Trainer: A Strength To Drake Athletes
Des Moines, Iowa (Feb. 4, 1997)-- Students involved in intercollegiate athletics are always looking for the edge that enables them to run faster, jump higher or hit farther than their opponent.
Many athletes assume that time spent in the weight room will automatically improve their athletic performance by making their muscles stronger and more powerful. Athletes at Drake University know this assumption is false, in part because of the efforts of Brad Flack, a certified strength and conditioning specialist at Drake.
Flack, a strong man in his own right, is head of the strength and conditioning programs for the athletic teams at Drake. Flack received his B.A. in physical education with a specialization in coaching at the University of Northern Iowa. He later earned his M.S. in biomechanics and human performance at the University of Wisconsin Lacrosse.
Flack's knowledge is broad. In the past he has worked with athletes on many aspects of sport including conditioning, flexibility, agility, speed development and strength training. At Drake, Flack's duties focus on the strength training programs for the athletic teams.
He assists coaches in drawing up weekly programs for athletes and offers suggestions on how certain exercises can befefit a sport. Flack is quick to point out that lifting greater weight on the bench press or the leg press, for instance, does not necessarily correspond with heightened athletic performance. "It is crucial for athletes to train sport specific, or to mimic the neuromuscular demands of a sport as close as possible," Flack said.
Drake athletes are very familiar with Flack. He spends much of his afternoon in Drake's weightroom teaching athletes how to properly execute certain exercises.
Flack like to see progress made by the athlete in their sport via the strength training program. "I'm not interested in making the athlete a better body builder or weight lifter. What I like to see is improved athletic performance because of the weight training program," Flack said.
"I'm most satisfied when I hear that a tennis player realizes he is serving the ball faster, or when a softball player feels she's stronger when hitting the ball, or when a football player tells me how he dominated the opposing player. That's what I really like to hear," Flack said.
© 1997 CyberPress Communications, School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Drake University 50311.
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