One of the coolest things for us coaches at SAPT is to see the athletes continue to arrive at our facility to get after it, even when in-season. We have the special privilege of working with a large group of HIGHLY motivated individuals.....those individuals that are willing to drive 30 minutes (and more) to SAPT to train late in the evening immediately after they get out of their sports practice. Sometimes they show up ready to kick down the doors of the gym, and other times they arrive feeling pretty beat up, but the point is they understand that the season is a great opportunity to get a leg up on the competition. While many of their friends and rivals are going home to lie down on the couch after practice, they drive over to SAPT to get their trainification on (yeah, I suppose I made up that word....).

Similarly, when their practice/game is canceled because of bad weather, they schedule in a last-minute appointment at SAPT to become stronger, more powerful, and undergo recovery modalities while their competition takes the time off to sit on the couch and watch late-afternoon sitcoms.

I think it goes without saying that it's extremely motivating to us coaches to watch them remain consistent throughout the demands of in-season sport, and it certainly makes our long days worth it, to have an opportunity to help further the physical qualities of our athletes.

As an example, catcher Red Dowdell (recently selected to the *All-Met baseball team for 2012, and will be playing DI baseball at VMI next year), has been driving 30+ minutes, 3 days a week, out to SAPT to train late in the evening after practice. Just this week he hit a 405lb deadlift, a 80lb increase compared to what he was pulling before the season!

And who says you can't get stronger in-season? This showed on the field, too, as his poptime decreased from 1.95 to 1.88, the speed of his throws increased from 80mph to 86mph, on top of the fact that his doubles, triples, and RBIs shot up. Not too shabby if you ask me.

He is just one example of MANY of our athletes who has made enormous strength/power gains throughout this past season, and we couldn't be more proud of each and every one of them.

I say all this to drive home the point that it is certainly possible, and should be desired, to get stronger while in-season, be you a high school athlete or even an adult runner/triathlete (where the "season" tends to last 6+ months).

Many people assume that training will only make you sore and tired for your sport-specific practice, but this is only if you don't understand how to design+implement the training plan appropriately, and fail to manage the competing demands and training stressors throughout the week. If you have a qualified coach to walk you through the process (Wink wink, nudge nudge, click HERE), the sky is the limit with what can be accomplished. While your opponents strength gains are diminishing rapidly by the time playoffs arrive (assuming they haven't trained since pre-season), you're only stronger and more ready to go than ever.

*A pretty freaking huge deal, for those of you who live outside the Metro/DC area. SAPT is also extremely proud of our other athletes who made the highly coveted All-Met teams, to be announced next week