Always think toe nails to fingernails. I learned this from Wilf Paish, an English coach almost fifty years ago. If in doubt look for and train connections. Ankle to knee and hip to shoulder, shoulder to elbow, and elbow to wrist, the body is a link system. What you do in one link effects all other links. Read more
No matter the sport or the movement, it’s all in the legs. And how you get results is all in how you train the legs. A lot of people understand the importance of legs, but not everyone understands how to optimally train them. Read more
The end of the year is approach, so we asked our team of HMMR Media contributors to reflect on the year behind us and look forward to the year ahead and share what they’ve been trying out and learning. Joining us on the episode are James Marshall, Tracy Fober, Chris McCormick, Domhnaill Fox, Carrie Lane, and Vern Gambetta. Read more
It is easy to think about the throwing events as strength events. But in the end, the implement is often not that heavy. The bigger challenge is coordinating the whole body to add speed to the element through elasticity, as well as strength. German national discus coach René Sack joins this week’s podcast to discuss how he thinks about this element of the throw and exchange ideas about how to address it in training. Read more
Across a range of different high-intensity sports like running, sprinting, changing direction, throwing and kicking, the body creates stability by cocontracting or co-activating muscles that surround joints or regions that are under stress. Cocontraction provides stability to some segments or body regions – so that they can be controlled – whilst others move. Read more
In order to contextualize and better frame strength training, how we define it is very important. My definition is a take-off on the Frans Bosch definition of coordination training with resistance, in my opinion that is not thorough enough. I define strength training as coordination training with appropriate resistance to handle bodyweight, project an implement, resist gravity and optimize ground reaction forces. To better understand and apply this definition demands that we look closely at each element of the definition. Intermuscular coordination is the key to efficient movement and effective force application. Appropriate resistance will incorporate the following: Read more
Two years ago I compiled list of four key points I learned from Frans Bosch’s work after reading his book Strength Training and Coordination: An Integrative Approach. Since then I’ve had the change to try out some of the concepts in training, talk more with Frans Bosch, and see how John Pryor has implemented the ideas. Therefore I thought it was time to add to that list. Read more
As John Pryor mentioned on this week’s GAINcast, hip lock is one movement attractor emphasized by Frans Bosch that he immediately grabbed on to and saw results from. Look at people experimenting with Bosch’s methods on social media and you’ll likely see a variety of exercises aiming to improve hip lock. The problem is, much of what is going around lacks context and a full understanding of both the function and intent of these exercises. Read more
Coaches often focus on what they can add to an athlete, but elite performance is often about removing barriers. If you can remove a limiting factor, you might unlock a new level of performance. This is the approach Jérome Simian used as strength and conditioning coach for the new decathlon world record holder Kevin Mayer. On this week’s podcast, Simian explains his approach to analyzing athletes, creating a plan, and improving performance. Read more
John Kiely has done some groundbreaking work on periodization, but that isn’t the only topic he is interested in. When it comes to his work with rugby, track and field, and soccer he focuses on making an impact through coordination. On this week’s podcast we take a look at the framework he uses to understand coordination, and how that translates into some surprising methods with athletes. Read more
