Lofton Training

Lofton Training Lofton Training offers college-caliber strength & conditioning to athletes of every sport in the New River Valley. Contact us today for a free session!

We help athletes improve strength, speed, and confidence.

09/21/2026

Sports are full of situations where athletes have to rapidly navigate tight spaces, create space, and then transition back into movement as quickly as possible.

Think about defending under the basket in basketball, winning a turnover and transitioning down the court, then having to attack the basket. Soccer presents similar demands, as do many other sports.

That’s part of the rationale behind pairing ladder drills and other “quick feet” work with acceleration and deceleration. We’re not using ladder drills simply to train foot speed. We’re trying to expose athletes to repeated changes in movement demands: tight spaces, rapid repositioning, acceleration, deceleration, and then returning to more open movement.

We’ll often structure these drills competitively as well. Having athletes compete against one another increases the intensity and gives them another reason to stay engaged with the movement.

The goal is to make the training environment reflect some of the movement demands athletes actually encounter in sport.

09/17/2026

Once kids in the program learn the basics of the kettlebell swing, we build the movement progressively: first adding reps, then increasing the weight, and eventually introducing partner variations like this one.

In this variation, the partner meets the kettlebell at the top of the swing and pushes it back down. It adds a collaborative element that kids tend to enjoy, while also creating a useful training stimulus.

The athlete has to decelerate the kettlebell on the way down, then rapidly accelerate it back up. That combination of deceleration, acceleration, powerful hip extension, and a braced core makes the swing a useful tool for developing qualities that carry over to a wide range of athletic movements.

The goal isn't just learning how to swing a kettlebell. It's progressively teaching athletes how to produce, absorb, and redirect force.

09/16/2026

Here are a few of the ways we develop speed and power in our youth training athletes.

*Box Jump Ladder*

It’s a little difficult to see in the video, but the boxes progressively get taller. The goal is to gradually increase the height of the jump and the amount of force the athlete has to produce.

I also like this progression because it gives athletes a way to work toward higher jumps without immediately asking them to attempt a max-height box jump. That can help reduce the risk of missing the box as they get going.

We start with bilateral jumps and eventually progress to landing on one leg. The single-leg variation increases the demands on force production, coordination, and landing control.

*Hill Striders with a Bounding Start*

Short uphill runs are useful for developing acceleration because the incline increases the amount of force athletes have to produce into the ground. It also naturally puts the athlete in a more forward body position, which reinforces the forward projection we want during acceleration.

The short distances allow us to focus on powerful, aggressive steps without introducing excessive fatigue. Adding a bounding start further emphasizes force production and the ability to transition that force into acceleration.

*Progressive Hurdle Hops*

Similar to the box jump ladder, the hurdles progressively get farther apart. As the distance increases, athletes have to produce more horizontal force to cover the additional distance.

Initially, we allow a pause between hurdles so athletes can reset and focus on producing a quality jump. As they progress, we remove the pause and transition into continuous bounds.

At that point, the goal shifts toward producing the same amount of force in less time—improving reactive strength and reducing ground contact time.

All three progressions are different ways of training force production, rate of force development, coordination, and the ability to apply force efficiently. Over time, those qualities contribute to improved speed and power.

09/15/2026

💪 Luke — 10th Grade Football Player & Thrower

Besides being a generally awesome dude, Luke is also someone who puts in the work.

After building a solid strength foundation early in the summer, we shifted the focus toward developing power — the ability to apply that strength quickly and explosively. For a football player and thrower, that means moving fast, hitting hard, and producing force when it matters.

Here’s a sample of what that looks like:

- Inverted Rows — upper-body strength

- Split Squat Alternating Jumps — unilateral power

- Heavy Russian KB Swings → Explosive Broad Jumps — posterior-chain power

- Weighted Box Jumps — vertical power

- Bench Hops → Banded Jumps — reactive/vertical power

There’s plenty more that isn’t shown here, including core work and upper-body pressing, but you can see the theme:

Build the strength. Then teach the body to use it FAST. ⚡️

Luke has been putting in the work, and it’s been awesome watching that foundation turn into more explosive movement. Keep grinding, Luke! 💪🏈

💪 Getting stronger, moving better, and building confidence!This photo is from last week’s Bench Press + Flutter Kick sup...
09/14/2026

💪 Getting stronger, moving better, and building confidence!

This photo is from last week’s Bench Press + Flutter Kick superset, and it’s a great snapshot of the progress happening in our program. The athletes aren’t just lifting more — their technique, confidence, and understanding of how to train are improving every week. Proud of this group! 👏

Quick reminder: We’re off this Friday, September 18. Renewals will be prorated to account for the day off.

If Friday is your athlete’s regular training day, they can make up the session on a Monday or Wednesday — either this week or a future week.

09/11/2026

This is Phil.

Phil started as a client and is now both a client and a friend.

He spent 22 years as an Army Ranger and another 20 years as a CIA contractor. On September 11, 2001, Phil was at the gr***de range at Fort Dix, NJ, preparing to deploy to Bosnia, when the planes hit the towers.

Phil is 64 years old. Today, he came in and did his regular strength work. Then he asked for an extra workout to commemorate the day.

In a vest, he completed 9 rounds of:

11 Box Push-Ups
11 Squats
11 Box Step-Ups

Today, we work out in remembrance of September 11, 2001 — a day that changed our country and the world forever.

We remember those who were lost, those who served, and the strength and resilience that followed.

09/10/2026

I’m not sure there’s anything more fundamental to developing youth athletes than teaching them how to properly brace their core—and then developing their capacity to maintain that brace.

It’s right up there with teaching knees over toes and maintaining a neutral spine.

Once athletes understand the concept, we use different progressions to build core strength and, more importantly, their ability to create and maintain intra-abdominal pressure.

And as much as anything, good coaching is about keeping kids interested while they train.

Interested kids are more engaged. Engaged kids learn more, work harder, and ultimately get more out of training.

One of our go-to tools is the Bear (sometimes called the Leopard), with lots of different variations to keep things challenging and interesting.

Here, athletes are doing a resisted lateral bear crawl. The goals are simple:

- Brace the core.
- Minimize trunk and hip movement.
- Keep the knees about 1" off the ground.
- Move with control.

Success varies depending on training age—and that’s the point.
They don’t need to be perfect on day one. They need to keep practicing. Because if they stick with it, they’ll get better at bracing their core. And that capacity will carry over into virtually everything else they do.

09/09/2026

The obliques are an often neglected part of core training—but they play a critical role in athletic performance, especially running.

The external obliques help transfer force between the upper and lower body while contributing to trunk rotation, lateral stability, and the ability to resist unwanted motion. When you’re running, they help control the pelvis and rib cage as the body moves through each stride, allowing you to efficiently absorb and redirect forces from one side to the other.

For years, typical oblique work meant DB side bends and maybe some alternating crunch heel taps. Those exercises certainly have their place, but oblique training has taken on a much more prominent role in a well-rounded strength program.

One variation I like is what I call the Split Stance Side Bench Side Plank Arch Up.

Compared with a traditional side plank hip tap or arch-up, this setup allows me to get a much bigger stretch through the lateral trunk. At the same time, I’m getting some additional contribution from the hip abductors and adductors.

So while this looks like an oblique exercise, it’s really a great example of training the core as part of a larger kinetic chain—something that carries over much better to athletic movement.

Pallof Presses are a great anti-rotation exercise for strengthening the muscles of the core.We’ll usually start in a hal...
09/08/2026

Pallof Presses are a great anti-rotation exercise for strengthening the muscles of the core.

We’ll usually start in a half-kneeling position to give athletes a little more stability and help them learn the movement. From there, we’ll progress to standing and eventually add some load.

It’s pretty cool to see how much better athletes get at bracing and controlling their core as they become more comfortable with the exercise.

One small tweak I recently started making is adding a PVC pipe. It keeps the band from biting into their hands and helps them focus on maintaining a strong, stable position.

It also distributes the force across the arms, making it a good way to increase the challenge as athletes get stronger and need a little more resistance.

09/06/2026

Squats are a staple of our program, but we’ll change the variation depending on the focus of each training phase.

We typically use the box squat toward the end of a training cycle, when the focus shifts away from full range of motion and toward handling heavier relative loads. This allows us to emphasize force production in positions that more directly transfer to the demands of running and jumping during the season.

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Blacksburg, VA
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