AUBURN - Whether it is baseball, football, soccer or just keeping their skills and reflexes sharp, many athletes spend a lot of time developing speed and strength.
A year ago, Steve Komanecky, fitness director at the YMCA put into action an idea he'd had for a long time.
“I'd been thinking about doing something like this here for a while,” Komanecky said. “Other places were doing programs like this so I thought, Why can't we? We have everything we need to do a program like this, So why not give it a try?”
In this kind of training, Komanecky said emphasis is put on developing strength, speed and endurance in athletes.
“There is very little cardio in this,” he said. “It is all about developing strength and power and quickness in the most efficient way possible.”
From the very beginning this was well received by athletes of all ages.
“We've had classes at around our limit of about 12,” Komanecky said. “The response to this has been pretty good. We've had people from about 12 up to around 19 or 20. So we've had young athletes and college athletes who wanted to stay in shape before they go back to school.”
Komanecky's class is an intensive workout, much like athletes would undergo in a college athletic program.
Some of the exercises in the class focus on coordination and building muscle memory to enhance these skills.
“We do things like skipping, jumping, bounding galloping, jumping from the elevated boxes,” Komanecky said. “We do all of this with big exaggerated gestures and movements to help build up strength in the legs and lower body. Things like sprints and things like that that help build up speed.”
Other aspects focus more directly on the upper body.
“We do a lot of heavy ball work,” Komanecky said. “Soccer throws, behind the head throws, these things help build up strength in the upper body, chest presses, things like that. It is all about building up strength. What we do is not a whole lot different than what preseason training would be like at most colleges.”
For the past few sessions, Komanecky has been running these classes for an hour a day, five times a week.
“It has been pretty intensive,” Komanecky said. “Your muscles can get pretty beat up doing something like this that much. We've been running three-week sessions and then we'll take a week off and look at the progress everyone has made and then start another three-week session after that.”
Given the intensity of this kind of program, Komanecky said he plans to scale it back a little for the upcoming session this summer.
“We may change things up a little,” Komanecky said. “There is a lot involved in this kind of workout. It can be pretty intense and hard on the muscles. So we might switch it up to go three days a week this time around and give the muscles a little more time to rest up.”
While it is important in any workout designed to increase strength and endurance to push an athlete's limits, Komanecky said it is also important not to push those limits too far.
“We don't want injuries,” Komanecky said. “That isn't the point of what we are trying to do. You do have to push your limits a little and try to go beyond them. That is an important part of doing this. But you don't want anyone pushing themselves too far and getting injured. That is the most important thing and the great thing about doing something like this here at the Y, where it is supervised, so people can push those limits safely.”
The skills gained from these classes can be applied to almost any sport.
“I think it would be most all of them, use speed and coordination,” Komanecky said. “So what we are doing here anyone can take away with them and use in any sport and they are going to benefit from what they learn here and it is going to help them be a stronger athlete in the long run.”
While the classes are geared most directly toward athletes, Komanecky said that across the board it is a good workout for anyone who wants to develop their athletic abilities.
“You should at least have hit puberty before you start this,” Komanecky said. “Just to be on the safe side. But really this is for anyone who wants to work on their athletic abilities. It isn't just for high school kids or college kids. I'd like to see some older people; there are a lot of advantages to doing something like this for people who are looking to keep their skills sharp even if they aren't playing sports anymore.”
“I'd been thinking about doing something like this here for a while,” Komanecky said. “Other places were doing programs like this so I thought, Why can't we? We have everything we need to do a program like this, So why not give it a try?”
In this kind of training, Komanecky said emphasis is put on developing strength, speed and endurance in athletes.
“There is very little cardio in this,” he said. “It is all about developing strength and power and quickness in the most efficient way possible.”
From the very beginning this was well received by athletes of all ages.
“We've had classes at around our limit of about 12,” Komanecky said. “The response to this has been pretty good. We've had people from about 12 up to around 19 or 20. So we've had young athletes and college athletes who wanted to stay in shape before they go back to school.”
Komanecky's class is an intensive workout, much like athletes would undergo in a college athletic program.
Some of the exercises in the class focus on coordination and building muscle memory to enhance these skills.
“We do things like skipping, jumping, bounding galloping, jumping from the elevated boxes,” Komanecky said. “We do all of this with big exaggerated gestures and movements to help build up strength in the legs and lower body. Things like sprints and things like that that help build up speed.”
Other aspects focus more directly on the upper body.
“We do a lot of heavy ball work,” Komanecky said. “Soccer throws, behind the head throws, these things help build up strength in the upper body, chest presses, things like that. It is all about building up strength. What we do is not a whole lot different than what preseason training would be like at most colleges.”
For the past few sessions, Komanecky has been running these classes for an hour a day, five times a week.
“It has been pretty intensive,” Komanecky said. “Your muscles can get pretty beat up doing something like this that much. We've been running three-week sessions and then we'll take a week off and look at the progress everyone has made and then start another three-week session after that.”
Given the intensity of this kind of program, Komanecky said he plans to scale it back a little for the upcoming session this summer.
“We may change things up a little,” Komanecky said. “There is a lot involved in this kind of workout. It can be pretty intense and hard on the muscles. So we might switch it up to go three days a week this time around and give the muscles a little more time to rest up.”
While it is important in any workout designed to increase strength and endurance to push an athlete's limits, Komanecky said it is also important not to push those limits too far.
“We don't want injuries,” Komanecky said. “That isn't the point of what we are trying to do. You do have to push your limits a little and try to go beyond them. That is an important part of doing this. But you don't want anyone pushing themselves too far and getting injured. That is the most important thing and the great thing about doing something like this here at the Y, where it is supervised, so people can push those limits safely.”
The skills gained from these classes can be applied to almost any sport.
“I think it would be most all of them, use speed and coordination,” Komanecky said. “So what we are doing here anyone can take away with them and use in any sport and they are going to benefit from what they learn here and it is going to help them be a stronger athlete in the long run.”
While the classes are geared most directly toward athletes, Komanecky said that across the board it is a good workout for anyone who wants to develop their athletic abilities.
“You should at least have hit puberty before you start this,” Komanecky said. “Just to be on the safe side. But really this is for anyone who wants to work on their athletic abilities. It isn't just for high school kids or college kids. I'd like to see some older people; there are a lot of advantages to doing something like this for people who are looking to keep their skills sharp even if they aren't playing sports anymore.”
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