Athletic Lab

In July, Athletic Lab further cemented itself as THE place for soccer players in the Triangle to train. Athletic Lab is the official training center of the Carolina Railhawks professional soccer team. The Railhawks are one of the best teams in the NASL and always the fittest and fastest team on the field. In July, we were asked to run conditioning sessions for a soccer camp at Next Level Soccer Academy as well as the conditioning sessions at the Railhawks High School team camps at Wake-Med Soccer Park. We work with soccer players from the age of 10 in a manner that is age and developmentally appropriate to best prepare the athlete for the multi-faceted demands of the game. If you’re interested in training with us sign up for a FREE TRIAL SESSION today.

The Carolina Railhawks are running a summer camp for area soccer teams and the Athletic Lab staff are running the conditioning portion of the camp. Every day this week over 120 athletes from 6 local high school teams meet at Wake Med soccer park for 4 hours of physical, mental and skill development. Athletic Lab staff start off the session each day with a warmup and athletic development session to develop speed, agility and explosive power. Athletic Lab is proud to be the official strength and conditioning center for the Carolina Railhawks.

You sleep less than your body needs so your cortisol levels are really high and growth hormone levels are low. You wake up and if you eat breakfast at all it’s the quickest possible solution with little nutritive value and requires no activity to prepare. You hop in your car and sit for 15-30 minutes as you drive to work. At work, you find the closest possible parking spot to your front office door and park there so you don’t have to walk. When you’ve walked the hundred or so feet to your office building and if you’re office is on the second floor you probably take an elevator up to your floor. Then you work 8 hours at a desk while sitting for 90% of the time. If you eat lunch it’s likely something similar to your breakfast, or worse…you go out to eat an throw calorie-laden junk in your body. Then you take the elevator back down stairs, walk the hundred feet to your car and get in and sit for another 20 minutes as you drive home. On the way maybe you pick up a prepared meal for the family. Then you get home, sit and eat dinner, and then sit on the coach for 3-5 hours as you watch tv. Because you’re hungry before bedtime you eat a bowl of ice cream before tucking in and repeating this entire process all over again.

That scenario is the average day for millions of Americans around the country. With cars, elevators, escalators, strategically created parking lots, computers, the internet, TV remotes and dozens of other technological advances we’ve engineered physical activity out of our day. Heck, we rarely have to stand in line anymore. Most don’t fix their own house or car. Many don’t garden or clean there own home. Even if you eat healthy, the fruits and veggies are pre-cut and pealed, the sauces are made, and in many cases things are already cooked so we don’t even have to expend energy cooking…much less hunting, foraging, planting, gathering and preparing the food. 

So what’s a 21st century man or woman to do? Try to keep the aforementioned points in mind will go a long way. Park further away from your destination. Forgo the elevator for the stairs. Hand prepare your own meals. Use a push mower instead of a riding mower. That’ll get you headed in the right path. And then consider taking our Performance Fitness class. You can come as little as 2 times a week and get fit. There are no gimmicks or short cuts though. The trick is that you’ll be worked harder than you’ve ever worked before with a smart and effective training program. It’s not for everyone. But then again, neither are obesity, high blood pressure, physical weakness, shortness of breath or any of the other symptoms of an inactive lifestyle.

Athletic Lab sport performance coach Eric Broadbent successfully completed his USA Track & Field Level 2 certification in the jumping events. USATF’s level 2 certification is one of the more highly sought after coaches certifications in the country.  This solidifies the Athletic Lab staff as the most qualified AND experienced athletic development staff in the Triangle area.
Although small in number (4), our staff is all about quality. The facts speak for themselves:

• Mike Young: PhD, MS, and BS in sport science fields, USATF Level 1, 2 and 3 certifications, a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, author of 2 books, 2 book chapters and dozens of research and coaching articles; coach on staff of 6 NCAA National Championship teams; former school record setting Division I athlete and nationally ranked Olympic weightlifter; former member of U.S. Elite development team in skeleton; 15 years of coaching experience.
• Eric Broadbent: BS in Physical Education, USATF Level 1 and 2 certifications, certified as a USA Weightlifting Sport Performance Coach; multi-time collegiate All-American and school record holder in track and field; 2 time USATF National Championship qualifier; 4 years of coaching experience.
• Chris Garrett: BS, USATF Level 1 certification, certified as a USA Weightlifting Sport Performance Coach and personal trainer from the National Personal Training Institute; former Division I basketball player; Top 5 ranking as U.S. masters athlete in track and field; 3 years of coaching experience.
• Cate Young: BS, USATF Level 1 certification; former Division I athlete and school record holder; former member of U.S. Elite development team in skeleton; 4 years of coaching experience.

If you care about quality coaching there’s only one place in the Triangle to train for maximum results. Sign up for a free trial session at Athletic Lab to see how we can help you reach your potential.

If you’ve been wondering what it’s like to train at Athletic Lab but you haven’t taken the leap to try it out, we’ve got an offer for you. From now until the end of July, if you sign up for our usual free trial session we’ll give you two extra free sessions. That’s an entire free week of training at Athletic Lab with no pressure to sign up or commit to anything. Unlike your typical health club or sport performance center we don’t pressure you to sign up or con you in to a long-term commitment. We just need to get you to try it out because we’re confident that your results will speak for themselves. To take advantage of this offer sign up for your first free trial session before August.

We will be having another speed camp on August 16-21st. Classes will be 90 minutes long and teach athletes the best practices for training speed as well HOW to run fast mechanically. We will use state-of-the-art cameras to review video of each athlete to make the biggest possible improvements in running technique. Our average improvement for speed camp attendees is 0.16 seconds off of 10m time and 0.26 seconds off of 30m time (~ 0.3 off 40 yard time). You can learn more info about our speed camps and sign up HERE. If you want to get faster before the start of the school year sign up soon.

Last week we finished up our first round of speed camps. We had one on the week of June 28th and another on July 5th. These 6 day immersions in to speed training and sprinting mechanics were a big success. Students learned the finer details of acceleration mechanics, drills for improving speed and training tips for speed and power development. Video reviews using high speed video footage was used extensively to improve the technique of the attendees. The smaller class sizes ensured that every athlete received a lot of attention and improved to the greatest extent possible. We timed each person’s 10m and 30m times on the first day of camp and the last day of camp. Over just 6 days we saw average improvements of 0.16 seconds for 10m and 0.36 seconds for 30m. That’s game breaking speed improvement!
We will be hosting speed camps throughout the year and look forward to hosting our next one in mid August. Thanks to all those who attended.

Our regular 3:30 pm Scholastic Training session tomorrow (July 10, 2010) will be canceled. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. All other scheduled classes including the Performance Fitness class at 5pm and Olympic Weightlifting class at 6pm will take place as planned.

Those that have followed local sports may have seen us in the media lately. Maybe it was the Carolina Railhawks announcing us as their official training center at games or on their website. Perhaps it was the feature on one of our high school athletes who was awarded the News & Observer girls high school athlete of 2010. Or maybe it was the story in Vype magazine that featured some of our high school athletes preparing during the pre-season.

Or maybe it wasn’t.

Unfortunately, although we’re quickly getting recognized as THE PLACE to train in the Triangle, not too many know who or what we are. This is evidenced by errors in the News & Observer Article (which said we’re in North Raleigh) and Vype article (which said our name is HPC Sport).

To clarify, we are Athletic Lab. We are a branch of a HPC which does off-site research, consulting and product development. We are located 1.5 miles from the RDU airport straddling the border of Cary and Morrisville. We train athletes from the ages of 10-100 and adults for performance levels of fitness. We specialize in making you the best you can be. Stop by and check us out today.

We’re kinda like that 24 hour drive through restaurant that never closes…except we’re better for you. Although we haven’t announced any changes many have asked whether we’ll be open or can change hours. So here it is:
All classes will begin at normally scheduled times other than the 7am Performance Fitness class and the 12pm TPI training session. The 7am Performance Fitness class will instead meet at 8am. Enjoy the great weather and we’ll see you Monday.