We all know that strength training plays a massive part in making a sporting athlete great, and AFL Football is no exception. Over the years as the game has become more professional and the stakes higher it has become as important as the skills element of the game. All the professional clubs employ a full time Sports Conditioning coach to try and get every last drop of talent and potential from their players. Unfortunately the education of how they do this does not filter down to the amateur clubs or even semi professional players. Reliance on body building techniques, and overuse of useless beach muscle exercises like bicep curls and the bench press make up most of the current football players toolbox of exercises. Lifting progressively heavier weights will not in itself lead to improved power and speed, but many athletes and coaches still get caught up with this ‘heavier and bigger is best’ strategy. Too much bulk is just that: an additional load to transport around the field or into the air. If increased muscle size on its own brought the required results, then why do we not see body builders dominating the AFL? It’s how you develop the size and strength, and relate it to movements that you need in your game, that counts. As the Women's Football League has developed it has become apparent that for females a conditioning program is just as important, if not more so. Females cannot get big even if they want to, but they can get stronger and faster. Remember Bigger does not mean better, and does not mean you can generate greater force and ultimately more power, which I would say is what every football player who has taken part in our Sports program says they want. You can still add size and some bulk but it has to be done at the right time of year. In this article, I show you exactly how.

We have featured many articles on our website before about the need for strength training for runners and various sports like Golf, Tennis and Football, but we have not discussed the value and need for this with cycling. I myself have been a very competitive cyclist for many years and still do a few races each year. I used to race Mountain Bikes before I ventured into road cycling so I have a good understanding of the different skills and requirements for both disciplines. The biggest mistake many cyclists make is that they are ignorant to the many postural problems and muscle imbalance that their sport can cause. As the sport is so repetitive it is great for improving efficiency but a disaster for creating long term postural problems that lead to injury and pain. This can easily be avoided by adopting a corrective plan, and the good news is it will actually help you to ride much faster! Just spending endless hours on the road in the hope that you will get faster is not a well thought out plan. Other sports know of the benefits to their game by adopting conditioning and cycling is no different. Even if you are just an amateur and just like to ride with your friends you still need to do some form of strength work or risk developing problems down the track. Which could eventually lead to no more cycling!

Walking is one of those movements we all take for granted. We don't regard this as an exercise, it is just something we all can do. But what happens if you have an accident, injury or suffer with some type of disease that affects your ability to walk correctly? What can you do about it? A severe loss of balance, strength, and confidence to do things that were previously easy and taken for granted can now completely change your way of life. A stretching program will help to some degree but will not be your answer for lack of strength. A strength program will help, but will not be your answer for lack of stability and mobility. What do you do? To answer this is more than just one secret exercise or a one size fits all approach. We have worked for many years in the rehabilitation field (16 years now) and work closely with many health therapists successfully helping people overcome all types of injury, from spinal injury and back pain to ACL reconstruction rehabilitation. But out of all these injuries, the loss of the ability to walk would be right up there with being the hardest and trickiest to work with to find a successful solution for the client. In this article I am going to share with you some of our most successful exercises, strategies, and methods for helping people learn to walk correctly, or in some cases getting out of the wheel chair and learning to walk again!