Training Tools

4.23.2020

Blog|Conditioning

Darl Bauer is the Director of Strength & Performance for the University of Houston Cougars. Darl was formerly the Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning/Director of Applied Performance at West Virginia University and worked with their program for eight years. He also has a Masters Degree from West Virginia and an extensive background in sport and exercise.

Before he moved to Morgantown, Darl assisted with the football program and helped train the men’s basketball, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball teams at Eastern Michigan University.

Bauer played football at Hillsdale College and started his career as a strength and conditioning coach in high schools and private business.

Coach Bauer lifting while at Home

What you love about Coach Bauer is that he has a real personal passion for strength and conditioning and it is reflected in his daily life. This passion flows over to his athletes and is seen in their effort and commitment to excel.

Darl shows some methods of Getting Strong when ‘stuck’ at home.

Tool Box Training – Increase the Number of Tools to Progressively Overload

6.2.2023

Closed And Open Chain

Open kinetic chain exercises of the lower limb are movements, where the distal segment is unloaded and free to move. The opposite is true of closed kinetic chain exercises, whereby there is enough resistance to prohibit free motion.

Closed kinetic chain exercises are movements such as squats, Pendulum Squat Pro, leg presses and lunges, while open chain exercises are actions like leg curls, leg extensions and the Pendulum Reverse Glute Ham.

The kinetic chain can be understood as interrelated joints and body parts working with one another during motion. This creates a chain of events that affects the movement of neighboring joints and segments.

The advantage of open chain movements is that they tend to be better at isolating muscle and often are selected for specific rehabilitation and used to accentuate performance. While closed chain movements in general would be classified as more functional and closely approximating movements that are used in sport and daily life.

Open Chain Reverse Glute Ham

Closed Chain Pendulum Power Squat Pro

Closed Chain Pendulum Power Squat Pro XT

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Arkansas Baseball Weight Room

5.11.2023

2-for-2 Method

Some trainers, coaches and athletes use what is called the 2-for-2 Method for increasing training load. The rule is if the trainee can perform two or more repetitions over one’s ‘repetition goal’ in the last set of an exercise, for two consecutive workouts, the weight is added for that particular exercise the next training session.