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Education on Strength Training

Strength With Intention. Performance With Precision.

At The Athletic Edge, strength is more than physical — it’s a blend of movement intelligence, joint control, structural balance, and explosive capacity. We don’t just lift weights. We build resilient, high-functioning athletes capable of producing power under pressure, moving efficiently, and staying healthy over time.

 

With over two decades  of experience in strength and movement training, I combine elements from Olympic weightlifting, calisthenics, free weights, Weck Method, ATG (Knees Over Toes), and yoga-based mobility. This multidimensional approach trains the athlete as a complete system — not isolated parts.

 

Each program is individualized and progression-based, tailored to the athlete’s sport, age, developmental stage, and movement profile. Whether the goal is to build power, increase joint resilience, improve range of motion, or correct asymmetries, every exercise serves a purpose in a larger, long-term plan.

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Education-Driven Coaching

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True strength comes from understanding the “why” behind the movement.

At The Athletic Edge, I go beyond sets and reps — I teach athletes how to train. Every athlete is educated on:

  • Proper technique and movement mechanics

  • Education on strength training systems and methodologies: Calisthenics, Plyometrics, Olympic weight lifting, ATG, WeckMethod 

  • Breathing and bracing strategies

  • Joint stacking and alignment for maximal force production

  • Reciprocal inhibition — the nervous system’s ability to activate one muscle while relaxing its opposing counterpart (essential for controlled, powerful movement)

  • Tempo, time under tension, and contraction control

  • The link between posture, balance, and strength expression

When athletes understand these principles, they build body awareness, confidence, and self-reliance — tools that extend far beyond the gym.

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What is Calisthenics?

 

Calisthenics focuses on mastering natural, functional movement patterns using only your body weight as resistance.

 

Benefits for Athletes:

  • Builds relative strength (strength-to-bodyweight ratio)

  • Enhances joint stability and movement control

  • Improves body awareness and motor coordination

  • Easily scalable — from beginners to elite athletes

  • Requires minimal equipment (great for remote or field-based training)

  • Transfers well to sport — particularly in movements involving control, balance, and reactive strength

 

Calisthenics is often used as a foundational strength system in youth development and high-performance training. It’s particularly effective when integrated with mobility, breathwork, and neuromuscular control — just like we do at The Athletic Edge.

 

 

What is Plyometrics?

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Plyometrics are a form of explosive training that focus on rapid, powerful movements — typically involving a quick stretch of the muscle followed by an immediate contraction. This is known as the stretch-shortening cycle, and it’s key to developing speed, power, and reactivity.  Plyometric training involves exercises that enhance the ability to generate maximal force in minimal time — crucial for athletic actions like jumping, sprinting, cutting, and striking.

 

Benefits for Athletes:

  • Increases explosiveness and power output

  • Enhances neuromuscular efficiency (how fast and precisely your brain signals your muscles)

  • Improves reactive strength and rate of force development

  • Builds coordination and rhythm through dynamic movement

  • Supports injury prevention when taught with proper mechanics and landing control

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At The Athletic Edge, plyometrics can be strategically integrated to complement strength and mobility work — especially to develop sport-specific explosiveness, such as a soccer player’s first step, a tennis player’s lateral reaction, or a basketball athlete’s vertical jump.

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What is Olympic weightlifting?

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Olympic weightlifting is a training method that involves lifting a loaded barbell in two explosive, full-body movements: the snatch and the clean and jerk. It is one of the most technical and powerful forms of strength training, widely used by athletes to develop explosiveness, coordination, mobility, and total-body strength.

 

Benefits for Athletes:

  • Develops maximal power and speed — ideal for sprinting, jumping, and change of direction

  • Enhances triple extension (hips, knees, ankles) — a foundational movement pattern in most sports

  • Improves mobility, especially in the hips, shoulders, and ankles

  • Builds core stability, postural control, and neuromuscular coordination

  • Trains mental focus, timing, and precision under pressure

 

Olympic weightlifting principles can be used to develop explosive movement patterns, even if athletes don’t perform the full lifts. Variations like hang cleans, power snatches, or technique drills can be safely integrated based on an athlete’s experience level, mobility, and sport-specific needs.

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What is ATG?

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ATG (Ass to Grass) is a methodology popularized by strength coach Ben Patrick.  The ATG philosophy is a holistic strength and mobility system designed to build pain-free athleticism, focusing especially on the knees, hips, ankles, and posterior chain.

 

ATG emphasizes:

  • Full range of motion strength

  • Joint integrity and longevity

  • Bulletproofing the knees, ankles, and hips

  • Reversing pain and improving movement capacity

  • Strength through deep ranges of motion (e.g., deep split squats, full-depth squats)

  • Training often-neglected muscles like the tibialis anterior (shin), VMO (inner quad), glutes, and hamstrings

  • Focus on mobility + strength + coordination as a unified system

 

Benefits for Athletes:

  • Knee resilience and pain reduction

  • Improved change of direction and deceleration control

  • Increased ankle dorsiflexion and hip mobility

  • Enhanced balance and posture

  • Stronger movement foundation for sprinting, jumping, and cutting

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ATG methods align perfectly with The Athletic Edge philosophy of building complete, resilient athletes. Whether used in return-to-play rehab, mobility blocks, or as part of your strength foundation, ATG offers athletes a long-term path to high performance without sacrificing joint health.

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What is WeckMethod?

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WeckMethod is a performance training system developed by David Weck, designed to optimize locomotion, balance, rotation, and coordination through rotational movement principles and coiling mechanics. It focuses on how the body transfers force through spirals and slings — the way humans naturally move in sport, gait, and everyday life.

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WeckMethod is built on the idea that the body is a rotational, spiraling system — not a linear machine. By improving how athletes rotate, balance, and connect the left and right sides of their body, they move with more power, fluidity, and precision.

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WeckMethod emphasizes:

  • Coiling Core Training

  • Engaging and training the obliques and lats in spiral patterns to enhance explosive, rotational power (used in sprinting, throwing, striking, cutting).

  • Head Over Foot Mechanics

  • Training gait and athletic stance to improve balance, power transfer, and real-world movement efficiency.

  • Rotational Movement Training (RMT)

  • Tools like the RMT Club and Rope train proprioception, reflexive strength, and cross-lateral coordination.

  • BOSU Ball (WeckMethod invention) Integration

  • Used to develop balance, foot strength, and joint stability from the ground up.

 

Benefits for Athletes:

  • Improved gait mechanics (running and walking efficiency)

  • Enhanced rotational power for movements like throwing, kicking, and cutting

  • Greater balance, reflexive strength, and coordination

  • Reduced injury risk by improving joint integrity and muscular balance

  • Increased athletic rhythm and body awareness

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WeckMethod principles can be integrated into warm-ups, strength work, speed training, or mobility development. It complements our holistic approach — especially in agility, core training, and cognitive-body connection.

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What is Joint stacking?

 

Joint stacking is about keeping your bones in proper alignment so the muscles and joints work together efficiently under load or during dynamic movement.

Think of it like building a tower: when each block is stacked directly over the one below, the tower is strong and stable. If one block is out of line, it creates imbalance — and eventually, breakdown.

 

Benefits for Athletes

  • Increases strength and control by leveraging your body’s natural mechanics.

  • Reduces stress on joints and ligaments, lowering injury risk.

  • Improves performance by allowing clean, efficient force transfer — whether you're sprinting, lifting, or changing direction.

  • Builds proprioception (body awareness), making your movement more intelligent and responsive under pressure.

 

At The Athletic Edge, joint stacking is taught as a foundational principle across all strength, mobility, and skill-based movement — because great movement starts with great alignment.

 

 

What is Reciprocal Inhibition?

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Reciprocal inhibition is a fundamental principle of neuromuscular coordination where one muscle contracts while its opposing muscle relaxes to allow smooth and controlled movement.

 

In simple terms: When one muscle group activates, the body reflexively inhibits (relaxes) the opposing group to allow that movement to happen efficiently.

 

Example:When you contract your biceps to bend your elbow, your triceps must relax — that’s reciprocal inhibition in action.

 

This neurological mechanism allows for:

  • Smooth joint movement

  • Efficient force production

  • Reduced risk of strain or compensation

 

Benefits for Athletes:

  • Enhances mobility: Activating one muscle can help “turn off” tightness or resistance in the opposing muscle — useful in mobility drills or during isometric holds.

  • Improves strength training technique: Proper engagement of agonist/antagonist muscle pairs leads to safer, more efficient lifting patterns.

  • Boosts movement quality and control: Promotes better balance between muscle groups and supports injury prevention.

  •  Reinforces the principle that mobility is strength. The deeper a muscle can contract within its range, the more effectively the nervous system facilitates relaxation of the opposing muscle — allowing for greater joint access, movement efficiency, and usable flexibility under control


Reciprocal inhibition teaches the body to coordinate opposing muscles, improving flexibility, control, and movement efficiency — essential for athletic performance and long-term joint health.

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Benefits of Strength Training​

 

Strength training offers a wide range of physical, neurological, and psychological benefits for athletes — especially when it’s structured with proper technique, progression, and purpose. Here’s a breakdown of the key benefits:

 

Physical Benefits

 

  • Increased Power & Explosiveness. 

  • Improves sprint speed, vertical jump, change of direction, and striking ability by enhancing fast-twitch muscle recruitment.​​

  •  Injury Prevention

  • Builds joint stability, tendon and ligament strength, and muscular balance — all crucial for reducing the risk of sprains, tears, and overuse injuries.​

  • Enhanced Mobility & Range of Motion

  • When paired with proper mobility training, strength work improves active flexibility and control through full ranges — especially important in sports with dynamic movement.

  •  Improved Posture & Biomechanics

  • Corrects muscular imbalances and reinforces proper alignment during running, jumping, cutting, and decelerating.

  • Faster Recovery & Durability

  • Stronger bodies tolerate more training load and recover more quickly between games, practices, and sessions.

 

Neurological & Mental Benefits

 

  •  Improved Coordination & Motor Control

  • Develops neuromuscular efficiency — the brain’s ability to recruit the right muscles at the right time.

  • Greater Body Awareness

  • Athletes become more attuned to their positioning, balance, and control, improving movement quality in sport-specific situations.​

  •  Mental Resilience & Confidence

  • Mastering challenging strength training builds discipline, focus, and self-belief — all of which transfer directly into competition.

 

Performance Benefits

 

  • Enhanced Sport-Specific Skills

  • Whether it’s improving a first step in soccer, balance during contact, or shot power, strength training translates directly to sport output.

  •  Long-Term Development

  • Lays the foundation for sustainable athletic growth by building a strong, adaptable, and efficient body capable of handling the increasing demands of high-level sport.​

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Some injuries happen because of weakness — however most injuries happen because of imbalances, poor control, or lack of understanding around movement. My goal is to eliminate those gaps. With proper strength training, athletes don’t just get stronger — they move better, think clearer, and perform at a higher level.

Strength is not just a quality — it’s a practice. And it’s one of the pillars of long-term athletic success.

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