Athletic Lab

If you want to look and perform like $7.95 a month…well, then head down the street.

This isn’t something we’d ever say to a prospect but it’s the truth. As with most things you get what you pay for. If all you want out of a gym or training center is the opportunity to feel good about yourself for working out, then the $7.95 per month health club will work just well. If you care about results, however, then look no further than Athletic Lab. We know you can find a much lower price at the Y or health club, but you will not find the quality programs, coaching and competition you will find at Athletic Lab. We differentiate ourselves on training expertise and our client’s results. If this is what you’re looking for then consider signing up for a FREE trial.

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%.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 have a diverse client base at Athletic Lab. Other than rare exceptions like our Open Gyms or when classes overlap though, most never get the chance to meet others in our training community. I say community because that’s what we are. And unfortunately, some may not have ever even met other athletes or clients outside of those who attend their usual training time slots. So who trains at Athletic Lab? As of today our demographics look like this:

• 58% Elite Olympic sport or Professional Athletes
• 12% Adults in Performance Fitness class
• 20% High School or Junior High athletes enrolled in our Scholastic Athlete program
• 10% off-site athletes who come in for training camps and follow planned training for the bulk of the year

Moving forward we want to build the community so we can all share in our passion for training and development milestones. This was one of the reasons we put in our new wipeboard. The original one (perhaps the world’s largest wipeboard?) is where we put our training records and competition best performances. It’s great as a talking point, keeping track of progress and for letting others know what is possible. Our new wipeboard takes things a step further and provides news from around Athletic Lab, singles out the top client / athlete of the week, and praises top training and competition performances so that we can all share and take pride in what their fellow Athletic Lab trainees are accomplishing. The next step will be to do a weekly feature on an Athletic Lab athlete or client to go over their accomplishments and build our sense of community. We don’t want Athletic Lab to just be a training center….we want it to be an experience.