BFS Magazine
The Benefits of Multi Sport Athletes
Playing multiple sports can offer numerous benefits to young athletes, including physical, mental, and social development. Here are some ways in which engaging in multiple sports can aid in overall development:
- Physical Development: Different sports emphasize different muscle groups and movements, leading to a more well-rounded physical development. For example, soccer focuses on cardiovascular endurance and lower body strength, while basketball emphasizes agility, coordination, and upper body strength.
- Prevents Burnout and Overuse Injuries: By participating in multiple sports, young athletes can avoid burnout from repetitive training and competition in a single sport. Additionally, it reduces the risk of overuse injuries that can occur from the constant strain on specific muscles and joints.
- Enhances Motor Skills and Coordination: Each sport requires specific motor skills and coordination. Engaging in multiple sports exposes athletes to a variety of movements, helping them develop a broader range of motor skills and better overall coordination.
- Develops Mental Toughness and Adaptability: Playing different sports challenges athletes to learn new rules, strategies, and techniques, fostering mental flexibility and adaptability. They learn to adjust their mindset and approach based on the demands of each sport, enhancing resilience and problem-solving skills.
- Encourages Cross-Training Benefits: Many sports complement each other in terms of physical conditioning. For example, a swimmer may improve their cardiovascular endurance and upper body strength by participating in track and field during the off-season.
In summary, playing multiple sports can contribute to a young athlete's holistic development by fostering physical fitness, mental resilience, social skills, and a deeper understanding of athletic principles. It promotes versatility, reduces the risk of burnout and injuries, and ultimately cultivates well-rounded individuals both on and off the field.
(PS: the kids have a lot of fun too!)
5 Reasons to Dot Drill every training day!
The BFS Dot Drill, also known as the “Bigger Faster Stronger Dot Drill," is a training exercise designed to improve agility, coordination, and footwork. Here are five reasons to incorporate the BFS Dot Drill into your training regimen:
- Agility Enhancement: The Dot Drill is highly effective in improving agility, as it requires rapid changes in direction and foot placement. Regular practice can help athletes become more nimble and respons
Signage for safety and performance
Training posters can contribute to maintaining a safe weight room environment in several ways:
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Instruction on Equipment Use: Posters can provide visual guidance on how to properly use weightlifting equipment, including machines, free weights, and accessories. Clear instructions help users understand the correct form and technique, reducing the risk of injury due to improper usage.
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Safety Guidelines: Posters can display safety guidelines and precautions relevant to weight training activities. This may include reminders to use spotters when lifting heavy weights, to warm up properly before exercising, or to avoid overexertion. Reinforcing safety protocols promotes responsible behavior among gym-goers and helps prevent accidents.
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Emergency Procedures: Posters can outline emergency procedures specific to the weight room environment. This may include instructions on how to respond to injuries, access emergency exits, or operate safety equipment such as fire extinguishers or first aid kits. Clear guidance in times of crisis can minimize confusion and facilitate prompt and appropriate responses.
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Exercise Demonstrations: Posters can feature illustrated demonstrations of various exercises commonly performed in the weight room. Clear visuals depicting correct form and technique help users understand how to execute exercises safely and effectively, reducing the risk of injury due to improper movement patterns.
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Rules and Regulations: Posters can communicate facility rules and regulations specific to the weight room area. This may include guidelines on noise levels, attire requirements, or time restrictions, promoting a respectful and orderly environment conducive to safe and enjoyable workouts.
Overall, training posters serve as valuable visual aids to reinforce safety practices, provide instructional guidance, and promote a positive and inclusive atmosphere in the weight room. Regularly updating and prominently displaying such posters can help cultivate a culture of safety and responsibility among gym users, ultimately contributing to the overall well-being of individuals utilizing the facility.
The King of Execises
The parallel squat is regarded highly in the fitness community for several reasons:
Muscle Engagement: Functional Strength: Increased Hormonal Response: Joint Health: and MORE...Organization is Key to Weight Room Excellence
An organized weight room provides several benefits for individuals engaging in weight training. Here are some reasons why organization is crucial for an effective weight training environment:
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Efficient Workouts: An organized weight room allows individuals to move seamlessly between exercises and equipment. With a designated place for each piece of equipment,...
Unify Your Programs for Success!
The Straight Leg Dead Lift for Athletic Success
Consult With BFS
BFS Will Help You Succeed From Concept to Completion!
For 40 years BFS has been providing middle schools, junior high schools and high schools with the tools they need for success. We’d like to do the same for your school. We are your full-service company, not only providing all your Exercise Equipment needs, but also safe and effective Exercise Instruction.
One Day Consultation - 1 to 3 schools or facilities: $3,500
Concurrent additional days are available for $1,500, each covering an additional 1 to 3 schools. An unbeatable solution for counties or districts. Call BFS to learn more and book your school's or district's consultation! 800-628-9737
Join other great districts that have found a spingboard to success with a BFS Weight Room Consultation:
- Baltimore County Public Schools (MD)
- Seattle Public Schools (WA)
- NYC Dept. of Education (NY)
- Central Consolidated School District (NM)
- Harford County (MD)
And many more!
Weight Room Consultation
Drawing on 40 years of experience BFS knowledgeable consultants will measure, review and make recommendations for your weight room. Using criteria that always begins and ends with safety your BFS consultation will provide clear recommendations for your unique situation.
Unique Situations
BFS Consulting brings a deep understanding of schools and educational systems. With this insight to time and space constraints we will provide the best solution for turning your weight room into a learning classroom.
Depending on when your school was built, what your current budgets allow, and what your expectations are BFS offers solutions for every institution. BFS knows your situation is unique.
Unique Solutions
Once your on-site consultation, including measuring and inventorying of existing equipment as well as on-site interviews with teachers and coaches, is complete BFS delivers two options for moving forward with upgrading your facility.
Your consultant will provide one floorplan that utilizes your existing equipment. This option will rearrange and perhaps remove excess equipment that hinders the safe and efficient use of your weight room.
The second option will provide a floor plan of recommended replacement and new pieces of equipment to maximize your safety and results. Recommended upgrades in equipment may include auxiliary pieces, flooring, or storage - options will be provided.
Continuing Education
BFS Consultations do not end with the equipment. Our ongoing educational support includes a year subscription to technique and training videos from the BFS Total Program.
This BFS Educational Center is available to every teacher and coach that uses your weight room. These resources emphasize perfect technique for both lifting and spotting. It also includes frequently asked questions from our safety series with Dr. Mark Rabinoff, an expert witness in hundreds of weight room lawsuits. This is invaluable for understanding and reducing your school's exposure to lawsuits.
Getting Young Athletes Ready to Win!
Keep Students Invested in Their Own Success
SIGNS OF A SAFE WEIGHTROOM
Sign Subject Matter
Colors and shapes are important, but even more important is the information that these signs convey. Use only simple words, phrases or graphics that are easy to understand. Use only internationally accepted graphics. Remember that simple words are better than complex graphics. However, symbol signs may be more helpful to multi-cultured users than words...
Exiting the Bench Press Properly
Stay Dynamic and Athletic for Safety and Focus
*Twisting To Get Out of The Bench This Way Is Bad.
*It Could Cause A Muscle Spasm In The Lower Back.
*Most Athletes Do It This Way But Don't You.
*Be Smart - Be Athletic.
*After Your Set, Bring Both Knees Up As Shown.
*Bring Knees Up Together.
* Lower Back.
*Then, Whip Your Legs
Forward and Downward
As In A Forward Roll.
*You Can Even Push
On Your Thighs With Your Hands.
*Now You're Upright Effortlessly In An Athletic, Gymnastic, Graceful and Safe Movement!
Prepare for a Championship Season
Start Now for Second Semester Success!
Sometime this coming month your football playoffs will be firing up. Are you still in the mix? If so - Go Get Em!
If not - NOW is the time to think about what your programs can do to find success in the spring! Booking early give you and your coaches the time to implement a total program that leads ATHLETIC development.
A BFS Total Program clinic will be exceptionally valuable for high school athletes looking to excel in spring sports for several important reasons...
Towel Bench for Variations
Towel Benches are a BFS Core Lift for three reasons.
• First, an athlete gets used to a heavier weight. Normally, ten to twenty more pounds can be used on the Towel Bench. This builds more confidence for new levels on the regular bench.
Don’t sleep on the Effort Box
Accountability for Flexibility? YOU BET!
Hex Bar Advantages
The question of whether the hex bar deadlift is better than the straight bar deadlift depends on individual goals, biomechanics. Both variations of the deadlift have their advantages and can be effective in different ways.
Here are some reasons why BFS prefers the hex bar deadlift over the straight bar deadlift...
The Posterior Chain and BFS: Unleashing Power and Performance
The Dot Drill - Dynamic for Optimal Performance
Flexibility For Speed
Let's focus on the Calf today
Proper calf muscle flexibility is essential for maximizing speed and improving athletic performance. Here's how stretching the calf muscles can contribute to speed training:
Increased Range of Motion: Flexibility in the calf muscles allows for a more extensive range of motion during running and other athletic movements. This increased range enables longer strides and better push-off, which are critical factors for generating speed.
Improved Running Mechanics: Flexible calf muscles promote proper running mechanics. When the calf muscles are adequately stretched, they can contribute to a more efficient and powerful stride, which ultimately translates to improved speed.
Better Muscle Activation: Flexible calf muscles allow for better muscle activation and engagement during running. This means that your muscles can contract more effectively, leading to more powerful and explosive movements.
When incorporating calf stretches into your speed training routine, it's essential to do them correctly and consistently. BFS reccommends:
Calf Stretch: With hands on the wall for balance, move hips forward and push back heel down. keep leg straight. Switch after 30 seconds.
Achilles Stretch; Same as Calf Stretch but slightly bend knee, keep heel 1” off the ground & squat down increasing load on Achilles tendon.
It's essential to strike a balance with stretching. Incorporate a dynamic warm-up exercise such as the BFS Dot Drill before training
The Power of Strength Training Programs: More than Individual Workouts
Custom equipment for team unity
Building Team Character custom equipment
Building a strong and cohesive team is crucial for success in any group activity. Whether it's a sports team, a fitness group, or a corporate team, fostering a sense of camaraderie and team spirit can significantly enhance performance and overall satisfaction. One effective way to achieve this is by incorporating exercise equipment with team names. Let's explore how this innovative approach can be beneficial for team character.
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Fostering a Sense of Unity: When team members see their group name proudly displayed on exercise equipment, it creates a strong sense of identity and belonging. This shared identity promotes unity and encourages individuals to work together towards a common goal.
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Instilling Motivation and Accountability: Personalized exercise equipment reminds each team member that they are part of a collective effort. This knowledge can boost motivation, as individuals feel accountable not only to themselves but to their teammates as well.
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Healthy Competition and Collaboration: Using team names on exercise equipment can spark friendly competition among team members. A little rivalry can be healthy and inspire individuals to push their limits. Additionally, it encourages collaboration, as team members cheer and support each other in achieving their fitness goals.
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Strengthening Trust and Communication: Exercising together with team-branded equipment encourages open communication and builds trust among team members. As they face challenges and celebrate successes together, the bonds of trust grow stronger.
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Positive Reinforcement: Customized exercise equipment serves as a constant reminder of the team's purpose and achievements. Celebrating milestones and victories can reinforce positive behaviors and attitudes within the team.
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Improved Team Morale: Feeling like a part of a special group can elevate team morale and lead to increased overall satisfaction and happiness. A motivated and content team is more likely to overcome obstacles and stay committed to their objectives.
Unify your PE and Athletics to bring physical, mental, and even academic success to your school
Dulaney High brings BFS into the classroom
It used to be that the interests of physical education and athletic departments of high schools would clash, with neither wanting anything to do with the academic side of things either.
Today we live in a different world, where high school budgets are tight and compromises are inevitable. All the departments at a school have to work together, not only to share equipment but also to integrate all the aspects of a student’s education for a common purpose.
Dulaney High is part of the Baltimore County School System, and their success in integrating the BFS program into their physical education classes was a key reason they have been named a BFS High School of the Year.
Kyle Fiat, the varsity boys’ lacrosse coach at Dulaney, used the BFS program when he lived in Salt Lake City, where BFS is headquartered. Fiat is aware that a high percentage of young men and women drop out of organized sports at a young age – one estimate is that 70 percent drop out by age 13.
Fiat says that due to deconditioning, these types of kids are at a definite disadvantage in their junior and senior years if they decide to try to get back into a sport. However, he is confident that if these kids were involved in an athletic fitness program such as BFS, their strength, coordination and other basic athletic skills would be at a high level and their transition back into sports would be easier. Along with the physical pluses, there are also mental positives to be gained with athletic fitness programs.
Mental Health and Physical Conditioning
David Schlenoff, a psychologist for the school who is certified with BFS, evaluated the results of a research study involving Dulaney students who used the BFS program. The personality test administered was the Piers-Harris 2, which provides insight into an individual’s self-concept and is often used to help identify at-risk youth.
Schlenoff found that the girls using the BFS workout experienced significant improvements in many areas that fell under the category of happiness, such as cheerfulness, ability to get along with others, and their perspective of life circumstances.
Of course, being able to have BFS in the physical education classes helped with the overall success of the athletic program, as athletes could get their workouts done before classes. An early morning BFS class was also offered at 6:30 to accommodate students who couldn’t attend otherwise.
The results?
Virtually across-the-board athletic team success for both boys and girls sports. Here are some examples of win/ loss records in the 2103 season:
Girls Volleyball, 21-0 (state champions);
Boys Basketball, 13-3;
Girls Softball, 13-3;
Girls Lacrosse, 11-4;
Coed Tennis, 9-3;
Girls Field Hockey, 13-6;
Girls Basketball, 9-5;
Boys Baseball, 13-9;
Coed Wrestling, 8-3;
Boys Lacrosse, 10-6;
Boys Soccer, 8-4-2.
Also noteworthy is cross-country runner Isabel Griffith, who won the state championships.
The Dulaney High School Girls Volleyball Team not only won the 4A state championships last year, but did it with a 21-0 record.
With such great results, plus the
36-year history of success and extensive teaching resources BFS offers, Fiat says the next step was a natural: BFS was integrated into the school curriculum as a for-credit class. After all, who can argue with success?
Dulaney High School is the ultimate example of a unified program:
athletics, physical education, and academics. On a scale of 1-10, Dulaney
High and its students are 11’s!
Training Smart With the BFS Six Absolutes
Biomechanics sounds like a large subject that is difficult to understand or implement in a high school strength and conditioning program. But it can be simplified and used to great effect by consolidating the bigger ideas into just a few guidelines. The BFS Six Absolutes is not a phd but is a framework that applies alignment and safety of young athletes that can give your coaches a unified teaching method for most athletic movements.
One reason the Six Absolutes are so amazingly effective is that all coaches can use the same terminology when teaching weight training and sports skills. After all, how can athletes be expected to follow instructions exactly when the instructions they receive seem different? Such confusion also goes against the concept of developing a unified program. Therefore, when teaching the squat, instead of one coach saying, "Make your chest big!" and another coach at batting practice saying, "Spread the chest!" both coaches will simply say, "Spread the chest!"
Get the Six Absolutes EBOOK
Watch the BFS Free Mini Course on the Six Absolutes HERE