JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?4 ؊ xxcSxҀq:qڼ֓gBHn0T}EWL"U'SԼq)ƫZf4 oQ'qyfX+3JBy]*pCK;8F}k%khzQT0{VLJ"lp bN#BƮ2+ts$6b7vN3\G]uK[U0[;^ "Ӭ,=X&ׇ#\D\ TombλK<UfGNjeێ?'5{\7Ek}>ꗒl TvLkXnM]Ė8vM=R[YJ\gR[RIe̫I'ZhrI cTȵԛLTt>BWS{tFSPqJ VфΒ-ױqtv|̣!EXˁfRFXf@9$85 :"5ѝ̲|›3aL]RJ2:/ִh]KD)CFzSZfdu@9FQwvRר_ zۜu9]IYk|yFB{k8a\S~uƦLgM|yEUj+{\q=֣bHp=P.aO01mX~<ֹֆ!8,3kAP`~r,~DF$T<vt%+Ùv=sSw`6{ԙM2;pcdJ:usWm,xQm{ PюFk2鹯?œk $vBH?[oG&YiOx s|WոraXںormf`C՝'RHm |Ǒc"n g^En-Eem^H[9\ZitX`Fz52 Uf>=nZ^֊uH =Ey-4*7'GlUmNo-X`1NPH˒^WZk٪ UJ/*D(f2Ljc*AQoH+u;I8*wGgA!"*S)㚌1lg&NK}*hMfjk݉G}*nĜɯ[Qp Om3Tۺ5ElH@~nd4dɤKkeq5…uf9xBFDo| ϻՆQ BF1;RZ=˕$D(ZKk*XjbƳ=Ř9⺟Yj,sO6CF9J3wZ>kxum1DK8WNt2BZy+qbYR02( rbg*na Uqqh,m*>6(S^Օ48#wP;UƲW/$븠'qN=UbOv< R(+Â;JF$HEhhڱR!4VOoaH!~W҅ 4N3db)!FFx)ţqR{cऌGHq9ޢnœ/Nm f<׽7Q^V^s<ʵl,_a]&̥+#_^X]"9Ce|+63ݨx~PIbSM'4x8Iw7Fq<kD<>WchgӵD"p@dUEԣD"^Sj2=b [iEz+9Yo-#P6lw?ȯE^>3U[[10 z**py3Ҽ]Jw[ӒH]܅]ԛO9(9'5-yآګߎ*GY|@1en\RӮcz\+39IY޷GP.jQW4G"G5|I{[&58N}}k˂ t5Pۗ89bfjT FP.=hHS\2FY]Io !K'$݂ /U$ԤsB:l|g.OX)b*Ȥ 9 jב`D 2+:։%"ji@*; t0y#q5OHdK ,ǯqYڞ\ճmwdصcg:c_jKWխtk6ڲtOMqrNcf[./瑝-=i{i9KcV'.5E.>XtQ*.I_#)cYKO5a`*#p:v!Cru{|7 {YX)-.HƮi-Kq =cA^&nq#In]o=h#n d_":{x ] =؞ǞS\棦\h|}7RzK­j"E-szU]*dp7uі6T8Eҵ*;B 3I]Ht,z[i 1Cntt8:C{f:ZR7%ں=x҉^Aj bQiLbvxN1qo u v$NоrS8P^_8ڗ҃{;2sIsMԚ6+hFX =6c[sW%\ކ^?^Mh1\0>g)FkS\Y F |I6i(B{cTMsfCX7z[CҮŭJA-om.CI4-O ^\ȧ^3Vt(I %<5é>gcP~5ЛuN<,ܽ;e`rXkԚ(UܚWEmCRti?(EsrZثA4qIHqt9ⓊspI@ :5Z:4]xbبtXpQEBm%U=j"\2:rgd`[~Umݻn\šqZ )==)%<2pJt54q˜Y;P|!Uo|aF9fˣ+S$rEmkք9mZW^Ims}jJ-N3[ҧlZJpQXI @gmQ47  TՋh^hk6xMV췛_۳ppZķĹyjI94R9y*-]F!%!8 p1=ԐA]RsqSIgq,#c 2M gkOzin$s <~vu69yKzkRF) qPdJ|- hY;UrZښHmlw}=jkG{Е&ѳ 0E?g-{T$q(P :R+894踕r=DO㨪iإch'7 R (H+.SF8㎕_5M-D!]p̨95"Otod,Z j2;&O"k dX@(|Ld8(MQqӐbNHݫtPp3ٚs5cj4)cq,:ҋZ_BJ< t n=kH#4A5u>*.Hypx;q'[b< ag=mc7@2YI 1>Uc.) .@2" rF+v@S>(ӬW^Y&4ð?*i1rO5ҦdC!eR& c4h'6tnEtqD(G£ DpKH^ UDDaWg}'Vk}FŢAe;[XGE$h* Pvts>%m5yYgh`mNsx_Kʾ% qzZE3vQǨug< [D{60c'$ (ɰzVcwIl<A1[;budgУ[ڑ53}5o!f9HHeN5!ӊ8 pA##4Ѧ3OׯjCAGDe>áX6oowhF>r>PXZ&ٖ5eYenJ[&,Ӛubؕz=;;s] Q[@>/o20ŧ -c+?Z)hdi\,^'wC!;"zT@qM= Bkhg53B%=]U#ԌkLet me give you an example of the value of adding medicine balls to traditional training from my years as a strength coach at the Air Force Academy. During the off-season the  skill players on the football team would lift on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and perform speed, agility and endurance drills on Tuesday and Thursday. A major portion of the Tuesday and Thursday workouts was spent in dynamic medicine ball exercises to provide resistance during traditional calisthenics, especially those designed to work the abdominal and lower back muscles. <br>Remember how boring sit-ups are? One partner exercise especially popular at the Academy was partner sit-ups with a medicine ball. As shown above, the athletes lock their ankles together and toss the ball back and forth, performing a sit-up as they throw it. Because the ball is moving rapidly, when the athletes catch it the abdominals get a much tougher workout than if the athletes simply held the ball on their chests.<br>One exercise that was especially tough was a series of push-ups with one or both hands resting on a medicine ball, as demonstrated on page 56. This exercise emphasizes many of the smaller muscles of the shoulder that stabilize the joint, and it s much tougher than it sounds. In fact, the Air Force Academy tried to incorporate these types of push-ups during a toughness training ritual called  Recognition Week that every cadet must endure. However, after the cadets had performed dozens of these push-ups, we received a call from the supervising officer to stop them because the cadets upper bodies were too exhausted to continue the remainder of their physical tasks!<br><br>Power Training<br><br>What the medicine ball is especially good for is power development. Power can be defined as  work performed over time. Medicine balls take the strength developed from high-tension lifts such as the squat and teach the body and mind to use that strength faster. In sports, you have only a fraction of a second to return that tennis serve or to break that tackle. This is exactly why athletes who excel in the weight room often may be outplayed by physically weaker opponents who can apply a given level of strength more quickly.<br>For most athletes, especially beginning-level and most high school athletes, power cleans and push jerks can produce significant improvements in power. And with limited amounts of time available to most of these athletes, the basic BFS system is perfect. However, athletes who have extra time or who are at especially high levels of ability may be ready for more sport-specific power movements using medicine balls.<br>For example, a volleyball player will want to achieve maximal jumping ability. If the player does a series of squats using a barbell, the weight slows down, achieving zero velocity at the end of the movement. This is necessary for safety purposes. But in jumping, there is an increase in velocity, with peak forces occurring near the end of the movement. This difference in veloc