How the CoreX and the Ankle Foot MaXimizer are helping Olympic training.
By Rob Williams for Impact Magazine January/February 2010
Not so long ago, athletic conditioning was a field devoted to power squats, hang cleans, and other Olympic lifting moves. Depending on an athlete’s particular sport, a coach might integrate activities involving items like medicine balls or box platforms for plyometric training, but weightlifting dominated the scene. Strength, after all, is an important factor related to performance in most sports.
Although there is a place for these lifts in the strength and conditioning program of any athlete, today’s competitors are notably more sophisticated when it comes to training techniques.
Athletes like Tricia Smith, current vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, are acutely aware of this evolution. In her own fitness training, Smith has recently been exposed to a new generation of conditioning products, including the CoreX, a unique training device developed by physiotherapists Alex McKechnie and Rick Celebrini, and the Ankle Foot maXimizer, or AFX, conceived by Vancouver chiropractor Dr. Jordan Myers. The underlying premise of both of these training tools is that you’re only as strong as the weakest link in your kinetic chain. Strong legs or arms won’t necessarily translate into power or athleticism during competition if you can’t maintain core stability, or if your feet aren’t able to provide an effective base of support. These devices allow practitioners, athletes, and the general public to effectively target comparatively weak or dysfunctional parts of the body.
To read the entire article please click here: The New Tools of the Trade
