On June 20th at 7:09 PM EDT, summer will officially be here. 

 

Or was it already here?

 

For those of you who thought all the seasons’ beginning and end dates were set in stone, you might be surprised to learn that’s far from the case. 

 

Countries such as Austria, Denmark, New Zealand and Russia, as well as parts of the UK, use the meteorological beginning of the season – going by temperature patterns - rather than using the astronomical beginning of the season, as we do in America, which views the summer solstice (the longest day of the year) as the summer starting point.

 

According to meteorologists, summer really occupies the entire month of June, as well as July and August – with autumn starting with the 1st of September. 

 

And then there’s Chinese Astronomy to deal with.  According to their reckoning, summer starts on or around the 5th of May and ends around August 6th.   In Southeast Asia, the monsoon season makes the call – to them, summer begins in March and lasts until May or early June, ending with the onset of the torrential rains.

 

Ireland, quite frankly, can’t quite make up its mind when summer happens.  The national meteorological service says summer encompasses June, July and August.  But the Irish Calendar says summer begins May 1st and ends August 1st. 

 

Is there any definitive way to decide when summer actually does begin for everyone?  Of course.  As all of us in the good ol’ USA know…summer starts on Memorial Day weekend!

It seems that everyday there are more personal trainers and training facilities.  How is a parent supposed to evaluate who is best qualified to train his or her child?  Many personal trainer certifications simply have you show up, pay some money, and then you are certified.  Many trainers only use whatever fad piece of equipment of is in vogue at the time.  Some trainers have been using the same methods or techniques for the past 20 years and have stopped reading and studying the research.

The Big Three

#1 - Injury Prevention and Reduction

Bad strength and conditioning programs get their athlete's injured during the workout.  The first goal of any good strength program is to make sure your programs reduce your athletes' risk of injury on the field.  If does not matter how strong or how fast your programs make your athletes, if they are always getting hurt they can't help their team.

#2 Performance Improvements

Strength coaches should be able to prove that their programs make their athletes better.  Objective data helps validate a strength and conditioning program.  If as a strength coach you are not testing your athletes, then it becomes more difficult to show parents, coaches, and athletes that you can get an athlete faster and stronger.

#3 On Field Results

And of course the ultimate reason why an athlete spends time in the weight room is to achieve greater success on the field.  A great strength program should take the improvements in the weight room and translate them into accomplishments on the field for both the individual and a team.  

Doctor of Fitness Strength & Conditioning Programs

Proven Injury reduction

As a Sports Medicine Physician who has taken care of numerous athletes other the years, I am always looking at ways to reduce or prevent athlete's injuries.  As the Shrewsbury high school team doctor for the past ten years I have worked with the school's athletic trainers to track injury rates for all the sports.  Five years ago we implemented Doctor Of Fitness in-season strength programs in addition to the Doctor of Fitness Summer Strength and Conditioning Program.  The results have been an over 60% reduction in injuries to athletes - including ACL, MCL, hamsting, hip flexor, and ankle injuries.

Proven Weight Room Results 

Athletes who have participated in the seven week Summer Doctor of Fitness program have shown the following improvements:

• Average increase of 55 lbs on the 1 Rep Max (1RM) Trap Bar Deadlift
• Average increase of 25 lbs on the 1RM Bench Press
• Average increase of 5 inches on the Vertical Jump
• Average increase of 6 inches on the Single Broad Jump
• Average increase of 12 inches on the Triple Broad Jump
• Cut 0.12 seconds off 20 yard sprint time
• Cut 0.33 seconds off 20 yard shuttle run time