VSP Highlight: Frank Calabro
This week’s VSP spotlight is on Frank Calabro! Frank, an 8th grader at Our Lady Of Sorrows, has been absolutely killing it in preparation for his spring lacrosse season. The True Lacrosse product has been dedicated & determined to improve his overall athletic development this off-season here at VSP. In addition to lacrosse, Frank is a talented football player as well & has recently committed to playing his HS ball at Iona Prep. Frank is bigger, faster, & most definitely stronger than he was a couple months ago… Let’s dive into it!
Body Composition
As an 8th grader, it was important for Frank to add mass to his frame as he prepares to take the jump to high school competition next fall. By focusing on his nutrition & being extremely consistent with his strength training, Frank added 20 LBS of muscle mass in 8 months with us. This added mass will allow Frank to produce and absorb higher levels of force while putting his body in the best spot to try and prevent future contact related injuries.
Strength & Force Production
To say Frank got stronger this off-season is an understatement… Not only did Frank improve on all of the strength metrics we test in our assessment, he increased his overall strength & force production at a ridiculous rate. In his initial assessment, Frank produced 121 LBS & 181 LBS of force with his anterior & posterior chains respectively. In his most recent assessment, that improved to 660 LBS & 405 LBS of force respectively. That is a 445% & 123% increase… Not to mention his upper body force production increased by around 150% as well… So like it was stated before, to say Frank got stronger this off-season is an understatement!!!
Power
When an athlete gains strength & can increase their force production, we always want to see if that can be translated into increased power. For Frank, it most definitely was. We saw increases in his vertical jump, broad jump, & triple jump. By having his vertical jump improve from 15.9 inches to 22.1 inches, he improved that metric by 39%. Similarly, his broad jump & triple jump improved from 78 & 237 inches to 90 & 266 inches. This is a 15% & 12% increase respectively. Having this increased power & plyometric ability will help Frank jump higher, cut harder, & even transfer that power into higher running speeds.
Speed
The last piece of the puzzle, & debatably the most important to Frank’s overall development is his speed. One of Frank’s main objectives this off-season was to increase his speed & overall quickness. Despite adding mass, we were able to cut down Frank’s speeds on all of our baseline tests. He cut down his 10 yd sprint time, 30 yd shuttle time, 40 yd dash time, & both sides of the 5-10-5 pro agility test. (Pictured Below) When measuring sprint times, even the smallest changes make a difference. That half a second can be the difference between making or missing the game winning shot for your team. With all these improvements, it’s safe to say… mission accomplished!
Overall, Frank’s hard work and dedication has most definitely paid off. Increased mass, increased strength, increased power, & increased speed & quickness. The only thing left to do… go out on that field & dominate!! We are looking forward to seeing what Frank can do!
Keep it up! & for the athletes looking to make serious gains like Frank… See ya in the gym!
Written by:
Jake Lebovitch – Sports Performance Coach & Liaison to Athletes
