The main goal at OverAchieve is to get our athletes stronger, faster, and more explosive.  The rate limiting factor for all athletes is their absolute and relative body strength ratios.  In other words, the stronger you can make the engine, the faster the machine moves. Additionally, proper sprinting and movement mechanics plays an important part in maximizing an athlete's speed and agility.  So in our core program, we focus mainly on these key areas.

However, because each athlete has their own individual weaknesses that may be holding them back from maximizing their athleticism.  We offer supplemental sessions (at no additional charge) that allow athletes additional opportunities to work on those individual attributes that need more attention.  For example, for one athlete, the rate limiting factor to being faster may be their inefficient arm swing, for another, he or she may need to get leaner and improve their overall muscle to bodyfat percentage.  So, for the first athlete, doing an additional supplemental running form session would be the prescripiton and for the later, participating in a bootcamp session or doing a supplemental cardio conditioning class would be recommended.  

Many parents are over-paying for"speed and strength" gyms that are nothing but glorified overcrowded conditioning sessions that have little chance to improve overall athleticism.  Things to look for:

1) Offer of "unlimited training". If athletes are training every day, then program is not based on science, but just random exercise.

2) Class size is more than 10 athletes per coach.  

3) Class combines high school and college athletes with elementary students.

4) Athletes are not baselined on certain measurements such as sprint speed and vertical jump.

5) Athletes do not track any of their weights lifted in their exercise program.   

Without a doubt, an athlete can increase their speed and become more agile.  However, despite what the many sports enhancement marketer’s claim, it is not easy and does not happen overnight.  Through hard work and a “balanced” training program, an athlete can become faster and jump higher. Our programs for young athletes are a combination of form running and plyometric exercises performed in concert with a strength training program.  All programs are customized to meet age appropriate needs and sport-specific requirements.

As a parent with two young athletes, I know first hand the financial and time commitment that it takes to support our children's athletic endeavors and dreams.  Many of the speed centers that I have visited are nothing more than overcrowded gym classes. Having athletes perform countless agility drills such as predetermined patterns on a speed ladder is not going to make them run faster or allow them to jump higher.  The most important component for increasing an athlete's speed is to increase their relative body strength (strength to body weight ratio). Speed and agility training must supplement a functional strength training program and not the other way around. However, at the majority of SAQ centers, because they want to train as many kids as quickly as possible, training 20+ kids at once and having them running around using speed ladders is the easiest way to make money.

Where do the majority of high school athletes go to build strength?  Unfortunately, it is at under-supervised "open gyms" at their HS or parents pay for memberships at the local health club where the athletes are left to figure out how to train properly and often times become disengaged and give up training . OverAchieve was built to be one-stop shopping for helping athletes become faster, stronger, and more agile.  For athletes that join our full-service programs, we are the fitness center, speed coach, and personal trainer.

We take into account the physical maturity level of each athlete when customizing all of our programs.  For the strength portion, I am a firm believer that before using external resistance (e.g. free weights), an athlete needs to be able to efficiently control his or her body weight.  Through exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, body weight squats, and step-ups, the athlete not only gains strength safely but these movements also develop balance, coordination, and the other skills needed for competition.  

Our speed programs for younger athletes focus on teaching athletes the proper sprint mechanics (e.g. arm swing, leg action).  Since bad running habits are hard to break, an athlete who learns the correct techniques when they are young and continues to practice them throughout their career will have a clear advantage in maximizing their potential.  



Yes, in fact, we have and are currently training several professional athletes (NBA, and MLB).  The reason we are able to attract such high level athletes is because: 1) we have specialized strength training equipment that can only be found at top Div 1 programs and 2) we have created our own proprietary training system that we believe is going to revolutionize training for speed development.   The training system known as S-MAX (Speed Maximization Algorithm) is a multidisciplinary training program that uses a set of key indicators to allow us to constantly monitor the athletes progress and to ensure he or she maximizes their potential in terms of maximum speed and explosiveness.

Definitely.  A balanced strength training program is critical for female athletes both from a competitive edge and from a serious injury prevention perspective. For example, in the majority of female athletes that I have worked with, I have found they have extremely weak and inflexible hamstrings compared to the strength of their quadriceps.  This strength ratio imbalance is one of the leading theories behind the increasing number of severe knee injuries being seen in our female athletes.

Yes, for the majority of athletes, we will test 5 components.  They include: the 20 yard sprint, 20 yard short shuttle, vertical jump, push-ups, and pull-ups.  Pull-ups are an important exercise for us because it is a clear indicator of an athlete’s relative body strength.  To maximize speed and vertical jump, relative body strength is crucial. The ultimate free weight for an athlete is their own body weight.

Absolutely.  In fact Coach Henesey likes to say "To workout at OverAchieve you do not have to be a blue chip, but you have to have a big chip."  What this means is that our only requirement for joining our program is that the athlete has a strong passion for improving and becoming a better athlete-an overachiever!   It does not matter whether they are the best athlete or just hoping to make the team. In fact, we would rather work with an average athlete who is focused and hungry to improve as opposed to a naturally gifted athlete who is just going through the motions”.