Train smarter. Perform better.
Evidence-led articles on strength, speed, rehab, and nutrition — written by our coaches and clinicians.
How to Increase Your Vertical for Basketball (At Home)
How to increase your vertical jump for basketball: the one-foot and two-foot jumps the game demands, what to train, and a plan you can start at home.
How to Increase Your Vertical Jump for Volleyball
How to increase your vertical jump for volleyball: the spike-approach jump, the block, what to train for each, and a plan you can start at home.
Is Jump Height Genetic? What You Can (and Can't) Change
Why can't some people jump high? Part of your vertical is genetic and part is trainable. Here is what you cannot change, what you can, and how much difference it makes.
How to Dunk a Basketball: The Complete Guide
How to dunk a basketball: the vertical you actually need at your height, one-foot vs two-foot takeoffs, the first-dunk progression, and the training that gets you above the rim.
How to Palm a Basketball: Grip Strength for Dunking
How to palm a basketball: what hand size really decides, the grip technique that makes the most of the hands you have, and the grip strength training that helps you control the ball for a dunk.
Plyometrics to Jump Higher: The Complete Guide
The complete guide to plyometrics for vertical jump: what they train, whether you even need them, the full progression from pogo hops to depth jumps, and how much is enough.
How Many Calf Raises to Do at Home for Stronger Calves
How to do calf raises at home: correct form, how many reps you actually need, the best variations, and a simple program that builds stronger, more explosive calves.
Exercises to Increase Your Vertical Jump: A Weekly Plan
The exercises that actually increase your vertical jump: technique, mobility, strength, power and plyometrics, plus a simple weekly workout you can start today.
What Is a Good Vertical Jump, and How to Measure Yours
How to test your vertical jump with just your phone, what counts as a good jump height, and the four jump types that turn a number into a full athletic profile.
How important is strength for jumping higher?
What are the key variables that make a good jumper? Learn what physical qualities increase vertical leap
Improve your jumping technique with these tips
How to jump higher with better technique: the approach, penultimate step, plant and arm swing that turn the strength you already have into centimetres of extra vertical.
How to Jump Higher: 3 Stretches That Add Inches To Your Vertical Today
The five-minute daily routine that quietly adds inches to your vertical. Three simple stretches that free your hips and ankles so you can jump higher — no gym required.
Loading the Glutes: The best squat for jumping and sprinting
So I love squats a lot. Anyone who has ever worked out with me knows this. Squats have the power to make a profound difference to athletic performance as well as injury prevention.
How Can I Dunk in Two Weeks?
Can you learn to dunk in two weeks? Sometimes, if you are already close. Here is what dunking actually requires, a two-week peaking plan, and how to build a vertical that dunks for good.
Why Can't I Jump High? The Science of Improving Your Vertical Leap
How to jump higher, explained. We break down the four factors that decide your vertical leap, and exactly how to train them to increase your vertical jump.
How to do a Push Up - Full Training Program
Build your push up strength and learn how to do a proper full push up (or ten) with this free online push up progression program
Olympic Weightlifting or Plyometrics for Vertical Jump?
Should you be doing the Olympic Weightlifting movements in your strength training to increase vertical jump? or are plyometrics better suited for jumpers?
Stretching for athletes: Kneeling hip flexor stretch
This is the ultimate athletic stretch, open up your hips to strint faster, jump higher and reduce lower back pain with the kneeling hip flexor stretch
Our Combine Infographics
We often get asked for all our standards, facts and figures regarding all our testing protocols, so here they are!
Are Sit Ups Bad for You?
The core is an anti-motion motion device, it transmits force and resists twisting, flexing and extending, so are sit ups the best way to train it?
What Every Cyclist Should Know About Injury Prevention
Learn essential tips and strategies to prevent injuries, whether you're a beginner or a seasoned cyclist.
Do Calf Raises Help Shin Splints? Yes, But Not the Way You Think
Calf raises help shin splints, but standing calf raises miss the real muscle. Here's the seated-isometric fix that targets the tibialis posterior behind shin pain.
Stretches for Shin Splints
The best stretches for shin splints, and the honest truth about why stretching alone won't cure them, from a coach who battled shin splints for 2.5 years.
What causes shin splints?
What actually causes shin splints: tibialis posterior overload behind most posterior shin pain, the difference from anterior shin splints, symptoms and how to fix it.
When Nike invented jogging: The history of the running shoe
Jogging for fitness is a relatively new invention. Powered by Nike in the 1970's it wasn't initially about selling shoes, until it was...
The Problem With Heel Striking When You Run | Why you should land on the midfoot
Is heel striking bad for runners? What it does to your legs, why it happens, and how to fix your foot strike.
Why aren’t shoes shaped like feet? A history of shoes
Feet are naturally wide and strong, but why aren't shoes shaped like feet? Here's the history of shoes
Lifting weights faster | Intent: The secret of explosive athletes
When people think of power, they tend to think of Olympic weight lifting or plyometrics. This means a lot of people miss an important trick: you can train power while performing strength lifts.
Nine physical traits that prove humans were born to run
Humans may not be the fastest or strongest animals in the world but our ability to run for miles and miles is a unique trait that gave us a competitive advantage in some pre-historic circumstance.
How to Run Faster: Tips for Injury Free Effortless Running
Today's modern running shoe makes it possible for anyone to just throw on a pair, pound the pavement and call themselves an athlete.
Running Program for Transitioning to Barefoot Shoes (Minimalist/Zero Drop)
We strongly believe that for the majority of people making a transition to spending some, or most of your time in a minimalist or barefoot shoe can have a profound effect on injury risk, performance and general postural health.
The Conditioning Continuum: Is it possible to get 400m fit without running further than 50m?
In the middle of last year, I managed to take 10 seconds off my 400m time without running a single effort further than 50 meters.null
One Muscle to Rule Them All: Gluteus Maximus
Gluteus Maximus (or glute max to its friends) is the single biggest muscle in the human body. The problem for most athletes is that their glutes are either not working at all, or are very, very weak.
Maintaining fitness over the summer holidays
Train in the morning, eat healthily and reset your focus on crushing your goals
5 Elite Habits Every Athletes Can Do Now (for free)
You train hard, but are you missing some of the unseen habits of top performers?
Bulgarian Split Squat or Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat?
Rear-foot-elevated vs Bulgarian split squat is it the same thing or not? The differences, how to do them and which to pick for your goal.
Injury Rehabilitation Fundamentals
Athletes often come and see us after experiencing poor rehab results.
Maximise Performance and Reduce Injury with Elite Warmups
Not every warm-up is created equal... introducing "Warm-Up 2.0"
Medicine Balls, Wall Balls and Dead Balls, which one is right for me?
A use for every ball, and a ball for every use
Training When Injured, the Ultimate Guide
Here are five crucial tips you can use to stay fit and while you recover from an injury.
A Coaches Guide to Keeping Your Team Fit Over Christmas
How can coaches keep their squads' fitness up over the summer break?
An Athletes guide to Tapering for Peak Performance
What is the best method for staying fit and strong while still allowing some rest and regeneration to occur?
Three Supplements for Winter
Boost your immune system, enhance your mood and power through winter training and competition.
48,360 hours of muscular creep
48,360 hours. That's how many hours you'll sit at a desk over a 30 year office career. That's the equivalent of five years of your life.
Acute to Chronic Workload Ratio: Managing Errors in Training Load
When we talk about athletes training load, we’re talking about their volume and intensity in terms of acute and chronic. Find out how to use this ratio to improve your load.
Ankle Sprain/Ankle Injury Prevention & Rehabilitation Training
You can't prevent every ankle injury. Sometimes you just get unlucky, just end up in the wrong spot. But there's a lot you can do to prevent future injuries, and here's how.
Anti-Desk: Fixing Texting Neck
Moving to a standing desk solves a lot of the problems associated with sitting, but the one problem that isn't reallynullsolved is neck and head posture.
Anti-Desk workout: 5-minute hips and lower back
When we sit, our glutes and hamstrings are compressed against the chair under our body weight. Over time, this causes blood flow restriction and compresses the nerves deactivating the muscles.
Anti-Valgus Training Tips: Gluteus Medius
Every muscle in the body has a function and an action, but function and action however aren't always the same thing.
Are Roches Killing Your Athleticism?
We all intuitively know that high heels are bad for our posture, and the effects flow up the entire kinetic chain. What most people miss is that nearly everyone is wearing some form of heeled shoe for most part of every day.
Become Instantly Stronger: Creating Bar Tension/Picking Up the Slack
If you could only pick one exercise in the gym, it has to benullthe Corelift. You can go heavy and you can go fast.
Biomechanics of the spine - posture, forces and structures
Do you need a neutral spine when lifting weights? How does motion effect the structures of the spine? We explore biomechanics, the terminology and how forces influence our spine.
Breakfast for Dinner? Science says yes!
It is really hard to relax and sleep after a typical healthy dinner, and even harder to fall asleep after a typical dinner! So what's a solution?
Do you need protein shakes to improve performance?
Protein is truly awesome; it forms the foundation of strong muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments, can turbo charge our immune system, and accelerates recovery from hard training sessions.
Does Cardio Kill Your Gains?
So the age-old myth; Does cardio kill your progress in the gym? And if so, how?
Drills to Improve your Knee Drive for Sprinting and Acceleration
Building on the article talking about front-side mechanics and how important knee drive is. Here are some of our favourite drills to work on knee drive and knee position when sprinting.
Four Reasons My Brother Beat Me Over 50m
These days, whenever I go sprinting with my brother he kicks my butt, like seriously kicks my butt. But instead of making excuses, let's talk about why.
Front Side vs Back Side Mechanics: What makes Better Sprinters
When it comes to separating the elite sprinters from just the pretty good sprinters, there's a whole heap of factors at play, but for me, there are two that stand out.
Game Fit - The Best Training Method to Improve Fitness During the Preseason
Sport specific fitness is something that's very unique and hard to replicate away from actually playing sport, but there are ways to optimise your fitness during the off season.
Best Gym Shoes: Top Sneaker and Shoe Options to Lift Weights
So far the shoe conversation has been centred primarily around straight line running, but what's the best option when it comes to lifting shoes?
High Intensity Interval Training for Athletes: Repeat Sprints for Sport Specific Fitness
Most athletes get enough running-based conditioning in a typical week as a result of playing and training but in the holidays when that playing and training goes away, it's really important that athletes keep a baseline.
High Protein Breakfast: Homemade Baked Beans
Adding some protein to your breakfast is one of the best fat loss and muscle gaining moves you can make.
How Not to Interview: A Lesson for Fitness Professionals
I nearly didn't get a job here at Core Advantage.
How to do a Chin Up & Pull Up Properly: The Problem and Solution
There are not many exercises better than a wide grip overhead chin up. They engage the scapula muscles, and because they're working when your overhead, chins are improving control and stability when the shoulders in an inherently vulnerable position.
How to Maximise Tournament Performance
Maximising tournament performance is vital for success and enjoyment at all levels of sport. The key is having a scientific, but also practical strategy that helps you maximise your potential without going overboard.
Hydration Strategies for High Performance
Pretty much everyone knows hydration is a big deal for optimal sports performance. It's great news however, that solutions are cheap, easy and a little bit sweet.
Increase Strength and Hypertrophy with these Plateau Busting Gym Program Ideas
It's possible to live at a plateau or go up andnulldown from one but today, let's talk about how you can break through a strength plateau.
Instant Strength: Push the Ground Away
Back in high school, Chuck Norris was my hero. It wasn't just about the movies, I mostly just loved the quotes.null
Is Sleep Deprivation Killing your Athleticism?
Sleep is extremely important and usually underestimated when it comes to athleticism. We know that it has an impact on performance, but how much?
Isometrics: A powerful workout tool to increase strength and rehab injuries
I want to talk about Isometrics. They're a powerful tool to improve strength and rehabilitate injuries.
Mailbag: General nutrition advice
Nutrition does not have to be as complicated as a lot of people think, with the ridiculous fads and conflicting information in the media it isn't surprising when athletes and parents come to us in a state of confusion as to what is the 'best' way to eat.
Mini Desk Workout: Fix a Slouched Posture
Who else had parents that told them to stand or sit up straight at least three times a day? Not any teenager's favourite thing to hear, but sadly like parents often are, they were right.
Neutral Spine: How to Deadlift and Squat Without Hurting Your Back
The human spine is a robust and durable structure. It has the ability to flex, extend, and rotate through incredible ranges of motion while also able to lock down allowing the transfer of force between the lower and upper limbs so we can jump, run, throw, swing or lift heavy things.
Reinventing the Shoulder
Just imagine the body is like a car and the engineers who invented it are meeting to finalise the designs, preparing for manufacture.
Rockstar Muscles: Multifidus
Multifidus... Multifi-wha?? This deep core muscle is one of the most important muscles you own that nobody really knows they have.
Rules for Buying Sneakers: A guide for Basketball, Volleyball, Netball and Tennis
Whether you play basketball, futsal, netball or even tennis, the requirements from your shoes are exactly the same, so here are some rules for buying sneakers.
Saturation Vs. Deficiency: Fill your empty buckets
The concept of buckets can be so powerful when thinking about where to direct your coaching or training attention.
Split Workout: Is it worth the extra effort?
Split workouts are based on the theory that while one part of your body is resting you can be working another one. For athletes for whom the gym is a tool to enhance performance, we find body part splits both ineffective and inefficient.
Sports Specific Fitness: You're probably doing it wrong!
Fitness is a pretty interesting word. There are actually as many types of fitness as there are tasks.
Sprint Unification Theory
You'll hear people say to improve your speed you need to work hard on your stride length and/or stride frequency, but that's a littlenullbit of a simplification.
Summer time Oats & Yoghurt
So summer is here now in Australia, and with the hot weather no one wants a warm bowl of oats, so instead try this blend for a more summery twist on a high energy breakfast.
Sweet potato or White? And a Killer Baked Potato Recipe
White potato or sweet potato? Which is better? Leave the skin on. The skin is the best bit.
The #1 Factor in Ankle and Hamstring Injuries (Hint: it's the same for both!)
Let’s talk injuries. This is less about the injuries themselves, and more about the factors that make you susceptible to future injuries.
The Athletic Combine Part 1: The Tests and Why They Matter
To help our athletes get the most they possibly can out of their training, regular performance testing is key to help us calibrate and customise every individual's training.
The Athletic Combine Part 2: Interpreting your Athletic Testing Results
Testing can quickly become a waste of time if you don’t do something with the data - what it means, where they stand compared to their peers and what they need to do to improve athletically.
The Fat Burning Zone Myth and 11 Other Ways High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Improves Fitness
We all know intervals make us fitter, but how exactly? nullHere are eleven of the benefits that high intensity interval training (HIIT) has for our fitness, wellbeing and general health.
The Magic of Foam Rolling
We often say things are magic, but we don't really mean magic...but in this case I really, really mean it, foam rolling is magic...Actual magic.
The Perfect Pre-Game Meal
The question of what to eat pre-game is a really important one. Get it right and you feel great, play hard and make great decisions down the stretch.
The Power of Placebo
I take the same three things every morning: two fish oil capsules, 1 probiotic capsule, and then one shot of olive leaf extract. I'm pretty confident that the fish oil and probiotic has some benefit, but is the olive leaf extract placebo?
The Push:Pull Ratio
Nearly every upper body exercise can be classified as either a pulling (or curling) exercise or a pushing exercise...
The World's Best Spin Bike HIIT Workout: How To do 8:12 Intervals
For teams sport athletes, long steady-state continuous exercise doesn't offer a huge amount of benefit when it comes to sporting specific fitness. The best thing to do is 8 and 12's on a spin bike.
Training the core for performance
Chiseled abdominals and a flat stomach always seem to be high on people’s health and fitness wish-list, but does a six pack really represent functional strength?
Training Tips to Increase Strength on the Bench Press
Most people who go to the gym love the bench press, so if you are going to bench, you might as well bench hard.
Two Cues for Better Acceleration
When it comes to acceleration, the goal is to break your body's resting inertia and build as much momentum as quickly as possible.
Warmup 2.0 - The Most effective protocol for every body
Doing the warmup daily can make a huge long term contribution to your athleticism. Just remember to ease into it and gradually ramp up the intensity.
What is a Trigger Point/Knot and How do They Work?
We've done a really good job explaining why you need to release trigger points and the benefits of foam rolling, but what even is a trigger point?
What is Fatigue? Causes of Fatigue
What even is fatigue? Before establishing what causes fatigue, we should first determine what fatigue is.
Why is My Back Sore? The Reasons We Get Lower Back Pain
Experiencing back pain? Here are some of the reasons why you may experience a sort lower back pain, and what to do about it.
Workout Soreness: What Causes DOMS?
Workout hard on a Monday, punished for Tuesday, Wednesday, and sometimes even Thursday. What are, and why do we get DOMS?
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