Velo Vault Sports Performance

When I (Coach Austin) started training, all I did was guess. Spin my wheels, copy what others did, etc.

It took me nearly a decade to feel confident in what I was doing training wise because I refused to ask for help until I reached a certain point. When I did, that’s when the learning really started.

These kids that are 14 now are going to perform even crazier feats of athleticism than the generation before. Many are insisting that we are near the peak of human performance, and I’d like to throw my two cents and say we’re not even close.

Training can be perceived as boring, monotonous, etc. but overcoming a difficult task will always fire me up. Getting under something that could hurt or kill you and coming out on the other side unscathed.

We have literal 11 year olds doing textbook weight room movements, competing, having fun, walking on their hands, swinging on bars, etc. all of the play and resources necessary to set them so far ahead of the next wave above them.

It’s an honor and a privilege to work with these kids (even though I have high expectations for them during training that shows as tough love). I’m jealous every single day I show up to work and see these literal children deadlifting 300lbs, benching more than some of my college players did when I got them, and just doing really athletic things to back it.

Sprint times get faster every week. Kids are gaining weight. Kids are hitting baseballs harder and farther. I’m doing none of that. They come in and show interest and deposit really quality work that I am extremely grateful for.

Keep showing up. You never know what could happen.

The boys are in-season again. This is a reminder that the in-season is the longest uninterrupted training cycle of the whole year. To not train in-season, quite literally is one of the dumbest things you can do.

Here’s my approach:

1. Large reduction in power-based stuff. Baseball athletes sprint, throw, and swing at high velocities every day for hours at practice. That bucket is full to the brim. Strength work and gradually improving force capabilities and restoring range are my priority.

2. Athlete needs to feel better when they leave than before they came in. Believe it or not, the variable nature of weight training can provide a stimulus that is restorative, and outright makes the body feel awesome. Baseball is repetitive motion which will leave you beat up. Weight lifting is restorative, variable movement, that will make you feel good and fresh.

3. Set constraints on strength work. For many this is making the movement more complex (single arm vs. two arm pressing). For me in this particular session, I told them they had to hit a max in less than 5 sets. They got quick, efficient, high intensity, stimulating training done in roughly 35-45 minutes. Things like this can continue to push strength development while simultaneously allowing the athlete to feel awesome on the field.

Don’t stop training!

Some of the “corrective” exercises I prescribe during heavy loading periods AKA the deep off-season. If you don’t make them extremely difficult via load or duration (or truly any manipulated variable) they will not cause change.

Pre-puberty determines a lot of an athlete's movement capabilities in the future. It’s paramount that we teach the athlete patterns, and encourage them to move and play.
More play means more athletic opportunities, which means a better chance of being a superstar later in life.

Here we’re working on accepting lots of force into the upper body in hopes of one day producing it, and the second slide teaches the body to move extremely fast. A high acceleration movement with low mass is still (by formula) high force!

Tyler Ryden (2024) keeps working hard and now holds the facility record! 99mph!!!!

Nice velo slap from Ryan Hernandez!