Every once in a while I feel like digging back into books that I may have previously read, especially books that I feel are loaded with information, information that I may have previously overlooked. I often find myself going back through some of these books and gaining more knowledge that I may have missed or overlooked the first time through. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson and Movement by Gray Cook are perfect examples of this. Another perfect example is Mike Boyle’s New Functional Training for Sport.

Here are 30 (there could have been more) thought provoking quotes from the book. Hopefully some of these will make you think a little. Enjoy!

1. Function is, essentially purpose. When we use the word function we are saying that something has a purpose. So when we apply that term to training for sport we are talking about purposeful training.
2. Simply learning to produce force while under a heavy load and on two feet is nonfunctional for most athletes.
3. Think of your training as a vehicle to improve performance, not just improve strength.
4. For the strength and conditioning professional, the number one goal of a strength and conditioning program should be injury prevention.
5. Usually the best players or top performers are the most efficient and explosive movers.
6. If you cannot perform body-weight exercises such as push ups and chin ups, then you are not functionally strong and may be more likely to be injured.
7. The key to functional training is to develop usable strength.
8. An athlete who lacks upper back strength is at a greater risk for problems related to the shoulder’s rotator cuff.
9. Don’t design a program based on what you like or dislike as a coach or trainer; design a program that works for the athlete.
10. Female athletes are not physically different from their male counterparts, at least not as it relates to training. All muscles and bones are the same.
11. The nice thing about T-spine mobility is that almost no one has enough and it seems to be hard to get too much.
12. Sport is about acceleration, not speed.
13. How well an athlete accelerates will determine success in team sports.
14. Single leg strength is specific and cannot be developed through double leg exercises.
15. Core training is the missing link to developing the power to hit a baseball or gold ball farther or a hockey puck or tennis ball harder and faster.
16. The abdominal muscles by design are stabilizers, not movers.
17. Functional anatomy has demonstrated that the primary purpose of the core musculature is the prevention of movement.
18. Core training is really about motion prevention, not motion creation.
19. The medicine ball may be the simplest and safest tool for developing total-body power, rotary power and, anterior-core power.
20. The key to medicine ball training is velocity. Emphasize speed of movement, not ball weight.
21. A well-designed upper body program should include a proportional number of sets of horizontal pulling (rows), vertical pulling (chin ups), overhead pressing and supine pressing exercises. In simple terms, there should be a set of pulling exercise for every set of pushing exercise.
22. If you are going to stink at one lift, stink at bench press. It’s the least important.
23. Strive for balanced pressing strength in which strength is developed at a variety of angles (incline, overhead) along with stability (using dumbbells). One angle or one action should not become dominant.
24. A combination of Olympic lifts, medicine ball throws, and plyometrics is the best way to develop power.
25. We must learn to jump off the ground and properly land on the ground before we attempt to minimize time spent on the ground.
26. Good plyometrics are quiet. Failure to land quietly indicates that the athlete lacks eccentric strength and that the exercise is inappropriate.
27. Increased power translates into a faster, more explosive athlete.
28. Design a workout that prepares an athlete to play a sport, not a workout that mimics one of the strength sports (bodybuilding, powerlifting, Olympic lifting).
29. The slideboard may offer the most bang for your buck of any functional conditioning tool.
30. To improve conditioning while reducing the chance of injury, conditioning programs must train acceleration, deceleration, and change of direction.