Getting there...Speed and Strength...

[deboy922]

I bought some 2 1/2 and 5 lb rubber stack weights to add on top of the weight stack, which is in 10 lb increments from 10-150 lbs.
It's much easier for them to transition 2 1/2 lbs at a time, 40 to 42.5 to 45 to 47.5 to 50 lbs, while doing tricep put downs. Versus jumping from 40 to 50 lbs. in one 10 lb increment. This is where I'm really seeing the biggest jumps. Just adding a little weight at a time.

This is good advice. I also use 20-ounce "bat doughnuts", as 2.5-pounds can become too big of a jump.

 

[deboy922]

All of the experts I spoke to said to avoid pressing exercises like flat bench, incline bench, butterflies. Instead they said to stick to pulling exercises, reverse rows, pull downs, etc.

Interesting...what are the reasons to avoid "pressing" exercises? I have always strived for balance between pressing and pulling exercises. My daughter is 5'-9" 130 lb wiry strong and very athletic. She is 16 and just started lifting some weights. She is a strong puller (pull-ups, rows, curls), but is a weak presser (bench, incline, military).

 

[slugger3]

Interesting...what are the reasons to avoid "pressing" exercises? I have always strived for balance between pressing and pulling exercises. My daughter is 5'-9" 130 lb wiry strong and very athletic. She is 16 and just started lifting some weights. She is a strong puller (pull-ups, rows, curls), but is a weak presser (bench, incline, military).

Ya, I've always been the same way in my lifting routines as well, so I figured the same would work well for my 3 DDs.
A balanced push/pull routine is a good thing.
deboy922, you're right. Everyone is different, men and women, when it comes to strengths and weaknesses.
If you lift weights with your DD it's easier to see their strengths and weaknesses. Versus hearing about it when they come back form lifting at school.
Once you get a feel for spotting for them when they lift, it's much easier to help them accentuate those strengths and help them with their weak lifts.
DD#2, who this thread is about, is just plain strong at every lift. If you look at her, she looks 110 lbs...with her long arms and legs.
14 YO, 5'6" 136 lbs, while benching with her today she did a set of 3 with 125 lbs. The first rep was perfectly clean. The second rep, I helped her a little about 6" through her stick point, and the third rep was probably 25% my lifting.
My oldest and youngest DDs are built like lumberjacks, but they don't have the pound for pound strength that DD#2 has.
DD#1 is 5'10" 175 lbs. has great upper body strength, but is weak in the lower body.
DD#3 is 5'9" and a lean 165 lbs. has a weak upper body (in my opinion).
But she is strong in the legs. Which is surprising since she has Asslessitis...no butt
Her nickname from her sisters is Noodle. Long gangly arms and legs, but she can throw the ball over hand nearly 60 mph. (58)

I can tell you about the same thing any women's college coach can tell you...your DD is a lot stronger than you think she is. You just need to workout with them to see what their strengths and weaknesses are.
I've asked many coaches their thoughts on what a girl's strength should be as they enter college ball. Some of the coaches told me that they have coached girls that never lifted weights until college. And after 4 years of lifting they were some of the strongest players on the team.
When DD#3 started lifting heavy with us this fall, and she was almost embarrassed at how little she could lift compared to her sisters.
Well now she can bench 85 lbs clean, for 5 reps. And she is happy as heck! (I'm dang proud too, especially where she started at)
Remember, this isn't like a man power lifting, who can make huge numerical gains in their lifts.
Whether it's increases of 20 ounces or 2 1/2 lbs at a time. Your DD will get a lot stronger if you spend the time with them.

 

[deboy922]

Good stuff slugger3!

My dd and I have been lifting since Christmas. We are doing a basic 5x5 program. She is a fast/explosive athlete...bball, vball, & sball. She can do 5 pullups and 5 reps of 95 lbs bent-over-rows, but benches 65 lbs for 5 reps and military presses 55 lbs for 5 reps. Seems a little weird...but she is a hard worker and is adding weight every week. Diet is the bigger challenge...she does not eat enough & not enough protein.

 

[slugger3]

deboy922, 5x5 is a great program!
When I was getting into power lifting back in the late 90's, that is what caused my lifts to jump to the next level.
For many years everyone did the traditional pyramid weight program. 8,6,4,3,2,1... And the plateaus that you'd get stuck on were seemingly endless.
I started playing slow pitch with a competitive power lifter who re-trained my thought process on lifting, and I never looked back.
When adding 5 lbs on a 400 lb lift, it's so minuscule, it's literally unnoticeable.
But you start jumping up 5 lbs, on a 65 lb bench press with your DD, it's like someone threw a sack of concrete on the bar.
I've had great luck with just increasing reps as well. Building my DDs up from 4 reps then 5..6..7..8
Then add another 2 1/2 plate on each side for a total of 5 extra lbs...start at 3 reps,4,5,6...you get it...
It works great!
In the bigger power lifts like squat and dead lift, it's easier to get by with adding 5 to 10 lbs on the bar, without them noticing too much.
But with the arm workouts like curls, tricep or deltoid, jumping 5 lbs at a crack is quite noticeable.
With those type of workouts I just add reps to the DDs routine until they get into the 6-8 range and then start them out with a 5 lb heavier dumbbell at 3-4 reps and start building upward...

 

[coach james]

Lifting is great if done correctly. Lighten her weight and increase her reps and number of sets drastically. This approach will give her long, lean muscle. You want her strong, not big and buff!
Higher weight and low reps will grow mass. Mass will make her heavier and slower.
We want to sustain or improve that 2.7 speed.... Also you need to add leg and core exercise into that routine. I'd suggest one leg plyo-box step ups, with a knee up static hold to work all parts of the legs and especially the hip flexors!

 

[slugger3]

Lifting is great if done correctly. Lighten her weight and increase her reps and number of sets drastically. This approach will give her long, lean muscle. You want her strong, not big and buff!
Higher weight and low reps will grow mass. Mass will make her heavier and slower.
We want to sustain or improve that 2.7 speed.... Also you need to add leg and core exercise into that routine. I'd suggest one leg plyo-box step ups, with a knee up static hold to work all parts of the legs and especially the hip flexors!

I'm not going to do a one rep max with my 2 younger DDs for a year or so.
I'm keeping the majority of the sets in the 4-6 rep range.
And slowly working each weight up to 8 reps, and then I jump to the next dumbbell, or and 5 lbs to the bar.
I don't know if I want to go higher in reps right now.
Her warm up set for bench is 95 lbs 6 reps. And I stop her at 6, I'm guessing she could hit 8 or 9.
I'm in charge of the weight lifting, they are in charge of the running, core and aerobic exercises.
She normally runs 20 minutes every night, up to 5 nights a week, and then does some core workouts.
Occasionally she does the stair machine and her best is 139 floors of steps...WTH!
I'll tell her about your exercises coach James!

After a short 30 minute practice tonight, I had her and her younger sister run 20 yard dash.
These were her times tonight...2.76, 2.69, 2.72....but last Sunday it was 2.81
She smiled after the 2.69, and was pissed when she didn't back it up and ran the 2.72.
Just teaching her sprinting skills has made the biggest difference.
And yes coach James, you are absolutely right. Speed is way more important than power.
But at this point, she seems to have both.
And thankfully the lumberjack gene that my other 2 DDs inherited from me, hasn't reared it's ugly head yet in DD2.

With my younger 2 DDs I will focus a lot more on speed than power hitting.
This is where I failed my oldest DD.
Hitting the ball a ton is great, but the low to mid level D-1 schools that had a glimmer of interest in her because of her power, turned away when they saw that 3.1 home to first time. Too slow...
I've been working with her this winter as well. Her average times up until this winter were from 3.1 to 3.2
She ran her first 2.9 last weekend (2.94) and she was excited as heck...I was bummed... Because I failed her...
Knowing that if I would have started sprinting training with her a couple of years ago, she might not have gotten passed over by the low to mid level D-1s that were "interested" in her.
And one of them was her dream school ever since she was a little girl.

It is amazing how much time they can shave off of their home to first times when they implement the correct technique...

 

[slugger3]

DD2...2.83 and 2.81 today in gym shoes on a basketball court. (actually all of the previous times were in gym shoes on the gym floor)
So I'm guessing that takes some of the luster away?...We live in the frozen tundra so I failed to mention that we were on a basketball court when listing her times...

DD1 slipped on the gym floor on her second run while taking off... so that gave me an idea...
I moved them back to the gym wall for a starting block to brace their foot, to prevent slipping while taking off.

Yes I know this IS NOT a legit 20 yard time, as you would see it in a combine, camp, or showcase.

DD2's times off of the gym wall as a starting block (not legit I know)

1st run: 2.65
2nd run: 2.63

I was freakin'...
DD1 says, "DAYUM!"
DD2 says, " are you gonna tell the coach?

So this leads me to these questions... What are considered the best brand/style of cleats for softball when it comes to traction...or the worst cleats for too much grip/drag when lifting the feet when striding?
And what is the best setting/environment for getting accurate, real world 20 yard times? Grass, in-field?...

 

[slugger3]

And she goes tumbling back down the hill...

DD2 started "captain's practice 3 weeks ago and I knew that would be the end to the gains in power lifting, due to the high rep, low weight workouts they do in practices.
But I hoped that she would keep the speed she gained...well she kept about half of the speed.
For a 9th grader, this is where she peaked out at on bench. 115lb x 6 reps. The last 3 reps in the set were not clean, I'd help her slightly 4-6" through the lift. And 125 lbs x 4 reps. The first rep was clean, and I would progressively help her more from the 2nd to 4th reps
Squats I kept very light, as this is the first year of her doing those in free weights.

Her speed bottomed out at the low 2.7's, but as soon as practice started, her speeds increased. She stopped running 15-20 minutes per day on a treadmill on her own, and is now at softball practice. I didn't realize how much that would effect her 20 yard times, but it obviously did.
She is now right around 2.8 flat to 2.83, with an occasional high 2.7..
Which is definately a gain from the high 2.8's where she started at...but not much.
So she dropped about .15 second from her time while lifting and running this winter. And added about .1 second after stopping running on the treadmill, and starting practice.
Need to keep that speed down...

Coach James...I bought an adjustable metal plyo box for leg work outs... 2 of the 3 DDs liked it. And they seemed to make some gains in power, but since practice has started full time, it's tough to get them to do jumping workouts. (Thanks for the idea)

Since this is really my first adventure into trying to teach and build sprinting speed, I did OK I think.
But I have alot to learn.
It's easy for me to teach them all the short cuts to gaining power in all of the weight lifting they do, since I've lifted for so long... but this sprinting thing will take me a little time to learn and teach.
I've been watching various Youtube videos trying to gain any knowledge I can to help the 3 DDs out. I'm hoping by summer they will get back into the running and sprinting workout routine, and the times will drop. But we'll see about that.

Still trying to figure out what cleat is the best for running...

 

[let it be fun]

Take this for what it is worth Slugger. I have seen the pro-agility test given to the campers at several college softball camps. There is some technique to it so I think it is a good idea to have players work on this as well since I saw a girl get a lot of attention after doing well on that event. In that case, I was observing a camp that I had a player at and there was a group with several FAST girls going through the speed and agility testing and they were all doing well. One girl, who was also fast on the 20 yd dash, got done with the pro-agility test and the strength coach looked at the watch and called the HC over. That girl got a lot more attention after that. I have no idea what her time was, but it must have been good. When there are multiple players there running in the 2.7s and 2.8s, if a player can set herself apart in another test, it might get her noticed. I understand that my observation is anecdotal, but that girl obviously impressed those coaches with her agility time.

The Pro Agility Test Explained | Bring It On Sports