Many strength and sport coaches have their athletes train to maintain performance and avoid injury because they feel that the athlete has already obtained optimal physical performance or they may be worried about the athlete getting injured. Explosive Edge Athletics (EEA) feels that an athlete, no matter what level, has some room for adaptation and enhancement. Injuries are a reality in sports whenever you are pushing your body to its absolute limit; therefore one should not limit the training protocol unless the athlete has a previous injury they need to work around.

In sport movements, force is initiated by applying force to the ground and through the use of the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC). Because of this fact, our programs revolve around exercises that directly apply force to the ground and also utilize the SSC such as a variety of jump movements (loaded and un-loaded), squats, Olympic movements, and deadlifts.

EEA feels that in order to maximize performance, one needs to concentrate on maximizing the body's RFD, Rate of Force Development. Contrary to what many coaches believe, speed (more specifically speed-strength) is what is vital to performance, not absolute/maximal strength. Absolute strength has little relationship to performance. By training to enhance speed-strength, you are forcing the body to adapt to being able to contract quickly and on impact; this makes the athlete much more explosive and functional when on the field. This is primarily done through training with a strong emphasis in movements that are plyometric, ballistic, and dynamic in nature. Thus, emphasis is placed on a fast negative to positive (eccentric to concentric) transition thereby resulting in a shorter amortization phase of the rep. From this, the muscle is able to absorb and exert greater force.

EEA's philosophy is based on the theory that one needs to train the way the sport is played (specificity). Therefore, an athlete must perform training movements that mimic the movements of a game and also try to mimic the speed of the movements as close as possible. If an athlete fails to train in this manner, which many other approaches advocate; much of the power will never be able to be applied to the field or court. Along with training in an explosive manner, one will complete the movement as fast as possible for a given load. Because of the relationship of the Force-Velocity Curve on Power, loads are kept at a light to moderate level in order for the athlete to perform the movement at maximum velocity. We never allows the speed of the movement to slow down. Emphasis is placed on completing both the eccentric and concentric portions of the movement in this manner. The theory with this is that the faster the muscle is stretched, the more eccentric force and kinetic energy will be produced, and the result will be a faster and more powerful concentric contraction (Newton's Law).

The difference between great athletes and mediocre athletes is often very minimal. Therefore, an athlete's inner mental strength and will to win will often be the determining factor for success. EEA's programs work to develop this willpower so the athletes will become more driven and mentally tougher than their opponents.

For many of the exercises EEA prescribes to athletes, we implement the reactive method. The reactive method commonly involves using accommodating resistance and through chains and bands. With only barbell weight, one is able to decelerate the bar on the top of the range of motion for an exercise. However with chains or bands, the added resistance on the top of the range of motion forces the athlete to accelerate through the entire rep. An added advantage to band-use is that the eccentric portion of each rep is done with a speed greater than could be used without it and results in more kinetic energy being stored in the muscles, tendons, and connective tissue. This method is very efficient in training for speed-strength because, depending on our specific goal at the time, we can change the percentage of resistance coming from both the bar and the band/chain.

With the lightened method, it works exactly the same as assisted track speed work. We attach a band to the top of a power rack and then attach it to the bar. With this, the athlete is able to use a much heavier weight than they are used to using because the starting strength has to be much less. Lightened method squats are great for vertical jump training!

EEA wants the athletes body to work as one at all times when on the field or court. Thus, our programs never isolate individual muscle groups. Rather, we focus on making the whole body better.

In order to reach the fullest possible potential, an athlete needs to take heed of everything around them. Reaching optimal performance in any sport is not just about practice or training. Along with proper practice methods and correct training methods an athlete also must be informed of nutritional concerns, proper rest, and the constant development of mental toughness. If an athlete is lacking in any aspect of their lifestyle, they will never be able to achieve optimal performance.

EEA's programs focus much more on intensity and execution rather than volume. Overall, we feel that the athletes should perform the least amount of volume possible while putting forth the greatest amount of effort.

With our athletes, EEA strives to instill a very focused and business-like approach to training. This means that they are only concerned with completing the task at hand because they realize how important of a step their training is for them to achieve their goals.