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INTERACTIVITY AND ENGAGEMENT BLOG POST TEMPLATE

Target Audience Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches

and Sector
Name of Application Link to Application

Applications Strong Strong.app

Selected Volt Athletics Voltathletics.com
Cognifit Cognifit.com
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Blog Post and
Hosting Service WIX https://manage.wix.com/dashboard/b74982e5-
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Blog Post
Online access and virtual learning programs have opened up access to consumer
groups that may have been beyond the reach of businesses and educational institutions.
Business have rushed to fill this new need in consumption and thus have increasingly
expanded the methodology and tools for delivering online content. Equally important,
businesses have engineered their deliverables to be user friendly, easy to access, and provided
technical support to ensure that the learning curve for both old and new users is not an
obstacle.
As a strength and conditioning coach, the most limiting factor I have found when
working with an athlete is proximity. Prior to the advent of online deliverables, I was limited
to working with athletes that were in my physical proximity. While I could always send a
program via email or paper, it didn’t provide me the opportunity to adjust and grow the
training as the physical demands of the athlete evolved. After working with online
deliverables and platforms, I found that I now had to opportunity to connect with athletes in
real-time. As a coach this gave me the opportunity to adapt to the changing needs of athletes,
provide them complete programming with audio and visual components for exercises which
created more safety and proper biomechanics. “One of the main reasons why communication
is attracting attention in sports is that athletes’ perception of the communication methods of
their coaches affects the atmosphere of practice and training, participation, and athletic
performance. Communication is a potential mechanism through which the quality of the
coach–athlete relationship may affect interpersonal relationships” (Choi et al., 2020).
With so many options for coaches and athletes, it is critical to choose platforms that
are engaging to both the coach and athlete, that are cost effective so that cost is not a deterrent,
and that provide the most interactive platform. Keeping all of this in mind, I suggest Cognifit,
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Volt Athletics and Strong, as possible app solutions for collegiate strength and conditioning
needs.
Cognifit is a web-based training application that is appealing because of its game like
design. It employs short and simple games to train cognitive functions, such as hand-eye
coordination, memory, perception, and spatial awareness. Athletes can choose a training
session consisting of three games that can be completed in less than 15 minutes. Each game
provides performance feedback as well as a cumulative performance score that allows for
trackable progress.
Some key features of Cognifit are that the games are easy to understand, short in
duration, and game like with encourages continued interaction. The feedback is presented in
terms of graph and bars that are easy to understand and show a comparable history on
performance. The downside of Cognifit is that it does not provide an option for coaching
interaction or verbal feedback on goals, strengths or weaknesses. However, this is only a
limitation, not a deal breaker to avoid the platform.
As a coach, I foresee the use of Cognifit as a potential neural primer for athletes prior
to practice and competition. The opportunity to “warm up” the mind as well as the body has
enormously positive implications. While many coaches focus on physical warm up, Cognifit
offers the opportunity to prime the central nervous system and the cerebellum. This increased
activity to the cerebellum may have a benefit to athletic performance. “It turns out that a
quick mind is an important factor in giving elite athletes the edge. Experiments have shown
that sportspeople at the top of their game are able to predict which way an object is likely to
travel earlier than novice, and even intermediate, athletes, giving them more time to plan an
appropriate action in response—essential in fast-moving ball sports such as cricket, tennis,
soccer or basketball” (Penny.ohara, 2019). This increased neural adaptation may not only
benefit physical performance but may also increase decisive ability and stimulus recognition.
Cognifit is available via the Apple Store and Google play. There is a free version
which limits the number of games and feedback, but there are also in-game purchase options
that allow for expansion to between 20 and 60 games, with an increased feedback array for
each. The basic expansion pack is $19.99 a month, while the premium pack is $29.99 per
month. For the lower cost, this app provides a powerful tool for coaching and athletic
performance.
Volt Athletics is a cloud-based program that interacts seamlessly with both IOS and
PC systems. The deliverables can be accessed via PC, tablet, or via phone. Volt Athletics app
was designed to provide users with unique access to safe and effective strength and
conditioning programs. It also provides the user with portable access to their coaches in real-
time. Using this technology, the coaches have the tools to administer their program to any
athlete, regardless of their proximity to the coach, and the athlete has the ability to access their
program from literally any location.
Some key features of the Volt Athletic system are that the workouts are designed by
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS) which ensures not only effective but
safety and volume conscious training. Coaches have not only the ability to build individual
workouts, but also to attach training and movement corrective videos to each exercise for the
athletes benefit. This audio and video component reduces the learning curve for the athlete as
they are able to mimic functional correct movements and drills. For coaches, Volt provides
real-time feedback as the athletes’ complete workouts. There is an option for coach / athlete
communication, which strengthens the bond between the two and creates more accountability
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from one to the other. Additionally, the app allows the athlete to enter metrics for fatigue, rest
and recovery, as well as body composition statistics, all of which allow coaches to better
monitor the progress of their athletes and structure programs to fit individual needs that may
evolve as the training continues.
The cost of Volt Athletics varies dependent on the number of end users the coach
would like to support. The basic program, known as the Essential program, includes the
platform, programs, printable workouts, analytics, accountability features, and coaches
accounts for a cost of $800 per year. The top of the line, known as the Premium program, has
all of the features of the Essentials program, but includes being NCAA compliant, allows
coaches to create custom tracking metrics, includes speed and conditioning plans, and allows
one-on-one consultations with a Certified Strength Coach Consultant. The cost of the
Premium program is $1300 per year.
It is undeniable that the technological market has exploded with deliverables that coaches and
athletes can utilize to create an optimal working environment. However, even with all of the
technological advances, there is still no adequate replacement for the coach and athlete
relationship. Coaches provide the athlete with not only information in terms of programming,
nutrition, and recovery, but they also provide a necessary support system to assist in
overcoming obstacles that will inevitably arise as training continues. “The consistent
application of integrated professional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal knowledge to improve
athletes’ competence, confidence, connection, and character in specific coaching contexts’”
(Zhao & Jowett, 2022).
The Strong app is one of the highest rated strength and conditioning apps as reviewed by the
National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). The app is a cloud-based delivery
platform that coaches can utilize to delivery organization, creativity, and cohesion to an
athletes’ strength and conditioning programming. Strong also give the coach the opportunity
to organize workouts into group sessions and give it a game like quality to encourage
competition between athletes.
Additionally, the app gives the user flexibility to exchange exercises based on their
current training status, fatigue, or lack of equipment, all the while updating the coach on the
changes and allowing the free flow of information. This also creates a sense of accountability
for the athlete as the coach receives real-time updates on the athlete’s progress.
By utilizing online based delivery systems that allow coaches to interact with athletes,
without geographical barriers, these platforms open up a world of possibilities for both
coaches and athletes to thrive.
The cost of the Strong app is reasonable at $4.99 a month. Given its low cost and
high-power impact, the Strong app is a tool strength and conditioning coaches can’t afford to
go without.
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References

Choi, H., Jeong, Y., & Kim, S.-K. (2020). The relationship between coaching behavior and
athlete burnout: Mediating effects of communication and the coach–athlete relationship.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(22), 8618.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228618

Penny.ohara. (2019, September 19). Brain games: How athletes’ minds work. Curious.
https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/brain-games

Zhao, C., & Jowett, S. (2022). Before supporting athletes, evaluate your coach–athlete
relationship: Exploring the link between coach leadership and coach–athlete relationship.
International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 18(3), 633–641.
https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541221148113