Throughout April we looked at team at preparing athletes for contact. Our team of contributors put together 2 new podcasts and 5 new articles on the topic from 8 contributors. Find links to both our new and archived resources on contact below.
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When Åsmund Martinsen began working with a young Andreas Thorkildsen in 2001, they set about making the “most athletic javelin thrower in the world” in order to develop a special talent. They developed a program based on the balance of strength, speed, flexibility and gymnastics, to create a “superathlete” that happened to throw the javelin, and remain healthy enough to contest for all major titles over a long career. On this week’s podcast Martinsen breaks down the training of two-time Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen with guest interviewer Shaun Pickering.
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The typical warm-up lasts around 10 minutes and starts most training sessions or classes. It is either a garden blooming with possibility or a wasteland of lost potential. Unfortunately, it usually the latter, a perfunctory prelude rather than training with specific long term adaptive and educational goals. Read more
Agility training is often perceived to be conducted in two dimensions. Whether programmed, random, game or task orientated, it usually consists of change of directions on a left –right and forward –backward continuum. Yet movement rarely takes place in just two dimensions: subtle and not so subtle changes of height and depth also take place. A boxer bobbing and weaving or a gymnast doing a double front somersault both have to move their centre of gravity up and down as well as sideways and forwards respectively. Read more
Never sacrifice movement for load. That mantra forms the foundation of my approach to training. This is a ‘hot topic’ in some coaching circles. Coaches, especially those in gyms, like big numbers. Lifting heavier weights each week shows progress and is easily measured. But at what cost? Read more
In modern coaching, all kinds of modes of exercises are paraded around, often to the exclusion of others. Bodyweight exercise is one mode of training that is making a comeback, even before the onset of the recent pandemic. Read more
If young people coming into your environment are inefficient or incompetent movers, how can you help them? Movement has become a catch-all esoteric phrase. Because it is a vast topic, it can be intimidating. It can also be the refuge of the rogue or charlatan peddling myths. Where do you start? Read more
On Thursday we hosted our most recent HMMR Member Hangout on core strength and trunk stability. Hangouts are one of the benefits of being a HMMR Plus member, they give you a chance to talk shop with some of the best in the business. This month Vern Gambetta, James Marshall, Mike Bahn, Steve Myrland and several more guest members joined in the conversation and here are a few of the things I learned. Read more
Weight lifting is quite simple. You pick something up and put it above your head. Every granny who unloads her shopping and puts her jar of Marmite in the larder does it. Children helping granny will do it too. Why then do some people get caught up in making weight lifting so complicated? I prefer to keep things simple. In this article I shall endeavor to share what we do when teaching children at Excelsior Athletic Development Club, where we are affiliated with British Weightlifting, British Athletics, and British Gymnastics. Read more
Pole vault is one of the world’s most dynamic sports, requiring elite levels of sprinting, jumping, and gymnastics from athletes. Herbert Czingon has been coaching the event for decades as both German national coach and now Switzerland. He joins us on this week’s podcast to talk about how his approach to planning for the complex event has changed over the years to better identify the individual needs of athletes, plus a discussion on the unique demands the sport requires from athletes. Read more
