Tag Archive for: Microcycle

January/February 2023 in review: injuries

To kick off the year we looked at injuries as our January and February site theme: understanding them, how to reduce them, and how to come back from them. In total, we put together 1 new video lesson, 1 training module, 2 podcasts, and 3 articles from 8 different contributors on the theme.You can find links to all new resources below, plus dozens of other videos, podcasts, and articles on the topic from our archive.

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GAINcast Episode 258: State of the sport (with Nick Garcia)

The year is coming to end, which means it is time for our annual combined episode of the GAINcast and HMMR Podcast to discuss the state of training for sports. We share highlights from our favorite episodes of the year, discuss training trends like isometrics, microdosing vs. split training, and what we’ll be trying out in 2023.

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October/November 2022 in review: periodization and planning

Throughout October and November we looked at periodization and planning. Periodization is a topic we come back to over and over on this site, as the long term planning is one thing all sport coaches have to do, but one also stuck in traditions. We recently put together new articles and podcasts all around the topic of periodization and planning. You can find links to all new and archived resources on the topic below.

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HMMR Podcast Episode 288: Quick tips

As the year comes to close, we look back to share some quick tips from what we learned this year, new things we are trying out, lessons from the John Smith interviews, and how to successfully blend different training methods.

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HMMR Podcast Episode 285: The real strength guy (with John Smith)

When we chase power we often look to strength coaches for the answers. But some of the most powerful athletes in the world are throwers. Coach John Smith thinks we’re asking the wrong people; we should be looking to the throwing coaches for the best examples of how to develop powerful athletes. Smith is one of the most successful in the NCAA. On this week’s episode he talks about how he developed his unconventional approach to strength and power training, and much much more.

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August/September 2022 in review: session design

Throughout August and September we looked at session design. A lot of literature is out about season planning and periodization, but much less time is spent dissecting the session. The session is the building block of training and if you don’t have good training sessions, you have no chance for good seasons either. This summer we have put together 1 new video lesson, 3 new podcasts and 4 new articles on the topic from 7 contributors. Find links to both our new and archived resources on session planning below.

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HMMR Podcast Episode 279: The long road back (with Tuomas Seppänen)

In 2016 Tuomas Seppänen was on the verge of a breakthrough when everything went wrong. It took him years to build but now, at age 36, he is throwing better than ever. On this week’s podcast he joins us to discuss his long road back to the top, including overcoming vertigo, rehabilitating injury, adjusting his training, dealing with the pandemic, balancing work, and much more.

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GAINcast Episode 242: The jump man (with Jeremy Fischer)

When it comes to the jumps in track and field, it is hard to beat the track record of coach Jeremy Fischer. Over the last two decades, Fischer has guided numerous world champions and Olympic medalists across the long jump, triple jump, and high jump. On this week’s podcast he breaks down how he puts together a training week, his strength training philosophy for jumping, and much more.

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Consistency versus excellence

During my athletics career, I trained with two truly world-class athletes: one a gold medalist and the other a world champion. What struck me at the time was how normal they were; they turned up to training, trained fairly well, and then came back the next day to repeat the process. There were no superhuman sessions—although there were occasional exceptional performances—but just consistently decent sessions, strung together over an extended period of time. Read more

Putting tactical periodization into practice

A lot has been written about tactical periodization on HMMR Media this month, including a primer on tactical periodization from Craig Pickering and a detailed discussion of Dean Benton’s experience with tactical periodization. I’ve come to tactical periodization from a different route. Much of the discussion around tactical periodization looks at complex data modeling and GPS metrics. With a background in physical education and coaching rugby at the grass roots, I simply looked at tactical periodization as a tool to help us better define how we wanted to play and train for that. This article aims to show you how I’ve taken some of the ideas from tactical periodization and put them into practice. Read more