Entries by James de Lacey

The science of warming up

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A warm-up routine can be critical in increasing preparedness for subsequent effort and thus maximizing performance. However, the effectiveness of the warm-up routine appears to be dependent on many factors such as the type of sport, athlete fitness and experience, tasks to be performed, environmental conditions, and constraints imposed by event organizers. New research on warming up has attempted to quantify those factors, by synthesizing the results of 30 peer-reviewed studies on warming up in team sports.

Robust running: a constraints-led approach

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Robust running is a topic that has been well covered by John Pryor on the HMMR Media website and classroom. It can be thought of as the ability to maintain consistent rhythm when negotiating different tasks or environments. By reinforcing a positive running posture, athletes build the ability to execute technical skills when presented with environmental perturbations such defensive players. Training athletes to better handle such perturbations helps them execute skills at higher speeds in wider range of positions.

Preparing athletes for impact

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Running is a staple in all rugby physical preparation programs due to players having to cover approximately 4km+ per match. However, being a collision sport, players will experience between 800-1200 impacts per game ranging from light (5-6g) to severe (10+g). Being well conditioned to impact is likely to reduce the risk of injury in contact and develop the ability to withstand many impacts in a match.