When I was growing there was a TV program about two detectives on the LA Police department. It was called Dragnet, the main character was Sargent Joe Friday, Badge 714, his famous line was “just the facts” when talking to a witness. To paraphrase Sargent Friday in coaching athletes to be better it all comes down to “just the basics.” That being said I have come to the realization that there is often not a good understanding of what the basics are. Read more
In the May edition of Sports Science Monthly we look at new research across a variety of areas including the latest research on caffeine, how genetics impact caffeine, pre-exercise stretching, recovery, muscular strength, and more. Read more
In some ways, training is about the constant pursuit of staying focused. Coaches can help in this regard. It isn’t just about telling athletes to focus; it’s also about what exercises you choose, how training is structured, and what tools are used. On this episode of the podcast Steve Myrland joins us to discuss mindfulness in training, finding focus, and rethinking the barbell. Read more
Over the past few years, perhaps no coach has influence my coaching more than John Pryor. Currently the head of strength and conditioning for Fiji rugby in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup, Pryor has decades of experience in the sport working for Japan, Australia, and top clubs in both countries. He has a unique ability to blend the art of coaching and sports science, and also objectively critique his own performance. Read more
Strength training is coordination training with appropriate resistance to handle your bodyweight, project an implement, move or resist movement of another body, resist gravity and optimize ground reaction forces. Let’s look at the elements of the definition in detail: Read more
The February edition of Sports Science Monthly is perhaps our most in-depth yet. We take a look at 10 new studies this month on a variety of topics from how soon injury rehabilitation should start, adaptations from small-sided games, how resistance training stacks up against plyometrics, and the ketogenic diet for athletes. In addition, we dive into some novel topics like new research on the placebo effect, RPE, and stress contagion. Read more
“Nevertheless, the field of strength and conditioning still remains susceptible to fads, misconceptions and zealous philosophies that have little to do with sound scientific based knowledge and careful exercise prescription for enhanced sport performance for the athlete.”
-From Strength Training for Sport but William Kraemer and Keijo Hakkinen (2001)
Are you building muslces in or on? Read more
Earlier this week we looked at why runners need to lift. Now that you understand the why, let’s look at what kind of strength training provides the specific neuromuscular and physiological benefits we discussed above. To review, there are three purposes to lifting:
Dutch coach Frans Bosch started quite the conversation last year when he released the English edition of his book Strength Training and Coordination: An Integrative Approach. A look at how training methods have evolved over the last century shows a clear trend towards more specific training means. But so far there has yet to a clear look at comprehensive look at the topic in detail. Bondarchuk has written in detail about the connection between specificity and transfer, but does not spend much time answering why things work that way. Verkhoshansky wrote a book on the topic but the exercises he describes often do not fit into his own definition. Bosch’s book attempts to do just that by taking a 360-degree look at the topic. It puts specificity in context by looking at how we coordinate our bodies and how best to develop that coordination. Read more
