PROPER TECHNIQUE MAKES ATHLETES BIGGER, FASTER, STRONGER

Dr. Greg Shepard has published a book about his program.

The key to becoming faster, stronger and able to leap higher is all in the legs, hips and mind.

Utah Jazz strength and conditioning coach Dr. Greg Shepard gave a seminar last week to a gymnasium full of high school athletes at Cape Central High School. His recommendations on improving performance can apply to weekend warriors.

Average athletes can improve their jumpshots in pick-up basketball games, their speed for weekly tennis matches or simply improve their conditioning by following Shepard's regimen.

Shepard, who is the president of the Bigger Faster Stronger Co., said athletes must follow the "Five Power Axioms" to improve.

The first is to establish a goal, such as adding 4 inches to your vertical jump, shaving two minutes off your daily run time or adding bulk to your biceps.

Then establish your work ethic.

"The average person gives a five on an effort scale of one to 10. When the coach says sprint, they jog. To win you have to give an 11 on a scale of 10," Shepard said.

Next, focus on the glory of accomplishing your goal.

"If you stay focused there are no problems, only challenges," he said.

The fourth axiom is to realize your personal destiny.

"We were put on Earth to play the song we were meant to play; let us not die with our music still in us," Shepard said.

The last axiom is to help your teammates reach their goals. It is advantageous for the serious-minded athlete to train with a partner. Find someone who is just as dedicated. Help them achieve their goal and let them help you.

Once you have established the mindset, design your exercise program to provide the utmost in diversity and specialization.

Shepard recommended working with free weights, daily stretching and plyometrics for optimum performance.

Plyometrics is jumping in succession. Skipping rope is a basic form of plyometrics. In its advanced form, the exercises involve jumping on and over a line of boxes.

To perform a plyometric routine, the athlete has to leap into another jump immediately upon landing from the previous jump. The exercises train the muscles to contract and strengthen while absorbing the weight of impact. This stretches the muscles, improves strength throughout the muscle group and trains the muscles to react faster.

Each of the stretches and exercises Shepard and Jim Brown, BFS clinician, described last week revolve around a specific body position. Shepard called it an athletic stance. It is the best position an athlete's body can be in when performing sports.

To attain the athletic position, sit on the edge of a chair with your feet spread slightly farther than shoulder-width apart. Knees are positioned over the ankles and the back is curved inward, shoulders back. Slouching is not allowed.

Rise from the chair until the knees are slightly bent, keeping your back curved, shoulders back, chin up and chest out. The hips remain turned out, as if you were still sitting on the chair. The buttocks will be thrust out and it might look a little embarrassing until you notice that most professional linebackers set up in the same position.

"If you keep your shoulders back, in line with your hips, and your chin up it will keep you out of trouble 99 percent of the time," Brown said.

Gerry Salter, a physical therapist at St. Francis Medical Center's Center for Health and Rehabilitation, helped bring Shepard to Cape Girardeau. He said many of Shepard's techniques can be used in other areas besides athletics.

"A lot of these things, the more I think about it, can roll over into just about anything -- work, play, personality, everything. Fortune 500 businesses would be lucky to have people with these types of principles behind them," Salter said.

The specificity of Shepard's routine is what will improve athletic performance, Salter said. But it is that same specificity that requires the athlete to get instruction before starting the routine.

"If your goal is to be an endurance runner, you don't do sprints to accomplish your goal," Salter said.

Salter said that it is important to keep an exercise journal to track progress and determine what exercises are working. He said many people start a routine on a whim and don't follow through.