We have identified 5 main characteristics that guide all athletic ability. These 5 key

functions are the backbone of the Elite U methodology and make up the 5 guiding

principles (pillars) of our training regimen. It is important to conceptualize that although

they are presented as 5 different characteristics, they always work in unison to provide

athletic capacity, and we train them as such. Each one builds on the next and back, and

as we fortify one, we must fortify the others.

The 5 Pillars are as follows.

1. Mobility and Stability. Mobility and stability go hand in hand for an athlete. An

athlete must have the mobility to get into deep angles and bend joints to

accommodate a variety of movements without restriction. The better mobility the

more positions you can get into. Stability is what keeps those ranges of motion

safe. Stability is the facility to control your movement so that the muscles,

tendons, and connective tissue of the body do not break or tear do to improper

balance and over stretching. For this reason it is always a check and balance of

mobility and the stability to control it.

2. Strength is our second Pillar. Strength is the most basic representation of force

production, an ability to create force or exert work on another object. It is also

done more efficiently when proper mobility and stability are present. By the same

token, the more strength we can generate, the better we should be able to take

our mobility and stability gains and make them apply to functional movement

patterns.

3. Movement Skill is the third Pillar. Movement skill is the biomechanical control of

movement patterns that optimize functional movements of sport. It is the link

between all other pillars. A very explosive athlete must understand the best and

most efficient angles of ground contact to be truly fast. Same goes with an

athlete that wants to maximize their change of direction and agility, the better the

angles of the movement the more quickly they will be able to change direction.

This same concept applies at all levels of sport and fitness. Better squats are

more technically sound, better jumping, landing, cutting, sprinting, running,

swinging, throwing, skipping, and bounding are all a byproduct of the best

biomechanical angles with the proper coordination of which muscles to turn on

and off at the appropriate time. This is movement skill.

4. Speed and Explosiveness is the fourth Pillar, and in many cases, the one we are

most after as an athlete. The ability to produce force rapidly is what separates

elite athletes from the rest of the lot. Speed in sprinting, speed in jumping, speed

in swinging and throwing are all determinants of the more successful athlete.

Explosiveness goes hand and hand with speed, more than that, it is a

representation of the same physics, the ability to exert massive amounts of force

with as little time to do so as possible. Let’s take sprinting as example one. The

fastest sprinters are able to generate the most amount of ground force when their

foot hits the ground in the least amount of ground contact time, its that simple.

Let’s look at jumping next. The number one determinant of how high someone is

able to jump is the vertical speed they are able to achieve as the foot begins to

leave the ground. Again, it is that simple. Speed of movement and explosiveness

is the main determinant of athletic ability.

5. Our last Pillar is about our ability to repeat a task repeatedly at optimal energy

levels, it is about being able to outlast the competition. We are talking about

endurance, or metabolic condition. The physiology of endurance and conditioning

is one of the most specific areas of fitness and performance. An athlete that can

run a very fast three-mile race, might not be able to last an entire volleyball game

of constant jumping, landing and changing short bursts of acceleration and

deceleration, or pitch six innings of a baseball game without their arm burning

out. Metabolic Capacity is specific to the sport. Therefore, we prescribe sport

practice as the ultimate tool to develop game type conditioning and endurance.

We will assist in the process by choosing certain training exercises and training

cycles to focus on tempo to increase form specific and movement specific

endurance as well.