If you’ve been to the WSFS Bank Sportsplex lately, you may have noticed an exciting new feature: The Performance Lab, a new youth sports performance training initiative by the Philadelphia Union. Designed for athletes looking to increase their speed, gain strength, and remain conditioned all year long, it brings a fresh approach to athletic training. If you are wondering what “performance training” means or why it is so popular in youth sports, you are not alone. Below, you can learn what this program is, why it is important, and what to expect when you come through the door.
What Is Sports Performance Training?
Unlike standard sports practice, performance training builds the core physical attributes necessary for high-level athletic competition, such as power, agility, speed, strength, and body control. It centers on key areas like sprint mechanics, strength training for athletic performance, athletic strength development, injury prevention, and movement screening to spot and address weaknesses early.
Before, high-performance sports training was only available to colleges and professional athletes, but now, premier youth sports performance training offers middle school and high school students world-class training.
Why It Matters
In addition to enhancing speed and agility, youth athletic performance training enables athletes to have strong bodies that last long and endure the rigors of competitive sport. Systematic strength training helps develop good habits that will be of value later in life during one’s entire career as an athlete. It also improves mechanics during peak moments of activity, such as during a sprint or a cut, making it possible to minimize the chances of common overuse injuries.
Closing the gap between strength and speed training allows youth athletes to have the best of both worlds: not only developing sport-specific skills, but also having a solid athletic background. This combination is particularly relevant for club and school teams that may not have sufficient practice time available.
What’s Inside The Performance Lab
The Performance Lab is led by Head Performance Coach CJ Murphy, who played Division I football at UNC and earned a degree in Exercise and Sport Science. His approach includes a strong emphasis on technique analysis and aims to combine explosiveness with durability in training.
Programming is organized to meet athletes where they are:
- Group Training Plans — Training for a small group of players, such as middle schools and high schools. Training sessions may take place between once and four times a week.
- Team Training — Either on-site or off-site training programs for club teams who want to work on their speed, strength, and conditioning.
Located in the performance center at WSFS Bank Sportsplex, the facility has a uniquely designed sprint track and a complete weight training area built for specific speed and strength training. Additionally, we have a physical therapist on site, in Kinetic, that is a separate entity. The physical therapist can work with individuals who are in the rehabilitation process, helping them eventually transition to The Performance Lab for those final phases of returning to play. Altogether this provides athletes with a complete process from rehabilitation through performance.
What a Session Actually Looks Like
Mobility exercises mark the start of all workouts. After these preparation moves, core training takes place based on athletes’ age and experience, along with drills for agility, sprinting, and functional strength. Coach Murphy builds each block around long-term development and physical growth, imparting proper training habits from the very beginning of their journey, so that they won’t have to break bad habits in the future. Lastly, athletes perform a special set of recovery exercises, leaving them feeling strong after the workout.
Because programming is organized by age group, middle schoolers and high schoolers train separately, with intensity, volume, and coaching cues adjusted to match where each group is developmentally.
Experience A New Standard for Local Athletes
Access to this level of coaching used to mean driving well outside the area or paying for a private specialist. The Performance Lab changes that. It brings premier youth sports performance training into a facility that athletes and families already know, with a coach who has trained at the collegiate level and a program built to grow with an athlete over time.
For athletes who have put in the training effort on the field or court, the best way to see that work pay off in terms of speed, strength, and endurance is through youth athletic performance training.
Sessions are taking place now for youth in middle school and high school, with opportunities for small group or team performance training. Learn more and get started at The Performance Lab.
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