ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE TRAINING

Our Mission

Building Better Athletes for Sport and Life

Agility

Power

Strength

Speed

Injury risk reduction

The ADAPT training system is designed to build a better athlete from the ground up, with progressions that span athletic development from ages 7-18. Early progressions focus on learning how to move efficiently while increasing strength and speed, so the athlete is equipped to play a variety of sports. Advanced progressions focus on preparing for the demands of specific sports and overcoming each athlete’s limitations.

The interaction of these six components is crucial in the process of building a better athlete.

Athlete Profiling

Athlete profiling is the process of screening and assessing the orthopedic and performance related physical qualities of the athlete in order to develop programming and strategies centered on injury risk reduction and increased performance.

Movement Preparation

Movement preparation focuses on preparing the athlete to engage in training or competition through education and application of soft tissue techniques, static/dynamic flexibility, proprioception/balance, and neural activation. This component also includes specialized corrective strategies based on injury risk identified in the orthopedic screening process.

Movement Training

Movement training focuses on the technical, integrated, and reactive elements of linear, lateral, and multi-directional speed development.

Strength Training

Strength focuses on developmentally appropriate means of developing strength. Strength comes in many varieties, strength relative to your bodyweight, strength endurance, explosive strength, and absolute strength are some types of strength necessary for sport. Based on training history, genetics, injury history, and in advanced levels on sport demands and training program will be developed and implemented to enhance the physical qualities necessary for sporting performance.

Energy Systems Development

Energy system development focuses on conditioning the athlete for the cardiovascular and peripheral demands of the sport. Foundationally athletes will be trained to increase their aerobic capacity in order to facilitate recovery and sustain repetitive effort typical in field and court based sports. Advanced progressions will focus on methods specific to the demands of the respective sport or limitations of the athlete.

Recovery-Adaption

Recovery-Adaptation focuses on education and applied behaviors that facilitate recovery and regeneration from the stress of training and competition. This includes education on post-training or competition nutrition, hydration, stretching, and rest.

The ADAPT Difference

by Mike Curtis

For the past fifteen years, my life and passion has been dedicated to preparing athletes for sport. My professional journey has afforded me the opportunity to train athletes from all skill levels, backgrounds, and sports. I’ve trained NBA all-stars, collegiate soccer All-Americans, little league standouts, and the weekend warrior who has simply wanted to be the best guy on his city league team. In training all of those athletes, there has been a common theme in terms of their readiness to perform at a high level. All of them lacked a solid foundation of fundamental movement abilities to anchor their physical capacities. In other words, they all lacked a solid training history where they had been exposed to quality training methodology and logical progression.

All of these athletes were ticking time bombs and/or under performers! They all lacked something in regards to their physical readiness that either led to under performance in their sport or competitive activities—and in most cases was leading them down a path to acute or overuse injury and a never-ending pain cycle due to poor efficiency of movement. For some years now I have wanted to try to find a way to create a system that would allow for all athletes, especially those at an early age, to engage in a training process that would allow them to move more efficiently and decrease injuries. The ADAPT training system is that system.

The ADAPT mission is to physically prepare its athlete-clients for high performance on game day. That means providing a training program and environment that develops the physical qualities necessary to execute sport-related skills with greater speed, power, and precision than your opponent. The ADAPT paradigm is centered on building an overall better athlete, not training specifically for a single sport. Our primary objective is for those athletes who complete the ADAPT program to exhibit dramatic improvement in their abilities to sprint, jump, change direction, prolong resistance to fatigue, exhibit durability, and focus in the clutch. These are all outcomes that allow athletes to choose their own sport and dominate it because they are better prepared than their counterparts.

I am excited to share with you a training system that I hope will make you change your approach to fitness and preparing for sport. At ADAPT, we will assess and profile your potential weaknesses, create a PLAN to address your rate limiters, then PREPARE you in our systematic training to ensure that you PERFORM optimally on game day. ADAPT athletes “train”—they don’t “work out”—because training transcends one day of sweat. It is a process that drives behaviors and commitment to getting better each and every day.

Our Services

Private and semi-private training individualized to meet each athletes specific needs.
Membership group training based on age specific progressions.
Team training for schools and local sport organizations.
Consultations for athletes and coaches.
Athletic assessments to identify athlete’s limitations.
Remote/online coaching programs.
Speed and power testing using laser timing system and electronic vertical jump mat for team and individual measures
Speed and power clinics and performance testing combines.

Mike Curtis

Creator of the ADAPT sports performance training system, Mike is a Division I head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Virginia. Previously, he was the head strength and conditioning coach for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies for six years.

Mike grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine from the University of Virginia is 1998 and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from UVA in 2000. He was formerly a basketball player at the University of Virginia. He lettered four times as a member of the Cavaliers’ men’s basketball team and was a team co-captain for the 1997-98 season.

KENNY SZABO

Growing up in a military family, Kenny lived in several states growing up, but spent most of his time living in Virginia. Kenny graduated from Bridgewater College in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science while being named a Team Captain and earning All-Conference honors as a Bridgewater College football player. For graduate school, Kenny attended the University of Akron and obtained a double master’s degree in exercise physiology and sports administration. During his time at the collegiate level, Kenny gained experience working with 24 different collegiate sports. Following graduate school, he served as a student assistant for the UVA Strength and Conditioning Program before joining ADAPT.

Throughout his professional experience, Kenny has personally worked with athletes ranging from the youth to professional level domestically and internationally, including athletes in the NBA, NFL, and MLB. He is certified as a strength and conditioning specialist through the NSCA, personal trainer through ACSM, and is certified through USA Weightlifting and Functional Movement Systems.

TYLER KNIGHT

Tyler, a native of Quinque, Virginia, joins ADAPT after serving as a Strength & Conditioning Graduate Assistant for Southeast Missouri State University from 2016-2017. While there, he served as the strength and conditioning coach for the Southeast Missouri track & field, cross-country, and women’s gymnastics teams. In addition, he was the first assistant for both the football and baseball programs. Tyler acquired his Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Coaching from Bridgewater College. During this time, he was a member of the Bridgewater football team, and earned the role of Student Strength Assistant.

Previously, Tyler served as a strength & conditioning intern at Clemson University and the University of Tennessee, where he contributed to 15 athletic programs, primarily track & field, rowing, baseball, soccer and football.

Tyler is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a USA Weightlifting Level 1 Coach, and is registered as a Virginia High School League Athletic Coach. Along with his role at ADAPT, he will also shadow the University of Virginia basketball programs.

KELSIE SZABO

Kelsie graduated from Riverheads High School in Staunton, Virginia, where she played volleyball, basketball and ran track. She earned captain and all-state honors in multiple sports, 1st place in the region and 3rd place in the state for 300m Hurdles, Player of the Year in basketball her senior year, and received an academic scholarship for Bridgewater College where she went on to play basketball. There, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science.

After college, Kelsie has worked as a personal trainer, lifestyle & nutrition coach, and held management positions at ACAC and Orangetheory. Currently, Kelsie runs the Adult Performance Training Program at ADAPT, where she focuses heavily on personalized training through corrective and functional exercise for everyday life. She also coaches high school varsity girls basketball at St. Anne’s Belfield School. Kelsie is certified through Precision Nutrition as a Nutrition Coach, and through NASM as a Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist. She is also certified as a Water Coach (Rowing) and TRX Coach.

KRIS BLAND

Kris, who was raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, joins ADAPT after serving 12 years in the United States Army

as Communications Specialist. He served in three combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. While serving,

Kris developed a love of learning human biomechanics, injury reduction, and optimal performance to

become better for occupation, sport, and life. Once he transitioned from the military, in 2018, he studied to obtain his Certified Personal Training certification from NASM. This passion has also led to Kris

earning his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Kris currently works with adults and young athletes at ADAPT. He is certified as a Performance Enhancement Specialist and is currently studying for the CSCS exam. Kris specializes in quality movement, reducing pain, and making training fun!

EMILY MAUPIN

A Charlottesville native, Emily attended The Covenant School where she was a three-time team captain of the basketball and volleyball teams, she earned All-LIS in both sports. Emily played one year of softball and won the LIS championship. Emily was a three-time All-State VISAA D2 honoree for basketball, earning first team honors as a junior and senior. Emily averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds as a senior, scored a career high 46 points, and finished her high school career as Covenant’s all-time leading scorer (girls and boys) with 2,256 points, while also tallying 1,778 rebounds.

Emily played D1 basketball at Elon University, Liberty University, and The University of Virginia. At Elon, Emily won a CAA championship as a freshman and reached the NCAA tournament. As a sophomore, she scored her collegiate career high of 26 points and led her team in scoring (12 ppg) and rebounding (6 rpg), earning her a spot on the All-CAA team. Emily earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business and Behavioral Sciences at Liberty, and then grad-transferred to UVA where she became a starter, but had her season cut short due to COVID-19. Emily earned 2021 ACC Academic Honor Roll and graduated with a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology.

Emily just finished her first season as an assistant varsity girls basketball coach at Covenant. The team went 19-6 and earned state runner-up in VISAA D2. Emily is in the process of obtaining her personal trainer certification through NASM and is excited to bring her passion for athletics and her knowledge and experience gained as a top-level collegiate athlete to help the next generation of athletes achieve their own athletic goals.