Why are some athletes faster than others? And how do we make athletes faster? In their new book Dan Cleather and Jon Goodwin argue that the answer begins and ends with a consideration of force production. Both of them join this week’s podcast to discuss key drivers in sprint performance, what factors are modifiable, and how we often get distracted from what really matters.
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Another baseball season is underway and, once again, the injuries are piling up. On this week’s GAINcast we speculate about what might be causing the injuries, how training is related to injuries, and where using heavy and light implements can go right or wrong.
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The 1980s were a time of global awakening in track and field. As coaches experimented with new training methods, ideas started spreading all over the blog. Coach Bogdan Poprawski was at the center of that process, moving as a young coach from Poland to Canada and helping Gerard Mach set up a new system. On this week’s GAINcast he joins us to share some stories about becoming a coach in a different era and culture, the transition to Canada, and much more.
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The training camp is an integral part of the training process in many sports. But how can you get the most out of it? On this week’s GAINcast we share ideas around planning training camps to get the most out of them with swim coach Chris Webb. In addition, we look at optimal planning of multiple short training sessions, strategies to increase training quality, how much warmup is needed, and more.
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Being a better mover solves a lot of problems: it makes it easier to pick up skills and adapt to new situations, which also helps reduce the risk of injury and increase the level of performance. Rather than focusing on your next injury prevention exercise, most athletes would be better off just becoming better overall movers. Dutch national football team coach René Wormhoudt joins this week’s GAINcast to discuss his training approach which builds upon this philosophy for both youth athletes and the world’s top athletes.
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Long-term athlete development models are often packaged with convincing narratives and buzzwords. But they’re also full of a few myths as well. Dr. Joe Eisenmann’s career has combined his academic interests in pediatric physiology with his practical experiences in youth coaching. Combined he’s helped bring some common sense to the topic of LTAD. On this week’s podcast he talks about some of the history and misconceptions of LTAD, as well as his own approach to the area.
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Competition season is starting up again in many sports. We start this week’s GAINcast off by looking at how to best structure training in the days before a competition and how to learn what works best for your individual athletes. In addition we also talk about pre-meet workouts, psychological preparation, GPS data, single-factor models, and much more.
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The SMU Locomotor Performance Lab is at the cutting edge of researching practical questions on sprinting and jumping. On this week’s GAINcast Emily McClelland joins us to discuss her latest research on vertical jumping and sex differences in short sprints.
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We often talk about developing elite athletes, but the amateur sporting world is even bigger and more demanding in many ways. On this week’s GAINcast coach and physiotherapist Donie Fox joins us to discuss how his team have implemented athletic development structure into their local GAA club. In addition we discuss the differences between building and rebuilding athletes, and how the mental side of physiotherapy is the real difference maker.
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GAIN stands for the Gambetta Athletic Improvement Network. Most people think it is all about Gambetta, but the Network is the most important word in GAIN. On this week’s GAINcast, three original GAIN members join us to discuss the power of mentorship, and how the network has evolved their own coaching careers, and some lessons learned from past GAIN events.
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