Athletic Strength for Women

With women's sport performance at an all-time high and continuing to rise, you need to be faster, stronger, and more agile in order to compete. Yet, until now, no training manual has specifically addressed female athletes' physiological, biomechanical, and anatomical needs. Athletic Strength for Women presents effective exercise prescriptions to help you build a strength base and then convert that strength to speed and power in competition. The result is not only better performance but also fewer injuries. For example, exercises and programs for the lower body will improve hamstring and quadriceps strength ratios, providing enhanced takeoff power and landing strength and better protection for the knee. More than 120 targeted exercises and drills are provided to improve -throwing, striking, swinging, and other upper-body skills; -starting, stopping, jumping, cutting, turning, pivoting, and other lower-body maneuvers; and -overall power and speed. Written by David Oliver, former strength and conditioning coach for the U.S. women's soccer and basketball teams, and Dana Healy, department head for strength and conditioning at the United States Olympic Committee, Athletic Strength for Women contains general fitness and sport-specific performance tests. These tests are accompanied by normative tables that enable athletes to gauge strengths and weaknesses against those of their peers and set improvement goals. The book also includes in-season, off-season, and preseason programs for all the major participation sports, including soccer, volleyball, basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, swimming, and track and field. No matter what your sport, prepare your body to perform at full potential. The programs in Athletic Strength for Women will help you achieve a new level of athleticism.