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Maximizing Athletic Potential: Lessons Learned in Developing Athletes of All Ages

Writer's picture: XIP Training SystemsXIP Training Systems

Jarrett Wilkins NSCA-CPT


My name is Jarrett Wilkins and I have been working as a coach at Xtra Innings Performance (XIP) since March of 2024. Now a senior in college finishing up a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, I look back at my junior-year self, the practitioner who thought that he knew a lot when he started at XIP, and am proud to look at the progress I have made. The perks of working at a place such as XIP is working with individuals of all ages, and more specifically, anywhere from five years old to eighty-five years old. Here is a list of some of the biggest lessons I have learned over the last ten months at XIP:


Athletic men sprint across a grassy field, some wearing shirts with text. Trees in the background. Intense and focused mood. Black and white image.
Speed training on the field.


  1. 50% of a job working with human beings, is working with human beings (and possibly even more!)

I have always been a relatively extroverted person, and any athlete at XIP can likely attest to that. I am very blessed to have the job I do as I truly enjoy bringing confidence to people through exercise, and also putting a smile on their face while they’re doing it. We now live in a world where a large percentage of our human interaction is through screens. We did not evolve as a species in preparation for Facebook Messenger and Instagram! This development in our society has had a negative impact on the ability of people of all ages to socialize. One of the biggest lessons from the last ten months is to strive to be a better person, every single day. Be aware of the fact that others have lives just as complicated if not more than your own, and keep that in mind when interacting with people. We can so easily become wrapped up in our own world and actions that we can forget the impact our actions have on others. As a strength coach, only half of the job is writing programs, analyzing individual needs, and executing proper coaching to empower clients. The other half is being a good person or a CNP(Certified Nice Person) which is a required cert to work at XIP.  Having a positive impact in other's lives, and never settling for good enough in all that we do. We are blessed at XIP for the job opportunity we have, and it would be a disservice to all clients and especially ourselves, to settle for good enough. Always strive for more as a person, friend, acquaintance, coworker, etc. as the sky is the limit!


  1. A Chain is Only as Strong as its Weakest Link

Stepping into the world of programming and training and away from the people aspect, are important lessons about the human body. Coach Guyer said a quote to me about two months into my time as XIP and it was something similar to this: “The human body has four main contact points with the world, our two feet and our two hands.” In any sport that involves movement of the legs, the foot and ankle are the last stops for the transfer of energy into the ground. The quadriceps (anterior thigh) muscles are one of the largest muscle groups in the body and are capable of producing massive amounts of force. To transmit that force, however, the energy must be transferred from the quadriceps, to the knee, through the lower leg, then ankle, then foot. If the foot and ankle are not structurally sound, an athlete may not be able to efficiently make a cut, jump, drive back an opposing lineman, etc., and can leave the athlete at an increased risk for injury, as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Some foundational training advice for strengthening this chain includes: a) strengthening both sides of the lower leg (anterior and posterior), b) linear ankle mobility (forward and backward mobility), c) lateral ankle stability (resisting left and right movement), and d) tendons that can withstand stress and resist strain (stress being force within a unit area, and strain being deformation of the tendon when stretched). Essentially all of our athletic development programs (athletes of all ages!) include a focus on this weak link that can be easily overlooked in comparison to the much larger, powerful muscle/joint groups.

The other two contact points are the hands. Nothing too fancy here, anything that involves using the hands and weights challenges the hands. Weighted carries, dumbbell split squats, pull ups, etc. are all excellent options for developing stronger hands in individuals. In professional and high-level sports there is a common theme of well-above-average relative handgrip strength, that being handgrip strength in comparison to body weight. If we can improve an individual’s four contact points, we can improve not only sport performance, but also an individual carrying out activities of everyday life.


Battle rope conditioning at bootcamp.
Battle rope conditioning at bootcamp

  1. We are training humans, and should train humans like humans

I started off my weight-lifting journey years ago and focused on simple movements. I would back squat, deadlift, bench press, and do accessory movements for those patterns. There is absolutely nothing wrong with an approach such as that. An individual will likely build muscle size, strength, power, and endurance from these exercises so long as they progressively overload: increasing weight on movement in small increments over time, adding or subtracting reps, increasing intensity, etc.

However, if our goal is prioritizing and improving human movement, this puzzle gets much more intricate. I could write about the puzzle of human development for thousands and thousands of words, but here are some big-picture ideas.

  1. Train unilateral (single arm, single leg, etc.) movements

Every step we take in a day is a split stance movement. The foundation of our body moving day in and day out is with a split stance. Many athletic movements are split stance, or rely on one side driving more than the other to create lateral movement. This is not to say that bilateral (two feet together, two arms pressing) movements are behind the times, as that would be a disservice to the many pros of bilateral movements. If we are training people and not people who simply live in a gym all day, we need to find a blend of both movement types prioritized towards the individual’s goal.

  1. Train slow, be slow; Train fast, be fast

Many clients at XIP train twice a week. A trend across almost every individual’s program is a power-related exercise circuit at the start of their program for the day. Before working at XIP I was very familiar with linear periodization, going from higher reps and lower weight to lower reps and greater weight over time. In a textbook definition of linear periodization, power exercises are typically seen further within the training program, months down the line from the start. The essence of athletic movements, and the attribute that is lost most with age, is muscular power. From making a jump for a rebound in basketball to standing up from a recliner, power is important for all ages and backgrounds. If you are not training some sort of power, plyometric, or acceleration-based exercise year-round, you could be losing out on a significant source for developing stronger,more well-rounded, and physically prepared athletes. If you train at a religious three-second eccentric (lowering of weights) to two-second concentric (raising of weights), we are telling the muscles that is what we want them to adapt to and be the most efficient at. If we train the muscles to rebound force at the fastest rate possible after a relatively quick eccentric, such as a bodyweight jump or an overhead medicine ball throw, we are telling the muscles to adapt and be efficient at rapidly generating force. This is not to say that controlled pace movements are not useful in developing athletes, but if it is all an athlete does, their training will likely not make them as fast and as powerful as they can be. Train powerful, be powerful.

  1. Train the planes, train the human

With a limited amount of time in training sessions and a limited amount of gas in a given individual’s tank, as strength and conditioning coaches we have to be selective with our exercises, layout, and intensity and volume. This can sometimes lead to oversight on key pieces of programming that could significantly improve the efficiency of the program. Beyond intensity, volume, and progressing athletes are the three planes of motion: frontal, sagittal, and transverse. For example, the transverse plane exists in relation to any motion where the body twists or turns, rotating among an axis. These three planes allow for a near infinite number of combinations within a 3D space. When I looked at myself a year ago, I was under the impression that a baseball or golf swing were solely transverse movements. The me of today knows that a rotational movement such as a baseball swing is an incredibly complicated interplay of creating and resisting motion in all three planes. This creates the necessity for strengthening an individual in all of the planes necessary for their sport or the sport of  life, and a careful eye to understand how all of these sports and life movements can be improved through selective and creative programming.



If you are interested in learning more about improving human movement don’t hesitate to reach out or join one of the many boot camps, performance camps, and training groups we offer, or train with us online if you can’t ge to us in person. One of our primary goals at XIP is to educate, and questions are always welcomed.

If you have any questions about the blog post specifically, don’t hesitate to reach out to me individually at jarrett.xip@gmail.com.

  • Jarrett Wilkins, NSCA-CPT

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