming freshman football players training with us. This particular group grew up playing for the Tracy Buccaneers and now most are at Tracy High after training ALL SUMMER at APL. Off Season programs usually consist of 3+ days at the gym with athletes focusing on total body training sessions. Speed and Sprinting are also designed into everyone’s programs since everything is personalized. You won’t find any group classes at APL, athletes follow programming that has been personalized for them based on current goals, experience, time of the year, and some other metrics our coaches can cover during the assessment process.

The most important things a football player does are done on the field. Those skills however are enhanced and developed by regular and weekly strength training. Young athletes don't become stronger by simply attending practice, strength is built when we apply stress to the body, that stress is found by lifting weights. Getting faster requires athletes to sprint and to sprint every single week, multiple times a week. When we combine strength and speed we see athletes thrive all year long. One of our high school athletes gained 6+ pounds this summer, added 5” to his vertical jump, brought his 40 yard dash time under 5 seconds, and added 75+lbs to his Deadlift.

Ashton has trained at APL for 5 years and has gained 20+ pounds while increasing his strength, speed and performance. All while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and playing 2 sports. Ashton also trains year round with us.

It is OK and normal for an athlete to still actively strength train when the season begins. Collegiate and Professionals will train year round, on days they practice, and sometimes on gameday. It should be no different at the Pee-Wee and High School levels. The body is still getting hit and exposed to higher speeds along with the stress that daily practice, games and school bring to a student athlete. The way we train in the weightroom is to prepare the body to handle all of that stress and thrive, while reducing the chances of serious injuries arising.

This journey begins with our athlete assessment and we invite you and your family to go through that process! Let us help you set the right goals and learn about our 6 Core Movements that have helped hundreds of athletes achieve the highest success on and off the field. Reach out to Coach Vinny or Alyx to set up a tour of the facility today!

We look forward to getting STRONG with you!