Tag Archive for: Planning

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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Training do’s and don’ts #6: planning (a.k.a the prediction addiction)

I learned very early in my coaching and teaching career the importance of planning. For my first ten years coaching I suffered from severe “prediction addiction,” thinking that like the oracles of ancient times that I could predict the future. After some resounding failures, I learned to write the plans in pencil because seldom if ever was a plan executed as written. Nor were the competition results as predictable as I thought.

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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 282: Skills session planning (with Kevin Becker)

A lot of information is out there about session planning for strength training. But that is only part of the equation for athletes and coaches. A bigger question is how can we better plan skills training to enhance motor learning? On this week‘s episode Professor Kevin Becker joins us again to brainstorm how we can rethink traditional session plans to help athletes acquire and improve skills.

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Hats and hooks: an easy way to start planning a training session

Reading is pretty easy. Most of us have done it so long it’s second nature. But being able to read doesn‘t mean you can write a good novel. The same goes with training. Training is pretty easy. We‘ve all done physical activity our entire lives. But that doesn‘t mean every athlete can pull great training sessions out of their back pocket.

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HMMR Podcast Episode 281: Finding flow (with Steve Myrland)

Good training sessions have a flow. A flow in intensity, a flow in organization, and they help athletes find a flow state as well. On this week’s podcast we sit down with Steve Myrland to exchange ideas on session planning and a few tricks we all have to optimize training session planning and execution.

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The pencil is mightier than the spreadsheet

Whilst watching this year’s weightlifting European Championships this spring, the commentators spent a lot of time talking about an app-based 20-week training program. Apparently, if you entered your details, the app could provide an ‘individualized’ training program. It was a struggle for me to see how this concept would work since I have yet to see any program I design last more than two sessions before we (the athlete and me) have to start making adjustments.

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Training do’s and don’ts #5: peaking and tapering

John Larralde has spoken at GAIN on preparing his milers to win California State high School championships. In his words: “Sometimes in the peaking process is not what you do it is what you don’t do.” Below are some thoughts on peaking and tapering, with some special considerations for how it applies to swimming.

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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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Rethinking speed development for team sports

Speed is often what defines key moments in team sports and distinguishes the good teams from the great teams. The key question faces coaches then is: are we creating and environment that nurtures speed, or kills it? All too often we see athletes that fail to get faster as their careers progress or typically, regress in their speed. The systematic progression of athletic and technical capabilities should see running-based sport athletes reach their speed potential in their late 20s or early 30s. It is up to coaches to create an environment to develop speed to its full potential.

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