Athletic Lab

School has started back in session and many local athletes have already begun their competitive seasons for their high school teams. While the most common thought is that you do your conditioning in the off-season and play during the in-season, this practice is out-dated and ensures that fitness and physical capacity are at their lowest at the time when they need to be highest (at the end of the season). Physiological markers of fitness and performance can drop off with as little as 5 days of deconditioning. 5 days…that’s a long weekend holiday. Here’s a quick detraining timeline:

• Days 1-2: Beta-endorphin and adrenaline levels drop. Mood is affected negatively.
• Days 3-5: Muscles lose elasticity. Aerobic capabilities drop off 5% by the fifth day off.
• Days 7-9: Body’s ability to use oxygen (VO2 max) drops by 10%. Less oxygenated blood is pumped with each beat.
• Day 10: Body’s metabolic rate begins to drop. Eat less or you’ll gain weight.
• Days 11-13: Maximum heart rate and cardiac output decline by 15%. Muscle tone sees first appreciable loss.
• Days 14-16: Mitochondrial activity (energy production) in muscle cells begins to decrease rapidly. Loss of muscle mass, strength and metabolic rate occurs.
• Days 17-19: Body becomes less efficient at thermoregulation. You are forced to spend excess energy cooling off.
• Days 20-21: VO2 max has dropped by about 20%.
• Days 22-25: 10-15% loss of muscle mass and that lost mass is replaced by fat.
• Days 27-29: Muscle strength has declined by as much as 30%.

We just wanted to send out another reminder that our Fall training schedule changes tomorrow (August 30, 2010). Here’s a quick glimpse of the new schedule. For details click HERE.

As local high school athletes return to school, many are already involved in their school’s athletic teams. Of these, many aspire to play at the proverbial ‘next level’ of Collegiate athletics. To make the jump is difficult. Research from the NCAA suggests that only 3-5% of high school athletes will be able to play collegiately. This places an emphasis on being prepared to shine during the high school years and being prepared to make a collegiate team when the opportunity presents itself. Athletic Lab can help on both fronts. Our speed, strength and fitness training for Scholastic athletes is designed to best prepare high school athletes for their sport. This gives athletes the best opportunity to stand out amongst their peers and catch the eye of recruiters. With 3 former collegiate coaches on our staff we understand the recruitment process and what coaches are looking for athletically. We also know what it takes to prepare and compete collegiately. This second point ensures that we can train a high school athlete to be better prepared for there collegiate training when they do make the transition. Check out this recent quote from the mom of one of our very first clients who has made the big step to collegiate competition:

Marlee mentioned twice that everyone else is struggling with the workouts.  She is a little sore, but not like the others.  She is very thankful for the work-outs that you provided for her.  You prepared her for the collegiate aspect of athletic training.  Thanks for all the work you did with her.

An athlete’s athletic career can be short so it’s important to make sure you’re prepared to excel and not waste time you’ll never get back. Athletic Lab Scholastic Training can help you maximize your potential and give you the best likelihood of succeeding in high school and beyond.

At Athletic Lab, 90% of our training sessions are designed as small group training sessions. We believe strongly that most people (but certainly not all) will find that small group training provides a better training experience. Here are some reasons:

• Support: The small group environment creates a micro-community where other classmates quickly become friends and offer support both inside and out of class.
• Fun: Training with other hard working, goal-oriented individuals makes the training more enjoyable. 
• Motivation: When you’re training with other individuals who are able to push you through difficult training exercises, many find that they are able to push harder and longer than they would be if they were with a trainer by themselves and certainly more than if they were training by themselves.
• Value: Group classes are less expensive for the client and when implemented in the manner used at Athletic Lab offer an almost identical attention-to-detail experience as one-on-one training sessions.

Summer is almost over and we’re ready to launch our Fall training hours. The schedule changes begin next week Monday (August 30, 2010). Here’s the schedule with notable written changes below.

Please note the following changes:

• We will continue to have “Open Gym” training sessions that are open to members of the Scholastic Training, Performance Fitness, and Elite Development classes. For the fall hours, open gym will be available on Tues, Wed and Fri at 6 pm; and Sat at 11 am.
• The Scholastic Training sessions remain at their usual Mon-Fri at 3:30 pm time slot and return with the evening 5pm time slots on Tues and Thurs.
• The Olympic Weightlifting training sessions are now on Tues and Thurs at 7 pm.
• The Performance Fitness class is now available Mon-Fri at 7 am; Mon, Wed and Fri at 5 pm; and Mon and Thurs at 6 pm

August 7th marked our first birthday. We’ve had a great first year servicing some of the Triangle’s best athletes and hardest working fitness enthusiasts and we’re looking forward to many more years as we build our community and make more people fast, fit, and strong. Thanks to all our great clients who helped make our first year a great one.

We’re trying to put together a team of staff and clients to run the Climb for Life challenge on Saturday, October 30, 2010 to benefit Cystic Fibrosis research. We can’t think of a better way to help out others than to exercise and raise money for a great cause at the same time. We’ll need at least 4 people to make a team. Our goal is to raise at least $1,000. If you’re interested in doing the run or if you’re unable to run but would like to donate to our efforts please contact Mike Young. Each team member must raise at least $100 to participate in the race.

We’re in the final days to sign up for our last Speed Camp of the Summer. The Speed Camp will take place at Athletic Lab which is conveniently located in Morrisville, NC just a mile from the I-40 exit. Athletes will improve the mechanics of their running and learn the best practices for speed development. We’ll be using extensive video review during and after many of the sessions so that the athletes can see any errors and learn from their mistakes. Athletes in our first two Speed Camps earlier this summer improved their 30m dash time by 0.36 seconds (approximately 0.38 seconds over 40 yards). That’s game breaking speed improvement!

• When: August 16-21 from 10:30am to noon
• Cost: $189.95 or $249.95 for 2 (“Bring a buddy discount”)
• Where: Athletic Lab: 951 Aviation Suite 1000 Morrisville, NC
• Why: Because you want to get insanely fast

Click HERE to sign up today.

Our regular 3:30 pm Scholastic Training session tomorrow (August 6, 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.