Just Do It

With many Americans glued to their TVs last month watching the Olympic Games in Vancouver, there has been much focus on athletes’ training regimens. However, some of New York City’s top trainers say that teens don’t have to be Olympic hopefuls to benefit from their services.

The four athletic training facilities profiled below offer a variety of programs for athletes of all ages and skill levels, ranging from help with general conditioning as part of a healthy lifestyle to sports-specific skills-training for athletes hoping to land college scholarships. While their approaches vary, the trainers all agree that working with a professional can give teens the motivation and skills they need to accomplish their athletic goals.*

Asphalt Green
555 E. 90th St.
New York, N.Y.
212.369.8890
Asphalt Green is a not-for-profit organization which offers a huge variety of athletic programs to fulfill its mission of helping all individuals achieve health through a lifetime of sports and fitness. In addition to general classes ranging from martial arts to swimming, Asphalt Green offers specialized programs for young athletes who want to take their games to the next level.

The Speed, Agility, Quickness Academy for ages 7-14 evolved out of the organization’s competitive youth sports teams. “Especially in a competitive environment, those skills can really make a difference, even at a young age,” says Youth Sports Education Director Mike Q. Bailey. But he adds that non-athletes can also benefit from the SAQ training, as “it can get them to a level where they feel more comfortable participating in sports and other physical activities.”

Asphalt Green also offers sport-specific training for athletes ages 7-14 in small groups or on a personal-coaching basis. Athletes over 14 can take advantage of one-on-one training with coaches who have played Division 1 college sports and have a background in kinesiology.

“SAQ focuses more on movement, which makes it ideal for a variety of sports where quick turns and sudden bursts of speed can make a real difference,” Bailey says. Sportspecific training “is more comprehensive, incorporating additional elements of performance like strength, endurance and flexibility.” These programs can even be catered for entire teams. While Asphalt Green membership offers discounts on programs like these, athletes don’t have to be members to take the classes.

“It’s one thing to get kids active, but our expertise in getting kids excited and engaged in sports and fitness ensures that they lead more active lives,” says Marketing Director Christopher Dobens.

Chelsea Piers BlueStreak
60 Chelsea Piers
New York, N.Y.
212-336-6123
Located in the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex, Chelsea Piers BlueStreak is an athletic training and skills development center. BlueStreak offers one-on-one training, small group training and even provides the opportunity for entire teams to train together.

While BlueStreak is equipped to train athletes of all ages, kids can begin in the Li’l Blues program as young as age 9. “It’s a chance to teach fundamentals with smaller groups,” says Chelsea Piers BlueStreak soccer coach Erin Kennedy. “We work on skills to make sure they don’t develop bad habits.”

For teen athletes, BlueStreak offers the Acceleration program, a generalconditioning, speed, strength and power enhancement program, or the Acceleration and Skills program, which includes sportsspecific skills coaching. BlueStreak can even integrate an athlete’s training to accommodate more than one sport if that’s what the athlete needs, Kennedy says.

However, Kennedy adds, all of BlueStreak’s programs include acceleration training, plyometrics and strength training that can be adapted for the sport a teen plays, even if the athlete doesn’t choose to include a skills program.

She also says that teen athletes and professional athletes all use the same equipment—including technology for gait analysis, an indoor turf field, synthetic ice-surface hockey skills zone and skating treadmill—but the technology is adapted depending on an athlete’s age and skill level.

BlueStreak’s coaches are all former collegiate or professional athletes. BlueStreak “might give that little bit of an edge to get a little bit stronger or faster, and as athletes here, we know it can be that little bit that makes a big difference,” Kennedy says.

High Performance NYC
39 W. 14th St., Suite 406
New York, N.Y. 212-675-2777
High Performance is a full-service personal training facility founded by Clay Burwell, a boxer and former member of the U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division. While Burwell’s star-studded client list has included Matt Damon and actress Anna Paquin, he also has extensive experience working with teen athletes.

He says that when it comes to training kids and teens, he doesn’t focus too much on specialized sports training because they are often interested in several different sports. Rather, he works on making younger athletes more agile, coordinated and confident in order to increase their overall athletic ability.

While Burwell currently does mostly one-onone training at High Performance, he hopes to start group training for kids this spring or summer. He describes the group classes as a “well-thought out recess environment” that will include calisthenics and strength training.

Burwell says that working with a trainer gives a young athlete the advantage of working with someone who has current knowledge of the latest advances in fitness and exercise. While many high school coaches were trained many years ago, “Exercise changes so quickly. It advances as a science in leaps and bounds,” says Burwell. “You don’t have to play for the Giants or the Yankees to get a more modern approach to fitness or conditioning.”

Burwell is passionate about encouraging kids and teens to live active and healthy lives—to get them away from videogames and to spend time outdoors.

“I’ve been able to do and achieve so many things because I’ve been healthy and fit,” he says. “I want them to get healthy so they can have a wonderful and more fulfilled life.”

U.S.

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Athletic Training Center
515 Madison Ave.
New York, N.Y.
212-355-8440
U.S. Athletic Training Center is a sports, physical therapy and athletic training center founded by Mary Leonard, a former dancer with a Master’s degree in movement science, and Gary Guerriero, a physical therapist, athletic trainer and strength coach. Guerriero has extensive experience with professional athletes, having worked with the Rangers and Knicks and consulted for both the Giants and Jets.

U.S. Athletic Training Center is a well-known destination for athletes needing physical therapy. They come for Guerriero’s Recovery Motion Therapy, soft tissue techniques combined with active motion that he says works faster than more traditional types of physical therapy. But physical therapy is just one aspect of the facility.

U.S. Athletic Training Center also offers oneon-one sports-specific training for athletes.

The facility houses a full motion lab for all movement analysis, including gait and swing analysis. But Leonard says having physical therapists on staff is a major advantage for teens training at the facility. “Sometimes trainers push teens too hard, and you need to have someone who is knowledgeable and working side by side with a physical therapist,” she says.

U.S. Athletic Training Center also offers a general membership option. This allows use of the facility’s patented technology and speed track while providing access to staff members who are all required to have formal education, certifications and athletic backgrounds. Leonard says membership is a great option for teens and their parents, who want to get into better shape and want great care.

“Your strength is your suit of armor,” Guerriero adds. “The better conditioned you are, the more fun you’re going to have.”

Velocity Sports Performance NYC
133 E. 58th St., 6th Floor
New York, N.Y.
212-593-3278
Part of a well-known national chain, Velocity Sports Performance NYC offers programs for athletes of all ages. Its programs are scientifically designed to improve speed, power and agility, which Velocity describes as the three pillars of athleticism.

While Velocity NYC’s alumni include collegiate and professional athletes such as Ben Gordon of the Detroit Pistons and Houston Texans wide receiver Kevin Walter, athletes as young as age 8 can begin their training in Velocity’s Youth Program. With just four athletes in each class, they work on athletic fundamentals such as coordination and core balance.

All of Velocity’s programs are conditioningand strength-based, but become more advanced as athletes become older and more skilled. The Developmental I program is designed for athletes ages 12 to 14 and Developmental II is for ages 15 to 18. Velocity sees each level as a building block to becoming a better all-around athlete.

“We’re trying to make sure your body mechanics have proper form and technique,” says Lily Panchasarp, Velocity NYC’s marketing and business development coordinator. They do so at a training facility that includes a 35-yard, four-lane indoor sprint track, 25-yard football turf field and full Olympic weight training area.

However, Panchasarp adds, high-school athletes looking to play at the collegiate level usually opt for one-on-one training with a Velocity coach, all of whom were college, if not professional, athletes themselves.

While high-school coaches are trying to make athletes better at a specific sport, Panchasarp says Velocity coaches try to better condition athletes to give them a competitive advantage. “We try to make you faster to get to the ball, to give you the strength for your swing,” she says.

*Pricing at each facility varies by program. Please contact the facility for current pricing information.