Maximize Potential

A training program may be written on paper, but athletes do not show up feeling exactly the same every day.

School, practices, games, sleep, soreness, and stress can all change what the right training weight looks like. That is why we use RPE to help athletes choose a weight that matches the intended difficulty of the workout.

Percentages still give us a helpful starting point, but RPE gives us room to coach the athlete standing in front of us. It also teaches athletes how to recognize the difference between being challenged, losing good technique, and simply trying to lift heavier for the sake of it.

Good training should be structured, but it should also be adaptable.

Want your athlete to become quicker? Teach them how to slow down.

Great agility starts with being able to control speed, put on the brakes, and get into a strong position to move again. The sooner an athlete can slow down under control, the sooner they can change direction and accelerate into the next play.

Speed gets attention. Control makes it usable.

Parents are right to ask questions about strength training for young athletes. Not every weight room environment is appropriate, and simply handing an athlete heavier weights is not quality coaching.

A good youth strength program should meet the athlete where they are. That means teaching movement first, choosing exercises they can control, providing consistent supervision, and progressing resistance only after they demonstrate good technique.

When those pieces are in place, strength training is not something parents need to fear. It can help athletes become stronger, more coordinated, more confident, and better prepared for the physical demands of their sport.

Young athletes do not need to train like professional bodybuilders or powerlifters. They need age appropriate coaching, sensible progressions, and a foundation they can continue building on for years.

Your athlete’s warm-up should do more than just get them sweaty.

A recent study of more than 8,000 young athletes found about 31% fewer injuries when athletes consistently used warm-ups that included things like strength, jumping, agility and balance.

That’s why we use our warm-ups to prepare athletes for the movements and forces they’ll experience during training and competition.

Balance. Landing. Deceleration. Sprint exposure.

It all matters.

At Maximize Potential, we’re not just trying to make athletes faster and stronger. We’re building complete athletes who are better prepared for the demands of their sport.

Static stretching or dynamic stretching: which is better before speed and agility training?

For explosive activities, dynamic stretching is usually the better choice. A quality dynamic warmup raises body temperature, improves mobility, and prepares athletes for the movements and speeds they are about to perform.

Static stretching still has value, but timing matters. According to NSCA’s Guide to Program Design, longer static stretches immediately before activity may temporarily reduce force production, power, reaction time, and running speed.

That is why our warmups at Maximize Potential include controlled mobility, skips, lunges, shuffles, low level jumps, and progressively faster sprints. Longer static stretches are saved for the cooldown or a separate mobility session.

Prepare the body to perform first. Address flexibility afterward.

Athletes cannot out-train poor sleep.

Training provides the stimulus, but sleep is when the body repairs tissue, restores energy, and helps the brain reinforce new movement skills.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends:

Children ages 6–12: 9–12 hours
Teenagers ages 13–18: 8–10 hours

If an athlete is constantly sore, irritable, struggling to wake up, or seeing their performance decline, recovery may be the issue, not effort.

Before adding another workout or supplement, start with the basics: create a consistent bedtime, reduce late-night screen time, avoid caffeine later in the day, and work backward from when they need to wake up.

Sleep is not separate from training. It is one of the most important parts of the program.

Not every sports performance workout should leave an athlete exhausted.

When the goal is developing speed and power, athletes need enough rest to repeat each sprint, jump, or explosive exercise with maximum effort and quality movement.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association recommends approximately a 1:10 work-to-rest ratio for power-based training. That means a five-second sprint may require around 50 seconds of recovery before the next repetition. Longer or more demanding efforts may require two to three minutes.

If the rest is too short and each repetition gets slower, the session is no longer focused on maximum speed or power. It has become conditioning.

Conditioning is important, but it serves a different purpose. When developing speed and power, the goal is not to make athletes as tired as possible. The goal is to produce fast, explosive, technically sound repetitions from beginning to end.

How long does it take before an athlete starts seeing results?

There is no single timeline that applies to everyone, but we often begin seeing improvements within the first six weeks. Athletes training two or three times per week will typically progress faster because they receive more consistent coaching and more opportunities to practice quality movement.

Progress also does not always show up in the testing numbers right away. Sometimes we need to take a step back and improve an athlete’s form, control, and movement quality before pushing for more speed or power.

It is like building a house. If the foundation is weak, adding another floor will not solve the problem. Strengthen the foundation first, then build on top of it.

Better mechanics, improved control, and more confidence are all signs of progress. Stay consistent, trust the process, and allow those improvements to turn into faster sprints, higher jumps, and better performance.

Should your athlete focus on getting stronger, faster, or more explosive?

There is no single answer that applies to every athlete. One athlete may need to improve strength and movement control, while another may need more speed, coordination, or explosive training.

That is why we start with baseline performance testing and a movement assessment. Before deciding what an athlete needs, we want to understand how they move, where they are currently performing, and what may be holding them back.

The best training program is not built around one quality. It prioritizes the athlete’s biggest needs while continuing to develop the strength, speed, power, and movement skills required in their sport.