Kimberly’s experience with sports performance training include Division I Universities, (UCLA, Cal State Northridge), high school varsity sports, and the U.S. Tennis Association. She designs fitness programs for weekend warriors, artists in the entertainment industry, Functional Adult Training Camps, (F.A.T.), onsite team sports performance training, and partners with Bright Horizons providing fundamental skills programs to kindergarten classes at child development centers in Los Angeles.
SZ: What sports did you play/compete in while growing up? Describe the fitness programs attached to your youth participation when you were actively competing. What made training in your junior days fun?
KJ: I played basketball, ran track, and was on a competing dance team. Outside of conditioning, rarely was any kind of fitness/strength program implemented. My track coach implemented strength training during our workouts. Because we practiced on a college track, and there was a weight room on campus. Based on what I know now, it was not periodized through training cycles, and it was mainly open chain, machine based exercises. Fortunately,I grew up with three older brothers, and we had a leg extension and weight bench in our garage. Since I had some prior experience with weights I definitely enjoyed lifting for track. Overall it was a fun experience and I respected the fact that our coach was trying to get the team stronger.
SZ: What are some influences that helped you decide to become a strength and conditioning specialist? Were there certain events that pulled you in the direction of becoming a strength and conditioning coach?
KJ: Ultimately, it was my attendance at Cal Berkeley’s Basketball Coaching Clinic in 2004 that sealed the deal. At the time I was a Health/PE teacher and Head Varsity Basketball Coach at my alma mater, Notre Dame Academy. While at the coaches clinic I saw the strength and conditioning coach taking the women’s basketball team through some agility and plyometric drills. To be honest, at that time I had no idea it was even a profession. I knew there were personal trainers, and I was certified as one at the time. However, I was not aware of strength and conditioning as a professional field. After the clinic I did realize it greatly enhanced performance in athletes. Within the next year I became certified as a CSCS and began implementing pre-season training with my basketball team. I also trained varsity women’s volleyball as well.
SZ: Have there been trainer/mentors in your professional field that have influenced your training methods? How have you broadened these influences to form your unique program offerings.
KJ: I have had the opportunity to work and train under remarkably talented strength coaches. While I interned with UCLA Football in their Athletic Performance program I learned a great deal from their talented staff. Jill Robinson taught me how to perform Olympic Lifts. John Farr, who trained women’s tennis, helped them achieve their first NCAA Championship in the school’s history. He imparted a great deal of knowledge about periodization, and the types of exercises and metabolic conditioning methods he preferred to use with men’s and women’s tennis. Daniel Kohn was the head strength coach at California State University, Northridge. We were the only members of the strength staff, so I was able to pick his brain about exercise selection, periodization, and relative intensity. I cannot say that I had one single mentor. There have been a number of people who have influenced me throughout the years. I am a lifelong learner, so I take in helpful information whenever possible.
SZ: Prior to beginning your company Jones Strength, you were a strength and fitness specialist at the U.S.T.A. Training Center - West located at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. What was the age range of junior players you trained? How many times a week are elite level junior tennis players physically training off-court to improve their power, speed, strength, and endurance levels?
KJ: The age range of Junior players was 9 – 17. The USTA juniors trained four days a week. Twice a week they did on court agility followed by conditioning, which targeted the phosphagen and fast glycolysis energy systems. The other two days they did strength training in the weight room followed by speed endurance or aerobic based conditioning. Sessions usually began with pre-hab exercises to target shoulder and hip mobility. Shoulder pre-hab entailed scapular activation, some variation of resisted external and internal exercises, and/or high volume upper body pulls with resistance bands. Hip mobility either entailed closed chain exercises such as hurdle step overs and mini-band lateral and linear walks, or open chain exercises like glute bridges, clam shells, scorpions or fire hydrants.
SZ: What are some of the main physical stress differences between junior boys and girls that trainers need to be cautious of to avoid training injuries with this age group?
KJ: Different muscles become more prominent in boys and girls after they hit puberty. Girls tend to become more quad dominant, and guys develop stronger upper bodies and more hamstring and glute strength. Common feedback is knee pain in girls, and shoulder pain for both guys and girls. Boys are developing stronger upper bodies, so they tend to muscle the ball to generate force instead of loading the hips properly. Girls do this as well as they mature. Girls are also lacking strength in the muscles in the posterior chain that stabilize the knee. Their quad dominance does not allow them to generate power by loading the glutes and hamstrings efficiently.
When trainers program double and single leg lower body pushes (squats, lunges, step ups, Bulgarian squats etc.), it is vital that they watch for a lack of knee stabilization, in both pre and post pubescent athletes. Valgus, or the collapsing of the knee towards the body’s mid line, is an obvious sign. If knee stabilization is lacking, trainers should focus on programming more pre-hab exercises that will strengthen the athletes’ glutes, hamstring, and core muscles surrounding the trunk (transverse abdominals, erector spinae, obliques etc.) Trainers must also teach both guys and girls how to generate force through their legs. That power will transfer into the ball, which hopefully will limit overuse injuries in the muscles and tendons in the shoulders, elbow, and/or forearms.
In general, tennis players tend to have strong lats, but significant weakness in the scapular region. Strengthening muscles in the mid-traps and rhomboids should be imperative in every trainer’s program. Improvements in scapular stabilization will definitely benefit any tennis player, as it will correct the forward rounding of the shoulders and slight kyphosis in the upper back. Trainers must also ensure that they program an equal ratio of upper body push and pulling movements. Otherwise, they run the risk of neglecting areas in their trainings that can help keep tennis players shoulders healthy.
SZ: How are exercises/work-outs conducted to avoid soft-tissue and bone/joint development injuries?
KJ: Overuse injuries are common in sports. Athletes must listen to their bodies. Fatigue and pain should be warning signs signaling athletes to rest their bodies. With that being said, there is a high incidence of injury during the deceleration phase of movement. Muscle imbalances and muscle weaknesses can negatively impact athletes as they change directions, land from explosive types of movements, or follow through with their rackets on forehand shots and serves. Therefore, acute injuries must be addressed properly. Athletes need proper recovery time so any inflammation, strains or sprains have time to heal efficiently. Returning to sports prematurely can possibly worsen the condition. Once the injury has been diagnosed by an Athletic Trainer or Sports Physician, athletes must be diligent about performing rehabilitative exercises. If the athletic trainer or sports physician has given me the green light, I usually have athletes continue strength training with all of the healthy limbs. This way they do not lose a significant amount of strength during this recovery period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6NpjMWhsU
Implementing a proper warm up is important as well. Athletes should perform an active dynamic warm up prior to practice sessions or matches. This will increase the core temperature of the body, and raise the heart rate, which increases blood flow and oxygen to the muscles. Dynamic warm ups also increase flexibility in the muscles and allow the joints to move through ranges of motion that are similar to movements on the court.
Trainers must also be aware of joint pain during growth spurts, and Osgood Schlatters. I train a freshman male tennis player with this condition, and we never squat during our strength training sessions. Instead, we deadlift and occasionally I will program lunging type movements if his pain is not substantial that week. This also means I cannot program many lower body plyometric exercises, since jumping and flexing the knee prove to be too painful. Instead we perform variations of an Olympic Lift called Clean Pulls. The goal is to recruit as many muscles as possible in the least amount of time. We get the same force production through this exercise as we would with plyos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9HYJHolObk
SZ: What are some exercises you find to be useful and fun for the juniors in off court training to increase, reaction time, speed, agility, flexibility, balance, without using weights?
http://youtu.be/XgZXQB4pDBU
KJ: I have found that fun on court agility exercises such as ball drops, competitive relays, and reactive type drills keep kids excited and engaged. Closed drills require an athlete to perform a specific pattern of agility. Open drills are less predictable and they force athletes to think, react, and execute specific movements as fast as possible. At the USTA I would form teams and have players compete for points. I also have the kids help me judge the execution of certain drills so that they can see what it looks like to do drills the right way and the wrong way. They enjoy this because it teaches them to be efficient with their movements.
For instance there is an agility drill called Side Shuffle. One athlete is straddling the center service line on each side of the court facing each other. When I yell go, the athlete side shuffles to the doubles line, crosses over and shuffles back to the other doubles line, and finishes with a crossover and side shuffle back to the center service line. Sometimes athletes side run during this drill. This means their bodies are not square to the net, so the toes are turning out, and the hips are turned diagonally in the direction they are moving. The minute an athlete sees the opposing team side running they alert me and, they can no longer win a point for that rep.
SZ: Competitive junior tennis players spend a lot of time on the tennis court drilling, playing, and practicing. The routine of court to gym can become quite tedious physically and mentally. What are your methods for creating a fun, entertaining, stimulating environment for juniors so they will continue to participate?
http://youtu.be/DZpP12VSx6E
KJ: Using a variety of drills keeps athletes engaged. Monotony will definitely bore the players. I change drills about every two weeks. I program similar drills for the first two weeks of the month, so players can familiarize themselves and work on improvements. Then I switch the exercises for the next two weeks. I also allow players to give input for drills, particularly for agility sessions. Sometimes I will incorporate a different element to a drill of which they are already familiar. For instance, for ball drops, one of my players said he had been working on “touch” with his coach. He asked if he could incorporate hitting the ball with his racket, instead of sprinting to catch the ball before it bounced twice. I enjoyed the new element and welcome that find of feedback. Though not all parts of training are democratic, I think it is great for players to communicate with me about enhancing the specificity of agility drills. Players really enjoy the Mirror Drill as well. They have to react to the person across from them and sprint/shuffle/back pedal to the same cone their competitor sprints to. Usually players go head to head with this drill, but players can also react to a coach as well.
SZ: What psychological role does periodization play in the athletic training experience?
KJ: As players go through different cycles of a periodized program they begin to feel the effects of the training. As their strength grows they experience physical and psychological rewards both on and off the court. Athletes get excited when they move up in weight on exercises because it is a testament to their strength gains. They also notice enhancements in their performance on the court as well. They can hit heavier balls, change directions faster and react to shots quicker than they did before. These are all added incentive to stay consistent in the weight room. Players also become more confident in their ability to compete against strong competitors. As they get stronger and begin to move better on the court they feel they have a better shot at beating opponents who are bigger and stronger. This is why it is important that the strength coach is knowledgeable about the different training cycles (max strength, hypertrophy, power, maintenance), so that it doesn’t negatively effect a players game. There have to be unloaded weeks, so athletes don’t over train and the volume has to be appropriate for the training intensities. If players feel for a second that weight training is making them slower, less flexible, or too tired for their matches, they question the program. Therefore, having athletes buy in is heavily dependent on how well the training is transferring onto the court.
SZ: Do you have any favorite quotes, stories, or tips that have guided you on your path as a professional trainer?
KJ: The biggest lesson I have learned is that you have to be very observant during training. No matter what is programmed for that day, if an athlete is becoming sick, is tired, or burned out, it is up to the strength and conditioning coach to adjust the workout accordingly. Some of the ways to do this include: lowering the volume, decreasing the load/weight, utilizing dumbbells instead of a barbell, decreasing the number of exercises, or even having a recovery day, with foam rolling and/or ice baths instead of a regular workout. Sometimes athletes also have tough practices with their coaches, or days with very long match play. Sometimes they have been studying for tests, or have had a lot of homework and have not been getting much sleep. If trainers are observant of players body language, they can modify workouts, and spare players from placing any extra stress on their bodies.
Kimberly thank you for taking time to share your insights regarding athletic training. This post can also be viewed as published on www.Examiner.com
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
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