Aaron Schwenzfeier's Blog

"Passé" the sweatbands

2012-01-06T13:38:00.000-06:00

I love football but geez...

Confirmation Bias?

2011-12-27T09:42:00.000-06:00

The following article has been making it's rounds:

Falcons Have Had a Winning Strategy for Fitness

Is this a matter of confirmation bias? A few years ago, FMS was 'tagging' itself to the Indianapolis Colts, and now that the Colts have been the most injured team in recent years, along with a suffering record, the marketing has disappeared.

My question is, how come there has been no discussion as to what's going wrong with the Colts' injury issues? If experts can easliy pronounce why a certain team has few injuries related to their system, then they must just as easily be able to explain when the system doesn't work for other teams. Is the 'looking the other way' just to not hurt marketing? Or other factors?

"Its developer is the physical therapist Gray Cook, who has offered demonstrations at the N.F.L. Combine and estimates that 8 to 10 teams use the methods, which he said departed from the long-held credo of bigger, faster, stronger.

“That’s high-school mentality,” said Cook, who has introduced the F.M.S. regimen to Navy Seals."

Is it really an either/or? FMS or bigger, faster, stronger? Thankfully then that we have high school's to feed the NFL, whose athletes are the biggest, fastest, and strongest in sport.

If this is a "business" and people are paying money for information, products, and certifications, then we need good consumer reports. Any insights would be helpful to me and many others.

AS

Authentic Restoration

2011-12-22T11:10:00.001-06:00

An intriguing area of focus in sport performance is what is going on at the level of the heart and the autonomic nervous system; the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic control of the heart influincing heart rate variability (HRV). Some of the research points towards low-intensity movement targeting aerobic metabolism as an effective way to increase vagal tone therefore HRV. In the "advanced" world we live in, the first choice seems to be some piece of "cardio" equipment, but I am going to argue (as I have before) something much simpler and potentially more effective; a hike through the forest.

My disdain for these electronic rat wheels runs deep, and I can not figure out why there hasn't been a more holistic push to get athletes (all people included) outside to take care of a little stress and enhance recovery.

Walking through the woods most definitely rids of the useless repetitive stress that occurs on some machine. It also doesn't confine mobility, as anyone who has walked in the woods knows, there's varied size hills to acsend and descend, fallen trees to step over, brush to duck under and slide around, and subtle contours of the forest floor to massage mobility into the foot and ankle... all entangled in the serenity of nature; opening up awareness to a primal sensory experience of flora, fauna, sun, and fresh air. As the Japanese call it, Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing. But this isn't just some alternative medicine hocus pocus, as there is a lot of hard evidence pointing to the powerful effects of nature on human well-being; things like lower cortisol, blood pressure, heart rate, and an increase in HRV... among the myriad of possibilities that lower stress allows in increased mental and physical creativity.

I recommend checking out Richard Louv's two classics, "Last Child in the Woods" and "The Nature Principle".

We are great at piece-mealing things together, but we need to dig deeper, and get more real and less artificial with our approach to human performance and wellness.

Power Development and Lower Body Strength

2011-12-21T11:20:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd share some of the power development and lower body strength work I use in the weight room. It looks like nothing special, but when you get athletes to do these very well, it goes beyond being special. I like a blend of double and single-leg strength work, and not selling out to one or the other: both have their advantages.

Power-
Olympic Lifts
-Power Clean
-"Full" Clean (catching the weight deep regardless of %)
-Hang Clean: I use this less. Sometimes in-season or athletes in need of specific modifications
-Power Snatch
-"Full" Snatch
-Hang Snatch: I use this more with taller athletes/basketball players.

*Rarely do I we do any pulls (clean pulls, snatch pulls) except out of necessity (wrist/shoulder/etc.) because I feel the sense of urgency in the pull is lost when you don't complete the entire lift, plus the receiving position has tremendous positives too.

-Push Jerk
-Split Jerk: we make sure to get athletes to alternate legs forward; nice for developing the obvious of power, but also the eccentric strength/power on one leg.

-Squat Jumps (loaded)
-Step-up Jumps
-Split-Squat Jumps

*We'll do different squat jump variations, using both a barbell and dumbell, as well as with the split-squat and step-up jumps.

*I very rarely use dumbbells for Olympic lift variations. While they might look cool, they seem to be an exercise in purgatory; suffering with little accomplishment. They don't provide the load to necessitate much strength, speed, or power... unless one is throwing the dumbbell as high as possible on a D.B. Snatch.

Lower Body Strength
Squatting
-Back Squat
-Front Squat
-Overhead Squat: We do it everyday we lift with an empty bar or light load. If it can be used as a good assessment, we'll use it as a drill for the range-of-motion (ROM) it offers.
-Goblet Squat: Usually with a heavy dumbbell; challenging to the deepest muscles down to the pelvic floor because of the constant tension of holding the d.b. in place.

*We only use the clean position for front squats, as it stays consistent with our Olmpic lifting and I think it does some great things for wrist extension, shoulder (scapula) and upper back strength.

*All squatting is done with the athlete getting deep, while maintaining starting spine position. We don't lift like robots, but I try to teach them to brace the torso and lift with the legs.

Pulling
-Barbell Deadlift: I am changing the name to "life"-lift, because I am tired of the screams of horror when I say we are going to "dead"-lift.

-Snatch-Grip Deadlift
-Romainian Deadlift: barbell and dumbbells (heavy).
-Single-D.B. Deadlift: Use this on rare occasions for reps of asymmetrical loading
-Suitcase Deadlift: Same reason as above.

*I use both double and single-leg variations, with probably a 2:1 towards double leg. I feel that pulling strength is important and helps balance out all the pushing done by the knees, and teaches bracing quite well.

Lunge/Single-Leg Squatting
-Reverse Lunge: sometimes elevating the front leg for greater ROM
-Walking Lunge
-Lateral Lunge: usually hold a dumbbell in a "goblet" position, more for a variation and stretch.
-Step-ups: variation in box height for different emphasis. I like high-box step-ups for hitting the hip joint and the deep ankle dorsiflexion.
-Bulgarian split-squats
-Single-leg Squats or Pistols: I find these useful for eccentric strength and control, plus the nice triceps surae eccentric stretch.

*The lunge variations can be loaded with barbells (back, front, and overhead position; same here as squatting, we use the clean position for the bar in front), 2 d.b.'s or 1 d.b. for asymmetrical loads (goblet, overhead, shoulder, side positions). I really like the front positions of load as it seems to get the athletes to bring their hips through the movement minus any tendancy to lumbar extension. But I do like the back positions for the purpose of the deeper eccentric hip work.

*Also, I do not like the alternating lunge in-place because I've noticed the negative effective (knee issues), and it seems to be a glorified closed-chain leg extension when returning to the start position.

Remember this is a very small component of what we do, as I feel it's important to keep the weight room used for what it is meant to be: a place to get stronger. Fancy circus tricks are to be left for those performers, as the elephant in a circus said to a naked man, "it's cute, but can it pick up peanuts?"

The application is a combination of different sets and reps, loading (progressive), organization, and the different variations depending on many factors, beyond the time I have of today.

It's also important to remember that while the forces applied in sport aren't always vertical (like the basics I've mentioned above) in reference to ground reaction, however within the body as the frame of reference they usually are vertical, and that is the purpose of the weight room: to strength the body to handle those forces. It's always a matter of getting behind the center of gravity and driving it vertically in reference to the body, it's just often times we purposely temporarily put that center of gravity outside our body to either decelerate it or push it in another direction... of course there are horizontal forces that occur, but these I feel are better prepared for with high velocity athletic movement on the court, field, or ice.

Mladen Jovanović provides a more detailed perspective: Frame of Reference

The one sport that is unique as far as forces go is swimming, but Carl Valle had an excellent post today on some of his thoughts with loading the body of a swimmer: More Absolutes?

... and all this is why the weight room work doesn't need to be stupid with limited value exercises; the whole purpose is to strengthen the body generally. The more specific actions come beyond the weight room, which is where the majority of our training takes place: sprinting, jumping, agility, crawling, and throwing/catching; all the great stuff that Jeremy Frisch does such a fine job of promoting.

AS

What does it really take?

2011-12-20T17:11:00.003-06:00

I’ve been contemplating a lot lately on the bigger picture of injury and performance; Injury prevention is talked about, and training programs are supposed to help reduce the risk of injury. This I completely agree.

My thoughts are that the injury prevention focus might be worded incorrectly. These words become our perspective and our actions progress from there. I think “injury prevention/reduction” creates a subconscious fear response: defensive at the least.

The other side of the same coin is improving performance. What does it take to improve athletic performance?

Lots of experts now discuss the concept of long-term athletic development, a slowing of the physical developmental process in order to get things right; fixing and improving movement deficiencies, developing the basic motor skills to allow for improved body control, working on skills, developing speed, power, strength, agility, work capacity, and progressing towards more competition.

I like the idea of long term athletic development (LTAD), but unfortunately, it’s not a part of our national physical education curriculum. However, LTAD really is for everyone, as no part of athletic excludes or must exclude anyone. We are so fixated on health and wellness, almost chasing a demon or soul (depending on perspective I guess) inside our body that is somewhat undetectable to our natural senses, except for those few that are exceptionally body aware. The athletic development approach turns the focus outward, on performance which is ultimately what we want our bodies to be able to do. And doing, so long as it’s the correct doing, usually takes care of the inside.

The problem with the extensive knowledge of what LTAD takes to accomplish, is that it may come at a point too late in history for it to really get us ahead: improving performance and reducing injury.

Reflecting back on my younger (in age) years, a typical day would be biking/walking/running to school early enough to play football or whatever other necessarily rough game we could think of, doing the same at recess (secretly tackling with vengeance when the supervisor turned their back to our game), playing some currently banned game utilizing hard rubber balls in gym class that could leave a mark for days, more tackle football at the 2nd recess if we were lucky, and it depended on the time of the year, but I remember playing more football after school in the hour or so we had prior to basketball practice. Along with the sporting side of things, we lived in a rural community and region, and we spent a good amount of the rest of our free time climbing trees, building tree forts, riding bikes, and even some not so approved of fun, but which still involved lots of physical movement. My friends and I never stopped moving except for the times we were forced to sit still in class, or going to bed.

This carried on up throughout our school years, albeit at less consistency (weird things happen as you get older, as energy just doesn’t stay quite as high for some reason). The progression through the middle school and high school years became more organized sports that changed as the seasons changed, although vigorous physical activity was happening year round, and all the time we were competing against one another. But even as things became more organized, we never were taught the things that are taught by LTAD experts: how to run properly, jump and land, squat, lunge, lift, brace. Sure we were taught to throw, but not by the standards of today’s throwing “experts”. But it didn’t matter; we still developed athletic, strong bodies. Many of us even ate like shit and that didn’t matter either, we weren’t obese.

Ultimately we PLAYED…. and thinking back, of those that were involved in the hours of play before, during, and after school, and the ones who stayed consistent throughout the upper grade years of multiple sports year round; none had an injury outside of the freak contact injury that is inevitable if you live the life of a normal, active human being. We didn’t get hurt, and many of us still play quite vigorously still with very few aches or pains.

Many of us were also fortunate to go on to play collegiate athletics in some way shape or form. Looking back, as the smaller school that we were, per capita, we were athletically very successful both in performance and relatively little injury, as was the same for many of neighboring schools we competed against… all minus any long-term athletic development conducted by performance experts.

Had we had the type of physical education program I am espousing, filled with the full progression of skill theme development that makes up part of the LTAD process, might have we been better? I do not know. But today’s progress in knowledge and understanding is being paralleled by, very simply, a lack of free play. The sporting legends of today and yesterday were not made by a LTAD program or outstanding P.E. programs, they were made on the playgrounds, in the streets, out in nature, on a child’s own free time: mimicking their peers and idols, and competing daily.

So a well thought out and applied LTAD program might give us a plus one, but presented on a culture and society that is sitting at a minus one gives us what? Zero.

So what am I espousing? I really don’t know, but good performance and staying injury free doesn’t necessarily come from a coach or program, nor can it; although they can help... if things are done very well. Miracles don’t occur from a few hours of “training” per week. The majority of it comes from physical use day in, day out… hours upon hours; free play, what kids used to do at the parks, playgrounds, backyards, and in the woods. Just as play readies children socially, emotionally, and intellectually, it prepares their bodies for increasingly challenging demands. Injury reduction and performance enhancement start young, and under the guidance of the children themselves given time in the right environment.

If at some point, we get to “Utopia”, hopefully today’s model of athletic/physical development will be applied on the lifestyle of yesteryears. We need both: sound physical education and lots of free play. I think it can be done, but it’s going to take a lot to wake up from the sedentary slumber we find ourselves in. If we can see that we are built to move and can put it into action, then I really believe we have taken a giant step forward towards advanced (or restored) consciousness.

AS

Anti-Fragility Training

2011-12-19T15:18:00.004-06:00

As we commence into the holiday break, a large fear as a strength and conditioning coach is the loss of a lot of hard work and time. It's easy for athletes to forget their responsibility to hold up their end of the privileged opportunity that is collegiate athletics. For some of the athletes it is going to be 4+ weeks before I see them again, and lots of bad can happen in that time... adaptations of negative flow.

Sometimes you'd like to enchant athletes with a never seize attitude when it comes to training. Sure overtraining is a possibility, but for most, it's a long... long way off. I've been fortunate to work with a few of the 'do more' types, and while they'll often deal with some nagging aches and pains from the constant motion, these rare athletes almost never experience the catastrophic injuries that their less trained counterparts often fall victim too. It's a balance of finding the 'sweet spot' of training, but as a coach it's much easier to reign in the enthusiastic husky, than it is to try to get a bulldog to pull the sled.

There's a reason why those that have long, lustrous, hall-of-fame careers. It's because they made the decision to work... consistent training was the ticket.

In the collegiate setting, I can total up 8+ weeks that a team and sport might have "off". Combine this with a 4-5+ month season and we are looking at 6-7+ months of either very narrow and specific training or little to nothing, save for the truly dedicated athlete. Why do so many get injured again?

Sure... look at an injured athlete and try to conclude why they got hurt, but Sherlock, please look at the healthy athlete and conclude why they have not.

As the s&c coach, the hard working athletes think you're great because you challenge them, the lazy athletes think you suck because anything you do makes them hurt (not injured I remind you) because they are so damn weak, out of condition, and lazy... and certain sport's cultures just don't like to do anything but their sport, which makes for some fun (*scorn*) enticement.

Should training ever stop? Usually, it just needs different forms. The work I do is the general work, maybe a physical education approach is what it should be called... but it's critical to keep athletes moving, they're athletes! Their recovery shouldn't be the same as the fatty who watches sports for a living (plus some desk job on the side). Run, jump, lift, and throw: work on the skills of moving, not the skills of a particular sport.

"... the training never ends."

For athletes to build up the mastery of their bodies and they must use them. Run, jump, throw, and lift... fast, high, far, heavy.

AS

*Hat tip to Nassim Taleb for the anti-fragility idea. While I don't fully comprehend his concept (apologies, I am working on it), I do understand that it works in opposition of fragile; which can continue to be broken down, anti-fragile is robust, but with the ability continue to be built up.

Scare Tactics

2011-11-04T16:32:00.001-05:00

Squat lifts likely cause of stress fractures in young athletes, study finds

This is unfortunate garbage in so many ways. Lets break this down a bit (words from the article are in italics, my words below)...

The squat lift, an exercise that has long been a standard training technique for athletes, puts inordinate stress on the spine and likely is the cause of chronic stress fractures in young athletes.

That’s the conclusion of a study presented Wednesday at the North American Spine Society annual meeting.

Puts stress on the spine? Sure so do a lot of things, sedents. "Likely" the cause?

Even when young athletes have textbook form in doing squats, they are risking a hard-to-heal stress fracture of the posterior lumbar spine structure known as the pars interarticularis.

Textbook form? Who's judging? Fear mongering.

“These are high-risk lifts whether you’re a child or an adult,” said lead author John McClellan, a pediatric and adult spine surgeon at the Nebraska Spine Center in Omaha. “For years, coaches have blamed spinal fractures on kids’ poor weightlifting techniques, so we wanted to put that theory to the test.”

Absolutely they are high-risk lifts. How do you push the envelope without pushing the envelope. That's why I have the position I have as a strength and conditioning coach, to help push the envelope and make sure things are done right. The study did not test that theory, sorry.

To do that, McClellan and his co-researchers enlisted 20 male athletes in their 20s, taking X-rays of them in various positions, including normal standing as well as doing front and back squats. They used a bar and weights totaling 95 pounds.

95 pounds... that's a nice warm-up weight.

The exercises were done under the guidance of a physical therapist.

Uhhh.... that's a problem.

The most alarming finding was a change in the slope of the sacrum during a back squat, when the bar was across the upper back.

OMG! That is NOT alarming. That's what happens in a back squat.

The average sacral slope increased from 41 degrees in normal standing to 68 degrees while doing back squat and 58 degrees while doing a front squat, when the bar was across the clavicles.

The researchers concluded that squats significantly increase the slope of sacrum and the alignment of the spine, resulting in a “horizontalization” of the sacrum.

“I agree with him,” said Raj Rao, an orthopedic surgeon who practices at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. “It fits and is consistent with the established literature.”

Thank you for that information!

Rao, a professor of orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, would not go so far as to say squats should not be done at all, but athletes, especially younger ones, need to be cautious, he said.

Ok, we are getting a little more logical now. That's why my 2 and 5 year old use a plastic toy broom. (No! They don't do this daily, just once in a while for shits and giggles, geez! Their workouts mostly consist of playing outside.)

Doctors said doing a similar type of exercise without weight is much less likely to cause pars stress fractures.

Of course it does... thanks for more logic. But less weight also does less for making physiological change... hey, it's physio-LOGICAL!

Rao said some people may be more predisposed to problems with the pars. Once a stress fracture occurs, he said, it can be very hard to heal.

However, changing attitudes of coaches and trainers is difficult, said Michael Reed, a physical therapist who specializes in the spine.

Contrary to popular belief, my goal is NOT to injure anybody. Change my attitude to what? Using less effective means? Well people, then stop buying tickets for the games, and ranting and raving over great sport performances or the lack thereof. Let's just give a trophy to everyone.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that progressively overloading the training to high levels IS injury prevention? It doesn't happen by progressive underload. Come to grips with reality, sport is high velocity, high force. No exposure = no preparedness.

Part of the problem is the exercise is effective at strengthening muscles.

Damn right. And it's not a problem.

“The problem is, it can be very risky,” said Reed, who practices at the Hospital for Special Surgery Spine and Sport in Jupiter, Fla. “Even the best form will not protect you.”

More fear mongering. Tell me something that isn't risky that has high reward? C'mon tell me?!

Reed said he doubts many parents know how risky squats are. He said they probably rely on coaches and trainers who don’t fully understand the risks.

... and also therapists and chiros who just don't understand. (Hey Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, can you remix that one for me?)

Reed said squats also pose risk for older adults, but the biggest concern is in people who are skeletally immature.

Older adults? Who cares?! (just kidding)

Indeed, squats are a part of training for many high school sports, added McClellan. Many kids start doing the exercises by age 13.

In a well controlled and coached environment with the usual progression, good for them!

He said he has seen more than 500 kids with pars fractures and often they remember hurting themselves doing squats.

Spewing numbers... so this is science huh? The kids SELF-REPORTING that they OFTEN remember hurting themselves doing squats??? So how does this relate to the first statement: “For years, coaches have blamed spinal fractures on kids’ poor weightlifting techniques, so we wanted to put that theory to the test.”? So 500+ kids were with great coaches, using great technique?

Invariably, coaches will blame the injury on bad form, he said. Now there is evidence that even good form puts the spine at risk, he said.

Darn, now what am I going to blame their squatting injuries on? Because everyone is getting hurt squatting right? Uh... wait a minute... what squatting injuries???

Once a pars fracture occurs, the chance of it healing is as low as 2%, he added.

Many of those people eventually will develop degenerative disc problems and a lifetime of low back pain, he said.

I get it... but enough with the scare tactics.

I can't believe I wasted my time on a stupid journalistic report of the pseudoscientific claims of this vendetta study. But... there comes a time when myself or my fellow coaches have to stop putting up with this BS, and outlandish claimss are being made against the things we are doing to help the athletes (I've discussed this issue at length in previous blog posts). And if research is needed, we (coaches) can come up with the necessary paper. The problem is that there's this particular type of "study" to deal with and gets too much media attention... which is why we need more logic.

All this no doubt adds to the resurfacing of the whole bilateral vs. unilateral lower body training debate. There really shouldn't be much debate as both have their positives and negatives and touch on different aspects of physical development. The problem occurs when an absolute stance is taken on one over the other. Instead of stating 'this is what has worked well for us in this particular situation', we have attempts at meme proliferation specifically for monetary purposes (or just one-sided, illogical arguments).

Debates and arguments are excellent for this particular profession where the holy grail has not been found (and never will be), and Carl Valle has been probing the waters for real treasure. I can't say enough good things about the questions he raises and points he makes and, emotions aside, the challenges he presents are important for consumer reporting.

I highly suggest reading Carl's recent blog posts.

Stone Cold and Boyleling Over

Secret Hip Flexor Strengthening Exercise!

Bilateral Exercise- Rise from the Grave

Dangers of the RFESS- Breaking down the Back Breaker!

One argument that comes up with the single-leg lifts vs. double leg is that so and so has had less training injury when removing the squat for another exercise. In my limited experience and that of many other good coaches, I/we have not had any problems with the squat (maybe my kids aren't reporting it, haha!). Maybe better coaching is occurring because a better understanding of movement. If I lost my passion for teaching a good squat, then sure... maybe we'd have more squatting injuries. I have seen injuries (back and other) with single-leg lifts, but if they are coached well, they are good options in a program along with squats. Keep the doors open... Squatting isn't the only thing, or the end all be all in the methods I use, it's just that few are out to bastardize sprinting, jumping, or light weights.

Let's be rational and argue. Argument is good. Bring a little emotion too (we really can't separate the right and the left brain, sorry); it fuels creativity and enthusiasm. Forget about the money and let's do it for the evolution of training science and theory. We don't have to all agree, and there doesn't have to be, nor will there always be a right answer. It will better us all.

Sorry if I offended anyone. If I am wrong or you disagree, please call me out.

AS

The Complete Keys To Progress

2011-10-21T13:58:00.002-05:00

With an extraordinary amount of training information available on books and online, it's easy to forget time-tested basics and the ultimate prerequisite of any endeavor; consistently applied effort.

John McCallum's The Complete Keys To Progress, a true classic in every sense, is a collection of his writings for Strength and Health magazine from back in the 60's and 70's. A book with a number of entertaining short stories on training, recovery, nutrition, along with the mental and emotional factors necessary for progress in one's training.

Cornerstones: Strength and Power

2011-10-14T14:29:00.001-05:00

From the book: "The Charlie Francis Training System":

"To what degree do you apply a conversion phase to the strength work?

I would question the value of a traditional conversion phase where you go back down from a higher weight and then try to increase the number of repetitions and the speed at which you are performing the lifts. I would simply leave the repetitions low and the load high year round.

My understanding of the purpose of using lower loads and higher repetitions is that you expect to get a conversion of strength to power by using a higher rate of movement. How that relates to sprinting where the limb speeds are far beyond anything you can produce in the weightroom is beyond my understanding. The actual applicability of traditional conversion work to sprinters then becomes relatively small. This low specificity is clearly evident, when you realize that if you lower the weight to enable a 10% faster lifting movement it still represents only a small fraction of the actual limb velocity of the sprint. What you should be trying to do is maintain strength while maximally challenging the CNS.

To illustrate this point, Ben's foot moves to from 0 to 80 kilometres per hour and back again to 0 during a stride. This equates to approximately 20 metres per second. The average speed during a squat movement is .5 metres per second. You can see that even to double the speed of the squat to 1.0 metre per second has little relevance to the actual limb speeds during sprinting. Furthermore, trying to increase the speed of the squat work heightens the risk of injury.

As an example, when Ben is performing 2 sets of 5 repetitions in either the bench press or squat he is moving a heavy weight as fast as he can. The CNS stimulation/activation is optimal. He is maximally involving his nervous system via maximum recruitment of motor neurons. He is challenging his organism. However the actual lifting speed of a maximal weight is moderate to slow."

There are few strength movements that can be safely loaded to do exactly what Charlie espouses by 'challenging the organism'. The basics of barbell lifting have withstood the test of time because of the consistent and certain results they can produce while minimizing risk of injury (compared to more radical means).

There has been a push to change methods of developing strength and power to what, on the surface, appears
to be safer means, but looking deeper athletes are left resultless and just more fatigued.

The new ways are single-limbed to reduce back stress and use dumbbells for snatching and cleaning... for what I do not know. One only needs to view these with the naked eye to logically deduce that the power output is less than necessary for anything real to happen, and the challenge to the organism's CNS is less than maximally activating motor unit recruitment throughout the entire body.

Stolen from Christian Thibaudeau's absolutely great classic: Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods... which I think he got the numbers/chart from Dr. Mike Stone.

I've also heard about new, esoteric ideas of "sports specificity" lifts which mimic certain components of specific athletic skills as being the "new" strength training and it being called coordination training under load. This confuses me more and more as to at what point does coordination training become redundant and developing little in the way of horsepower, structural integrity and morphological adaptations?

I may be beating a dead horse talking again about basic barbell training under heavy loads, but where my beliefs stand now and seem to lean more and more each year, is that heavy strength training with a barbell is the biggest factor in making at least some sort of change in physiology.

I am all for single-leg training with different forms of lunging and single-leg squats, but bilateral lifting with maximal weights seems to speak to the nervous system with a much louder voice; and while we might not see tremendous changes in certain other performance measures, I argue to anyone to show me the methods that do make better and faster changes. I thought Mike Robertson did a nice job of explaining things in his article: The Truth About Single-Leg Training.

Strength training obviously improves strength, but more than just strength of muscle, but bone, joint integrity, the ability to tap into higher and higher threshold motor units. What's to say of the neuroendocrine responses to heavy lifting? Is greater increases in circulating testosterone and growth hormone, among other biochemical changes, not conducive to better internal chemistry that promotes healing and performance changes? The more muscle mass invovled, the greater the hormonal response.

I've done my best to look at other possibilities, but following the light (and research, and other bright coaches, and empircal observation), always leads me back to a few certain truths and heavy squats, cleans, snatches, and deadlifts shine the brightest... easy to teach (if not, learn how), the technique has been mastered by great ones that have come before and are currently coaching and practicing, and provide some of the safest means to get closer towards intended goals.

As the history of stength and conditioning began with the farm kids who threw heavy hay bales during their summers taking it to the city kids, and the observations of a few "innovative" coaches who noticed the changes from lifting weights (word is Knute Rockne instructed his players to strength train as early as 1922), lifting weights was the center piece of off-season training. (A former colleague of mine with home roots in Nebraska told me that in the Cornhuskers true glory days, they would bring their weight room via semi-truck to the bowl games). That doesn't seem so much today... at least outside of college football ( "Football Training" ), but maybe it is just me.

Where we should be at is a refinement of the history of what works, and this isn't a call for more meatheaded led screaming and yelling, but a move towards the reality of what makes changes, and what doesn't. It is not about leaving out the vitally important stuff like mobility and flexibility work (while good Olympic lifting and full range strength training can do that too and maybe even better; a plug for my fellow University of North Dakota colleagues!), plyometrics (awfully important), agility, and sprinting (goes without saying). It doesn't matter the sport as there are usually only a few tweaks here or there between training for one sport and training for another; strength and conditioning is general physical preparation, not specific prep. Jim Wendler put it right: 1. Stretch 2. Lift 3. Sprint.

Or as Jim Steel, head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Pennsylvania put it so well in his article: The Truth. A must read.

"Strong people are harder to kill than weak people and more useful in general." -Mark Rippetoe.

I've seen it time and again, the athlete who trains consistently year round and develops a high level of general strength and real power output (Olympic lifts and jumping) usually doesn't get hurt by activities that a real athlete should not get hurt from (quality movement is a given and must, but that's not the point of this post)... which is the basis of my tweet on Twitter: "We can look at injured athletes and ask why they got hurt, but it's also important to look at healthy athletes and ask why they have not."

Dr. Mike Stone may not "captivate" the crowd like Steve Jobs was able to, but his presentations and information show the real science behind strength and power. I highly recommend his textbook: Principles and Practice of Resistance Training.

Hill Sprints

2011-10-13T12:56:00.003-05:00

Eastern North Dakota is pretty flat, but thanks to the mighty Red River and it's usual spring flooding, we do have some nice dikes built up in Grand Forks/East Grand Forks.

I am not sure what the exact grade/slope is of the hill, but I am sure it exceeds the exact % grade of what would be ideal for specific speed development with longer ground contact times (potential for hockey contact times). But, I figure that 1 or 2 strides hit somewhere on the acceleration curve... plus a key factor is intending to sprint up the hill, i.e. motor unit recruitment.

Regardless, I like to sprint hills at least a few times a month. This particular morning, we (Zach, one of our other assistant strength coaches) had some time to play, so we ran hill sprints. We did 10 sets of 3 sprints. Recovery between the 3 sprints was a walk back down. In between sets we recovered 2-3 minutes, which allows for maintain sprint performance... or the much talked about repeat sprint ability (RSA). I was able to finish most reps within 5-5.2 seconds; which kept things within range of high anaerobic work.

The nice thing about hills is you can push the intensity (effort) high with little or less risk of injury as the velocity is less than 0% grade sprinting and the strides are shortened on the front end (decelerating the swing leg; eccentric hamstring load); makes for nice general conditioning for sprint sports. You can also change up the "walk downs"; walking backwards, which creates a nice eccentric stretch of the triceps surae muscle-tendon complex (important to keep healthy and strong for jumping, sprinting, and agility), lateral walks and carioca walks which are can be ok for eccentric load of the hip abductors (another fairly important component found to be weak in our weak culture). Obviously care has to be taken with these walk downs, as the eccentric stress can lead to some multiple day DOMS.

I guess we could debate all the possible intricate details of what may or may not be going on but... hill sprints are just cool and tough; and cool and tough guys did them (Walter and Jerry).

Backwards walk downs...

A few bounds thrown in as well...

A tribute to "Sweetness"...

My hill...

Walter's hill...

More Mythical Methods?

2011-10-11T11:00:00.025-05:00

The fall of the postural–structural–biomechanical model in manual and physical therapies: Exemplified by lower back pain
Eyal Lederman

Summary and conclusion points

• Postural-Structural-Biomechanical (PSB) asymmetries and imperfections are normal variations—not a pathology.

• Neuromuscular and motor control variations are also normal.

• The body has surplus capacity to tolerate such variation without loss to normal function or development of symptomatic conditions.

• Pathomechanics do not determine symptomatology.

• There is no relationship between the pre-existing PSB factors and back pain.

• Correcting all PSB factors is not clinically attainable and is unlikely to change the future course of a lower back condition.

• This conclusion may well apply to many common musculoskeletal conditions elsewhere in the body
(e.g., neck pain).

Lederman, E. The fall of the postural-structural-biomechanical model in manual and physical therapies: exemplified by lower back pain. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies. (2011) Apr;15(2):131-8.

Eyal Lederman certainly doesn't hesitate to challenge the status quo as in his previous paper The Myth of Core Stability.

One of the section summary points caught my attention and is something I tend to agree with:

• PSB factors are unlikely to change in the longterm by manual techniques or even exercise, unless rigorously maintained (exercise).

... basically shit's hard and has to be consistent; real training, over and over again. Beyond that, I really have no idea... I guess just try something and test to see if it works.

AS

Just a reminder...

2011-10-10T16:10:00.001-05:00

When Starting Strength came out it was an instant classic and is a book that needs to be promoted more. One of the best texts I have read, no check that... the best, covering the fundamentals of barbell training. The second edition is expanded, but the first edition cover is way more bad-ass, which is why I put it here.

Putting the 'strength' back in strength and conditioning...

AS

Beautiful Training

2011-10-06T12:55:00.002-05:00

"History teaches everything including the future." -Alphonse de Lamartine

Thanks to Josh Leeger for directing me to an excellent blog post from Ross Enamait. The videos are the training of Russian Greco-Roman wrestlers. The training is refreshing to watch and the athletes are just that... athletes!

These videos reminded me of the Polish Olympic weightlifting training videos. As evident in these videos (10 parts on Youtube), these guys are far from just weightlifters, they are beyond athletic of what you might see today... and the weightlifting that they compete in sure as hell doesn't hurt their ability to display great power in the other exercises done in the video; real weights and real movement.

Weightlifting, gymnastics, sprints, plyos, throwing, playing basketball, soccer, flexibility, general conditioning/obstacle/adventure runs, training done outside... combined with sound coaching and thorough evaluations by the medical staff. Awesome stuff!

AS

Pushing Limits

2011-10-03T21:13:00.005-05:00

It's amazing to see the extremes of the capacities of human ability, and very few hold a candle to that of Alex Honnold (at least his mental capacity), an American free solo climber (free solo=nothing but a little chalk!). I've read about Alex before and was excited to see a 60 Minutes segment was being done on him. I thought 60 Minutes did an excellent job of filming and presenting the story.

No searching for glory or money here, just a pure uninhibited love for the freedom and challenge climbing presents...

There's also a great article in National Geographic Magazine in the May 2011 issue on climbing at Yosemite National Park which highlighted Alex among other climbers.

Daring. Defient. Free.

"The minute you freak out, you're screwed." -Alex Honnold in Outside magazine.

So you think you're a bad ass?

My palms sweat just thinking about it.

AS

Peaking For What?

2011-09-30T11:21:00.002-05:00

An observation I've seen is that athletes that are a little sore in the legs (quads, glutes, hamstrings) sometimes perform better in a vertical jump test. I've been testing vertical jump at different times throughout the practice and training week of teams, and have notice some improvements in vertical jumps the day after a relatively intense in-season lifting session. There hasn't been massive increases of inches, but some athletes have jumped 1-2.5 inches better, and teams have improved as much as an average of around .25-.4 inches. Obviously this means some athletes had slight decreases, but I can confirm it's very rare.

Not sure for the specific mechanisms as to why this occurs; I could conjecture that the soreness creates stiffness in the muscle and 'tugs' on the tendons a bit more, tightening the "springs"??? Musculotendon stiffness leading to increased elasticity? The CNS still running 'hot' from the previous day? Maybe the previous testing time was a poor performance?

What this all means, I am not quite sure, but the athletes and teams continue to performing well; and most importantly we are not injured, beyond small things that don't limit playing or practice time. The correlation I do see with this is that, the good teams and coaches continue to attempt to develop their team throughout the in-season with intense practice and progressive in-season strength and conditioning. There is the necessity to control volume, but intensity must stay if not push higher. The reason this can work is tracking the general volume and most importantly practicing the lost art of common sense. Verbal, face-to-face communication amongst coaches and athletes really does go a long way.

With the "survival teams" (teams struggling), there is the mentality of so-called 'peaking' for every game and unfortunately at times for every practice. I have noticed an increase phobia of soreness in-season, and the problem with avoiding soreness is we always stay behind the soreness "wave" and never catch the surf to be ahead of muscular discomfort from being more adapted.

There are few times in a season that team sports really need to taper and peak, and these dates need to be highlighted; the quest should be for constant development in-season and out of season. Dynasty's are never built tapering for everything, when there is nothing to ever taper from; there is only a few play-off games each season, and only one Super Bowl or championship... and if it takes treating every game and practice as such, then you probably aren't good enough anyway and should get back to work on the basics of technical, tactical, and physical development.

Record keeping and common sense.

AS

GPP or SPP in TSP (Team Sport Preparation)?

2011-09-28T15:54:00.001-05:00

It goes without saying that what's done in training must have a specific purpose or it shouldn't be in the plan. In team sports this can be a fairly difficult assessment to make as to what is truly going to affect performance. Does increasing linear speed improve a basketball player? Does improving vertical jump improve the ability of a volleyball player? Does improving the back squat make a football player better? These are objective and common measures or assessments of general athletic performance.

The questions are endless, and within team sports, the answers are almost always; "it depends."

I think it's important to make logical decisions regarding training, but as of now the potential variables to improve upon could be considered close to infinite. In 'strength and conditioning' my responsibility and the athletes responsibility is the necessity to, number one, become a better athlete, in becoming generally stronger, generally faster, generally jump higher, become generally more mobile and coordinated, and improve general work capacity. What this is most often called in technical coaching speak is GPP (general physical preparation). How much GPP is necessary is the ultimate question, and in the collegiate setting how much time is needed with GPP? When are athletes generally physically prepared? In team sports, how much specific physical preparation is necessary when the athlete spends a large amount of time in specific technical and tactical practice of their sport? From a strength and conditioning perspective with regards to team sports, what exactly is specific physical preparation?

From what I see, often incoming athletes, freshmen, and even sophomores, sometime juniors are generally not strong enough, generally not fast enough, generally don't jump high enough, generally do not display enough flexibility, and/or usually don't have the general work capacity for the overall demands of collegiate practice and competition. Without a high level of generalities, the specificities become even more of a challenge to achieve; and again I ask, what are the specifics?

Really, in strength and conditioning, athletes need to run fast, jump high, throw far, and lift heavy weights as fast as possible through full ranges of motion; this takes care of a high percentage of the necessary means to fulfill the time-limited objectives of training.

Is a 145 kg front squat with great technique necessary for all male athletes? No, but it sure as hell doesn't hurt.

Is a 25 inch vertical necessary for all female athletes? No, but it sure as hell wouldn't hurt.

Are 10 strict chin-ups necessary for female athletes? No, but it sure as hell doesn't hurt.

Does a 4.4 40 yard dash guarantee sporting success? No, but it sure as hell doesn't inhibit it.

Now, could there potentially be better qualities, specific ones, to spend time and energy to improve? Yes, but at some point the generals may limit the specifics. And what qualities might we improve that we could quantify to be sure we are not fooling ourselves?

There really isn't a good/perfect answer, but what seems certain is we need to put the "strength" back in strength and conditioning, and the "athletic" back in athletic development; neither of those spell specificity... specificity does not need to mean exact. Specificity maintains that at least one or more biomotor quality has some similarity task being trained for. What's usually necessary is becoming very proficient at the generals. which most coaches have narrowed down to work being more "functional" towards the desired outcome(s); the basics... being fundamentally great and athletically developed.

ath·let·ic
adjective

1. physically active and strong; good at athletics or sports: an athletic child.

2. of, like, or befitting an athlete.

3. of or pertaining to athletes; involving the use of physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina: athletic sports; athletic training.

4. for athletics: an athletic field.

5. Psychology . (of a physical type) having a sturdy build or well-proportioned body structure. Compare asthenic ( def. 2 ) , pyknic ( def. 1 ) .

Excessive kilo-(n)grams

2011-09-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

I came across Google Ngram a few months ago, but forgot about it because I knew it's potential to become another computer addiction. I was reminded of it again today in this entertaining talk from TED: "What we learned from 5 million books".

Here's my quantitative analysis of 1900 to 2008, do the "math".

Have fun,

Reawaking My Dead Blog

2011-09-20T15:56:00.002-05:00

My blog has been dead for a while and I finally put together a new post and my f**king computer froze! It was f**king great too... F**K! Pissed off...

Sorry about the vulgarities; I've been reading the new book, "Go the F**k To Sleep". Wasted time I could have been moving instead...

Coaching Wisdom

2011-07-21T21:54:00.003-05:00

Some remendous insight from a recent discussion with a great mentor of mine, Greg Lanners, commenting on the necessary care that must be taken when coaching young athletes and students…

"As coaches, how much drilling should we be doing with kids. Why do we feel such a need to program kids? I understand improving strength, which would seem to be a necessity in our current competitive world, or addressing a significant motor deficiency or movement impairment. And of course injury rehab is an entirely different story. But how do we best impart on kids the pure joy and freedom of movement within their bodies? Not using others as a guide as to how they should move, but allowing them to experience their God given abilities in a natural and pain-free way. And through that also promote the same enjoyment and satisfaction of participating in an athletic or competitive activity. Yes it may change when kids get to college and certainly when they are paid as professionals, the rules/expectations are different. But kids need to be shown and should come to realize that they have a set of very individual abilities or skills that if used frequently can lead to a healthier, more emotionally stable, and fulfilling life. And everybody's skills/abilities/gifts are different. So how fine and precise and specific and technical do we actually need to be? Just get kids to move without inhibition- the old "watch a kindergarten PE class” argument.”

No matter the level of the athlete, a global perspective of the 'larger' picture needs consideration; coach what needs to be coached, don't what doesn't… and it’s not always what you do, but many times, what you don’t do.

AS

More on "False" Stepping

2011-07-21T10:16:00.006-05:00

I apologize about the clarity of the videos, they were taken with my phone (and it's not an iphone).

In this first video, I had a group of soccer athletes line up in an athletic stance and the only direction I gave was to sprint 10 yards as fast as possible; ALL athletes utilized the "false" step. The next series of 'races' were with the athletes paired-up; this time I directed the faster of the two athletes (athlete is on the right; determined by electronic testing) to NOT "false" step... even though many couldn't help themselves from not doing it (subconscious... and faster). (I also reversed it and had the other athlete try to NOT "false" step, and the same occurred with them being slower of the line... however the phone on my camera did not save that footage for some reason)

In the second video it is much more clear with court lines to determine who crossed the line first. The first 'race', I instructed two volleyball athletes to line up in an athletic stance and race through the cones. Both employed a "false" step. In the next races it is very evident which athlete was instructed to NOT take a false step; the athlete directed NOT to "false" step was slower or struggled neurologically to utilize the directed strategy (or lack thereof in this case), but arguably both occurred.

In both these cases, the athletes only had to focus on 1 option and that was sprinting straight ahead, let alone in a more dynamic, open chaotic environment where the athlete needs to be ready for a multitude of movements. I feel confident to say that I believe almost every athlete of any level would employ the so-called "false" step in this or similar situations... but don't take my word, test it out with other athletes.

Again, just to reinforce yesterday's blog post on "false" stepping, I really believe the athlete has some very effective instinctive hardware that we need to be careful as to how much we tamper with. Some techniques are important to teach and potentially correct, some are not. We need to figure out which 'skills' need work and which to leave alone, and in certain situations, it appears the "false" step should be left alone. As I stated yesterday, too much focus internally can create a tremendous mess.

"False" Stepping 2

2011-07-20T15:38:00.001-05:00

We often talk about the wisdom of the body and I see it all the time with athletes; subconsciously stepping a foot back to put themselves in an optimal or better acceleration position. Is coaching against false stepping going against the wisdom of the body?

"False" Stepping

There has been some research in support of stepping backwards prior to acceleration, as some coaches term as the “plyo” step. While others are adamantly against the so-called, “false” step. Is there research supporting that NOT “false” stepping is faster than “false” stepping? In talking with elementary educators, they say all young children perform this movement at the necessary times... so is it really a learned bad habit? Or an innate ability to play with the physical qualities of the world in we live? Humans have been evolving and living with gravity much longer than we have been teaching how to move "better"...

How does this change in a reactive environment in which the athlete does not know which way one is going to have to move?

In an open environment an athlete is trying to position themselves quickly and effectively into an optimal biomechanical position (positive shin angle) displacing one’s center of gravity. In order for an athlete to overcome inertia, one has to displace their center of gravity ‘outside’ of their body … along with that, how does the “plyo/false” step set up each subsequent step thereafter?

In a reactive environment in which an athlete might find themselves in an athletic position but not aware of which direction of movement comes next, I have seen many levels and abilities of athletes utilize a “plyo/false” step for advancing forward. (i.e. tennis, infielder in baseball, basketball, volleyball, football). An objective measurement would help settle this long standing debate, but is very difficult to control for in an open environment. The environmental context will change things and I think the “plyo/false” step might at times be an athlete’s most successful option...

The question remains for those coaches that believe you need to coach this instinctive false stepping out of the athlete, how does increasing conscious control in a reactive environment enhance an athlete’s success at getting from point A to a random point B as fast as possible?

In those “oh shit” moments that occur so often in open-skilled sports, it seems that it would be much more effective to allow the subconscious hardware to at least do some of the work. It seems that it is very ‘effortful’ to try to override a subconscious, faster network in a chaotic environment. Technically speaking the “false step” usually/most definitely doesn’t put an athlete in a biomechanically dangerous position; but for those against the “false” step, do what we gain from not stepping back, do we lose during the lag time of the conscious decision to not do so?

Research has shown that activity in the brains motor region can be detected 300 milliseconds prior to the person feeling he/she has decided to move. Lots of research in neuroscience regarding free will is pressing this issue too; regarding subconscious decisions vs. conscious ones and many are showing a delay in the time between the two.

Also, in the forward model of motor control, it’s stated that often the consciousness is alerted to movements/behaviors that are already being planned and performed, and isn’t necessarily ‘causing’ these behaviors/movements. To me, 300 milliseconds is a long time… and every time I line athletes up on the line in an athletic position with feet square to the finish for a 20 meter race (I did it with a group this morning) they all “plyo/false” step on “GO!”. Is every athlete wrong? Or do their bodies have something to say about this interplay with gravity and physics?

If it is a movement error and needs to be 'trained out', what’s the timeframe and payoff? Can it be done in 5 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week? If it can, then why do other skills and physical qualities take so long to develop? Are we again overriding an innate startle reflex that entirely makes up for the “false” stepping, by saving us a few milliseconds in nerve conduction velocity? There is lots going on in the sporting environment, and the body is a big part, but what happens centrally in the brain with inputs and outputs is a large factor too.

Of course context is the key and not every movement in sport requires or should have a false step, but if it happens, most times it’s because it was the most necessary and optimal movement option for that situation.

I personally don't teach anything regarding it. If it happens, it happens. I try to teach good position, expose athletes to multiple different changes of direction (pre-planned and open), and teach them how to position their body to put their COG where it needs to be in order to move effectively. Movement issues sometimes might be lack of awareness, other times it might be a strength issue.

Observe great athletes, because I don't believe they lie; they are great because they are the most successful at accomplishing movement problems and I think there is much to learn from what they do, and I feel that coaching the "false" step out of them would be time better spent on other aspects of athletic development.

It's easy for us as coaches to critique and criticize what we see from the sidelines or stands, but get in a game and one quickly realizes that relying on subconscious processes is the way to go. Too much override from the 'higher levels' of the brain slows things down tremendously. In motor learning, external vs. internal attentional focus shows that external focus far surpasses internal focus in the success rate of accomplishing different skills, along with faster speeds and a decrease in neuromuscular activation… saving both time and energy. (I highly recommend one checks out Gabriele Wulf's research and book, Attention and Motor Skill Learning)

Working against the subconscious to NOT "false" step in certain situations would be an internal focus... less effective than external focus of attention: getting to point B as fast as possible. There are many factors to take into consideration when analyzing and deciphering training plans… in open sports, taking in the sensory information, interpreting, and decision making in the fastest manner possible is all part of the visible physical movements that we see in game action.

Agility/change of direction, acceleration, speed, and jumping are all very interesting movement components to sport and can be a tremendous challenge to prepare athletes who play sport. While certain ‘skills’ look nice to work on in training such as not “false” stepping in situations where it is actually a better option, often very few of these ‘skills’ really occur the way we think they do in a game setting. How much do we try to teach and control movement vs. how much do we let the body self-organize the movement challenges? I’ll share more thoughts later in regards to change of direction in sport. Do what we can in training, give the athlete movement problems to solve, and get out of the way.

Game Acceleration

2011-07-20T09:21:00.004-05:00

In Conditioning or Speed Reserve? I mentioned acceleration from tall(er) positions and transitioning into acceleration out of different movements. Some great coaches have been doing this for a long time; but in order to prepare for what's ahead, athletes need to be able to accelerate anytime, anywhere.

Standing Acceleration Development

Sprinting at maximal velocity is a major component and helps with acceleration from different positions. Also, plyometrics are vital, but we can't forget what might be the most 'plyometric' of them all, max velocity sprinting.

Everything in training is accessory to the game, but the closest training connections as far as specificity goes must be running, jumping, and agility movements; bridging the gap.

AS

"Football Training"

2011-07-18T21:02:00.009-05:00

Most of track and field is exempt from this discussion because the sport is measured objectively, and athletes and coaches usually do what's necessary to perform well. At the very least, it isn't easy to hide...

The argument I get tired of hearing is "we don't want to train like football players". I hear it all the time and ask what does a football player train like? You mean with a high level of effort towards developing great speed, power, and strength?

Taking a Socratic approach...

Would your athlete benefit to become stronger/faster/change direction better/jump higher?

Which athletes in the USA do those things the best?

Which athletes accelerate the best?

Which athletes are the fastest?

Which athletes have the best vertical jumps?

Which athletes are the strongest?

Which athletes change direction the best?

The gap to be bridged between "football training" and a sport is done by conditioning techniques and practice of the particular sport. Either way, we can go on kidding ourselves or really start to make changes in athletes.

I understand that football can and, to many extents is, be an entitled culture, but that does not mean there has to be an emotional resentment towards the methods of a sport that has embraced strength and conditioning more than nearly all other sports in America; to developing athletic qualities that almost all athletes can greatly benefit from.

The delusion that we can make something out of nothing is rampant in athletic development; heavy loads and fast movements are necessary. Adaptation doesn't come easy.

Conditioning or Speed Reserve?

2011-07-01T12:10:00.003-05:00

Conditioning is important, but what exactly is conditioning? Athletes need to be fit to play their sport and in the majority of sport, repeat sprint ability is king/queen. Carl Valle asks some great questions in Repeat Sprint Ability and Dutch Tables.

I think a giant speed reserve helps with many things… and mechanical efficiency is going to be the driving force behind it. Maximal sprint training and mechanics are a must, and lead to very positive adaptations. Max speed and acceleration technique and training are very specific strength and create a level of competency that can present itself at many movement velocities less than maximum. Many coaches are afraid for their athletes to jog or run at slower speeds, and usually rightfully so, as many look like zombies because of weakness. However, jogging and slower running is inevitable, so how do you attack this glaring issue? One observation I have made is I don't see many high and elite level sprinters that jog poorly. On the other hand, I have not seen as many distance runners sprint well (a presentation of specific strength or lack of...).

Empirically, I competed in sprints in high school at a fairly honest level and the one thing I remember was that the better I got mechanically and the faster I got, the greater the ease at running at sub-maximal speeds. A simple thought experiment is to think of the ease at which Tyson Gay or Usain Bolt could run 110's (the common football conditioning run); run a 100 meter in 15 seconds? Sleeping.

Everything is relative, but working up and right on the force-velocity curve with special attention to mechanics leads to special abilities... or at the very least, great potential below and left of the curve.

The other thing that gets talked about so much is movement efficiency with screening galore, and lots of evaluation at slow speeds and "corrective exercise" at sometimes even slower speeds. This discussion on speed reserve is different and mechanical efficiency at high velocities is usually much different than movement at slow velocities; and sometimes my thoughts are that focus on developing efficiency at higher speeds may lead to improvements in the slower stuff, or maybe it doesn't matter (or maybe you can't because of dysfunction to being with???)... but sport is played fast, not slow.

Another aspect, depending on the sport, is sprint training becomes a discussion of absolute speed vs. acceleration...

My comments from the discussion at elitetrack from Carl's blog post above, "Obviously this discussion has taken a different route beyond repeated sprint ability and gone towards max velocity… but the way I look at it is; a sport like basketball does not specifically involve resisted back squats, cleans, or depth jumps, or rarely has athletes running at max velocity, however, running at max velocity does have some very unique biomechanical and neuromuscular qualities that make it fairly useful method such as the utilization of back squats, cleans, depth jumps, etc.

The “plyometric” effect of max velocity sprinting is pretty intense, and exposing the body’s systems to sprinting, may go a long way in getting and keeping athletes healthy, fast, and athletic. (read: Changes in muscle activity with increasing running speed. Kyrolainen, H. Avela, J. Komi, PV.)"

To add to the above statement, many small court and field sports require athletes to accelerate from tall positions, plus transitions out of runs and changes of direction with the potential to hit high velocities. I think regardless of the sport, max velocity sprinting has a place; Acceleration and Absolute Speed.

There are many questions that fall under the blanket term conditioning and the other is volume. How much is necessary? As Carl stated in his post and as was some discussion at GAIN, some teams are throwing out the old/traditional means to get fit for the specific sport (ex. gassers, shuttles). At the same time, there has been a resurgence of coaches advocating aerobic development; what and how much is necessary? The totality of training needs to be looked at carefully. Those teams that are training high intensity qualities such as speed, power, agility, strength, while doing lower intensity mobility, purposeful circuits, technique and skill work... how much more is necessary as far as specific aerobic or even anaerobic development? How much of the energy systems are developed through those means (i.e. cumulative)? Skillful movers are usually skillful movers and to develop leads to some great efficiency... a giant speed reserve. All this comes full circle with more questions of how much, how often, and how intense? The search continues...

A couple thoughts going into the 4th weekend:

-Jim Radcliffe eloquently stated at GAIN, "we learn to negotiate the ground well." Key word: LEARN.

-Speed kills.

Have a safe and happy 4th of July! (Happy Canada Day too)

Days "Off"

2011-06-30T16:38:00.003-05:00

One topic that came up at GAIN was days off or so called "recovery" days, and the potential negative effects that come with those days. Jim Radcliffe discussed changing the culture at Oregon to training in some capacity the day before a game, sometimes the day of, and minimize complete "off" days following competitions or just general training. Vern Gambetta made mention of the same in his talks. Rest - Use it Carefully

No, that is not a hammock in North Dakota

The problem tends to be that days off are days OFF (physical activity = ZERO); whether it's society and the culture of laziness, the issue of the athletes being overtrained or under-recovered, or a combination of both. (I need to make sure the training isn't annihilating the athletes and putting them in comas on their days away)After 1-2, or 3 day lapse in physical movement, staleness can set in, and making it hard work to restore some 'functionality' the following Monday or whenever training resumes. I have noticed this continually in my experience as a coach (Pre-Habituation) and hearing it again at GAIN was a great reminder that steps need to be taken to keep athletes' systems running warm.

Research out of neuroscience confirms similar aspects looking at neuroplasticity and attempts to reorganize cortical motor outputs. So not only might time off relegate peripheral systems but also activity centrally within motor cortex; The Plastic Human Brain Cortex.

This is also important in the sequencing of the microcycle, as not all situations are ideal and athletes may come back to train after a 2 day weekend in which some have probably been entirely 'off' (they may have been assigned recovery sessions but unless a coach is present, it would be ignorant to think it always gets done). In this case it may NOT be advisable to perform a "high" day like so many coaches do the first day in a training week; working fast or heavy or both and then tapering as the microcycle goes. I've tried to be very careful about performing intense speed and/or agility work after a full 2 days off. Instead it might be advisable to perform a "low" day to restart the systems, open up ranges of motion, and hormonally flush the system (i.e. purposeful circuits)... preparing for a "high" session the next day, while still getting quality training in. Injury prevention/reduction is about many things and not always about what is being done.

Many coaches focus on the macro-, meso-, and maybe to some extent the microcycles, but reality needs a close look; and there are many factors to consider in the world of chaos we live in. If "off" days are not or can not be filled with active recovery, then I need to be smart about what goes on when the athletes are in front of me.

AS

GAIN 2011

2011-06-28T21:26:00.002-05:00

Sorry about my lack of blogging lately, I've been beyond busy, as a coach tends to be. However, I was fortunate enough to have recently attended Vern Gambetta's GAIN Apprentorship which easily fit the trend lately for me of volume and intensity;"Bulgarian method learning". After having had a few days to recover and reflect, the educational experience I was far from disappointed. GAIN was 6 days full of great information and interaction among top level coaches, educators, and therapists. There were great presentations from Vern Gambetta, Kelvin Giles, Jim Radcliffe, Jack Blatherwick, Gary Winkler, Tracy Fober, Carl Valle, Joe Przytula, Greg Thompson, and Ed Ryan; and no-less impressive were those in attendance from all areas of physical and sport culture.

I thank Coach Gambetta for putting together a great educational experience.

AS

Some Observations

2011-05-09T23:00:00.005-05:00

Just some observations, thoughts, and questions that have been stirring...

- It seems to be turning into the strength and cheerleading profession; my fear is that coaches are mistaking "ra-ra"-ing for coaching.

- There is concern over the NCAA's legislation regarding only allowing 5 (s & c) coaches working with football; many coaches have voiced their opinion of not so much an issue of having 5 coaches just for football, but of limiting the potential number of jobs on staff(s). I am in agreement that we need positions for young coaches, but not if it's going to be a matter of hiring more 'cheerleaders'; sorry big-time strength and conditioning coaches, but I do get the impression that many are just yelling and screaming... really, what determines a job well done? What is a coach?

I get the impression of WWE. Every workout is a rally to get as 'pumped-up' as possible before the actual workout, and hoping to ride this emotion on through. (Maybe it all just fits into the entertainment that college sports have become in our country) I wonder how this fits into monitoring training loads and recovery?

From Josh Leeger's blog: "Teach Intensity, rather than Aggression or Emotion - Intensity means the heightening of effort, focus, and often, relaxation. Intensity is singlemindedness of purpose. Aggression and emotion almost always result in tension (wasted energy) or a lack of focus (wasted effort)."

... all that extra emotion may affect HRV scores for those measuring.

- On that note, it also seems in collegiate strength and conditioning to be a matter of entertaining, not training... much less coaching. I would guess most coaches want faster, stronger, higher, bigger... so why a bunch of exercises that often don't fit the bill, but fall into the category of a "nice sell in the 'fitness industry'". I guess to be a considered a good coach, I need to make sure that everyone is having fun. Now don't get me wrong, there is a time and place, and I believe in play as much as anybody (read some previous blog posts), but why don't sport coaches change up their practice to make it more 'fun' for the athletes?

- Or the other side of things... methods that sound great in scientific theory and look very sport/athletic specific, but under close scrutiny are very hard to rationalize. Vern Gambetta made some excellent points in his recent blog post: When the Prevention is the Cause.

Is it Macho Man Randy Savage or is it deep in the cosmos with theoretical bit-by-bit engineering of artificial body intelligence?

Yes, change it up and do some different things from time to time, but I ask what is our job as strength and conditioning coaches?

- What about extra competitions to get more work out of athletes or a tough Navy SEAL evolution, or worse yet, knee-jerk reactions to a substandard season putting athletes in harmful situations? While at the same time we are worried about measuring an athlete's readiness on expensive devices, soft-tissue therapy, supplementation, physical therapy exercises, and on and on.

(You can train insanely hard, while still adhering to well-grounded scientific principles; namely progressive overload... as I was personally told this by the legendary Bulgarian weightlifting coach Ivan Abadjiev in Kansas City this past week)

College strength and conditioning is as ADHD as many of our athletes; do more, do it all and always change. Not much concern over better. I am not so sure different is always better. Maybe part of strength and conditioning coaches jobs are to babysit? Recruit big and keep them entertained and happy... I don't know (sigh)...

I see many programs just doing 'things' and saying "we do that". Great, what is it doing for your athletes? I get it, if they are having fun, they may work hard, but again... what is the goal? I think we need to be real with ourselves.

- Something I always wonder: How would John Wooden do it if he were a strength and conditioning coach?

Sorry to have such a negative tone on much this but I have thoughts and questions regarding the profession I am in. I know there are quite a few good coaches out there doing a nice job, but too often the face of collegiate strength and conditioning goes to the coaches at the 'big time' schools where videos present a montage of WWE displays, methods that are questionable, lousy technique or worse yet, no or little attempt at trying to coach technique to be better.

I have more questions than answers, and by no means am doing it perfect. I would really appreciate others to chime in on the subject; agree or disagree.

AS

Update

2011-04-21T15:44:00.004-05:00

I've been real busy... but I can report, as far as the weightroom goes, that heavy (relative to an athlete's current abilities, for those gasping in horror) cleans, snatches, front and back squats, deadlifts, lunging, push-ups, and pull-ups continue to work real well for many athletes and outcomes. I have also noticed that getting stronger and more powerful continues to be pretty good in the area of injury prevention.

A little 'dated' but one gets the idea.

Play with this and test.

Add in a bunch of sprinting, change of direction, jumping and conditioning, and life is good.

To be continued...

Great Coaching Books

2011-03-19T14:37:00.007-05:00

Two different states of H2O, two great coaches, and two great coaching books.

These are a couple of the better (excellent) coaching books I have read in the last 6 months. I highly recommend them to any coach.

Dick Hannula's "Coaching Swimming Successfully" was a recommendation from Carl Valle. Carl recommended it to me last summer, which I finally picked up this past fall and smoked through in just a few days. The first few chapters on team and athlete management are good enough to be published alone in a book titled, "Coaching Successfully".

Anatoly Tarasov's "Tarasov: The Father of Russian Hockey",which I came across researching into the history of hockey from the 'miracle on ice' and Herb Brooks to the great tradition and history of hockey in Canada. Tarasov was assigned the role to develop Russia's hockey program (from scratch) shortly after World War II and develop a system to surpass the Canadians. A great book into the mind of a brilliant coach. The last chapter, 'Love for the Whole Life', is pure gold from just a general coaching perspective.

An excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on Anatoly Tarasov:

Tarasov was the biggest factor in the development of this goalie, Tretiak, who would be destined to become the most skillful and cherished in international history. In the earliest days of his career, Tarasov had him doing three practices a day as hard as possible while using the maximum consumption of oxygen (MCO). In one instance a Swede player came to practice in the USSR with Tarasov, but he couldn't last. He reportedly said, "We Swedes don't' grow up to practice like this. I don't want to die."

According to Tretiak, "If I let in just one puck, Tarasov would ask me the next day "What's the matter?" If it was my fault (and it usually appears to be the goalkeeper's fault), my punishment would follow immediately. After everybody else had gone home I had to do hundreds of lunges and somersaults. I could have cheated and not done them at all, since nobody was watching me- the coaches had gone home too! But I wouldn't even have considered doing one less lunge or somersault. I trusted Tarasov, trusted his every word, even when he criticized me for letting the pucks in my net during practice."

... that's buy in. Those words might make Tarasov sound like a drill sergeant/dictator, and he certainly had the ability to use those qualities, but if you read the book you'll understand that he was much more than that; a coach who loved what he did and loved the athletes he worked with... and most importantly the athletes knew that.

Play Again

2011-03-18T14:57:00.000-05:00

Some may call me a tree hugger, but I spent a lot of time (still do when I get the chance) in nature as a young kid, and it scares me to see the 'limited' time, possibly access, for people young and old to be out in the more natural world. Rarely, if ever, does true nature give rise to obesity, depression, or any other common chronic illness. Play Again looks to carry a very important and timely message.

Thanks to Frank Forencich for pointing this movie out. Frank makes some very compelling points,

"Some readers may wonder what such a film has to do with matters of fitness, athletic training and health, but really, it should all be clear enough by now: The condition of our bodies is completely, utterly dependent on habitat and in turn on our knowledge and appreciation for habitat. If you’re a health and fitness enthusiast, you’ve got to have at least one foot planted in your local bioregion. Every physical trainer who’s a health activist must also be an environmental activist. Increasingly, a big part of our job description will be to get our students and clients out of the office and out of the gym and back in touch with the land that gives us life. See the film."

Yours truly, a couple weeks ago. My attempt at a smile while the bitter wind bit at my face. Haha!! Although it was a rather nice day for early spring in northern Minnesota/North Dakota; sunny, a high of 13F +/-, a slight northern breeze of 10 +/- mph. Ok, so it wasn't that nice but the sun made all the difference.

My kids were with their grandparents for the weekend, and I had some unusual 'freedom' on a Saturday with no coaching or parenting responsibilities; taking the time for a hike in the woods and to climb some trees (I suppose at times it looked like tree hugs, sickos). Unfortunately, it had been a while since I've had the time to get out for a day, but this is something I used to do alot as a young kid, spending many hours 'out in nature'... the MovNat group would be proud. Although I do have to apologize... I had shoes on and, sorry again, they weren't Vibram Fivefingers, they were a pair of Nike Free's to be exact. (geez enough with the advertising already).

... and I'll have you know, I got some all-out sprinting in as soon as I got the text from my wife, "where the hell are you?". Oops, I forgot to tell her where I was going and time escapes in nature as it had been hours since I left the house. Unfortunately, it was back to modern reality.

"In nature we never repeat the same motion. In captivity (office, gym, commute, sports), life is just repetitive stress injury. No randomness" -Nassim Taleb

*Bryce and Clint, I should have given you a call, but this was spontaneous and you know the benefits of a little randomness.

The Pinnacle

2011-02-24T10:39:00.000-06:00

Finally someone who has put it all together...

*Thanks to a student in one of my classes for pointing this out.

AS

Critical Examination

2011-02-10T12:13:00.004-06:00

I have to point out a great blog post by Carl Valle at EliteTrack today. Carl does a nice job of evaluating many factors in his recent post:

Spine Stress and Risk Return Ratios

I appreciate Carl because I really believe he gives an excellent dose of reasoning and critical examinations that are very much lacking in much of the sports performance training in our culture.

The thing that is very frustrating as a coach is dealing with each 'new wave' of athletes that come in every year having trained at a "pop" training facility while in high school and to not only have to re-educate the athlete but to convert a belief system that makes any type of improvement, regardless of the method, difficult (except for the "religious" method of choice).

Do I have to go with the "new" and different training methods to hopefully gain from the placebo effect? Or even; how do I convince the sport coach who is far from exempt of this creative marketing going on in the sports performance world? Often times educating is a challenge because it does not carry the emotional power that something NEW or DIFFERENT carries. We can use NEW and DIFFERENT, but we don't need to go on an absolutist rampage.

I guess the fact of the matter is, we have to somehow make traditional/proven methods of training sexy again so at least they can be an option... or just wait around 50 years or so until everyone has forgotten these methods and "revolutionize training" or discover "the lost secrets of...".

I understand some consider variety as the spice of life, but it's only spice; "the meat and potatoes" will always be necessary.

Honestly though, do be creative and do 'different' things, but please don't forget the fundamentals.

Note: I am a skeptic of many things, even the so called fundamentals. For example, I am skeptical of bilateral lifts as much as I am of unilateral lifts, but statistically and empirically speaking, bilateral resistance training has shown many positive things; so I am not ready to part ways. Skepticism helps create a more open mind than a narrow or closed one... much of religion has taught us that.

... anyway, here again:

Spine Stress and Risk Return Ratios

AS

Quality Control Coaching

2011-02-02T11:29:00.004-06:00

Much of my time is spent teaching athletes how to train (it's part of my job right). Everything can look good on paper, but then...

-How to approach drills.
-How to finish them with the right level of effort, all the way through the finish.
-How to raise and lower their bodies at the right time.
-How and where to direct their feet.
-What the ground contacts should feel like.
-The posture their spine should be in.
-Where their eyes should be looking.
-Subtle movement tweaks that make giant differences.
-How to 'attack' weights.
-How to use serious internal fortitude to 'fight' through a difficult strength set.
-The intent needed at different parts of certain movements.
-What the athletes should be doing between sets.
-What's the necessary frame of mind to maintain speed in a conditioning exercise.
-Optimizing tension and relaxation at the correct times.
-How to "listen" to their bodies and what feedback to look for, and what action if any is necessary.
-If and when an athlete needs to feel their body and when they don't.
-Discussing options for putting together a personal schedule that is condusive to recovering.
-Strategies for how to ready themselves for a good night's sleep.
-Developing nutrition knowledge.
-Educating on the pitfalls that can sap an athlete's energy.

To sum this, what is only a short list, up; teaching athletes how to train and recover.

And for me to foster these things...

-Develop relationships.
-Educating the "why" of all that we do.
-Living out the values taught to the athletes.
-Making sure my feedback is given at the right time and in the right tone, or knowing when to just keep my mouth shut.
-De-emphasizing certain things; "don't sweat it".
-'Opening' my ears up to be able to listen.
-When to submit to requests and when to hold ground.
-Understanding when it's time to scrap what's on paper and when I should 'follow through'.
-Feeling, more than knowing, when and what to say.
-Knowing when to make eye contact or when I should look away.
-Discerning when to allow certain mistakes and patiently let the athlete figure things out.
-Who needs a little 'lashing' and who needs an 'arm around the shoulder', or a combination of the two.
-Managing my attention on a large group; who do I focus on more, who less, or is it equal.
-Understanding when I have done my job and it's time to turn the athlete loose...

The challenges and teaching are endless; and with all this being said, teach the bare minimum necessary to optimize performance.

AS

Pre-Habituation

2011-01-31T08:43:00.004-06:00

As Nikolai Ozolin layed out in 1971; flexibility day-to-day, strength week-to-week, speed month-to-month, and endurance year-to-year... I believe our biggest issue is keeping athletes moving. The injuries aren't going to be prevented from some special program or wondrous prehab exercises, it's simply a matter of more consistent movement. Athletes may train hard 1-2 hours a day, for 4-5 days a week, but the free time is filled with a whole lot of nothing as far as physical movement goes. Weekends, especially, can 'ruin' athletes.

If flexibility is day-to-day, which I can assure you it is, then it's the 1-2 days 'off' that's a major problem. I am not talking structured workouts per se, but I am saying movement; full range-of-motion, varied total body movement... everyday. Time spent 'in' the body, is time well spent; get to know the body by using it often. (... as I write in Cartesian dualism... which is probably our problem right there)

Rehabilitation "training" is usually not the answer, it's simply a reaction, and one that doesn't do much justice except for making some folks money. Rehabilitation absolutely has its place but lets keep it there; the root of the problem is lack of movement in general, and usually that's free.

Prehab - A flawed concept.

Coach Vern Gambetta hits a nail on the head with this one.

AS

The Power of Rest

2011-01-19T13:49:00.001-06:00

Power Principles and Protocols

A tiger doesn't run in circles or chase it's prey to exhaustion; it rests, then attacks. It's okay to rest.

And not to slight a book that probably has some good general advice; The Power of Rest.

AS

Teaching

2011-01-07T12:38:00.007-06:00

"Coaching, like teaching, is a matter of creating an environment where students can learn. A great teacher is one who helps the student grow to the point where they no longer need the teacher." - Bud Grant

The athletes will all be back next week, and once again this quote will be the process and destination.

*A side note: Bud's grandson is a freshmen on our football team. When he first came in last fall, I asked him if his grandfather had any words of advice for him before he left to come to Grand Forks. He replied, "Not much, just 'keep your damn mouth shut'."

AS

HRV and Feeling Good

2011-01-06T12:40:00.006-06:00

Once in a while... actually much of the time (might be some sort of curse), I like to 'step back' and attempt to broaden my scope of all the concepts and details of training theory and application, and simply amuse at some of the things we as coaches, trainers, therapists like to analyze. If I don't I go crazy. A recent and potentially solid measure of how training is going and the state of things within the body is heart rate variability; an increase in variability a better state of individual, a decrease... not so good.

What about just feeling good? What is feeling good? Do people know what feeling good is? Is a measure necessary; or can or should 'feeling good' be a measure? Are people out of touch with themselves? In coaching, can I not trust the athlete's judgement? Or what does feeling good look like? Can I not 'sense' the signs? Maybe therein lies the issue; disembodiment, poor teaching, poor relationships, empathy and a failure of human connection.

I know the answer is that it's good science to track and organize things that can be good indicators of health and positive states, but what's the cumulative outcome of all things functioning well? What is it? An 'artificially' isolated measure of one organ? Yes 'the heart tells the story' and 'home is where the heart is', but what do individuals cognitively make of this? My wild guess is it's some sort of emotion that is recognized as feeling good. Can it be tested? I think it can, but in most cases it might need to be subjectively measured, at least relative to an individuals normative baseline... and this can be tricky too; allostasis?

I am for measuring heart rate variability, and I think it holds some very unique possibilities. But I, or any coach, shouldn't let a lack of technology that allows to quickly and easily measure HRV hold me back from making good, better, and/or right decisions. The body leaves clues and those could be measures as well. It's just important to be consistent.

Trying to decipher all things human gets quite messy, but "waking up" and being aware is an important step in the right direction. And in athletics, for most, all that matters is performance; that's the main measure. But what to measure? Some sports are easier than others. Just find some consistancy. I pull my hair out trying to figure all this stuff out (maybe that's where it's going).

This could lead into an endless discussion on what to measure and what not... but this is nothing more; just an abstraction... on my blog. Sorry if I wasted your time... looks like I wasted mine too! LOL

AS

Skin Deep?

2011-01-05T09:15:00.010-06:00

Something simple to look at, especially during the winter months, but really any time of the year is the skin. In the most basic sense, the skin can be a good indicator of things going on deeper in the body. Skin dryness can be a good indication of dehydration; dry, cracked, flaky, chapped areas especially on the face, hands and around the flexion joints (knees/elbows), a dry (sometimes bloody) nose and throat, and constantly having to re-apply lotion or some sort of chapstick. But it's, obviously, not just the skin that's effected with dehydration, everything right down to the bones is going to be a little bit "dry". There can be potential increases in pain, "dryness" in the muscles, tendons and joints, to increased stress on the system, a decrease in heart rate variability; among all the deleterious effects that come from dehydration. Simply, the skin can be a pretty good and easy guage to inner workings.

The skin is just one simple barometer to adequate diet, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, all the the things that encompass taking care of the "invisible" training.

Some, of many, options for athletes to consider might be to reduce carbs (grain sources)/sugars in the diet and make sure they are getting enough good fat (i.e. omega-3's, avocados, olives, oils, nuts) and vitamin D/sunlight exposure (which can be a real "catch 22" in the winter months with the negative cycle of a drop in vitamin D to subsequent drop in serotonin to increased carb craving to decrease fat metabolism and on and on; too many factors... just test things out to see what works best), just maintaining a good diet and obviously drinking enough water. Also using a humidifier in the bedroom for sleeping can really help, and not eating large meals, especially those with high amounts of carbs/sugars and sodium before bed is important (going to bed a slight bit hungry can go a long way). Use of healthy natural lotions; good hygiene is important, but excessive bathing and the use of soaps can compound the effect of being dehyrdated... maybe cleaning up one's diet so they don't sweat out s**t all the time would decrease the need to shower all the time because of some unique odor.

Like anything else however, good health measures will take care of the body (and mind; like there's a seperation); the skin is just a good and simple gauge to some potential possibilities of what's happening inside. Location, climate type of that location, and individual skin colors are other factors which can determine outcomes and should be considered. There's nothing novel here, but just something to look at, be aware of, and educate the athletes on as the winter training cranks up with the re-start of school.

"Maybe it's Maybelline"... maybe it's not.

"False" Stepping

2010-12-15T14:30:00.006-06:00

Again, I have had some time to catch up on the blog world, and have enjoyed much of the writing Mladen Jovanovic, a performance coach from Belgrade, Serbia at his site, Complementary Training. One of his recent posts discusses the 'false step' or as some call it the "plyo step". He does a good job of presenting the movement here; Is taking a false step a bad idea?

As Mladen said, context is exactly right. If it's speed, then whatever it takes to effectively position the body to apply the optimal forces. If it's technical, then we have to be smarter about taking away an instinctive movement, and coach what is necessary to ready the body for the next necessary position; not just control something because we, as coaches, like to have control.

Loosely related, but more closer than one might think, the startle response/reflex/flinch (whatever one wants to call it) gives some insight into what happens when in a split second we need to make a response to do something as fast as possible. NOT false stepping, in a speed dependent context, is going to be a conscious decision thus slowing the decision and movement process; in terms of neurological processes, there is a great lag time between an unconscious decision to a conscious one (even to the point of recent research questioning the idea of what we know as 'free will'). A false/plyo step essentially is an unconscious process which enhances speed of every aspect of the movement.

This is a good video on some aspects of the startle reflex from Tony Blauer, of Blauer Tactical Systems, a specialist in close quarter tactics and different scenario-based training for law enforcement, military and self-defense instructors. Obviously this is regarding close quarters combat, but what would be a startle response of a human running from or towards an emergency? Sometimes it's important to allow instinctive responses to do their magic and to not tinker with something that has worked for a very long time. Use the instincts to enhance performance.

A moral to the story is that it's not necessary to control everything an athlete does; we're not working with robots and the body has some seriously effective wisdom inside when allowed to do its thing.

AS

Warming up

2010-12-14T11:39:00.022-06:00

A potential way to improve post workout recovery is to have a good, precise pre-workout warm-up. If you think about the mechanisms to a joint injury or muscle strain, the tissues may be violated beyond their current working capacity either by a coordination problem, excessive strain of tissues that are not adequately warm, or possibly because of fatigue. Obviously an "injury" isn't an all or none component, but occurs on grades of damage; some damage can be good, too much can be bad, but regardless, stress will be incurred; it's just how much? A better warm-up might mean less stress/strain on the tissues than an poor warm-up.

Important considerations that must take place in the warm-up:

1. Increase of body temp. What's the gauge? I have no idea. I err on the side of sweat 'beads' on the forehead and sweat showing through on the athletes shirts.

2. Increasing specificity; specificity in terms of movement, neurological recruitment specific to loads and speeds to be used. We progress from general, starting with the easiest on the body (depending on some of the factors I will list out in a minute here), and moving to more specific. There has got to be specific movements, loads, and speeds geared towards to the highest intensity activity for the day, or injury at some point will be inevitable. The 5th or 6th rep of some sprint work should hopefully not be the pinnacle of motor recruitment for that day... if an athlete makes it that far without the sniper getting him or her; what about reps 1, 2, or 3? Do not waste reps continuing to warm-up. (you could use testing measures to mark peaks or falls in performance which can help guide training... another topic for another time)

I look at it as a pyramid; a slow ascend to allow time for the heating to move to the peripheral (helping with many things from oxygen's "stickiness to hemoglobin and nerve conduction velocity), potentiating motor unit recruitment, increasing extensibility of all tissues (maybe the wondrous fascial system won't be screaming for a foam roller or real soft tissue therapy from real hands as much; I am not saying soft tissue work is not useful or necessary from time to time, but being smart helps to not have to back track so much), time for capillaries to dilate and increase in enzyme activity among many other things.

3. Time; minus any adrenaline "bomb", the above processes take time and just "jamming" the transmission into overdrive can really take it's toll. It can be like an overuse injury, it may not show up tomorrow or even next month, but over the years the body will take a beating. Warm-ups do not and should not be marathons and take away precious time from the rest of training, but accuracy to do the right/necessary things is critical and one of the necessary things is time. Patience will pay off.

4. Utilize the warm-up with movements that can teach or enhance the learning of that days work; slower, less intense versions of the subsequent work hits on specificity and the rest time to wait for the physiological processes to take effect is a good time to teach lessons on anything that will help with training, today and throughout their career.

Recovery is just as much about the training and how one warm-ups has subtle effects that may make an athlete 'age' much faster. I know cryogenics can theoretically prolong life, but in terms of movement, being cold can strain body structures much more.

The coaching details I observe are breathing rates (I stand close enough to the athletes to hear their breathing); the first few faster drills/movements will require a little more time as the enzyme activity increases, capillaries dilate and the disassociation of oxygen slowly improves, being cognizant of mental states/mood (how is the athlete behaving today vs. other days; subtle body language/facial cues/reactions to you and others/etc.), what day of the week it is (athletes tend to get slight energy boosts towards the end of the week... *sometimes not though, and this could be a real potential indicator for some serious changes that need to be made), time of the day as circadian rhythms will effect hormones, body temp and other physiological processes, time of the year which can greatly effect the circadian rhythms with the upper latitudes experiencing greater diversity such as that here in Grand Forks, North Dakota; think about what it's like to warm-up at 6 am when body temp is usually near its lowest and the wind chill is -30 degrees F; and in the spring when temperatures drastically change warm-ups may be shortened to save from sapping energy the goals of each workout. But as the summer progresses, a heat acclimated body's cooling efficiency necessitates probably re-extension of warm-up volume. Other aspects such as individual personalities, times within the training season and on the school calender, and even motivation from team success factors can play a larger role than most might think.

Now these probably seem like a lot, and I don't have a 100 different warm-ups for every scenario, but I do make sure to tweak here and there with a few additional movements or added time to make sure that we are warm in the both physical and mental sense; or for some individuals, scrap parts of the training for the day. I am working on getting more objective measures for this type of stuff, but I still feel pretty confident with evolution's unlikely and amazing eye and ear. Hey... and developing a real strong relationship with the athletes helps quite a bit too; mom and dad can usually tell when something 'isn't quite right' with their son or daughter. That part of the collegiate environment is great because of the time to spend with the athletes, and any chance you get to spend time with them outside of the usual training and sport environment is time well spend, so long as it's genuinely getting to know each person better.

All of this falls under the umbrella of really trying to be aware of the setting and time given for training. Sequencing exercises within a workout, sequencing workouts to allow for precise recovery and so not to overload specific movements and systems to a point of slow or no return, understanding the "psychological stress" that different days of the week may present and there time within the year play a role covers a lot of ground to ensure both sides of the training/recovery street are kept moving as best as possible. Damage control is much easier when there is less damage to control.

This might be a simpleton post on warming-up as there are so many factors to consider and reasons for certain warm-up routines and drills; even different perspectives on what to do and justifications for when and why that could be right in the certain contexts, but the bottom line here is maybe diligent warming-up can really save on the body acutely and long term... "easy on the transmission big fella".

Some thoughts

2010-12-10T10:57:00.013-06:00

Just a few thoughts to wrap up this week. I hope to have a chance to get a few more blog posts down in the coming weeks as we head into the semester break. It's been a great fall but I, like the athletes, are looking forward to the holiday break; it will be a good chance to reflect on the fall semester, what went well and not so well, get some further reading in, work on some changes, and most importantly spend time with family.

-We often complain about athletes not "stepping up their game" in either training or sport performance, but are we as coaches "stepping up our game". It's always easy for me to point the finger but more times than not, I need to be pointing the finger at myself. Am I taking action to improve, or am I just talking about it? Do it... or at the least do something and learn from it.

-I once got an email from a colleague with a story about a teacher who was teaching a math class with mixed students of 'advanced' and the 'less advanced' students. The teacher did not know that the students were of different levels, he thought they were all advanced students. By the end of the year, all his students were receiving high grades. Because of the teachers expectations and standards, every student rose to the challenge and in a sense became 'advanced' students in the subject. Storyline: High expectations, standards, and belief in your students, athletes, people leads to positive outcomes.

-Praise your athletes once in a while on the quality of work and effort they are doing; it goes a long way towards developing the necessary habits and skills to continue to put forth. Athletes don't need to be told how great they are, but they need to know that you are aware of the amount of work, effort, and time they are putting in. Even for the athletes that don't "get it" and fall into the catagory of "I could do without working with so and so", find something positive in what they do and make a point of it; hopefully it will lead into improvements in other areas. Fighting fire with fire usually leads to more fire.

-If I treat athletes in a mature way, the athletes respond in a mature way. I put this quote on twitter a few weeks ago; "Mature athletes require mature parents." -manager of the Danish National 49er Sailing Team. Growing-up about how we lead goes a long way; lead by example.

-My search is often for the smallest change to have the greatest effect; I am looking for minor tweaks that can ripple through an entire program of work... unless of course the whole program sucks and needs to be overhauled; sometimes tough decisions need to be made. My hope is that I am aware enough to know the difference or that am able to objectively enough see what's necessary.

-National Corrupt Athletic Associaton.

AS

For Any Sport Coach

2010-12-09T08:42:00.002-06:00

An important read from Kelvin Giles and Vern Gambetta; this goes beyond just soccer as the concepts can apply to all sports.

Soccer Small Sided Games – The problem, not the solution!

AS

A great read; the power of culture

2010-11-29T09:41:00.006-06:00

It's been a busy semester and I have not had as much time as I would like lately to read, but I did get a chance to take a look at this excellent paper looking at the ecological components of the IFK Vaxjo track and field club in Sweden:

Successful talent development in track and field: considering the role of environment.

Henriksen K, Stambulova N, Roessler KK.

Institute of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. khenriksen@health.sdu.dk

Abstract
Track and field includes a number of high-intensity disciplines with many demanding practices and represents a motivational challenge for talented athletes aiming to make a successful transition to the senior elite level. Based on a holistic ecological approach, this study presents an analysis of a particular athletic talent development environment, the IFK Växjö track and field club, and examines key factors behind its successful history of creating top-level athletes. The research takes the form of a case study. Data were collected from multiple perspectives (in-depth interviews with administrators, coaches and athletes), from multiple situations (observation of training, competitions and meetings) and from the analysis of documents. The environment was characterized by a high degree of cohesion, by the organization of athletes and coaches into groups and teams, and by the important role given to elite athletes. A strong organizational culture, characterized by values of open co-operation, by a focus on performance process and by a whole-person approach, provided an important basis for the environment's success. The holistic ecological approach encourages practitioners to broaden their focus beyond the individual in their efforts to help talented junior athletes make a successful transition to the elite senior level.

Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2010 Oct;20 Suppl 2:122-32.

A few quotes from the paper that stood out to me:

-A prospect athlete commented on training with elite athletes:
"I believe they remind us that it is possible to become best in the world when training in this club. We train besides them and see that they also get tired, but manage to stay focused. Sometimes they invite other world class athletes, and we see how they interact and benefit from training together."

-"I was called up by an American coach who asked me about some training issues in heptathlon. I told him it was difficult to describe over the phone, but I could just send him Carolina’s last seven years training plans. He was stunned and said: ‘‘You are crazy, man. You should make a fortune on those plans’’. I told him it was just training, not secrets, just a lot of papers with numbers on them. What counts is what you make of it, how you make the athlete train with focus and intensity. He did not understand."

-Ten years ago we rejected co-operation with a set of parents. They were very skilled coaches, but they wanted to turn a group of 13-year-old kids, including their own children, into an elite group. We told them: ‘‘You are more than welcome here, but in this club we will not break up a prospect group to create an elite group. If you want to do so, find another club’’. They did. Three years later, all of their three sons, who were very skilled athletes, had left the sport. I talked to one of them later and he told me the experience just wasn’t any fun.

-The athletes must learn to be responsible, which requires foremost knowledge of oneself. If they miss training, it is up to them to catch up and show me what they have been training on their own. Every day we work with their personal development finding a balance between helping and not helping too much.

... and an important, uncommon, look at some of the discipline characteristics of their athletes, (an approach many of our athletes might find useful to adopt)...

-The prospects mention partying as a major part of youth culture among their non-sport peers that fits poorly with life as an ambitious athlete. The athletes appreciate their Saturday morning training session, which gives them an excuse to leave early on a Friday night and several athletes have at some point deselected friends, who were unwilling to accept their athlete life style. A coach commented on the high expectations placed on youth in Sweden: “The young athletes, particularly girls, are expected to do well in sports and school, to help around the house and even to look pretty and dress right. These are tough demands”.

... and one more; a great point on attitude...

-Another resource worth mentioning is the attitude of coaches and managers involved in the different track and field institutions in Växjö, clearly illustrated by the words of an elite coach: "We have managed to build an elite organization with exceptionally many and skilled coaches. In this regard I give a damn about the club. I refuse to see this in a perspective of club, high school, university or whatever. What counts is all track and field in Växjö. We need to disregard who has the main role and simply provide the best possible training for any serious athlete. In total we are 26 coaches involved with elite and very talented athletes. You will not find this anywhere else."

IFK Va¨ xjo track and field club has a special booklet to present their core values of the club to new coaches, parents, athletes and business sponsors. Within the book are a set of 7 assumptions followed by the club:

-“Our blue book represents a mindset. Adopt this frame of mind and you will be able to answer almost any question… We have deliberately compiled a philosophy rather than a manual”

1. Excellence can be reached through cooperation and openness
2. We are a family, in which everybody contributes
3. Group and team organization is a precondition for the development and continued motivation of athletes and coaches
4. Attitude beats class (explained by an elite coach: “To be crude, I really don‟t give a damn about how good they are. I can work with any athlete as long he or she really wants this”)
5. An athlete is a whole person
6. Successful development is more important than early results
7. The club can always improve

Pretty damn good stuff if you ask me.

AS

Realization

2010-11-12T08:42:00.002-06:00

One thing I realize more everyday is to not mistake common for normal. Or even common for average, because I am afraid common is usually far below average.

But then again, I guess it is all relative to perspective.

AS

"Coaching" assumption

2010-11-02T11:43:00.010-05:00

It's important to have good cues for teaching different techniques, but what's always been a real 'eye-opener' for me is asking the athletes to explain what those cues mean. On many occasions a cue I have been telling athletes for a certain lift, drill, or exercise has meant something entirely different to the athlete... or meant nothing at all. I have asked athletes, "do you know what I mean, when I say ______ ?", or better yet, "can you show me what I mean when I say ______?" The responses have often times been 'I don't know' or a blank stare. No wonder they have not improved.

Coaching is more than just telling athletes what to do and barking out a few cues. Interpretation of those cues is critical. Patience with the time it takes to do things right and to coach right is vital to the opportunity for success within any program. I am continually working on this patience and making sure to take the time to utilitize not only words, but even more importantly in ultilizing good demonstration, followed by repetition, then the necessary/optimal feedback, followed by more repetition.

It's easy as a coach to fall into the trap of assumption, but athletes usually don't have near the understanding that you do as a coach. It's important to not overload athletes with too much information all at one time, but to give it in small doses and then be absolutely certain that they know what you mean.

"You haven't taught until they have learned" -John Wooden.

AS

Irony

2010-10-31T22:10:00.004-05:00

and...

From the back cover of "Movement" by Gray Cook:
“Exercise and rehabilitation time is valuable—too valuable not to use a system. Gray Cook's Movement uses a systematic approach to exercise and rehabilitation built on the fundamentals of authentic human movement.”
-Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

Who's not educating who?

Pogo Hops

2010-10-21T09:40:00.008-05:00

Within my own personal training I experiment often, playing around with different techniques and movements. On more than one occasion I began a session feeling less than optimal (tightness in the back or hip, a little knee discomfort here or there) and on more than one occasion, I've had amazing improvements in my body's feel from simple pogo hops; hops straight up and down, hops side-to-side, front-to-back, diagonal patterns, etc. I've gain improved range-of-motion in a deep overhead squat, improvement in toe-touch flexibility and just a better feel and energy flowing throughout my body. At times it has felt like complete "fascial unwinding"... whatever that is and whatever it feels like???

This has even extended beyond my personal anecdotal evidence of my self to a few athletes I've worked with.

So what is it with the pogo hops?

The key it seems is the ability stay relaxed like a boxer (think shadow boxing) and "springy" like one of those $.25 super balls, staying on the balls of the feet.

I don't expect it to have magical effects for everyone, maybe no one else (maybe my mind is working autosuggestion on me). Pogo hops might be useful warm-up drill or low-level plyometric. They might work well to teach lower leg stiffness for those that need it. They may "wake-up/activate" certain neuromuscular components. Heck, they might improve digestion. I don't know. Test them. Context and creative application is the important thing.

I am not recommending pogo hops as the next "big thing" or that we all need to go to Africa and learn secrets from the Maasai people; although we might learn a great deal (and more than just big "ups"...). But stepping back even further, I want to make a case against money wasted on expensive "exercise" equipment. In this case, equipment like vibration platforms. What is really going to be gained from a several thousand dollar piece of equipment? To me: it seems such a waste. That money could go towards coaching education or even towards a charity. (Hey?! How about a charity that gets people off their asses?!)

In the case of the pogo hops, I am theorizing (please understand that) that if done right, the athlete learns quick, powerful 'bounce' off the ground which necessitates a powerful synergistic muscular contraction up and down the entire body, and then followed by quick and complete relaxation once airborne, and then the subsequent quick, powerful contraction again upon impact. Again, done right (this is absolutely key) it can have a 'vibration' effect on the body because of the fast, rhythmic contract/relax pulsing. Plus the athlete has the opportunity to actually learn something about athleticism and rhythm (something that is quite absent I've noticed these days), and a little bit of plyometric effects for the lower leg. What does the vibration platform teach?

So again, let me be clear: I am not looking for big things from pogo hops. I don't expect huge verticals, massive cleans and snatches, blazing speed, cuts on dimes or any dominating performances... you need the real and complete training for that.

I am also not looking to start any pogo hopping craze. Like a 'rebounder' hype, except minus the rebounder because that's just more money out of the budget.

All I am really saying is, don't believe the hype. Instead get creative with bodies not machines. Don't waste your money on pricey gimmicks. Sure they may have an effect, but lets use it for the geriatric population or astronauts, not young healthy people. And if you argue you need a specific amplitude and a frequency of 30 Hz, I've got another option I found out while riding my bike this summer; ride over the speed bumps on the side of the highway. Want to increase the frequency? Ride faster.

Just be sure that there isn't much traffic. Sure a bike costs money but the cool thing is that your bike has multiple purposes.

Weird things happen when you move your body (sarcasm).

AS

Be Strong and Be Real

2010-10-20T09:26:00.014-05:00

I apologize ahead of time as I worry this blog often paints a picture of me being a grumpy, 'meathead' strength coach. It's just that writing can be very theraputic for me as James Pennebaker states in his book: "Opening up: the healing power of expressing emotions."

It scares me.

Scared of the frailty I see.

Scared of the lack of strength.

I see it way too often and I work with collegiate athletes, so it must be worse with the general population. It's not just a matter of moving a certain amount of poundage. Maybe it's the ability to handle one's own bodyweight. Do a pull-up? Do a push-up? But even more importanty, apply one's a best effort. Not give-up because it's sooo hard. (insert Big Pun's song here)

It goes far beyond the so-called "physical"... I, as a coach, honestly can't help a person if they don't have the 'strength' to help themselves. It really isn't a matter of the physical strength, because as I've said before, there are no weak people, just weak efforts.

A few of the lines I've heard from my perspective in my world:

"I am worried about dropping the weight on myself."

Really?! You have that little faith or confidence within yourself to be able to save yourself from dropping a weight on yourself. Nine times out of ten the person saying this is lifting a weight that is less than 25 lbs. (I find this to be a real insight into the 'inner' workings of that individual... it's not a matter of an outward, physical display of strength)

"I am scared I am going to break my wrist."

It's your bodyweight... and your feet are not vertical over your body, so it's not even your entire bodyweight. If it is that fragile, maybe a break would do your wrist some good. Word on the street is that broken bones heal to become stronger than before they were broke.

"It hurts my back everytime I do a push-up."

'Okay??? So what are WE going to do about it? Scrap the push-up? And why am I hearing about your back hurting 8 WEEKS into the training? I can only help those that want to get better. Let's fix that so you can do a PUSH-UP without your back hurting. If you expect to perform your sport, yet can't do a pain-free push-up, should you really be playing the sport???'

This isn't really a case of what is going on in what we call the structural components of the body, but more of a vast gap between the thoughts that one has and the outward expression of those thoughts, specifically the conflict between those two. What is it that you really want?! But I am not here to delve into the "deep" ends of the human mind.

These are just 3 of many things I hear at the start of each new school year. And... this is coming from collegiate athletes, who we assume are supposed to have some level of athletic superiority... or at least society would believe it to be so. Obviously there are sports like football in which the culture understands the value of strength (but many times only the 'physical' aspect of strength is understood as the sense of entitlement grows daily) and "most don't want to train like football players", but I digress... So what does this say for the rest of the population?

We are at a crux of physical frailty, and we don't know what is going to happen. The folks who are getting old and dying now, came from a generation where physical labor was still part of the norm. Not so with this generation.

What's being done about it?

What's being taught in PHYSICAL education classes? Are standards in physicality too "mean" to hold the kids too? Is it going to hurt Johnny's feelings too much? Are we being honest with ourselves and those we teach? Why is it so much different in other school subjects?

What are parents doing? I think young children are inherently 'strong', let's just not enable them to grow weak. Are we enabling this weakness to infect every part of our being? Because, I'll say again, strength isn't just about lifting a certain amount of weight. It is the STRENGTH to give it one's best effort. To not give-up in the face of a little adversity. We create such a dichotomy between the mind and the body, but are they really something seperate? Like I said, those that are in society that are DOING things or have DONE things, grew up in an era where a little sweat every day was the norm. They developed, if you will, both the so-called mental and physical strength. What are we developing today, or tomorrow; or what did we do yesterday? What did we do yesterday?!

* I think much of this goes back on culture and the praise of outcomes. Sports are a perfect example in which 10-15 years ago, it was a rarity to a high school game on TV. Now we are lucky to be able to flip through the channels and not see one. As a young high school athlete I had a dream of being on ESPN. Not so now. It's only worth it to do if it's on the "big time" or if you are the best. No time or patience for the process of everything. If I am not good immediately, why bother with consistent effort to improve. As I often tell the athletes I work with (mocking myself driving in my car, pulling up to the McDonald's drive-thru window), "I'll have an order of strength, power, speed, agility, and why not super-size that with some conditioning."

Check out Carol Dweck's research. Lot's of application for teaching/coaching.

I spend an inordinate amount of time each fall, sometimes well into the spring semester, trying to convince/motivate/inspire that applying a little effort goes a long way in a lot of things... and it takes time; both to change mindsets and for the improved effort to take effect and become better. It's not quite as easy as just applying a program/plan to the athletes and expecting greatness.

Improving something is very simple, it comes down to intent. If you have a real, honest intention to get better at something, it will happen; maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday. The only real limiting factor is time, but if we plan well, there is usually more than enough time.

The question that needs to be asked is, "Are we being honest?" Honest with those we teach or guide? Honest, again, with ourselves? Should I lie and tell you you are something you're not? Say something is easy and happens fast? If it is easy and comes quick, great! But don't expect it.

And one side note/thought: I am not going to 'sugar' this... if you are in a sport that has some component of power and you can't squat (and I am talking the one and only way to squat: right) over 315lbs. for a male and 185 lbs. for a female, well, that may be a problem (and I would say those are generously low numbers). Now I don't know if those are magic numbers and if they hold in all cases, but let's get serious and understand the real necessities here.

We live in a culture that has the highest of the high in a lot of things, but that also means we will have the lowest of the low in many other things. Let's not let our health, let alone our strength bring it all down.

I guess this rant became more than just about strength.

Stronger, quite simply, is better than weaker.

AS

Boring

2010-10-15T09:05:00.011-05:00

Thought I would blog today since I have a little time and have been very slacking in my blogging. Absolutely nothing "cool" to write about lately. No secrets or gimmicks, just boring old (actually quite the opposite, I really enjoy it) training and coaching...

1. We're working on perfecting the Olympic lifts to take advantage of the potential power benefits associated. Quality pulling and catching. Making sure it starts right and ends right.

2. Getting athletes to continually progress towards heavier and heavier loads in overhead, front, and back squats. Teaching the importance of a controlled descend/eccentric and an extremely powerful and fast ascend/concentric. Focus on lots of lateral heel pressure throughout, knee alighment and hip drive, great depth with great spine posture. There's only one way to squat: right.

3. Utilizing some real posterior chain movements; deadlifts with an RDL pattern for returning the bar to the ground. RDL's of course. 'Old-school' straight-leg hip extensions off the glute-ham with again controlled eccentric with an explosive concentric movement, making sure athletes are moving precisely at the hips. Eccentric glute-hams (3-4 second), used at the end of the week to allow for the longest recovery before the next microcycle of training. Heavy kettlebell swings done with minimal knee flexion and focus on powerful hip drive/snap.

4. Weighted chin-ups, pull-ups (all variations), and push-ups. Again, controlled eccentric with a powerful concentric. Spine posture is paramount in the push-ups with maintaining a subtle, slight posterior tilt of the pelvis to keep the anterior torso 'engaged', good hand positioning (under the shoulders, touching the chest to the ground with full 'extension' at the top. Head position stays in 'neutral' throughout. For the chin-ups: NO 'air' bicycles. legs motionless, full 'extension' at the bottom, chest to the bar... EVERY rep. Last rep is always finished with a very focused and controlled eccentric.

5. Balanced dose of single-leg work. Lunging of many sorts, but mostly reverse lunging. Back-loaded, front-loaded, overhead barbell lunging. Maintain as vertical spine throughout all forms of lunging so as to keep the glutes "interested" in helping with the movement. Making sure the lunging is hip led and not knee led. Same as usual: controlled eccentric (big step), and fast, powerful concentric. Making sure our trail-leg knee "kisses" the floor on every rep (even if the front foot is elevated). I tell the athletes that the trail leg is only for balance; 90% of the load needs to be on the lateral aspect of the front heel.

6. Sprinting. We sprint a lot. Maintain proper eye gaze on the acceleration aspect, proper head/neck position (in line with the spine). Powerful arm action; front to back motion. Correct foot interaction with the ground, staying on the forefoot, making sure the foot strike is under the hip at top speed. Keeping nice, tall, relaxed posture throughout. Making sure we are actually running fast when we do run (times).

7. Agility. Change of direction, similar foot interactions with the ground. Teaching athletic positioning using the hips for power. Soft, but violent feet. Get the toes and hips pointed where you want to go.

8. Developing the ability of the athletes to jump well, high and far and to land those jumps with cat-like precision and ability to be able to "live" to jump and play another day. "Catching the ground".

9. Conditioning. Whether it be running of different sorts or circuits. Getting athletes the necessary work capacity to handle not only the demands of their sport but the practices that the different sport coaches run.

9. Really, much of my job, especially the younger athletes, is teaching them how to train. How to approach each set, rep, drill; focused, quality effort. Technique. How to lift weights with purpose. How to "own" the loads being used. How to spot their teammates. How to get strong, how to conditioning, how to run fast, how to jump high, how to control movements, how to do everything we do in training.

Why we do the things we do. Teaching the "science" of training. Basic stuff, but necessary for the athlete. Teaching them how to recruit more motor units, what targets fast-twitch fibers, what targets what energy systems. This helps create a "sense of purpose" with what we are doing.

Education on lifestyle skills. Why and how these can effect their performance in not only athletics, but school and life. Developing the relationships to get athletes to comply to these lifestyle skills and to be able to honestly discuss their "downfalls".

Attitude. The attitude it takes to get strong, fast, explosive, quick, etc.

Commitment and discipline. Committing to being great at a few things and not average at many. Having the discipline to do the things necessary to maintain that commitment. Right now, for many of the athletes I coach, it's sleep and limiting and/or eliminating the negative nutritional intakes (processed food and alcohol).

As the coach it's important for me to stress these things EVERY day, not just once in a while. Learning is on-going and repetition is so very important. And more importantly, it's necessary for me to do my best to demonstrate the things I am trying to teach. It's easy to talk the talk, but walking the walk is the way to teach the lessons. It seems we live in a culture of ever-increasing talk, and less and less walking. Words are great, but action gets it done. Simple, but not easy. Easy sucks.

Well, this post turned into something longer than I was planning to spend time on. What this whole training thing comes down to though, is that it's a process. The process doesn't happen over night, or even months and sometimes in 1 year; it takes years. I try to get the athletes to "buy-in" to this process and find the enjoyment in it. It's about continual striving for perfection. Perfection is impossible, but having that ideal gets one heading in the right direction.

... and to honor one of my heroes and mentors, whose birthday was yesterday:

"The journey is better than the inn."

"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."

-the late Coach John Wooden, who would have turned 100 yesterday.

Kendrick Farris C & J 211

2010-10-12T08:25:00.001-05:00

Not bad (quite amazing actually, the deep squat jerk is impressive)... maybe America does have hope in weightlifting. A nice change from his odd half-squat, half-split jerk.

Move.
AS

Rockstar (and then hungover) athletes

2010-09-21T13:00:00.007-05:00

So here's how it goes:

I am a collegiate athlete all of 22 years of age. A senior on my team. A "team leader". I train excruciatingly hard 4-5 days per week, nearly year round. On the weekends, I hit the bars and parties until sometimes 2-3, maybe even up til 4 or 5, in the morning. I usually eat a large pizza when I get home to slave off the next days hangover, or I just pass-out (sometimes not even in my own bed) and wake-up the next day around 11 or 12 pm. If I'm lucky and it's only Saturday, I'll get a bite to eat, maybe take another nap in the afternoon and then awake to start the partying and same routine all over again. From here I'll use Sunday to lay in bed all day long (head throbbing), maybe do some homework if my brain can handle any thinking at this point, but mainly just try to recover enough so that Monday can start the next week of hard physical training.

This is common. Common among many college athletes. Don't believe me? Please wake-up.

Maybe it is just me... but it sure seems as though alcohol use is rising and is becoming more and more the norm within athletic environments. It seems as though coaches expect it, are ok with it, and hell, maybe even promote it (not even aware they are doing so).

Alcohol seems to be the white elephant no one wants to deal. Maybe because it's so sacred to everyone. No one is up in arms about smoking bans, but an alcohol ban... well we already know what happens with a ban of alcohol. But does alcohol and athletics have a place together? Where do we draw the line between being "rockstars" and athletes? This day and age it seems we don't. The culture is about being "cool", not necessarily good... or at least good for a long time. Everyone can usually get a taste of success (it's not beer), but it's the great ones that sustain it. Maybe being a "one-hit wonder" is all anyone wants anyway; maybe it's too much work for anything more.

Let me be clear, I am not entirely against having a beer or two (I'll drink, in moderation, once in a great while) every now or then (alcohol has been shown to have some health benefits), but most of these athletes aren't having just a beer or two... many are completely "wrecked" after one of their all-night benders, let alone doing it 2 nights out of the week. I know many athletes are hitting it hard both Friday and Saturday in the off-season training... I mean really?! What happened to the athletes who cut the drinking because 'they are in training'? Yes it is the culture, but does it have to be? It seems that it has become more and more acceptable, and the only other activity to do outside of sports and school. Kids must not know how to comfortably hang-out or pick-up ladies (or ladies meeting guys) without a little self-esteem "boost" from drinking. Obviously all this is a reflection of much bigger issues in our country, but I'll digress here.

*A disclaimer... I have experienced the wild nights and the next days hangover. It wasn't a common occurance for me, but I've been there and done that. I've learned and no longer advocate it. Just because one makes mistakes, doesn't make one a hypocrite for trying to help others from doing the same.

I sit and 'fight' in my head daily, 'should I include this exercise in the program? Should I periodize it this way? Should they be eating this? Having these supplements?' Yet the drinking that many do, just totally annihilates them on some of the most important recovery days of the week.

How about foam rolling? Massage? Ice baths? Any recovery method for that matter? How about just not drinking for one weekend? Let alone a season and/or off-season.

It's not even just the act of drinking that effects things. Heavy drinking is usually accompanied by late nights with little sleep or horrible sleep, ordering a pizza late to hopefully keep away the hangover (junk diet), and it could be considered a gateway drug. Sure alcohol is legal (if your 21), but so is candy, and staying up all night, and living a sedentary lifestyle.

Being in the line of improving sports performance, I am again amused at the level of detail that we go into on things that I think may not do a damn thing, yet we barely get the basics right, let alone even 'touching' the alcohol issue. We'll harp on nutrition, getting good sleep, but alcohol? Forget it. Are we as coaches, sport and performance, even promoting it? Or stating that it's acceptable, by are words or actions?

We all want better and better performance. We all think we have new and great ideas on training. Yet many of us struggle to get our athletes to do the basics well; and to limit or stop the use of alcohol is one that is too sacred for anyone to even touch on. Maybe it's something we can't live without? But think about it... I know of many athletes who 'get their drink on' 2 nights a week. This is nearly 30% of their year. About 100 days of 365 in a year. Holy shit... think what an athlete could do with 100 extra days of something positive happening per year!

And to add, much of this complaint could be thrown back on parents, as it seems that included in the weekly grocery list is to make sure there is enough alcohol for the entire family.

I guess just half a commitment and mediocrity is what we'll take and accept. Or is it? Is having a different philosophy and rules on alcohol not possible?

These are just thoughts I wanted to put out there; things I think about when trying to decide if I should be discussing nutrient timing, working on breathing techniques, theraputic/corrective exercise, stabilizing the dynamic neuromuscular system, wondering if the athletes need the first 30 progressions before they can scratch their ear, and so on... (c'mon fellas, please have a little humor here. I have used, still do, and maybe will use anyone of these things in the future, just not for 95% of the training)

Move.
AS

Physical Education/Cultural Standards

2010-09-02T09:33:00.007-05:00

We had a good, slightly heated, discussion yesterday in the class I teach, "Fundamentals of Physical Conditioning" and here are some of the questions I posed:

Should an individual be able to perform 10 pull-ups (chest to the bar, all the way to a dead hang, no bicycle legs or swimming stroke kicks) in order to be able to graduate high school?

Be able to run a mile in under 7 minutes?

Attain a specific average in the 300 yard shuttle test (2 trials with 2 minutes recovery between reps)?

Demonstrate 30 push-ups with precision technique?

Maintain a high level proficiency in a scored movement assessment of running, jumping, climbing, and lifting techniques?

The list could be pretty extensive, but you get the idea.

My argument is that somebody has to step-up and (re-) 'up' the standard. Why not school P.E.? Or are we just too soft?!

The other situation I presented was an at home example. The other evening my 4 year old daughter wanted to watch a video after we got done eating dinner (it was a sing and dance along video I'll have you know, so it wasn't a totally passive video). I told her she could if she did 100 push-ups first. She gladly obliged and proceded to perform push-ups. Her technique leaves a little to be desired but she's working on it... she just turned 4.

As she's off in the living room counting "... 19, 20, 21... ", my wife 40% jokingly, 60% not (that's what it was, I tested it with a tone meter) argues,"Don't you think that's child abuse?"

"No." I immediately responded turning back to continue to monitor Eva as she continued doing push-ups after a brief rest.

All this got me thinking a little more, and I've often wondered, 'is something like this, having my daughter do push-ups just for an opportunity to do something, bad?' What's more abusive, paying with push-ups for a privilage or making a kindergartner sit still in a desk for a total of 2-3 hours out of a day... setting the stage for the beginning of the end for many when it comes to an active lifestyle? Or better yet, feeding our kids the school lunches?

Move.
AS

Nice run for Tyson Gay

2010-08-06T20:34:00.002-05:00

Good to see Tyson Gay get Usain Bolt. Not sure what will come of this, but should spark some good competition for the future. Key will be for Gay to be able to stay healthy for an extended period and continue to build on this.

Maybe something with Stockholm Olympic Stadium that doesn't bode well for Bolt.

We'll see...

Move.
AS

What matters?

2010-07-22T13:46:00.004-05:00

I am all for getting down to the details of things in human performance and physiology, but what this often leads me to is just more questions. A couple specifics, the "inner" and "outer" core and breathing:

1. The "inner unit" vs. "outer unit". I know what this is, but my question is how?

-How does a very thorough warm-up change activity in this? How does general athletic movement change this? Can we really tease out the two? Does any of the direct exercises for the two "seperate" units really carry over to game play? Really?!

-How does this change for an athlete who goes from de-conditioned to conditioned with no direct work on "inner unit" exercises?

-How does 'cleaning up' one's diet effect this?

-How does going from 'hating life' (tired, stressed out, relationship problems) to 'loving life' change this?

2. Again, diaphragmatic breathing.

-How does a good warm-up change this? Increase body temp, changing biochemistry, changed perception from getting active, decreased parasympathetic control... how do all these changes effect diaphragmatic breathing?

-Does a few drills done in a therapy room with conscious focus carry over to entirely different activities with faster speeds, and completely different afferent inputs?

-How does this change for an athlete who goes from de-conditioned to conditioned with no conscious focus on breathing mechanics?

-How does 'cleaning up' one's diet effect breathing?

-How does going from "hating life" (tired, stressed out, relationship problems) to "loving life" change breathing mechanics?

-With both these, "inner and outer" unit and the diaphragmatic breathing, how does a day of chores change this? How does a day at the computer change this? It's summer time and I go from changing my daily routine of sitting in class during the day and studying at night (if I was a student) to spending 70-80% of my waking hours physically active; how does this change things?

-Or how about this one? A person 'spills' there thoughts and feelings to a friend about what's been bothering them; you can instantaneously see a change in their breathing.

I know these questions open any and every can of worms, and takes us into realms outside our scopes of practice, but they are things I think about. I am not some psychiatrist who looks for people to lay on my couch and tell me their life... it's just questions I have and wonder if "picking fly shit out of pepper" is a good route to take? Are we barking up the mechanic's tree, when it should be someone else's tree? Should we be looking for different solutions, other than trying to Lego piece things together? Solutions that are more 'broad and sweeping'?

I don't doubt this is knowledge that may be important, or techniques that may have some application, but time, focus, and energy are fleeting; what should and what needs to be done?

Another thought: We might ask, "how is it connected?" with regards to the human body, or everything in life for that matter, but I think a possibly better question is, "HOW IS IT NOT CONNECTED?". What you find is that everything is connected. I say an instruction to my daughter and she cleans up the mess she made... meaning had an effect on matter; or either it's all meaning or it's all matter (but I am leary of absolutes...). It's just comes down to, "to what degree?"

Thoughts???

Move.
AS

Why I ride my bike to work

2010-07-15T13:30:00.012-05:00

A few reasons why I ride my bike to work, plus some other stuff.

1. It's good for my health. The 8-16 miles I bike in a day is good low-intensity movement (cardio... how I hate that term).

2. It's a great warm-up for a day of coaching. We start training sessions real early and if I'm not "going" in the morning, I'm gonna miss things and the athletes are going to sense my low energy. This could be a blog post in and of itself, but I'm starting to think that coaches should do an equal amount of warming-up as the athletes prior to each workout. The reasons are endless, but enhancing blood flow throughout the body and to the brain are going to sharpen many things. Increasing the release of certain neurotransmitters from movement is going to enhance cognitive function and warm the body temperature to increase nerve conduction velocity; I'm gonna be sharper and bring more "energy" to each session. The athletes are going to sense this energy or lack thereof; we're social animals and emotions flow osmotically from person to person and since emotions are the driver of motivation... well... this is pretty important.

3. It gives me a chance to feel the weather; the air temperature, humidity, cloud cover and wind. These things are going to have an effect on the athletes physiology for the workout and I can make decisions, or prepare adjustments, on the extents of things like the duration of the warm-up, volume and/or intensity of all aspects of training, and get a feel for the outcome of that days training. The environment has a greater effect on us than we often think. Atmospheric pressure can have effects on respiration, and this can have some pretty dramatic effects. This goes as far as the previous weeks/months weather, which can affect things like allergies or asthma. The list of physiological effects are great and things like mental states are not excluded... and sometimes mental states are the biggest factor. So as the bike ride gives me a chance to take in that days weather conditions, I also keep close tabs on the weather year round. I have my dad, a farmer, to thank for this; growing up with lots of talk and lessons of weather. Lots of factors to be considered and the environment ranks real high.

4. Directly related to the environment, I ride my bike to save on it. Sure it's minute, but if you want to change the world, you have to first change yourself. I hold myself responsible to try my best to do my part... which brings me to a current event issue, the Gulf oil spill. We can bitch all we want about the awefulness of this (which it is) and express all our anger toward BP, however, everyone of us is equally responsible. Even though I ride my bike to work, I still use a car, I fly (1-2 times a year) on commercial airlines, mow my lawn, use all the amenities of modern technology, hell, I even use a bike that had to be produced and shipped to me somehow. Now I am not taking sides in this issue, but we need to be aware of the entirety of the situation at hand. It's cultural, political, it's the ideologies that have led to our current situation. Again, it constitutes awareness and choices; like I said, if I want to change the world, I first have to change myself... that means you, me, us.

5. Related to number 4 and saving on the environment, it also saves me a lot of money. But maybe not, as it requires more energy from me, and makes me hungrier which costs more for food, which increases my consumption (which costs me money), which increases production, which increases pollution... and down the rabbit hole we go... hahaha!!!! The ouroboro of life; we need to choose our battles... I'll ride my bike.

(Speaking of saving me money, this is important for me as strength coaches don't make jack... at least for most of us... *ahem* big-time DI coaches. I'm not complaining... but I am. C'mon powers that be, PAY UP! I mean, jeez we're just strength coaches who only spend more time with the athletes than any other coach or athletic trainer, are expected to improve their performance and keep them healthy and injury free, be the first (athletic department personnel) on campus in the morning and the last to leave at night, and have no "off-season"... just to name a few. Like I tell folks, the only major difference between me as a strength coach and those that work for... nevermind.)

6. Riding my bike to work, I can take different routes and get a little off-road and get out into nature. I'm not going to go into much detail regarding the endless positive effects of nature on our health and wellness, but I am going to recommend an important book; "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv.

To take a shot, it's our disconnect from nature that could be argued to be one of the deep roots of all our predicaments. We're animals just like all other animals and you rip an animal out of it's natural environment and you get problems. Zoo animals have many of the same problems we have in our society... so what are we? Zoo animals?

From wikipedia (scientifically "classy" I know):

Captive animals, especially those which are not domesticated, sometimes develop repetitive and purposeless motor behaviors called stereotypical behaviors. Examples of stereotypical behaviours include pacing around or self-grooming. These behaviors are thought to be caused by the animals' abnormal environment. Many who keep animals in captivity, especially in zoos and related institutions and in research institutions, attempt to prevent or decrease stereotypical behavior by introducing novel stimuli, known as environmental enrichment.

Weird. Sounds eerily familiar...

Ok... moving on...

7. Related to nature, riding my bike I get additional exposure to the sun. This can be tied into a lot of things health, not just vitamin D (which is important). Getting in the sun can go a long ways towards mental health and resetting circadian rhythms. Depression is an ever-growing issue and sun helps. Sleep disorders are another problem. Having trouble falling a sleep at night? Having odd sleeping patterns? Increased sunlight helps re-adjust or keep functioning naturally the suprachiasmatic nuclei (small region in the brain above the optic chiasm, optic=think eye) which controls circadian rhythms, the neuronal and hormonal activities that roll with a roughly 24-hour cycle. Lack of sunlight can throw these rhythms entirely out of whack. Trying getting more sunlight and see what happens.

8. Lastly, but in no way the least, by biking, I get the opportunity to say hi to folks. Maybe this helps towards enhancing community.

From my empirical experience (n=1), riding my bike is a good thing.

Move.
AS

A couple thoughts and a REAL issue

2010-07-02T10:05:00.025-05:00

1. Where's the recovery? Training sessions and options that coaches are advising are getting interesting. Now I am all for maximizing time in a workout, but it seems like the lego approach is getting crazy. Jumping from a work set of squats to some ankle mobility, to some activation, to some upper body exercise, all the while trying to focus on better breathing. Too many things to think about. I don't know if there is enough cognitive real estate for an athlete to be able to multi-task that much... where is the recovery between sets. How much can you cram into a training session, while still becoming amazingly good at a few things... recovery (as in standing around doing nothing) can be a good thing and isn't always time wasted (it's also a good time to coach as I'll discuss in the next point). Sometimes to get strong and powerful requires time to regroup and focus on the next set.

2. An athlete's perspective. Coach Sean Skahan had a good post similar to this idea a while back; "Lead By Example". To build on what Sean was saying, do coaches know what it's like to be in the athletes position not only from the physical work being done, but also having a coach calling out cues and corrections in a non-stop, relentless manner? I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to have the roles reversed a number of years ago, when I partook in a workout with a good friend who I had been training. He started calling me out with the same cues and corrections I had used with him, and I realized how damn annoying I had been. I wanted to say "shut the f***-up!" From this point forward I worked to say what needed to be said and then shut the hell up. Coach, but also let the athlete work and move; often they are trying to make the motor connections, it's just that sometimes these things need practice and time, not a nagging parent. (Sorry about the photo ladies. I do love you, but this photo is just too funny)
3. I'm all for science but when it becomes the only way to see the world we get problems. Science has given us another perspective, but that's what it is... just another perspective. The problems arise from folks having their heads shoved way too far up their microscopes ass; having a narrow scientific view of things. This is unfortunately too often the case as in a recent Newsweek issue covering "The Science of Healthy Living". Thankfully we have people like Frank Forencich shedding some hopeful light on a very dark and sorry subject in our culture; "Where's my habitat?" But even Frank and many others can take their message into the scientific realm and do battle, as science is starting to add real evidence to what, for many, at one time seemed irrational views of the world. Many still deny the evidence... to quote Frank in his rebuttal to Newsweek:

"This is not some sort of mystical, hippie-quantum physiology. This is a real cause-and-effect process that is backed up by hard-ass, evidence-based research. Mind, body, land and health are intimately connected. You can pretend that mind is separate from body or that body is separate from habitat, but if you do, you’ll perpetuate a dangerous falsehood that is profoundly health-negative."
What we have is a REAL problem in our society, particularly with our culture. I often get caught-up in addressing and debating training issues as they relate to athletes (being a strength and conditioning coach), but the more relevant problem is the collective health of Americans. With the Fourth of July only a few days away, why not celebrate this holiday weekend enjoying family and friends, real food, nature, and lots of movement. At the very least, instead of getting in your own personal workout, skip it and take a friend or your family outside for some movement. A simple walk would even suffice... we'll all be better off for it.

Move.
AS

Legit

2010-07-01T14:13:00.002-05:00

This is one of the more impressive things I've seen lately. This obviously displays her posterior chain strength, and equally impressive coordination around the hips and torso; able to maintain a relatively stable hip and pelvic position throughout. What one can assess from this is some tremendous capacities around her center of gravity, which is a commonality of great athletes. But the real key is to be able to take this kind of strength and have the body control to use it well on one's feet.

Now whether this specific strength translates directly to performance (bobsledding in this case) is questionable, but coupling this ability with Emily Azevedo's athletic background, makes her a pretty legit athlete. The video is just a brief glimpse of the abilities of an elite athlete as the glute-ham raise is not always indicative of many things... but it is a glimpse of some capacities, especially when the glute-ham raise is done off the floor in this manner... my first response was WOW.

A few quotes from an article on Emily:

“At first I was a little surprised. I know nothing about bobsledding,” Edson said. “However, when I saw her perform, it appears to be an event that is made for her— requiring strength, quickness, some size, good balance and kinesthetic awareness. Those requirements are true for both hurdling and bobsledding.”

The translation into bobsledding success was relatively easy for Azevedo.

“Being a hurdler and a gymnast, you learn a lot about body awareness and biomechanics,” she said, “and especially being a gymnast from a young age, you learn about all of that. That carried into hurdling. I’ve learned how to make adjustments – it’s easier for me to compute what needs to be done.”

In bobsledding: “There is a lot of technique involved— not just sprinting with the sled. It’s pushing 500 pounds successfully and fast… and knowing how to make adjustments and fix things technically.

“Hurdling is a technical event – I loved it. It’s not just sprinting and running. Running is not as exciting as hurdling. It’s the same kind of thing in bobsledding. Loading into the sled – throwing your body in – it takes practice.”

An important take away here though is Emily's heavy background in gymnastics, which she competed in up until age 16, and her track ability. She, at one time, held the 100 meter hurdle record at the University of California Davis. What makes her truly legit is the fact that she can run. So many coaches and athletes like to highlight weightroom feats, but my question is: can they run? The ability to run is fundamental, but to do it fast and well is important. In most sports, big numbers doesn't matter if one can't run well. Let's see both, strength and speed, with great coordination as Emily has.

Move.
AS

Hat tip to Josh Leeger for directing me to the video and to Jason Ross for posting it.

Physical Education 101

2010-06-22T11:30:00.015-05:00

Reflecting back on some of the important experiences I've had that has made an impact on my coaching, outside of having learned from working with and training under some great coaches, my undergraduate degree in physical education has had an enormous influence on my coaching skills especially with regards to team settings. It's unfortunate that physical education degrees often get a bad rap, where many just think it's roll-out the ball and let them play (which can actually be a good thing). Or Mr. Woodcock style (although I do like his style),

Mr. Woodcock: "Are you going to be a loser?"

Young Farley: [wincing while doing pullup] "No sir..."

Mr. Woodcock: "Rhetorical Farley. I already know the answer. You are a disgrace to fat, gelatinous, out of shape little kids the world over."

However the teaching skills I gained from an excellent P.E. program have been my most used in all the application. In the program we not only had the usual classroom lecture and discussions, but were fortunate to have the opportunity to apply P.E. lessons to classes at a small local private elementary school, who unfortunately did not have a full-time P.E. instructor. This gave us the chance to teach an entire semester of classes ranging from sport education, skill development, and dance.

No real particular order, but ones that stood out and have influenced me:

1. Body orientation. As a teacher it's important to position yourself to be able to see the entire class from where you stand. Having the ability to roam about the environment helping individuals, while with a quick glance, being able to assess the activity of the entire group. This means that even if a student comes up to you with a question or you are giving individual feedback, you still have your eyes and ears facing the entire group. Regardless it is a matter of repositioning yourself or the student, always have your eyes and ears towards the class.

Always be able to see and hear as much as possible.

2. Keep them active. Everytime we taught, our college instructor and one other fellow student would record instruction time and activity time. At the end of the day of teaching, we would tally up the number of minutes giving instruction in which the students sat or stood listening and the minutes the students were engaged in physical activity. Our goal was to have the students active for something like 75% of the time or more where students were moving. Having minimal instruction time, with maximal activity time, maintaining that the lesson was being comprehended. This forced instruction to be precise and concise.

Time is a huge limiting factor, maximize it. But please... don't just do stuff to do stuff... because energy can be just as limiting as time.

3. Specific feedback and correction. We were also recorded for the amount of feedback we gave and the type (along with being video taped). It was okay to give general feedback such as "good job!", or "nice work" but at a minimum. as our professor was really looking for was specific feedback. Whether it was evaluative or corrective, it needed to be specific; "Push the ground away from you", "bring your elbow towards the sky" (corrective); "you're doing a nice job of extending your elbow", or "good step on that throw" (evaluative). One of the main things I remember being emphasized was catching them while they are doing something good, using positive specific feedback (not raving praise, just 'neutral' compliment), while being vocal enough for the rest of the class to hear. If they heard how Johnny was doing a particular thing well, everyone paid attention and tried to be like Johnny doing that same thing he was doing.

Give specific, accurate feedback. Make it positive but don't 'drool' over something or someone.

3 1/2. Along with the specific feedback, another important ability is to be able to adjust back and forth between local and global feedback. Giving instruction/feedback to an individual in close proximity while quickly giving instruction/feedback to an individual at a distance away from you the teacher, and then quickly getting back to the individual closest to you again; easier understood seen done than said. This also relates to voice dynamics which I'll comes up in a later point, but having the ability to communicate effectively both near and far over a large group. All this relates back to body orientation and the ability to see and hear the entire group.

Be able to extend your communication over a large group and area.

4. Group feedback. Playing off number 3, group feedback was important because it often covers many issues that much of the entire group has/had. While maintaining good positioning for yourself to see the entire group, you may begin to see an error show up more than once by multiple students. At times it's important to stop the entire group and bring them together to make some specific points. Instead of spinning your head trying to correct each individual, group feedback allows a teacher to correct many students while only giving the feedback one time... basically just teaching efficiency.

Teach efficiently, cover important points with the entire group.

5. Another opportunity with the individual or group feedback is to check comprehension. Instead of simply just 'spoon feeding' the information, asking the student(s) the question(s) regarding a specific movement, drill, or skill requires them to provide their own feedback on the situation at hand. The student(s) providing the feedback (answer) enhances the potential for the point to be learned affectively, drawing on the emotional specificity of it relating to him or herself, making the association (neural connection) stronger. Cold call if everyone stares with blank looks (this will help enhance engagement).

Strengthen comprehesion through questions.

You obviously don't want to go overboard on the group feedback, as the group will lose interest and motivation from excessive stop of everyones' activity. Only use it at a points where it necessary and will have a collective effect, even reinforcing things for the ones doing things correctly. Use your teaching/coaching sense...

6. Teacher enthusiasm, voice dynamics, and nonverbal behavior. Teaching enthusiasm affecting performance and learning goes without saying; a teacher excited about what he/she is teaching tends to care more and work harder to get the lessons across, while making the students feel that what they are doing is worthwhile. Along with enthusiasm comes voice dynamics and the ability to change loudness, pitch/tone, and timing of delivery. Included with the voice dynamics are nonverbal behaviors of the teacher, utilizing hand and body movements when presenting information. Having the uncanny ability to adapt the communication to different learners and situations is the most artistic ability in teaching/coaching. This takes continued practice and experience. This is as important of a skill a teacher/coach can possess and practice, there just isn't any substitute.

Present dynamically.

7. Demonstration. One of the best and most obvious ways to communicate in a physical setting is through the use of demonstration. A demonstration needs to be accurate and when possible it's important to use a student to demonstrate. Using a student to demonstrate, frees up the teacher to direct the students focus to specific aspects of the movement. Another possibility here is the use of media, which again leaves the teacher free to guide attention to particular points about what is being observed. It's vitally important for the teacher to guide the students observations of the demonstrations. The demonstrations need to be repeated multiple times, and it is thereafter, that more traditional verbal communication can be used because now words will have more relevance to students who now understand better what's being discussed. At this point a teacher can stress how and why a particular skill is performed a certain way.

Good demonstration breeds good demonstrators.

8. Cueing. Make cueing simple and precise; short phrases that are consistent and easily remembered (rhymes help a lot). Take the time to explain in greater detail the specific cues early, and from then on use the short, quick, and accurate phrases only when necessary.

Short and simple cues.*

This last one I did not learn in about in my undergrad but I think has some pretty strong effects and is important to think about...

9. Teacher expectancy. This one's important and is a maybe a little less tangible, but the teachers expectation of the students really has a strong impact on achievement. Having belief in your students goes a long way with their success. The teacher is strong in their influence on the culture of the group and building a strong group culture is paramount in creating an achieving environment. An area of expectation that a coach or teacher might be well advised in looking into is the work of psychologist Claude Steele of Stanford University. His "stereotype threat" research is pretty interesting regarding performance and a coach might well invest the time to try to inflict a positive stereotype with his or her athletes within the culture of the team.

Again, this is just a few of the many concepts I gained from my physical education degree. I continue to practice and work on refining these concepts daily, but the fact that I had the opportunity to begin this practice over 10 years ago in my undergraduate education has allowed me to make some of these skills become more unconscious, freeing up conscious 'space' for other information/skills to hone. With that, my honest (albeit biased) suggestion for someone wondering what they should major in if they want to become a sport or performance coach is physical education.

*One of the things I am working on with regards to instruction and feedback is attentional focus. I am trying to come up with cues utilizing more of an external focus vs. internal focus. An obvious example is with a basketball player shooting; attentional focus on the rim and spin on the ball (external) vs. focus on the positioning of the shoulders and extension of the elbow and flexion of the wrist (internal).

Backed on research, external attentional focus wins 'hands down' in improving performance and decreasing muscle activity vs. internal attentional focus, making an athlete more accurate and efficient.

A specific example is, in the past I've struggled with teaching athletes how to bound well, even using good demonstration. Basically I had the athletes use their imagination about crossing a rapid river full of the deadly crocodiles and hungry hippos, and that stones were spaced apart across the river. Their objective: cross as quickly as possible leaping stone to stone avoiding the crocodiles and hippos... magically they bound pretty well. Cheesy I know, and athletes think I'm weird but its been effective. For shorter bounds, stones are closer together; long bounds, they're further apart. Another way to do this with an external focus, would be setting up mini-hurdles or objects at specific spacing to get the effect. The important aspect is to just learn the movement, once this is down the specifics can be adjusted and refined later. Another example of using external attentional focus is teaching tuck jumps and the athletes playing the role of Mario having to jump over barrels coming at them.

Obviously these things can be done with hurdles or other objects, but in large group settings and with minimal time, imagination can work pretty well.

Move.
AS

It's upon us!

2010-06-17T15:04:00.005-05:00

The apocalypse is fast approaching...

Hilarious! I think Mister Rogers enjoys this device for other reasons too (1:49 mark).

Move.
AS

(Thanks to Erwan Le Corre for pointing this out... on second thought... maybe not... Ignorance is bliss... until shit hits the fan.)

Be wary of absolutes

2010-06-10T11:55:00.006-05:00

(After thinking over the previous title of this post, I realized that "There are NO absolutes" is a paradoxical statement, as "There are NO absolutes" is an absolute.)

Over the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with some trunk flexion exercises; floor sit-up movements (working on quality spinal flexion), some hanging curl-ups. These supposed death sentence movements have played out nicely for me personally. After a solid set of a specific trunk flexion exercise, I've taken a little shoulder pain and erased it from my senses. Along with improving overhead ROM and pressing technique, these trunk flexion exercises have also helped cleaned-up my overhead squat pattern and lunge movements... and I've felt better the last couple weeks than I have in a while. I know simple trunk movements won't directly improve certain athletic measures, but improving the coordination, flexibility, and neuromuscular and fiber strength of my trunk will impact, and has, the real work that does lead to better performance in these measures.

So, what does this mean to the anti-flexion ideology with regards to training the torso? It's not simply one or the other. With that being said, there are many athletes that I work with, that I would no way in hell have perform these movements; while there are some that I have and will.

Will repeated flexion cause some sort of disc/spine damage? Sure, as any REPEATED movement can. It doesn't mean some may not benefit.

The important thing as coaches is the ability to decipher what's necessary. Understanding movement, but be able to look, listen, and ultimately learn from each and every athlete. Each athlete is going to bring a unique difference outside of the usual 2 arms, 2 legs, a torso, head... you get the point. The idiosyncrasies of movement patterns, postures, and mindsets have to be considered. I agree with most coaches that an understanding of some sort of ideal is important, but not all shapes fit into perfectly round holes. Athletes have been adapting since birth and sometimes I think we have to accept there will be differences that we may not be able to change or may take years (structural and connective tissue adaptations). I've seen athletes with foot and ankle structures and motions, for example, that don't match for perfect ROM and scores on a squat or lunge test, yet are some of the best athletes I've seen with no injury. Not saying it won't happen, and maybe they can improve, but I am always questioning what's right. I've also seen athletes with exceptional "weightroom" movements who have chronic muscle pulls and joint issues.

Anyway, trunk flexion movements have been helping me lately. Some will say that scratching a scab feels good too, but doesn't make things better... but I feel pretty confident with what I am doing and I've gotten plenty of reasons/theories as to why this has been beneficial for me and I'd be more than happy to discuss.

Regardless, I just wanted to share these thoughts...

Move.
AS

Getting Fit or Fit

2010-06-09T10:24:00.011-05:00

I've blogged this in the past, but quite simply, conditioning is vital. I am reminded of this daily. It's so much more than just energy systems. Specificity of movements (or non-specific a la "cross training"/variation), velocities, sensory stimuli, nutrition and hydration levels, sleep, and pyschological states.

I am not going to advocate the idea of old school aerobic base (actually I am, just different methods), but I will say a conditioning base. It comes down to being fit and it doesn't just start in the first few weeks (or last few) of the off-season or pre-season; it's year round. There are adaptations that have to take place throughout the body that needs time, just as building strength, speed and power do.

There's nothing magic or secret about it, just that very fit athletes tend to fare better than those that take many minutes to regain their breath (and composure) following a simple warm-up or agility drill... and a de-conditioned athlete, I would argue, is more likely to get hurt than one that is well-tuned.

Can you run/sprint well, change direction over and over, move your body in a multitude of ways with a quick tempo, all while being able to get the heart and breathing rate to fall quickly back into a comfortable zone upon completion?

Everybody lifts hard. Everyone does some plyos. Everyone sprints and does some agility work. Not everyone conditions (year round). It can be specific conditioning sessions or just sequencing and pacing of the movements, lifts, and/or drills one is already doing. Athletes can look very impressive in the weightroom or run fast or jump high on precise performance tests but once the real game starts, is the tank empty after the first few minutes. Speaking of the beginning of a competition, pre-contest anxiety can really compound this, making conditioning, again, very important from an ability to recover from this, but also the familiarity of having actually gasped real hard for air before and the confidence to know we are in shape for the entire duration.

But remember that there's balance that needs to be applied, because while conditioning is critical, it cannot destroy ones ability to develop more speed and power... but being more fit (in the correct domain) should enhance this. And, considering the current state of things, I am not too concerned that many are really conditioning too hard... outside of some endurance athletes. (That seems to be a common thread; endurance athletes need less conditioning, while other intermittent sprint sports need more... )

Survival of the fittest... and not just who falls off the wagon; get fit and stay fit so everyone stays on. It comes down to the most highly trained and physically energetic, and the symbiotic relationship between those two traits.

I've mentioned Walter Payton before; another that comes to mind is Jerry Rice... who was influenced by his then teammate Roger Craig. These guys made Montana's job easy. Ahhh the good old days...

Move.
AS

"American Idle"

2010-06-02T21:04:00.007-05:00

I read "American Idle" by Mary Collins back in February. It's a well written, inspiring, and extremely important book. If we want 'better' in any domain, this is where it starts. I highly recommend you, and everyone you know, check it out... it affects us all.

Move.
AS

The Big(ger) Picture and Insights of Athletes

2010-05-26T11:21:00.006-05:00

Carl Valle has a couple excellent posts over at Elitetrack to check out:

Posture Palmatum

More on Posture

Alan DeGennero made some excellent points in his talk at the BSMPG in Boston, and Carl reiterated those and furthered in his post "More on Posture":

"Alan brought up the fact that personality has a correlation between injuries with athletes, perhaps hinting that corrective exercise is not the panacea many think. He saw the relationship between the art of coaching and sports science (namely sports medicine). When I read about posture in a 1940s PE book they mentioned how important creating confidence in young boys to encourage good posture. The book included a picture of a sapling growing, it was very similar to the bonsai tree example I wrote about earlier about addressing posture early in the career and the training season. Athletes need to start off feeling confident in your program and about their abilities to be good, and cocky athletes seem to have great posture in general. So doing 3x12 of a corrective exercise may help, but athletes are 24 hour creatures and need a coach, not just a trainer. I care more about the pelvis but upper back work starts with a complete program that encourages those positions under real load. Back squats, power cleans from the floor, snatches, and restoration work on developing this. It takes years and is hard work, but it's worth it." -Carl Valle

I completely agree and it echoes similar thoughts from my post Emotional Movement Intelligence.

There is so much more to athletic development than what just goes on in a workout. Being a coach requires developing a relationship where open communication can occur, because often times it's the athletes who hold the answer. It's easy to soley evaluate the structure of an athlete and view things from a purely mechanistic perspective which we should as it's part of it, but not all of it, and we aren't dealing with machines...

One thing I added this year to our soccer s&c program was classroom sessions; actually more of a discussion session. We would meet as a team once per week to discuss relevant topics such as nutrition, daily activities and their effects, recovery, physiology concepts to create clearer understanding of what we are trying to accomplish, and/or any current affairs issues that may be affecting us. My thinking was that if I came across information in which I would think 'man, I wish I would have known that when I was competing' then why not give that opportunity for the athletes I work with to have that knowledge and understanding? The athletes asked questions and I provided answers or direction as best I could. I found these opportunities opened more doors to better communication but also increased motivation and intelligence with regards to their personal efforts. What occured though was beyond just education for the athletes, it was education for me; the questions (and even arguments) brought greater depth to what I needed to do or change with my approach. The athletes also provided tremendous feedback to me as to what they liked, disliked, and potentional ideas to improve things. It's something I will continue to use...

Move.
AS

What is it?

2010-05-13T11:07:00.005-05:00

A lot is made of assessing athlete’s movement and criticizing what he or she does wrong. There are very often cases where poor movement leads to injury, but there are also cases where there seems to be poor/inefficient movement that leads to excellent performance and very little occurrences of injury. Can we make improvement? Sure. Should we try to make improvement? Most definitely. What amuses me though. is how quick we are to blame or assess the movement when we rarely blame or assess the environment and/or equipment. Specifically, let’s look at running… instead of having one microscope on movement…

What about looking at the terrestrial environment? Running on hard, flat surfaces repeatedly is asking for it.

What about equipment? How would changing footwear or getting rid of shoes all-together change things? We don’t necessarily do to well in the expensive products.

What about an individual’s social environment? Why are they running? Is it enjoyable? Is there a deep psychology reason for wanting/needing to run? Is running a marathon or half marathon just ‘what everybody’s doing’?

What type of personality is an individual bringing to their activity? Emotions are strong in that they have the capacity to change us; how we see the world, our approach to whatever we endeavor, and most definitely how we move.

What came before? What type of lifestyle have they lived? What was/is the long-term adaptation to the specific activity(ies) that they partook.

How about diet? What about all the possibilities with one's nutrition? Different cultures have vastly different diets.

Then there’s the activity itself… Is running, especially long distance running good for you? There’s been research on showing both sides of this one, from the basic idea that cardiovascular/aerobic exercise is excellent for health, to distance running/marathons are bad for your heart; increasing plaque in the coronary arteries. Increased bone density vs. the repetitive stress injuries…

An excellent book that has received a lot of attention is “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. The book was an excellent story regarding ultra-running, the Tarahumara people of Mexico, shoes, and how humans are ‘built’ for running. My fear though is that most people missed the most important aspect of the book; the Tarahumara people, their culture and environment. What most people took is that we can/should go run long distances and run barefoot or at least with minimal footwear.

What the Tarahumara are not is probably more important than who they are with regards to their astounding health and ability to perform amazing running feats. They do not bring a “Type A” personality to their running (Type A personalities can bring some pretty serious health implications to the table). They don’t attempt to accumulate a specific number of miles each week, following a specific routine. Most of their running is ‘community’ based in their ball game they play while covering long distances. They don’t have a sedentary culture centered on the individual and “advanced” technology. They don’t wear the type of footwear that Western culture grows up with.

… And… this is important… their ecological environment is extremely varied; huge canyons of constantly changing terrain, making their running into an extremely random activity… far different from the monotonous steady-state drudgery that most view as long distance running. This is another case and point regarding the variation principle I alluded to in a previous post. The type of terrain forces changes in speeds and movements, making the Tarahumara’s form of running far different from being a repetitive steady-state activity; variation is necessary for health.

See more of everything to understand what’s really going on.

Move.
AS

It's not that simple, but it is

2010-05-12T11:25:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Josh Leeger for pointing this video out for me. It's a video of Haile Gebrselassie, one of the greatest distance runners of all-time. What the video shows is Gebrselassie's "excessive" foot pronation upon foot strike. What it also shows is that we shouldn't 'box' humans into ideals. What we need to understand is adaptation and be able to view movement/things from a much broader perspective. Stop chasing "ideal" and start looking and working for optimal.

Gurus/experts can present on their perspective, but remember, it's their perspective not yours; educate yourself to have your own... don't get 'caged' in just one part of the zoo.

Move.
AS

Relax and Breathe (and Win)

2010-04-23T09:22:00.010-05:00

There's been a lot of discussion lately (nothing new it's been around for 1,000's of years, just more if it) regarding breathing patterns. In particular, the importance of diaphragmatic breathing and its role in postural function by means of improving the "inner unit" activity.

The idea is to work specifically on diaphragmatic breathing by way of focusing on the intake of air and the expansion of the entire abdominal region (anterior/posterior/lateral). Patrick Ward and Carson Boddicker have been going into great detail the specific mechanics of this form of breathing. I suggest checking out their blogs if interested in more detail, they both have great information.

Here's a blog post I had from a couple years ago regarding breathing:

Breathing and the Spine

To add to some of the concepts, my thinking is that focusing directly on breathing might not be the best route to take when trying to improve a breathing pattern dysfunction. The reason being, is that breathing is an autonomic process and in the history of human kind is not really "natural" as something to have to worry about. Of course we are in a day and age where everything is a little 'screwed', but I think it's might be more effective to work with the sensorimotor system with which we have greater voluntary control over. Obviously we have, or we can develop great control, of firing specific muscles or muscle groups, and in the case of an altered breathing pattern we tend to use an 'upper-chest' technique, utilizing the muscles of the chest, shoulders and upper back. I have found it to be fairly successful in working on just relaxation of those muscles. If these 'upper-chest' breathing muscles are neurologically quiet, then what other option do we have than to resort to diaphragmatic breathing? ... plus the skill of muscle relaxation will go a long ways in improving motor control and potentially skill; not to mention the potential effects of reduced anxiety, etc... If one can truly relax, breathing usually falls into a normal, healthy rhythm; brain waves, heart beat, all of physiology falls into a more coherent state.

So much goes into muscle activation these days, but so many coaches miss the point that it is equally important to have the skill to relax muscles. But to take this even further... what's the root cause of excessive muscle tension and abnormal breathing patterns? What's the cause of the anxiety that causes the excessive muscle tension and abnormal breathing patterns? What's being done about those causes? The key is to keep asking questions? All those things need to be considered and dealt with. Dealing on one end, just the mechanical, may or may not, stop the leak while it is still "pouring rain outside"... and even then it's still just one small piece of a puzzle (cliche... I know), not the magic bullet. ... AND it's just another symptom, but I digress.

Some specific techniques:

Progressive muscle relaxation

Autogenic training

... or a classic, "Relax and Win" by Lloyd 'Bud' Winter, if you can find a copy... (or for a great overview of Bud Winter and "Speed City" email Carl Valle (elitetrack.com) about his the mediacast he recently put together)

.... or any Relaxation Technique... which could just lead back into working specifically on breathing... so then, I guess, just find what works best for you or each individual. Have options and keep asking questions.

Move,
AS

Attention Western culture

2010-04-22T08:16:00.008-05:00

I know this is so common that it should not surprise me and I'm sure doesn't surprise many others, but...

This morning I saw a young child under the age of 1 being fed waffles with syrup for breakfast.

WAFFLES COVERED IN SYRUP!!!!

UNDER THE AGE OF 1!!!!

Really any age eating this stuff is a scary thing. This absurdity just continues to blow my mind, however, sadly our culture knows no better; it's all we've been taught or grown-up to know. The idea that those who are the "powers" know what they are doing. Carbohydrates (outside of vegetables and some fruits), too some extent, is no different than crack cocaine. Then later in life we try to eat well and that "crack" is tempting us from all angles. We need to realize that we have a "drug" problem.

C'mon people! We have to wake-up and stop 'feeding' into this shit. We need to quit buying all the absolute garbage that is being sold as "food". It

Does not anybody question all the problems we are having as a society right now. Obesity, all the chronic diseases, almost any/all of our medical issues, or even just the common occurance of being sick all the damn time... or just feeling lethargic day after day. These high carbohydrate, sugar loaded, processed foods are weaking our immune systems and slowly killing us in every way possible.

The other major factor we need to quit, is to stop 'fueling' the technological side of things that is making any form of human movement an anomaly.

Two quick, simple answers: Healthy food and movement.

Has anyone seen the movie "Wall-E"?

Yeah... that's most likely us if we continue down our path.

HOLY F**K people, wake-up... take your lives back.

Sure I am being, what some may think, a little radical right now (if you haven't figured out that I am a little fired-up this morning). However, sorry for you, this is theraputic for me... (even though being ME focused is also part of our issue too).

Experts are now telling us that this generation of children will be the first generation that will not out live their parents! If you're a parent... THINK about that for a moment.

It's like my good friend Joe Schmidt said the other day; 'most parents would take a bullet for their child (at least I'd hope), but apparently not if it's a "slow bullet" that is destroying their health.'

(Deep breath... siggghhhh...)

I feel bad, because it is not really any one of the American people's fault (well maybe it is to some extent), it's just that we have been led to believe many false things about the food we eat. Even many of the experts and producers don't really know the harm we're doing. And this topic could run very deep... into our way of educating; how schools really don't teach us to think, etc.; but we have we have to start challenging our belief that all is right with the way we are doing things.

I guess it comes down to our values. It's funny... if you ask people what's most important to them, what do you think they'll answer?

If you're not sure on where to start with any of this to make a change, drop me a comment or send me an email. I'd be glad to direct you to some resources as best I can or get you in touch with some very well qualified people. No hidden costs.

One that I'd start off with recommending is Michael Pollan's latest book, "Food Rules". A simple guide with a bunch of very simple rules to follow regarding eating. You can probably find it anywhere for around $10.00, or better yet check your local library... that's a pretty good place to WALK or BIKE to, to 'hang out' for a while.

I am NOT sorry for this rant,
AS

Ahhhhh, sleepless nights

2010-04-20T01:39:00.008-05:00

This is what happens: one of my two little ones (usually my 11 1/2 mos. old son) wakes in the middle of the night and I can't get back to sleep. My mind starts racing at a speed I just can't seem to control and I lie awake thinking, just thinking, trying to make connections... so instead of just thinking I am typing... this blog post.

- It's interesting... the idea is to continually get better at something. Athletics, business/work, parenting, whatever. The whole idea is that we are never satisfied and want more. The problem is, we are always looking ahead, yet the best of us only comes out when we are content; desiring no more or satisfied. This 'state' puts us completely in the present and gives us a chance to be/work/play in a flow state or 'in the zone'. Yet paradoxically, being content or totally consumed in the present is what really allows us TO improve, at a high rate. Contentment means we are ready to accept the change of one state to the next... improvement.

So this might sound odd to those that are always preaching improvement, but... be content and realize that getting better will happen. Because to be content, there can be no faking it and whatever it is you really enjoy, getting better is and will be the only option. ... so the moral is, find something you truly enjoy, something you love, otherwise you're wasting everyone's time and energy and certainly aren't doing the world any favors.

- I am completely amused by the sheer number of methods and systems there are in this field I work. I guess it's the logical outcome of a culture that has started by working larger to smaller and the hope is to 'tackle' the 'big picture' by breaking it down into the smallest of pieces. There's many different movement systems and training methods all fighting to memetically infect themselves into the user to manifest to be the end-all, be-all answer... or more simply, to make more money than the next. What I find as a coach, is it's liberating to not have any financial or emotional connection to any one method or system. This allows me to learn freely, while applying freely, what might seem necessary at any particular moment and time.

What gets lost in the "chest beating" guruism is the environment, tribe and individual. How can any one system perfectly match the specific context and individual(s) background? It's like the seperation of studies in Western culture. Great... psychology, but what about physiology. Ok... physiology but what about psychology. Awesome psychology and physiology, but now, what about ecology? How about culture and religion? Socioeconomics is a factor. The list could go on and on (and it's here)... but these are factors that need to be taken into consideration as a coach. All of these create an individual(s)'s backdrop and gives them THEIR perspective. And their perspective can and will change the outcome of any one system or method, or even specific diets or responses to certain foods. All aspects of everything are relevant... Fields such as psychoneuroimmunology are starting to ask the more 'correct' questions and see things from a broader perspective.

And... I must consider all these as a coach and test out different methods, but I really think it ultimately it comes down to coordinating self-exploration and understanding. This is where true learning takes place. In individual sports, this is paramount because to really, really be successful; one must figure out what they REALLY want and need. Within the team setting it's finding this balance of me and my team; what's best for me and what's my sacrifice to give to my teammates. My job as a coach is not to dictate, but to assist in this exploration, utilizing the means and methods necessary; not pigeonholing things into one system or way of doing things.

- With all that being said, athletes frustrate me when I'm not so sure they want to be there. Please don't waste my or your time!

- Josh Leeger had some absolutely excellent posts regarding teaching, communication, animal behavior, and science. One aspect was questioning science and how well it is actually "communicating" to people to create change. Sure a study or studies say this or that, but how many people really do something different because of it. Basically as Josh said, "Science is not a field of activism. It is a field of questioning and answering."

Here are some of my thoughts I posted:

Alright, I am going to try to make some connections here; with this post and your last post on teaching and communication, because I think you bring up some great points/questions.

I think it’s a situation in which science does not tell a “story”. Stories require emotion and that will not get a “scientist” published in a “professional journal” (using my low voice and straigthening up my collar). Case and point: for years now, performance coaches have been touting barefoot training/activity, but the problem has been that all of it has just been ‘rationalizing’ it with all the “scientific” reasons it’s important. Then comes along Christopher McDougall and he writes a STORY which just so happens to promote barefoot running/activity. “Born To Run” took the science and plugged it into a ‘tale like’ narrative that made people laugh, cry, grow anxious with suspense and excitement, made many angry (at the shoe industry and doctors telling runners ‘otherwise’) and most importantly motivated people to get out and run barefoot. Even though there was plenty of science, it was the emotion that drove this story to become “A MOVEMENT”.

… and all this ties into communication, because as you said, 97% of (effective) communication comes from emotion. 87% from body language; which again as the word emotion means ‘to move’ or ‘motivate’ and another 10% from tone; as I would argue is emotionally driven as well. Taking the body language, combined with our powerful mirron neuron system and tone of communication, emotions become the driver of all our ‘movements’. Darwin even pointed out the power of emotions in his work “The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals”.

So in order for science to work it needs to be communicated through stories. It seems as though science is just fuel for rationalist thinking. I don’t necessarily think rationalism is always wrong, it’s just that I think emotional communicating in the form of storytelling is an important key to getting massive action, change and improvement. Choose the right weapon for the specific battle.

An aside… I’ve had these discussions with my dad; but I think at the most fundamental level, Obama beat out McCain because of emotion. Taking, again your post on communication, Obama had better body language (the guy is an athlete, you can see the way he moves himself and McCain… well… he just can’t move period; not to be offensive in any way from his prior situation) and a more emotionally powerful message, which created the tone. These two combined (body movement and emotional tone), communicated to the majority better than McCain. Obama rallied people around “hope” with his unflappable and warm smile, and energetic body movements. All his followers’ mirron neurons just engaged these emotions into their bodies, and just ‘felt’ he was the man for the job.

… just my theory anyway.

- Female athletes have been challenging me lately... and it pisses me off. Not the ladies, but culture. Our culture sucks on a lot of levels and when image is of as high of importance that it is, real training is difficult. This ties into many of the factors I discussed above. The materialistic belief system runs deep.

Alright, I am getting tired again and I'll need to be up in another couple hours. Hopefully none of this is too confusing; I'll probably wake up tomorrow, check my blog and wonder WTF went on, on here...

Get some sleep,
AS

Good Reads

2010-04-01T20:25:00.005-05:00

Guru-ism And The Decline Of Coaching by Steve Myrland

and to add, a great interview with Steve by Vern Gambetta done a while back.

Move.
AS

2010-03-26T18:43:00.000-05:00

Variation Quotes

2010-03-24T09:56:00.002-05:00

Couple good quotes that connect with the variation principle from Aldous Huxley...

"The most characteristic fact about the functioning of the total organism, or any part of the organism, is that it is not constant, but highly variable."

"Too much consistency is as bad for the mind as it is for the body. Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead. Consistent intellectualism and spirituality may be socially valuable, up to a point; but they make, gradually, for individual death."

Move.
AS

Variation: the health principle

2010-03-18T10:51:00.004-05:00

I have spoken in the past about not losing sight of the importance of the specificity principle in regards to improving one's performance in any given endeavour. However, training, moving and living this way comes with a price...

"Specificity works, but at a price." - John Jerome "Staying With It: On Becoming an Athlete"

The 'beauty and the beast' of the human organism is that we have a high capacity for adaptation. Whatever it is we do, we adapt, more or less (dependent on context) to becoming better at whatever 'it' is.

It seems though, as far as I can see, that a large key to overall health and wellness is variety. It's something that I have to be careful to monitor with the athletes I train; balancing specificity with variety. Simply, variety keeps an individual adaptable but not adapted. Variation in the body revolves around the concept of homeostasis, the body's ability to try to regulate itself around a basal level of physiological functioning. More variety increases the fluctuations around this ever-changing, homeostatic "set-point" (some researchers say it should be, more accurately, called allostasis-an ever changing "point") which keeps the organism capable of handling these "stressors", increasing the likelihood for survival.

What are some of the costs from too much specificity and not enough variation? Here are some cases and thoughts (I could be wrong, so please call me out if I am);

- Tendon-itis, -osis: too much repetition of a specific movement pattern. (Yeah somethings gonna give if you keep beating your head against the wall)

- Training "plateaus": doing the same training over and over with lead to results but eventually the principle of "Diminishing Returns" takes hold and the only option to further improvement is adding variation.

- Flat (painful) feet: This is simply a symptom of our flat surfaces in the Western world with shoes that does all the "work" for our feet.

- Pain: Any type of pain may be from lack of variation, whether it be from thoughts (conscious/subconscious), environment/context, movement, diet, etc...

- Myopia: Children, during prime development stages, are required to do "near work" in school (reading, writing and now computers). Near-sightedness is simply an adaptation of the visual system.

- Immune Dysfunctions: children not exposed to a different variety in environments with exposure to dirt and germs weakens the immune system. Variety of exposure to pathogens keeps the immune system strong.

- Diet: Variety in diet (within reason; healthy whole foods) keeps the digestive system strong and functioning optimally. I think people are finding out variation is important in not only what they eat but when; hence the increase in "diet programs" pushing intermittent fasting.

- Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders: not enough variation between moments of stillness and moments of motion. Most children with ADHD respond pretty well with added movement in their lives. It's just another symptom of an F-ed up environment.

- Cardiovascular health: my thoughts here are, anything steady-state is asking for just that, STEADY. With the mounting research showing the importance of having high heart rate variability (HRV) it seems that something of steadiness is just not the answer. Add to this the coinciding accumulation of research supporting the benefits of high-intensity interval training over steady-state cardio, it seems that variety, once again, is the answer to improved health and function. Everything from telomere length to arterial stiffness, it seems that variety and randomness do the job of keeping things 'young'. (Huh!?... those damn kids have the answer AGAIN)

- Coordination: Every good coach knows that general movement skills are a prerequisite to specific sporting skills. The richer an athlete's amount of basic movement skills, the more easily that athlete can learn new skills. A good 'generalist' has the capacity to build more specific skills and the ability to peak those skills much higher. (Once again children develop a lot of these general skills on their own if given the free time in nature)

Along these same lines...

- Motor learning: Randomness in motor learning enhances retention and improvement in skill development. Further, variety and/or randomness in environment stimulate the brain, encouraging dendritic growth and more synaptic connections.

-Depression: this could be very arguable, and I am going to stick my neck out on this one... but depression is just another symptom to an information, sensory overloaded (usually of only visual and auditory) environment; and/or lack of variation in normal circadian light, and/or many more... but right down to the physiological mechanisms of an overload of stress responses with hormones being "squeezed dry". My thought is because the individual is not getting any variation on the 'recovery' end, the person's entire system just shuts down or 'hibernates' into a state of slowing everything down (depression). Just thoughts, so please, go ahead and chop my head off if anyone disagrees.

This list could go on and on, but the basic idea is that variation is the key to one's health. The important thing to remember here is that randomness is a good thing, but... a huge BUT, within boundaries of what constitutes health and wellness; good whole food, frequent quality movement, a 'well' community, lots of nature, good and enjoyable music, and a sense of purpose in this life.

However, within this healthy amount of variety or randomness there needs to be coherent rhythm of all things, which I think comes with living easily natural... what this is and how this is done, I do not know, this is for you and your community of close individuals to figure out for yourselves, but it comes within the boundaries listed above. All of this is what leads to the optimal or peak function of all things human and living.

I just thought I would share these ideas, because I am afraid we are in a society and time in which no one knows what the hell to do with their physical selves, with the vast amount of diet, health and fitness information floating about in this vast sea of media. As I tell the students of one of the classes I teach, "These first two class sessions are really the only two you need to attend. After that, if you completely understand the principles presented, you no longer need to attend." What we cover are, what I feel, the most important principles when it comes to health and fitness. Principles are the filter... once you "own" these, now go searching for gold!

Please feel free to share more examples of the variation principle in application or even disagreements. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Move.
AS

Quality T.V.?

2010-03-08T21:03:00.001-06:00

Maybe… just maybe this could lead to a revolution; one can hope. Finally something worthwhile on probably the most powerful memetic generator of all time, a television show that has the potential to make a positive change in our culture. I don’t care if the media pulls their usual stuff of embellishing the story, because the message here is right on. “Jamie’s Food Revolution” airs Friday, March 26 on ABC. It might be one of the only worthy shows on national television to actually view.

Move.
AS

Youth wisdom... better yet, youth fun

2010-02-20T08:34:00.013-06:00

I became aware of The Peckham Experiments after reading Josh Leeger's blog the other day. The Peckham Experiments were a series of studies done in southeast London in the early to mid 1900's looking at the health of the working class and everything that contributes to it when people are given access to a quality 'community'.

After reading through some of the information on the site, I came across a few paragaphs that I was completely amuzed by (I had to smile) and I think epitomizes the wisdom of young children and how adults need to take a lesson from the youth; being too "adult-like" in particular...

Here are the paragraphs from the site (even a well-directed recommendation regarding bare feet):

"A boy of 11 leaps through the air from a swinging rope and lands on the ribstalls; three boys are sitting contently on the top rungs of the rope ladders, five girls are playing a game on the 'window frame', while three girls and two boys have a large light ball and dodge among their fellows as they play; two groups of boys are wrestling on the mats; one boy is using the punch ball and five small boys leap from horse to swinging rope and back again."

"The gym was conventionally equipped, with ropes and rope ladders, suspended from a ceiling two storeys high, wall bars along two walls, a 'window frame' reaching almost to the ceiling and covering one end wall. There were booms, vaulting bucks, balancing forms, parallel bars, a punch ball, coconut matting and so on and an ingeniously sprung cork-covered floor. For the sake of the floor and to enable the children to use their toes for balancing and gripping and to become sure-footed, a barefoot rule was rigorously enforced."

Few adults wanted to use it, but for the children it was a great playground. Although a young physical education teacher was appointed shortly after the Centre opened to teach gymnastics classes, only a few turned up for them and then not very eagerly. She therefore introduced a game called 'Shipwrecks', placing all the equipment so that it was possible to move around the gym without touching the floor. She quickly dropped the idea of having a 'catcher' as the children did not like being out. They played this day after day and when the teacher left in the autumn of 1936, no-one replaced her. "It was found unnecessary to have anyone minding the children as they played. At times they played shipwrecks, trying out new movements - monkey-like leaps and swings- as they played, but mostly they worked individually at devising new skills and actions, being 'Tarzan' or 'Jane'. They practised these acrobatic skills hour after hour and day after day, placing the movable equipment to suit their needs.

Some of the equipment was used in a way for which it was not intended and which horrified conventional teachers of gymnastics; knots were tied at the ends of the climbing ropes, for example, which after a time, could never be untied. "

... and I would say to the kids... "keep tying that s**t tighther" ... hahahaha!!!

These paragraphs reminded me of Frank Forencich's blog post I alluded too in a previous post; "Just don't do it: the case against exercise".

Do you think the Peckham children did not get physically educated? There's some giant lessons to take from this.

Move.
AS

You can't teach speed?

2010-02-17T15:26:00.006-06:00

"What gets measured, gets managed." -Peter Drucker

How often has one heard that speed is genetic, or that you can't coach speed. It's probably the most dogma related human skill; something that either you have or don't. Sure we can make someone stronger, more mobile, better conditioned... but speed? Not a chance...

Is it the one untrainable human quality or does it lack the proper attention? Why do track athletes even train if one can not get faster?

In the weightroom, the athlete has immediate feedback, did I, or am I completing the task? i.e. squatting 405 for 1 rep. For the athlete there is always a “gauge”; the weight. Strength training becomes a skill for which there is constant and immediate feedback, for quality 'learning' to take place… increasing one’s myelin production.

With speed work/sprinting, how often does one have an immediate feedback mechanism or “gauge”? Is the athlete always sprinting against or after a measurable indicator that is immediately available to the athlete’s sensory systems for adjustments and corrections, or in the case of something as fast as a sprint, “I need to be moving faster”; like a lure or rabbit in greyhound racing. Or racing an individual who is slightly faster, which gives the athlete the IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK; is success being attained or not. This would allow for the skill development or ‘learning’ of speed, using greater intention to accomplish a specific task.

Without an immediate, obvious, and available indicator, the athlete has not much direction to channel intention. With the available feedback, i.e. racing an individual slightly faster or going after a lure, may also shift attentional focus from an internal focus, to an external focus, which has been shown in motor learning to enhance performance.

How often do athletes work on speed, and when they do, are they just guessing that they are going their fastest? Or is it 'hoped' upon that the work in the weightroom will magically create the speed. An example in collegiate sports is the first year freshmen's first practice in college. It's completely evident by the speed of movement who the freshmen athletes are. But over time this distinction becomes more and more blurred. As a strength coach I would like to think it's the training they are doing, but my guess is it's the fact that every day in practice they are competing against faster competition... FEEDBACK. Day 1 they know they are getting their ass kicked in every way possible, and that if they don't bring the proper intent with each move, play, shot they will be 'exposed'. It's the feedback and the subsequent adjustments (increasing one's standard and volitional output) that lead to the improvement in speed.

Then, ultimately the question comes, "faster in what?" A 40 yard dash, fast to a 50/50 ball, faster reaction to a line drive?

It's about training to a different standard. It's the athlete who is always looking for the best opponent(s) to challenge... to 'grow' one's self requires the proper environment and mindset to have and seek these challenges out. Playing with/against faster opponents, racing the clock, basically anyway that can be compared or measured. The weightroom is easy; the poundages are there, loaded up on the bar, with feedback readily available. The key for speed is finding the challenges which provide the feedback and having and taking advantage of the opportunity to develop this skill.

As I think it was Dan John who said, "I said it was simple, not easy."

Move.
AS

President's Day Variety

2010-02-15T12:49:00.004-06:00

Just signed into Twitter... I should know better... it just fuels my ADHD. Anxiety triggers all in one place, haha!! So without further ado...

-Speaking of ADHD, it's just another symptom.

-The invention of the chair; another top suspect in the long list of our society's ills. The teams I work with are not allowed to sit on anything that resembles the posture of that seen in a chair. If a person's going to sit, it's going to be on the floor... and not against the wall.

-Frank Forencich wrote an excellent post on his blog titled, "Just don't do it: the case against exercise".

-Variation. The most important principle for health.

-Some days on my lunch break, I drive (I drive... isn't that sh**y) by a local elementary school and am enamored by the children playing at recess. This time of the year, the kids seem to flock to the piles of snow; climbing, pushing or jumping off of, making forts, etc... must be something to playing on hills, not sure exactly what (have ideas), but I'll trust the kids on this one.

-Sets of 4, 7, 9, 11... the obscure rep numbers.

-Well, teams are trained for the day, I am off to pick up my daughter early and we are going sledding.

Move.
AS

Less work, more play

2010-02-10T08:53:00.006-06:00

Here's a link to a good post I read at Scott Berkun's blog.

Should Americans get more vacation?

If many of our ideals and values are to remain the same in our country, we need more thinking like this. If American's are getting more time off, maybe... just maybe, we all would be more apt to increase our physical and social (true social activity... actually being in proximity with others to communicate without the use of technology) activity. If we are to make any type of change for the betterment of our health, our "leaders" need to adopt more of this type of thinking.

Move.

Movement Adherence

2010-02-08T08:53:00.009-06:00

It's interesting... as our knowledge and understanding of the details of everything health and fitness get deeper, our country (or Western society as a whole) becomes more 'unhealthy' everyday.

Just take things from a medication perspective; what's one of the greatest challenges modern medicine faces? Prescription adherence.

A major problem is that exercise programs are essentially a prescription, leaving traditional exercise in the same category as medicine. Prescription adherence is, once again, the barrier to healthy movement.

As a culture, we need to find new and different solutions to our lack of movement, and prescriptions of programs are probably not the answer. Sure some may enjoy their 'programs' but collectively I am not so sure this is a sustainable option, and while a motivated few adhere, many are back to a sedentary life shortly after the New Year. It's important to find movement that one enjoys and that other's may enjoy as well. A person must find ways to work movement into everyday life. Just as Daniel Goleman's new book Ecological Intelligence suggests of ways to be better ecological consumers by knowing what we buy, where it came from and what it's effects are on the world; our society needs a shift in consciousness towards a "movement intelligence" in which we understand the importance of movement on our health and well-being, and have the consciousness to be able to make viable decisions within our current environment to attain greater frequency and diversity in our daily movements. Even more important is finding opportunities to get more play into our daily lives... however this is a great challenge, and would be for another discussion entirely, as the speed of life continues to increase and leisure time drops, leading to a decrease in community, which leads to a decline in all things health...

Its education and it needs to come from all places and people. Maybe something similar to what was done with smoking in our country? ... not sure, but we need to work on something...

Personally, as a strength and conditioning coach, I spend much of my time on searching and testing for the most effective ways to get the athletes better (speed, strength, power, agility, mobility, conditioning, nutrition, FIXING DYSFUNCTION... both 'physical' and 'psychological' and the interplay of those two) and what psychology is necessary to get this done... but many times this effort seems very futile. I mean coaches (both sport and S & C) want athletes to perform better and better, yet so many of today's athletes are or have been affected by our sedentary culture; a large decrease in free play outdoors and have learned awfully poor nutrition ("diet intelligence") habits growing up that we are now, as sport and performance coaches, we are to some extent working with 'unhealthy' people.

The thing I continually see is every expert coming out with more and more abstract information and products to fix this, improve that, when all they are is symptom fixes. Maybe we as coaches need to be redirecting our efforts to where it's needed. If we as coaches, athletes and fans really want to see the BETTER performances, the physical culture in our country needs to improve collectively. It may seem selfish on a sport level, but it's really not, because an improved physical culture (as you and I know) isn't just about improving one's physical fitness; it's about improving community, and the likelihood that people/children will be more active physically and socially, leading to better, healthier humans... which in the end, is a much improved canvas in which to create 'beautiful art' in whatever it is one may choose to pursue.

Move.
AS

Normal

2010-02-02T08:03:00.001-06:00

In the history of humans, this is the way we are supposed to run. Absolute grace and beauty.

Move.
AS

Disconnect

2010-02-01T09:13:00.003-06:00

The following was sent out last week after we had a snowstorm which started as rain/sleet and turned to snow, subsequently leaving everything ice covered... ahhh... North Dakota.

What this brought to my mind, which is sad, is the fact that we have become so 'disconnected' with our bodies and ability to move that we need "experts" to tell us how to do EVERYTHING. (... and to cover everyone's ass so that no one gets sued because someone moved their OWN DAMN BODY wrong)

The weather has caused icy conditions on our parking lots, roads, and sidewalks. We will continue to salt and sand to reduce the slipperiness as much as possible. Please report any hazardous conditions to Facilities Management at ***-****. There are some things that you can do to help reduce the risk of falling on ice. Here are some helpful hints.

1. Wear boots or overshoes with grip soles. Slick leather or rubber soles on dress shoes are unsafe on ice.

2. Don't walk with your hands in your pockets. This reduces your balance if you slip on the ice.

3. Take short to medium steps, or shuffle your feet in very icy areas.

4. Don't carry or swing heavy loads, such as large boxes or cases, which could cause you to lose your balance when walking.

5. When walking, curl your toes under and walk as flat-footed as possible.

6. Don't step on uneven surfaces. Step well over or avoid curbs with ice on them.

7. Place your full attention on walking. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by texting, talking on the phone, getting your keys out of your pocket, etc. while walking on ice.

Once again, observe young children. When it's icy they know what to do, or they learn real quick. Children who have yet to be 'scarred' by our culture, know to slow down and if they don't, they fall with grace and skill because of their excellent mobility... and can survive, to learn from their mishap, and play another day.

Move.

WTF?!

2009-12-16T11:26:00.002-06:00

Another apocalyptic sign...

Novel pharmacological approaches to combat obesity and insulin resistance: targeting skeletal muscle with 'exercise mimetics'.

Carey AL, Kingwell BA.
Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
andrew.carey@bakeridi.edu.au

Chronic diseases arising from obesity will continue to escalate over coming decades. Current approaches to combating obesity include lifestyle measures, surgical interventions and drugs that target weight reduction or the metabolic consequences of obesity. Lifestyle measures including physical activity are usually the primary strategy, but these are of limited long-term efficacy because of failure to maintain behavioural change. An alternative approach used to elicit the benefits of exercise training and overcome the problems of long-term compliance is to develop drugs that mimic aspects of the trained state. Elucidation of metabolic pathways responsive to exercise in various tissues, particularly skeletal muscle, was an important antecedent to the promising concept of drugs that may mimic specific aspects of the exercise response. From an obesity perspective, an important aim is to develop an agent that reduces body fat and improves metabolic homeostasis. This review focuses on promising metabolic signalling pathways in skeletal muscle that may yield 'exercise mimetic' targets.

PMID: 19547950 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Like everything else; there's money to be made.

"C'mon Man."

Move.
AS

Exercise Corrective

2009-11-18T09:40:00.005-06:00

There has been some very good answers to my Just Questions... post. What I was hoping to do was ignite some thinking, especially regarding the corrective exercise stuff that seems to be the latest way to make money in the health and exercise industry.

My biggest issue with the corrective exercise stuff, as all the bright folks who responded to the post also stated, is that any movement/exercise can be corrective. I think too many of the "experts" have been spewing too much pseudo rehabilitation stuff and now everyone is over-thinking/over-correcting symptoms and playing the role of therapist. I thought exercise in general was theraputic and pro-active. What about true expert coaching of basics and allowing these basic gross movement patterns to do the correcting?

It's important to not settle for average technique and try to patch everything up with "corrective" work. Let's allow for individuals to access their motor learning capacities. Language, quality demonstration, and effective coaching cues are important here. Using language with a little emotion goes a long way as well. Watch a group getting an energetic talk about correct lifting posture. What do you notice? The audience begins to straighten-up.

I have dumped much of the activation/prehab/rehab work from most if not all the programs I write now, and have had hardly any issues because of it. I've been demanding in the correct technique of the major barbell and dumbell lifts and bodyweight movement. I also make sure to leave the weightroom as a place to develop strength and power, and have done as much as I can to get more time of our training sessions outside the weightroom for movement/speed/agility work. What's been amazing is how "corrective" good quality movement training and basic strength and power lifts can be. Repetition and patience is important... the athlete needs practice and time, and it's amazing what happens when it is given.

The major point here is, if one gets much better at coaching the basics and has a thorough understanding of the mechanics and physiology of basic exercise, it becomes much easier to spot problems that need correcting/adjustments. Now every moment spent with an athlete or client becomes an assessment and less time needs to be spent on specific assessment sessions and filling an athletes time and energy with more exercises than needed. Every individual only has a finite capacity for attention and energy. Let's put it to use with the most effective methods.

Obviously there is a time and place for "corrective" type work, but let's not make and lead everyone to believe they are a patient.

Move.
AS

Wisdom

2009-11-17T14:22:00.003-06:00

"We need to teach weight trainers to work HARD. Not the pseudo stuff. Not the artificial gimaces, grunts and groans, but what my friend Mike Thompson calls 'THE REAL THING." Once lifters learn what hard work is really all about, and what it can do for a man, they will drop the all day idiot routines and the marathon training schedules like they were last week's garbage on a hot day in August. They will become dinosaurs: savage denizens of dungeon gyms who live for that extra rep, that extra pound of iron, and the feral thrill of bloody combat with an iron bar.

Do your own part to aid the revolution. Train hard. Train ferociously hard. Train as though your life depended on squeezing every last bit of effort from your body. Train so hard that a couple of hard exercises will knock you into next Tuesday. Train so hard that the mere idea of going to the gym on less than 48 or 72 hours rest is an absurdity. Train so hard that the four hour a day, six day a week crowd will barf in their water bottles when they see you in action. Strike a blow for dinosaurs. Strike a blow for men. Have the courage to train HARD. Have the courage to use an abbreviated program. Be a DINOSAUR!"

-Brooks Kubik. Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength Development.

AS

Just Questions...

2009-11-12T10:57:00.008-06:00

1. Does corrective exercise work? If so, does context make a difference?

2. Does corrective exercise address the cause or the symptom?

3. If all you're looking for is movement dysfunction, is all you find is movement dysfunction?

4. What happens to the psychology of an athlete when they have to follow corrective exercise protocols vs. the regular heavy training that the rest of his or her teammates are doing?

5. Should my kids get the flu shot; or does it just depend on who you talk to?

6. Is what we know about human gait wrong because we have been skewed by footwear?

7. Athletic training staffs across the country receive information from Perform Better with the latest being a email newsletter: "The Death of the Squat". With Coach Mike Boyle's latest "thought process"... being an "expert" with Perform Better... does this mean that we, as strength coaches who still have our athletes squat, now have to deal with possibly added resistance from the sports medicine staff about 'what we do', because a very well-known coach now says they are bad?

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts to any of these questions. Thanks.

Move.
AS

No More Squats?

2009-10-28T16:33:00.005-05:00

I think not.

I think this claim and/or marketing hype may just be the thing squats needed: A return to true strength training...

Death of the Back Squat?!

ROFTL with the RFESS

Go to the source...

The Disappearance of the Posterior Chain

Also, in the case of working with beginners, I can't think of a better, even possibly safer, way to develop and teach the intense volitional effort needed to build true strength (and, I truly believe, that high volitional effort is a rare trait these days). Teach and demand great technique...

And... one more thing... let's not make the weightroom more necessary than needed by spending all our time doing endless amounts of lifts that barely challenge the 'whole' organsim. Let's kill as many birds as possible with a few stones, and get out of the weightroom and work more on the necessary sports and movement skills.

Move.
AS

A note: I think Coach Mike Boyle is a brilliant coach, I just disagree with his No More Squats, and I think it is important for those that disagree to voice their opinion, as he did his.

Rehab Age

2009-10-26T14:14:00.006-05:00

In thousands of years from now, fitness archaeologists are going to scour through the findings of equipment and documents of different training methods and maybe come to some of these possible conclusions:

1. The "Get strong" Age.
2. The "Get weak" Age or, more accurately, the Aerobics Age.
and currently...
3. The Rehabilitation Age.

It seems that we are fully-fledged into the rehablitation age, in which all or the majority of physical fitness training is done by rehabilitation means... or circus tricks.

Is everybody now made of glass that we should not do anything that requires a little focus, effort, and "guts"?

Yes, maybe it's a sign of the times; people are more dysfunctional from lack of moving.

But if all of our focus is on finding dysfunction, is all that we find is dysfunction?

How many passes does the team in white throw?

Hopefully our focus isn't making us lose sight of other possibilities.

Move.
AS

Random Friday 2009

2009-10-23T10:35:00.016-05:00

1. I don't use "sport-specific training", I use human-specific training.

2. What you believe is a close 2nd behind what you do... and in some cases equally as important in the whole scheme of things.

3. Growing up... I came from a small town and our school didn't have much of a weightroom. So I spent my summer work's earnings on purchasing my own weight equipment. It was one of those old-school benches in which the dip bars were the racks for the bench (arms went on the outside of the racks to take the bar off to bench). Now I didn't have the knowledge I have now, but I knew that I had to train my lower body and that the leg extension and curl apparatus on the bench wasn't worth shit. So basically I rigged up the bench to raise the hooks to use the dip handles to set the weight for back squats. The bar barely balanced. I had to make sure I had a family member help me load the weight so the bar wouldn't tip off and had to be sure to weight down the opposite end of the bench so the bar wouldn't get dumped to the front. Regardless... I squatted.

Also, if any of you have been to northern Minnesota you know the winters are long, cold, and f***in windy, with lots of snow. My home was about 5 miles out of town, and often the gym wasn't open when I need to run/sprint. So I would bundle-up and head out into the sometimes below 0 temp and run in the snow. We lived next to a wooded area in which the snow would pile up to 2-3 feet deep in places. I figured this would be great training for myself as a running back. Sprinting high knees through deep snow, fighting through heavy duty snow apparel, it was like trying to break leg tackles for the entirety of every sprint. Plus the terrain was hilly, so I figured, 'Eat this Walter Payton! He maybe sprinted hills, but not with this much gear and snow to battle... wuss.'

Long story short; make due with the resources and environment in which you situated, and be sure to attack it with everything you've got. Maybe I wasn't training the "right" way with the perfect plan, but I was training HARD! As the good coaches I have had, have told me: "even if you're wrong, be sure to be wrong at 100 mph." ...just be sure to learn from the mistakes after.

4. I am often guilty of getting caught-up in arguing methods regarding training, but we all know,

Methods are many,
principles are few.
Methods often change,
principles never do.

Ultimately, regardless of the method, regardless of what you believe, believe in something... it's kind of like someone who once said something like, 'believe in yourself, or no one else will.' ... huh, pretty good advice...

5. The "orginal" Random Friday???

http://aaronschwenzfeier.blogspot.com/2007/12/random-friday.html

6. Want some great reading loaded with great information, insights and thoughts. Check out my good friend Josh Leeger's

blog: The L.I.F.T. Weblog

7. No More Squats. While I might not entirely agree, Coach Boyle always has good insights and thoughts.

8. Play fast. Move with everything you've got. Good things will happen. I see this at the playground I go by on my lunch break each day. We need more of this stuff. Kids always know the answer to fitness: Don't think about it, just play... we, as adults, just need to get out of their way.

9. Sleep. Quality sleep. Lots of it.

10. If you're fortunate to have some sunny weather today and this weekend, get your ass outside and load up on the Vitamin D any chance you can get... while moving.

Have a good weekend!

Move.

Modern Day ________ (you fill in the blank)

2009-10-20T11:35:00.007-05:00

This looks to be a very interesting read. Kind of goes along with my recent rants...

Modern man a wimp says anthropologist

Move.
AS

What?!

2009-10-15T13:43:00.004-05:00

I stole this one from Mike T Nelson.

Spurs alter workouts after Garcia injury
(Not sure what team this is, Kings or Spurs... the article confused me)

How about we throw away the stupid toys and just get back to doing basic movements and get and stay strong that way.

Sometimes I get caught-up in the hoopla and ask myself, "Am I not a very good strength coach, because I don't do a million and one exercises that the world has never seen before?" or "Because I only use barbells, dumbbells and bodyweight, does that mean I don't know what I am doing?"

Yes there is a risk everyday you step out of bed, but why put your trust in some inflated colorful ball. Here's a novel idea, how about doing all your exercises where it's you between the weight and the ground...

Train the way the pros train... yeah right.

Move.
AS

Timeless

2009-10-15T11:11:00.003-05:00

Happy 99th Birthday to Coach John Wooden (It was yesterday October 14).

If you ever get a chance, read any one of his books. Actually make that chance... and READ one of his books.

I highly recommend Wooden on Leadership.

Also check out these inspirational words from a currently active all-time great, Pete Carroll on Coach Wooden's impact on his career. Great stuff!

In Carroll's words: Thanks to Coach Wooden.

Move.

Mythical Methods?

2009-09-30T10:46:00.008-05:00

The Myth of Core Stability.
By Eyal Lederman

A critical review of core/spinal stability practices and claims. Great article.

The conclusions from the article:

-Weak trunk muscles, weak abdominals and imbalances
between trunk muscles groups are not a pathology just
a normal variation.

-The division of the trunk into core and global muscle
system is a reductionist fantasy, which serves only to
promote CS.

-Weak or dysfunctional abdominal muscles will not lead
to back pain.

-Tensing the trunk muscles is unlikely to provide any
protection against back pain or reduce the recurrence
of back pain.

-Core stability exercises are no more effective than, and
will not prevent injury more than, any other forms of
exercise or physical therapy.

-Core stability exercises are no better than other forms
of exercise in reducing chronic lower back pain. Any
therapeutic influence is related to the exercise effects
rather than stability issues.

-There may be potential danger of damaging the spine
with continuous tensing of the trunk muscles during
daily and sports activities.

-Patients who have been trained to use complex
abdominal hollowing and bracing manoeuvres should be
discouraged from using them.

Move.
AS

Reference:
Lederman, E. The myth of core stability. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies (2009).
doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2009.08.001.

Gluteus Maximus

2009-09-18T10:47:00.011-05:00

Just read Dispelling the Glute Myth by Bret Contreras over at T-Nation. I do like Bret's progressions to take some basic single-joint exercises and overload them. While I like many of the concepts of the article (I agree that the glutes are a key), the one important point I take away is sprinting. Maybe this is because I've posted about this in the past, but I think coordinated macro-movements are the bread and butter, especially in my context.

The most important message I take away here is in Bret's bulletpoints in the article are:

• A sprint activates 234% more mean gluteus maximus muscle than a vertical jump.

• Due to the increased glute activation, sprinters commonly experience "butt-lock;" whereas repetitive vertical jumpers experience "quad-lock."

• Hip extension exercises that mimic sprinting have horizontal or anteroposterior directional load vectors, involve hip hyperextension, and include reverse hypers, back extensions, hip thrusts, pendulum quadruped hip extensions, and pull throughs.

The important point to take away from this thought-provoking article is to get sprinting more. Lots of quality things happen when sprinting is part of one's training, much beyond just better glutes. Bottom line is, if "functional" is the way to go, then let's practice moving functionally.

Couple previous thoughts on sprinting:

Running
#16 is one to look at here. The reference is at the end of the article.

Acceleration and Absolute Speed

Move.
AS

Simplexity 2

2009-09-03T12:45:00.003-05:00

Do This, Not That! by Dan John and Chris Shugart.

Aaaaaahhhhhhh... like a breath of fresh air... (sound effects: light breeze rustling through the leaves and birds harmonizing a beautifully peaceful song)

Move.
AS

Sad-entary Lifestyle

2009-08-31T14:21:00.010-05:00

My job is that I work with athletes, however, this does not mean that my work is not affected by society's chosen lifestyle: Physical inactivity poses greatest health risk to Americans, research shows.

Here are my connections to the athletic population (but important to ask all of ourselves), through a couple of the questions I have:

1. So, of the 50 million some sedentary Americans, some must be parents, grandparents, friends or other family members to the athletes I directly work with... correct?

2. Are we not influenced by are environment? (Everything evolves from environmental pressure, dammit!) And if so, does not the influence of these some 50 million Americans lower the perceived 'standard' as to what we, as humans, are capable on a physical level?

It's like the saying, 'if the gym you train at has dumbbells that only go up to 50 pounds, and you're lifting the 50's, you're pretty darn strong... in that gym. If you go to a 'real' gym and the gym has dumbbells that go up to 150 pounds and you can only lift the 50's... then you're not s**t.'

So if the average American's idea of a 'workout' is climbing a couple flights of stairs, what has this done to our collective perception of what it means to be fit?

We need to educate on what IS healthy, fit, and strong, because we may just be a "Nation of Wimps" in every sense possible...

Move.
AS

Strong

2009-08-25T11:28:00.003-05:00

I stole this one from Dave Tate. It says a lot.

Move.
AS

"Win Forever"

2009-08-22T23:53:00.001-05:00

There is a reason Pete Carroll's crew at USC is at the top of college football year in, year out... He 'gets it' from all angles.

This guest appearance by Bill Withers is a follow-up put together by Coach Carroll in response to an earlier team meeting.

Pete Carroll is pure genius...

Move.
AS

Simplexity

2009-08-19T12:05:00.005-05:00

Is it just me or our we (as a strength and conditioning/fitness industry) getting WAY too far ahead of ourselves with some of the stuff that is out there?

I work at a Division I university and most of the athletes I work with are not anywhere near "elite". We benefit very highly from the most basic of training... DONE WELL.

I am just worried that the 'smarter' (or better yet, cuter) we all get with "new" training ideas, the more confused many of us are really becoming.

“Before I learned martial arts, a punch was just a punch and a kick was just a kick. When I studied martial arts, a punch was no longer just a punch and a kick was no longer just a kick. Now I understand martial arts, and a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.”

-Bruce Lee

Thoughts? Anyone.

Move.
AS

Nation of Wimps

2009-08-11T16:04:00.003-05:00

My good friend Greg Lanners recently brought to my attention a book and it's website; which I believe carries an important message regarding our country's youth, and more specifically how it's our issue as parents raising this 'nation of wimps'.

And rolling with the theme of my recent posts... it goes beyond what we regard as the 'physical'... however, as I see it, it's all the same...

Check it out:

Nation of Wimps

Move.

That Time of the Year

2009-07-30T10:46:00.002-05:00

We're at that point in the year again, where fall sports getting set to begin. It's a mad... no, MAD! dash to the first game. Coach Vern Gambetta's recent post, Preseason Practice – Where Championships Are Lost, is right on. I would agree that the fatigue and the injuries it causes is more neural than metabolic.

Plus to add to his statements, of too much volume of high intensity practices, heat and poor hydration, what about anxiety? Being a former athlete, I don't remember the start of any season not accompanied by some anxiety. The excitement and sensory overload just magnifies the metabolic fatigue. Anxiety leads decreased motor performance and decreased heart rate variability and all it's effects on performance, increasing fatigue. This goes right along with my previous post: Mindful Training.

The physical components play a role, but, again, the 'whole' athlete, and just as importantly, the context, cannot be overlooked. Great coaching awareness is a must.

Move.
AS

Mindful Training

2009-07-28T13:16:00.012-05:00

I've touched a little on this in the past, regarding the implementation of increased central nervous system emphasis with regards to speed, agility, and conditioning.

Speed Focus

Conditioning

Now some pretty cool research is coming out regarding a more brain performance focused approach to ACL prevention training.

Knee Injuries May Start With Strain On The Brain, Not The Muscles

The key again as I discussed in Speed Focus, is an external focus. Which can only be done with emphasis placed on attentional focus outside the body. This type of stuff again lends itself to the use of reactive type training. Running around cones and form running are good teaching drills but eventually the athlete needs to be placed in a chaotic environment where just mindlessly going through the motions won't cut it.

If our #1 goal as performance specialists is injury prevention, the 'whole' athlete needs to be challenged, because they WILL be challenged in competition. It's important to be smart, but training for athletes cannot be soft and most importantly, not MINDLESS. The athlete only improves when challenged...

I would argue that most of the preventable ACL injuries are a disconnect between the central and peripheral nervous systems. Mechanical work and strengthening is nice and important, but integration with 'noggin' is a must.

The important thing is to empower athletes with the knowledge and understanding of a few important, basic movement rules, which they can then utilize in more chaotic training. This is where the importance of controlled form running, cone agility drills, and speed and tempo work come into play. These exercises/drills are the classrooms for teaching, but application of this education has to take place as well, and it's not truly application unless the predictive and reactive aspects of the brain are involved.

This is similar to something I touched on regarding movement, in some dialogue with Patrick Ward at his very informative blog, Optimum Sports Performance. Teach the athletes some basic rules and guidelines regarding movement, and then, from there, it is their job to problem solve.

Move.
AS

Thanks to Frank Forencich for pointing out the ACL research.