Brian Grasso’s Blog - www.DevelopingAthletics.com

‘Tragedy’ is a word that can describe a lot of things.

What may be tragic to some is not tragic at all to others.

That’s because life events are personal.

And we are all equipped with different coping mechanisms to handle adversity differently.

I wanted to give you an insight to truly understand what makes me ‘tick’.

The ‘Brian’ underneath the ‘Brian J. Grasso’.

This kind of personal revelation is not easy for me to offer necessarily, but something I wanted you to know and understand about me.

The video below explains the reason I created the IYCA.

I didn’t know it at the time, but this event was my inspiration…

Click Here Now to Hear My Story

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I’m still angry…

Click below and tell me what you think…

Brian

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Let me start plain and simply by cutting through the B.S…

“Kids shouldn’t lift weight until they are 14″

How do you figure?

What magical potion do kids drink at 14 that allows them to all of a sudden start lifting weights?

Some will tell you that at 14, kids become old enough and mature enough biologically to begin the process of external resistance during strength training.

But kids don’t mature the same way and at the same speed.

I have worked with 17 year old’s who have 12 year old frames and vice versa.

More over, 14 is typically represented by a growth spurt of some kind.

Because of that, IT IS EXACTLY THE WRONG TIME to start infusing external loading.

Growth spurts completely disrupt coordination and movement ability. This is simply NOT the time to hand over a dumbbell and say, “O.K… Lift it”.

Mobility and re-capturing a sense of movement skill are the key aspects to training teenagers in this age bracket. And since you are looking at 1 - 2 hours worth of contact time per week with kids in a training situation, your best bet is to stay close to these recommendations and not clutter the limited time you have with them on things like teaching strength training skill and execution.

Bigger than that, had you done the right thing and taught these kids HOW to execute quality lift techniques when they were younger, the mobility concerns associated with this age group could be addressed within the boundaries of appropriate lifting seqences that serve to enhance mobility and coordination.

“Strength training will stunt a child’s growth”

A) Not if it’s done properly

B) The concern of statements like this is that growth plates will become damaged and restricted during the growing process. But if we are going to let kids jump, run and skip (which we are), we have to appreciate that the forces generated and absorped through the body can be as high as 5 - 10 times more significant than lifting a 20 pound bar with proper form.

We wouldn’t want kids to stop being active altogether, so if growth issues are a concern, what SHOULD kids be allowed to do?

“Lifting weights is a surefire way to cause injuries in kids”

Do you ever ask your kids to help carry the groceries in the house?

Help around the yard?

If so, than they are ‘lifting weights’.

Injuries seldom come from training as much as they come from poor form during training.

There are exceptions to be sure, but it is my policy to almost never blame the exercise, but the EXECUTION.

Strength training is no more injury inducing than anything else.

In fact, if you think that 1 - 2 sessions per week of developmentally-appropriate strength training instruction is more injury causing than… say… PLAYING 4 SOCCER GAMES EVERY WEEKEND DURING TOURNAMENT SEASON, than I have some swamp land for sale in Florida and you should give me a call sometime.

As I have stated more than once, strength training is a skill.

And just like any skill in life, it is best taught at a young age when the nervous system is most plastic and therefore most adaptable to stimulus.

Teaching proper execution of things like lunges, squats, front squats and even deadlifts are critical to the proper development of any young athlete.

This is done through a patient process of ‘Guided Discovery’ where kids are given basic instructions and allowed to perform these movements so there nervous systems can learn functionality of movement.

In time, the instructions become more directed at the form at which the kids are using becomes more critiqued.

Folks… These are no-brainers.

Now the whole ‘Kettlebell & Kids’ equation is a different animal altogether.

Here was the question I received:

“I have personally started working with kettlebells for my own fitness goals. What do you think of this training method of youth?

This was asked by Greg whose son is 11 years old.

Great question, by the way.

I’ll be blunt…

… Kettlebells belong no where near children.

They are far too dynamic to be used in the process of teaching quality strength skill and execution.

Maybe it’s because I am a traditionalist to the core.

Maybe it’s because I am fine with kettlebells as a training tool, but don’t follow them as a way of life like so many professionals seem to these days.

Or maybe it’s because I just don’t see the sense of using them with kids this age.

Many of the kettlebell exercises I see are complex in terms of coordinated efforts.

Giant Swings

Asymmetrical Loads

You can’t rush a development process just like you can’t rush Grade 2.

Learning how to produce and absorb safe and effective force is a skill that children need to be exposed to slowly and at a rate that leads to mastery.

Coordination itself is a multi-tiered and complex issue that requires exercise exposure to elements of balance, rhythm, spatial awareness and movement adequacy.

And while I don’t doubt for a second that all of these attributes can be developed using kettlebells, standard kettlebell exercises have far too much ‘going on’ at the same time to allow children a natural flow of gaining skill at a slow and controlled level.

I hope this helps!

Brian

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* * * * * * *

Physical Education and Young Athletes

* * * * * * *

A 90-minute ‘Q & A’ with some of the biggest names in the sport
training world.

Alwyn Cosgrove

Gray Cook

Juan Carlos Santana

Chuck Wolf

Eric Cressey

Mike Robertson

Dr. Greg Rose

If you don’t recognize those names, let me just say that they are
the ‘whose who’ of sports performance training.

Combined, you’re looking at over 100 years of collective
experience.

Multiple Olympic, Professional and Collegiate champions have
been trained by these men.

Endorsed by some of the largest and most well-known sport
organizations in the world:

:: Reebok

:: Nike

:: Titlest

You probably get my point, Brian.

That group of experts sitting in front of a packed house at
the Perform Better conference this past weekend are the
Hollywood equivalents of Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Jennifer
Aniston.

And the audience members had an opportunity to ask them ANYTHING
they wanted related to training athletes.

Speed Training.

Strength Training.

Power Training.

Agility Training.

After all, who wouldn’t want to ask these industry icons
questions related to working with elite level athletes?

For 90-minutes, the audience asked away.

And what happened during those 90-minutes shocked the living
daylights out of me.

I’ve been telling you for the better part of 4 years now Brian,
that ‘YOUTH TRAINING’ is the wave of the future in this industry.

That it is the fastest growing niche and the one demographic
that every Strength Coach, Personal Trainer and Sports Coach
MUST become well versed in if they want to become successful.

But even I didn’t realize how much truth there was in that fact.

For 90-minutes, the panel of experts were asked questions.

And 80% of those questions were related to youth fitness and
sports training.

And my feedback was requested on nearly all of them.

I never imagined that with that star-studded cast of legends on
stage, it would be me and my work in youth sport development
and fitness that would garner the bulk of the attention.

Make no mistake, Dr. Greg Rose, Juan Carlos Santana and Gray
Cook contributed some fantastic answers related to the whole
youth topic, but the fact remains that ‘how to train kids under
the age of 18′ was by far the dominating line of questioning.

It was validation for me to see that the industry as a whole has
started to recognize the fact that the youth demographic is the
most under-serviced, but important niche in our entire field.

One of the questions was related to Physical Education -

“How do you go about creating quality physical education
programs for kids”

Naturally, the moderator asked me to answer that one.

The reality of physical education is that just like sports
performance training, it has become a watered down mess in our
society.

What used to be about developmental appropriate activities and
creating long-term plans for building a child’s physical capacity
over time, has become little more than 10 - 15 minutes of
disorganized chaos in most PE classed the world over.

‘Sports Performance Training’ has become the new catch phrase in
our lingo.

Young athletes as young as 9 years old are being placed on
high speed treadmills, static strength training machines and
taken through short durations of high intensity work that
lead to quick-lived performance results that have nothing to do
with making them better athletes.

We need to re-capture our understanding of developmental fitness
and become re-associated with how important long, well-planned
physical development is.

I was also asked as a second part to this question, what my top
3 exercises for kids would be if I could only choose 3.

Here was my answer on that one:

A. Bear Crawl
B. Crab Walk
C. Skipping Variations

Bear Crawl is a necessary action for youngsters because it
helps them learn the important aspects of contralateral
(opposite) force production.

It is a tremendous systemic strength builder that trains
everything from torso, upper and lower body strength as well as
mobility and flexibility.

Crab Walk is similar in that fact.

The added benefit of this exercise is that is targets the
glute and hamstring muscles (posterior chain) which are
typically very weak in kids - a fact that accounts for so many
of the injuries we are seeing in youth sports these days.

The Skipping Variations example is simple.

Rhythm development.

Adequate rhythm is necessary for everything from jumping to
running and plays a huge role in the proper development of a
young athlete.

In the absence of rhythm, a young athletes ability to learn and
become proficient at sport specific skills is drastically
reduced.

The fact remains that all of this information is contained in
my Complete Athlete Development System.

How to develop young champions through a systematic and long
term approach to training.

90-minutes will the biggest names in the industry.

And what most people wanted to know is how I develop kids.

They didn’t have access to my Complete Athlete Development
System at this particular conference.

But you do.

Maybe it’s time you had a look -

Click here to see what’s inside my Complete Athlete Development
System

‘Till next time,

Brian

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* * * * * * *

 

My Youth Sports Weekend

 

* * * * * * *

 

“You guys are the best in the industry - the one’s we all look up

to.  What did you do early in your careers that allowed you to

become the industry leaders?”

 

The question was being asked by a young Personal Trainer during

the round table ‘Q & A’ at this past weekends Perform Better

conference in Chicago.

 

Perform Better is the #1 fitness and sport training conference in

our industry.

 

They only have the best of the best present seminars and attract

hundreds of Fitness and Sport Professionals from all over the

world.

 

I have been honored to be a Perform Better presenter for two

years now.

 

In fact, I was part of the on stage panel of ‘experts’ answering

questions during that ‘Q & A’ round table…

 

… And quietly smiled to myself when I heard that particular

question being asked.

 

I had no idea how to answer it myself, so was happy

to just sit back and listen as my fellow colleagues took turns

sharing their stories -

 

 

:: Gray Cook - Considered to be the very best Physical Therapist

in the world and inventor of the famous Functional Movement

Screen.

 

 

:: Juan Carlos Santana - An industry icon who has been around for

over 25 years and thought of us the most innovative strength

coach in our industry’s history.

 

 

:: Alwyn Cosgrove - Best selling author and the number one fat

loss expert in the world.

 

 

:: Dr. Greg Rose - Co-founder of the Titlest Performance

Institute… the place that Tiger Woods, John Daley and other

world class golfers go for training advice.

 

 

I sat very humbled listening to these industry legends tell their

stories.

 

How early in their careers, they made decisions and created

opportunities for themselves that eventually vaulted them into

the status of ‘industry leader’.

 

I was smiling to myself because I realized that I was being

included in that group.

 

That sitting beside me on stage were Gray Cook, Juan Carlos

Santana, Alwyn Cosgrove and Dr. Greg Rose.

 

I was part of this upper echelon of professionals considered

‘the one’s everyone looks up to’.

 

I admit that it was a surreal moment in my career.

 

A few hours later, the Perform Better conference was done and

I heading back to my suburban Chicago home.

 

It was a beautiful day and I remembered that some of the athletes

I train were participating in a volleyball tournament not more

than 10 minutes from my house.

 

I decided to head over to the tournament site and enjoy watching

some of the games.

 

I always like watching my athletes play sports.

 

I get to see them perform and can create blueprints in my

head as to what they need to be doing better next time we

train.

 

In my opinion, watching your young athletes actually play their

sports is a far greater assessment tool for seeing how well your

training programs are working than actually ‘testing’ them.

 

How well are they moving?

 

Are they producing and absorbing force well?

 

Is their first step quickness to the ball effective?

 

These are the questions I sit and ascertain.

 

It is the best way I have ever found to figure out what sorts of

training needs to be added to my programs in the days and weeks

to come.

 

I ended up sitting, watching and taking notes for over 3 hours

and created a new training agenda on the spot based on what I

was seeing.

 

It was Sunday afternoon and the Perform Better conference had

ended only 5 hours ago.

 

And for some reason, that question the young Personal Trainer

asked came flooding back into my head.

 

But this time, I could actually answer it…

 

… THIS is why I have become an industry leader: