Author Archives: James Marshall

  1. Excelsior ADC  Update for Summer Term

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    Club Update

    Sports Performance starts in the kitchen

    Sports Performance starts in the kitchen

    Here is a summary of Club activity and important information for all Club members. You can skip to your relevant heading for details of upcoming training, but you might also like to see how other members are progressing.

    Thanks very much to everyone who has been helping out with ideas, suggestions and ferrying children around. It is especially gratifying to hear from 3rd parties how  well our athletes are doing on camps and in competition.

    The Sports Performance Workshop in Willand yesterday was probably the most enjoyable workshop I have ever run. Great input from all the athletes involved. Next one is on 1st June.

    The Club raffle raised £95.30 in total, £30 for the weightlifters,  £65.30 for the gymnasts.  Thanks to all who bought tickets and donated prizes. Thankt for all the Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers too.

    The club display can be seen here:

    Gymnastics.

    Training resumes on Tuesday 12th April from 16:30-17:30 for KS1 and from 17:30-18:30 for KS2.  We shall not be training on June 14th (I am away) or June 21st (Willand school sports day, kids always tired afterwards) or July 19th (last week of term, ditto).

    Please pay your termly dues of £40 by Bacs or cheque payable to “Excelsior Athletic Development Club”.

    crash mat

    New crash mat

    We have ordered a new crash mat which should arrive in 2-3 weeks’ time from the USA.  Thanks to Dan Ware for the kind donation.

    We are about £35 short of being able to buy another mat thanks to the raffle and those who have used easyfundraising.

    We have secured funding from British Gymnastics to buy a 6 metre inflatable tumble track and a red box to help our satellite venue at Courtfields School in Wellington. This kit will be able to be used in Willand too.

    New tumble track

    New tumble track

    We are currently waiting on 2 other bids to buy other bits of kit. All of this is done to help create a more challenging and safe environment for the young gymnasts.

    Starting a club from nothing is extremely hard work, and costs time and money. Thanks again to everyone who has supported our efforts in word or deed.

    Weightlifting

    Training resumes on Monday 11th April from 1800-1900 and from 1900-2000, also Wednesday 13th April from 1800-1900.  Due to exam commitments, we have spaces available in these sessions.

    Please pay £28 by BACS or cash to confirm your place. Please let me know if you are/aren’t coming or if you have a friend/ team mate who wants to learn how to weightlift.

    New biscuits & buffer

    New biscuits & buffer

    Thanks to the raffle and those members who have used easyfundraising, we have managed to buy some new kit for the Club.

    I have bought 2 new wooden technique disks, a year’s supply of chalk, and a set of coloured “biscuits”. This will allow you to adjust your weights in small increments.

    Thanks to Matt Collier, we have also built a buffer round the gas pipe, which means we can use the squat rack off the 2nd platform and gives you more space to lift.

    We will hold our Summer competition on Monday 18th July.

    Athletics

    New racing kit

    New racing kit

    Sunday saw the launch of our new racing kit, and our first entry as a club to an official athletics competition. Well done to Josie and Milly for their 100m races and long jump in atrocious conditions.

    Our track training session  went well, and we will do intermittent ones on starts and take off techniques into the pit throughout the season.

    Speed training resumes on Thursday 21st April in Willand from 18:30-19:30 and costs £4 per session.

    Our middle distance sessions continue on Wednesday nights from 1930-20:30 with the target of BMC and a relay event for the club to enter.

    Sarah’s Improver’s running session continues on Monday nights, with many of the participants doing Park Runs and Charity Runs for fun.

    I am hoping to start Junior Athletics for 10-12 years olds in Willand on Mondays, so please share this information with any interested juniors.

    Summary

    Issy and Josie

    Issy and Josie

    The underlying ethos of our club is to develop the Long Term Athleticism of our members. From our youngest gymnast, to our oldest runner, we want safe, effective and expert training. Most importantly, we want the members to enjoy the challenge and process too.

     

  2. Strongman Training

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    How Hard is Strongman Training?

    As part of a training programme, the use of strongman events is useful to create both a training effect and a fun, competitive atmosphere amongst your athletes. I like to do something once a month with rugby players, providing the playing schedule is not too heavy. Off season we may do something on a weekly basis.

    Strongman training can be seen as a specific sporting event or as a sexy functional exercise that shows innovation and is used as a gimmic.

    Get off this sometimes

    Get off this sometimes

    I prefer to look at the lifts from a sporting perspective and think how they can be applied in training. Too much resistance training is divided into either platform based variations of barbell lifts, periodised to death, or ridiculous exercises isolating tiny muscles in the hope of “firing them up” and never getting the athlete to engage in the athletic development process.

    (These type of implements are cheap too, my gym has got a lot of them scattered around.)

    Lifting awkward objects, which are lopsided, or move awkwardly has a big relevance to a lot of sporting activities including:

    • field athletic events
    • golf
    • combat sports
    • collision sports.

    Research into strongman training

    Popular amongst strength coaches, the effects haven’t really been studied until recently.

    The researchers of this study have conducted other studies looking at more conventional exercises and how they help train the trunk.

    strongman training

    Carry these in 1 hand

    Carrying exercises, either with one hand, or two hands require more hip abduction than is normally available, so the athletes use their obliques and Quadratus Lumborum to assist the movement. Therefore these activities as part of a programme could be useful.

    Forget about “engaging the core”, just lifting the objects meant that the spinal load was large and was caused by co-contraction of the torso muscles- exactly what is needed in most sports that require getting hit.

    Another  study looked at the metabolic effects of pushing and pulling a 1960kg vehicle over 400m. The effects (not surprisingly) were that the athletes felt nauseous and dizzy at the end, with blood lactate levels of 15.6mmol/ L (31% higher than produced in a maximal treadmill test).

    So, this type of training is very, very demanding, and will have a fatiguing effect on the athletes. Don’t think just because you can’t measure it as easily as sets, reps and load in the gym, that it doesn’t count as part of the overall training load!

    Use it as part of the overall training programme – not the latest bandwaggon to jump on.

    Further reading: Glenn Ross on Strongman training for rugby.

  3. Core stability training

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    Core training is more than just the plank

    core stability training

    Good for the circus

    An athlete has recently come back to training with me after a 6 month Hiatus. She previously had a sound core training programme using flexion, extension, rotation, stabilisation work, as well as weighted movements in different planes.
    She informs me now that her core is better because she can perform a body squat on a stability ball.

    Great- I asked her how many times she has to stand on a stability ball during a match. Her core training programme over the last 6 months has consisted of the side plank, and learning to squat on a stability ball.
    I am not saying either are bad exercises, but to limit yourself to these two is once again performing exercises that become the object of training – rather than doing exercises that enhance sporting performance.

    There is limited transfer of training effect from unstable surface training to movements on a stable surface. Instead, you are better off performing multidirectional movements loaded and unloaded at slow speeds, then faster, and routinely changing them.

    Why we never use “core stability”

    Core training

    Bracing for weightlifting

    I avoid using the phrase core stability, instead just using the term core strength, or use the coaching cue “brace“. A  study looked at trunk muscle activation during 3 stability ball exercises and compared that to 50-100% of maximum deadlifts and squats.

    The results showed that muscle activity of the trunk during squats and deadlift was equal to or greater than that of the stability ball exercises. All our weightlifters know the importance of bracing the stomach and back muscles to keep a flat back when lifting.

    I use a 10 week core programme for beginner athletes that works on flexion, extension, stabilisation and rotation using a core ball. This is the introduction, then the athletes move on to more advanced work and get taught the big lifts. The athletes then do the stability ball work once a week for maintenance.

    It is a reminder that there is no one magic exercise or piece of equipment. Instead, a structured, progressive approach is key to safe and effective training.

  4. Good enough is big enough

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    Does size matter in sport?

    talent id height

    Ready to fight

    Two of the athletes I train have recently had selection issues because of their height with new coaches discriminating against them, in 2 different sports. Both athletes are strong, but need to develop more power and quickness. That isn’t the reason they are having difficulty. Both are very bright, with good game sense and are tough.

    Those things are difficult to coach. They are also qualities that are difficult to gauge on first meeting.

    Height is an obvious factor when you first start to coach someone. So the coaches have made snap judgements on an obvious factor, without really analysing the athletes strengths and weaknesses in a game. They can then build judgements to reinforce their own first impression “not strong enough in the tackle” , “needs to work on controlling the middle” are  euphemisms related to lack of height.

    I have seen enough taller players who have been pushed into playing positions, or are the next great white hope who have no game sense, and more importantly no desire.

    height

    Michael Jordan

    Michael Jordan once said “Individuals win matches, teams win championships.”

    I would put the two athletes I train into any team I was coaching (although one is female, one male so a bit difficult in practice) because when the pressure was on, I know I could rely on them.

    The NFL combine is an example of fitness testing becoming a game in itself where unrelated activities are measured and players rated accordingly. Better to look at  a player’s tapes in high pressure games against tough opponents.

    Better still, speak to their coaches about their influence on people around them.

    As a coach it is important to continually analyse your players performance objectively, don’t label the athletes early on, and then continue to select based on that. Instead, look with fresh eyes, and see what is actually happening on the field from a neutral perspective.

    Its not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

  5. Sprint Training Mechanics: Frans Bosch

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    “Humans aren’t descended from apes, but are a bad crossbreed of kangaroos and horses”

    kangarooFrans Bosch delivered 4 great presentations at GAIN V this year each one packed full of information and ideas.

    This included two practical sessions. One was gym- based and one was running -based. That helped immensely with my understanding and application.

    Here are some of my thoughts on his analysis of sprint mechanics, based on his anatomical model. He looks not at how the “wheels turn, but how the motor runs”. This requires an internal focus of running mechanics, not an external focus.

    He uses comparisons of human anatomy with that of kangaroos, horses and springboks: the best runners and jumpers. By comparing hamstring and gastrocnemius length with tendon length in the different species, we could see how improvements could be made in speed and jump training.

    He started off with 3 building blocks for improving sprinting:

    1. Muscle slack (the most important)
    2. Reactivity
    3. Reflex Patterns

    Working on improving and developing these areas will improve your running speed.

    What is muscle slack?

    Imagine a rope dangling from one end, then being pulled from both ends: the slack has been taken out of it. Jogging is bad running with more muscle slack, removing the slack increases your speed.

    Slack is not a bad thing, it helps with control of lower speeds. But, to run fast you have to eliminate the slack.

    The 2 ways to do this are either:

    1. Use a counter movement, which is what less coordinated and slower athletes do.
    2. Use pretension where the muscles are co-contracting (preferred option).
    Frans Bosch sprint training

    Reactive strength training

    Bosch then explained why certain weight training exercises don’t help pretension because the bar does the work for the muscles. Instead, use other exercises that allow the body to provide solutions.

    This video shows one of the exercises that Bosch showed us:

    (As an aside someone from the ECB told me that a cricketer I was working with who couldn’t do a bodyweight squat, could be tested with a barbell because the weight helped him get lower to the ground! Unfortunately, he wasn’t allowed to do fielding in matches with that weight on his shoulders!).

    Bosch has also eliminated the counter movement from any weight training exercises or drills that he is doing with the Welsh Rugby Union at present. This forces the rugby players to find another solution.

    He has also reduced their reliance on ‘traditional’ weight training because the barbell reduces the muscle slack. This means that the players’ bodies don’t find a solution themselves.

    4 Ways to get a bouncy athlete

    1. An erect posture (max 20 degrees of knee flexion when jumping). Really good jumpers have 5-9 degrees of knee amortization. These are sometimes known as speed jumpers compared to power jumpers. (Bosch said that power jumpers are just speed-jumpers with bad technique!)
    2. Short contact time and little change in joint angles
    3. Pretension prior to ground contact.
    4. Drop height no higher than the jump height of an athlete (you shouldn’t store more than you can unload)

    Bosch then went into more detail on the running mechanics themselves (regular readers and our athletes will have as seen this before).

    The pelvic girdle is very important in sprinting:

    1. The rotation forwards/ backwards
    2. The anterior/posterior tilting
    3.  The elevation of the free hip

    all influence how the hamstrings, abdominals and dorsal muscles are able to work effectively and maintain elastic energy in the running cycle.

    Plantar flexion of the ankle and the timing of the foot contact are also essential components of sprint training. By ‘whipping’ the foot down the heel is encouraged to come off earlier.

    Summary

    I have barely scratched the surface of what was covered in these 4 seminars. I can’t say I grasped all of his concepts at this conference, but am able to watch the lectures back on video which helps!

    I first saw Frans at the RFU speed conference 7 years ago and was blown away by the concepts. This is what we have been working towards with our athletes since then.

    The bottom line is that our athletes are benefiting from this. (Jazmin Sawyers got a Long Jump bronze medal at the Junior World Championships having been trained using this methodology.)

    • Luckily Gary Winckler developed the Bosch speed training principles at a later GAIN: How to develop speed
    • This has helped me with the Speed Training  I do at our Athletics Club in Devon.

  6. Cricket Fitness

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    Cricketers need to be fit to play.

    cricket fitness training

    Shoulder to hip training

    On initial appearance cricket may not appear to be the most physical of sports. Brief periods of activity are followed by longer periods of rest. Apart from fast bowlers who can perform long series of overs, the rest of the team do not look to be that active.

    However, this is a mistaken concept as it is precisely this intermittent high intensity activity that requires the Cricketer to be very fit. The movements are fast and dynamic and have to be sustained throughout a morning or afternoon in the field.

    The Cricketer’’s body has to be very strong to be able to withstand the high impacts and forces that are produced when bowling and throwing. We have looked at agility training for fielding here, but now we look at exercises to help throwing and batting.

    Cricket Upper body and trunk Fitness Programme

    The following exercises are a good way of starting a fitness programme. Once you have developed the ability to do these activities well, you can add more exercises using weights such as dumbbells and barbells.

    Shoulder exercises:
    The shoulder does not work in isolation of other body parts, so these exercises help develop overall shoulder strength before moving onto throwing and bowling actions. This sequence works on connecting the hip to shoulder:


    You can also do more traditional exercises that utilise multi joints.

    Press ups – perform a normal press up with your chest touching the floor, but as your arms straighten try and arch your upper back to its full range of movement, then go back down to the floor.

    Dips- Place your hands on two parallel bars and jump up until your arms are straight and your weight is supported through your hands, keeping your feet off the floor. Bend your arms until your shoulders are level with your elbows, and then straighten up again.

    Pull ups- hang from an overhead bar and pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar. Lower yourself until your arms are fully straight, and then repeat.

    Crawling is a great way to develop the hip-shoulder complex too:

     Medicine ball exercises.

    These can be performed with a 2-3 kg medicine ball for beginners and junior athletes, as you get stronger and more proficient, work up towards using a 10kg medicine ball. Try 5 repetitions of each exercise, having about 30 seconds rest between the sets.

    • Hitters throw – stand in a normal hitting stance with the medicine ball held level with your back shoulder in both hands, then throw it forward with maximal effort in line with a normal swing.
    • Standing figure 8– Stand back to back with a partner and exchange the medicine ball behind your back at waist level as quickly as possible receiving on one side and returning on the other side.
    • Speed rotations– Similar to the figure8 s, but this time with throwing and catching with arms fully extended instead of handing.
    • Standing side throw- Stand in a batting stance, this time with the ball in two hands at hip height, then throw forward maximally with hip and torso rotation.
    • Granny throw –Start with the medicine ball above your head in two hands, lower quickly between your legs and bum into a parallel squat position and then use your legs and shoulders to throw the ball directly above your head.
    • Standing backwards throw- Same as the granny throw, but throw the ball up and behind your head.
    • Squat and throw.– same as the Granny throw, but this time start with the ball held at chin height with extended arms and the elbows pointing outwards.

    Here are some exercises put together in a sequence.

    Intermittent exercises:

    Try these following intervals as a way of developing cricket fitness. Make sure that you have warmed up thoroughly before starting.

    •10 metre shuttle runs. Run between two cones 10metres apart as many times as you can in 20 seconds. Rest 10 seconds, and repeat 7 more times.

    •Run for 45 seconds, 60 seconds, 75 seconds, 60 seconds, 45 seconds as hard as you can. The rest interval is the time of the next run.

    •Run at about 75% of your fastest pace for 30 seconds, then walk for 30 seconds. Do this for a total of 20 times.

    Weekly routine

    Try and do some activity on every day that you are not playing cricket, even if it is just doing the cricket warm up. You can either do the shoulder exercises and medicine ball throws on separate days from the intermittent training, or immediately before them, depending on your schedule. Do not do the same exercises on consecutive days.

    Unfortunately, the England Cricket Board (ECB) appears to have adopted a flawed stance in its coach education programme: it is telling coaches that posture is linked to personality! It actually tells cricket coaches to use the Myers Briggs personality test to see how a player moves.

    The Myers Briggs Test has been debunked (see here) as a personality test, let alone then trying to use it base fitness work on!. The ECB is paying £1000 a day for a consultant to deliver this “education”. The money would be better spent on developing a sound, systematic approach to cricket fitness!.

    Cricket coaches looking to help their team improve fitness why not attend our 1 day Foundation in Athletic Development course.

  7. How to reduce the risk of ACL injury for females.

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    Why are Females at Higher Risk of ACL Injury?

    “Female athletes have a 4-6 times higher incidence of ACL injury than do male athletes participating in the same landing and pivoting sports” (1)

    Hormonal changes: Hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle can have a direct effect on neuro-muscular performance.

    Anatomical differences: Females have a smaller intercondylar notch, therefore a smaller ACL.

    An Increased Q Angle will influence landing technique negatively.

    Slower reaction times: Females have slower and less efficient reaction times due to different neuro-physiology i.e.differences in spinal motor control.

    Poor landing mechanics: Reduced leg power will cause an increased reliance on the quadriceps and ligamentous structures at the knee and ankle .An increased Q angle in females has a direct impact on landing mechanics.

    Less power: Females have reduced power and muscle development.

    “Implementation of practical neuro-muscular warm-up strategies can reduce lower extremity injury incidence in young, amateur female athletes.” (2) 

    Reducing the risk of ACL injury

    This diagram summarises the key factors found in recent research on preventing ACL injuries in female athletes.

     

    Screening: Musculo-skeletal screening can help identify specific problem areas for each individual athlete

    Footwear: Wear appropriate and good quality footwear to facilitate good foot/ankle mechanics and help control ground reaction forces.

    Conditioning: Functional conditioning work, related to individual screening outcomes and specific to sport requirements. To include stretching, strengthening, plyometrics, review of landing techniques, sports specific drills and balance exercises.

    Warm Up: Use practical neuro-muscular warm-up strategies (see conditioning work).

    Oral Contraceptives: Use of oral contraceptives pre-competition has been shown to have an effect. Reearch is hampered by ethical concerns.

    Further Reading: 

    References:

    1. Hewett et al American Journal of Sports medicine March 2006 34(3) 490-498
    2. Herman et al BMC Medicine July 2012 19 10(75)
    3.  Stojanovic et al Research in Sports Medicine July 2012 20(3-4) 223-238
    4.  Walden et al British medical Journal May 2012 344 e3042
    5.  Irmischer et al Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research November 2004  18(4) 703-707

     Sarah Marshall  Chartered Physiotherapist

  8. How much sleep is enough after training?

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    A Guaranteed, Free and Easy Way to Improve Performance…

                                                    SLEEP

    In a recent workshop we ran, every athlete was found to be SLEEP DEPRIVED. Find out how this can impact on your sporting performance here.sleep for athletes

    In that little training diary that any successful athlete keeps, will be a history of:

    • the exercises they perform
    • the weights they lift
    • the foods they eat
    • how they feel (RPE -rating of perceived exertion) and ….
    • how much sleep they are getting

    Why we document exercises, weights, nutrition and RPE and how they affect training and performance is well understood, but why do we keep a sleep diary?

    Sleep has been shown to have a big impact on sporting performance as well as potentially changing the physiological effects of training.

    This article aims to highlight the importance of sleep for athletes and how it affects training and performance.

    Evidence of the effect of sleep on performance

    Studies have shown that sleep deprivation has lasting negative impacts on health!

    Sleep deprivation has an impact on the body’s metabolic and endocrine functions, with some of the effects listed below:

    • Affect glucose metabolism and appetite (Van Cauter & Spiegel,  1999)
    • Have a negative impact on the brain and cognitive function
    • Reduced immune system
    • Increase Cortisol levels (stress Hormone)
    • Affect on growth Hormone
    • Increased injury risk due to reduced muscular control

    Dr. William C. Dement, a sleep researcher at Stanford University, suggests that:

    “that alleviating the burden of sleep debt could save thousands of lives every year.”

    Cheri Mah who has been studying the sleep patterns of Stanford University athletes over the last few years has found increasing sleep has led to improved sports performance for all types of athletes (Mah et al, 2009).

    One specific study on University swimmers found increasing the athletes sleep to 10 hours a night improved their 15m sprint time, start reaction time and increased their kick strokes.

    She also replicated these findings in American Football athletes with increased sleep improving their 20 yd shuttle time and 40 yd dash time.

    With evidence that sleep deprivation can physiologically and psychologically affect individuals and evidence of increased sleep improving sporting performance, are you getting enough?

    Why does sleep affect trainability and performance?

    sleep deprivation in athletesFirstly and most importantly sleep is very important for recovery.

    Sleep deprivation has shown to

    1. increase cortisol levels,
    2. decrease activity of human growth hormone,
    3. and reduce the efficiency for glucose metabolism.

    All of these things can affect our sporting performance (Samuels, 2009).

    In addition when we are tired concentrating is hard and our reaction times are slower, not great for competition!

    On top of these physiological changes sleep deprivation is also shown to reduce cognitive function and therefore reduce the ability to learn a new skill.

    Effect of Glucose metabolism

    So why is glucose metabolism important?

    The energy we require for any exercise comes from the metabolism of glucose. If this source of energy isn’t readily available then our body is unable to perform at its best.

    Food is our fuel but if we are unable to convert our fuel into energy then it becomes useless!

    Sleep deprivation also impairs the ability of our body to store glycogen so our energy stores are depleted, something that will hamper your preparation prior to a big competition!

    Effect of Cortisol

    Cortisol is more commonly known as the stress hormone. Sleep deprivation has been shown to increase the levels of this particular hormone.

    With cortisol the athlete will often feel irritable and short-tempered as well as have a lack of energy.

    Effect of Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

    Everybody knows rest and recovery are important or high-level performance as it gives the body time to repair and strengthen itself. HGH is the hormone responsible for stimulating this growth and repair.

    HGH is actively required for this tissue repair by stimulating growth via cell reproduction and regeneration. It is naturally produced by the pituitary gland in the brain and is a protein based peptide hormone.

    If our HGH levels are low or not doing their job properly then it can result in a decrease in muscle mass and energy levels.

    Therefore with sleep deprivation affecting the efficiency of this hormone you can see why it is not great for sporting success!

    Am I Getting Enough Sleep?

    This is the big question and below are some guidelines to help you answer it.

    It is recommended that adults get 7–9 hours of daily sleep and 9-10 hours of daily sleep for adolescents and teens!

    If you fall asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed and wake without an alarm you are probably getting enough sleep say sleep experts.

    However if you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow and wake to an alarm you are probably sleep deprived!

    So I will leave you with a few tips to ensure sleep is not a factor hindering yours or your athlete’s performance:

    1. Firstly and most importantly make sure you are getting enough sleep (hours highlighted above).
    2. You can achieve the above by prioritizing sleep as a part of your regular training regimen (noting it in your training diary).
    3. Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day, get into a pattern.
    4. Take brief 20-30 minute naps to obtain additional sleep during the day, especially if training hard.
    5. Increase your sleep time several weeks before a major competition to ensure you are not sleep deprived!
    6. Switch off your phone/ tablet an hour before you go to bed: the blue light can reset your circadian rhythm to a later time, making it harder to fall asleep.

    I hope this article has highlighted the importance of sleep for athletes wanting to be at their best? It really is the #1 Recovery supplement

    Sweet dreams…

    Fran Low

    For further information on how sleep deprivation can lead to overtraining, read our free ebook here

    References

    Van Cauter E, Spiegel K (1999). “Sleep as a mediator of the relationship between socioeconomic status and health: a hypothesis”. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 896: 254–61

    Mah, C. (2008). Extended Sleep and the Effects on Mood and Athletic Performance in Collegiate Swimmers. Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

    Samuels, C. (2009). Sleep, recovery, and performance: the new frontier in high-performance athletics. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 20(1):149-59, ix.

  9. Recovery Strategies for commited sports people

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    The Recovery Pyramid

    I use a pyramid method of recovery when coaching my athletes- there is little point going onto the next level until you have done the first. The further down you go, the less proven are the strategies.

    You will notice that many of these require minimal cost. This may seem unusual to you.

    That is because most recovery methods you hear about are trying to sell you something! Sleep is free, as is water (mostly).

    recovery pyramid

    1. Cool down 10-15minutes of movement at 50% of maximum effort.
    2. Fluid and fuel intake within 15mins post exercise. main meal within 2 hours. 1.5 litres of water for every kg lost or for every hour of exercise (depending on climatic conditions). This should contain some protein and carbohydrate. A banana sandwich, Apple and Greek Yoghurt, and a glass of whole milk are all nutritious.
    3. Contrast showers- 30secs hot\ 30 secs cold four sets, then normal shower.
    4. Massage- self or other if you are lucky.
    5. Relaxation– may not help physical recovery, but it can help deal with stress of competition, allowing better quality sleep, which will then assist physical recovery.
    6. Ice bath– may be especially beneficial after contact sports or excessive volume.
    7. Compression suits– might be useful for journeys after competition where you are sat down for a long time. Could be useful on flights too. Avoid sleeping in them as they create too high a body temperature. Never, ever train in them.

    I see many athletes wearing expensive compression suits, but neglecting the simple, cheaper and better proven methods of recovery. (see recovery infographic).

    recovery strategyThese are all designed to help you sleep better, which is the Number 1 recovery tool.

    Coaches should look at allowing time for these recovery strategies to take place, especially when you are competing on a weekly basis.

    The sooner you recover, the sooner you can train again.

  10. What is Old School Coaching?

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    Is being “Old School” better than “New Skool”?

    strength coach devonI got called and “Old school coach” last week mainly because I avoid overcomplicating things.

    I choose what information I give to an athlete. My knowledge obviously has boundaries but my object is to make the athlete better at their sport.

    They never ask me to give them a lecture on kinetic chains or antagonistic reflex patterns or dynamic correspondence! If they ask why they are doing something, I need the information behind what I am doing, but it has to be transferable to sport. Some sports science theory that works well in a lab but fails to help you run faster is redundant in my book.

    Jack Dempsey wrote a book in 1950 called Championship Fighting, here is his recommendation on a few things:

    jack dempsey book championship fighting“Here’s a good daily training schedule for an amateur who has a job:
    6 A.M Rise. Drink a cup of hot tea, or a cup of beef broth or chicken broth.
    6:30 A.M Hit the road. 
    7 A.M Arrive home. Take brief sweat-out and shower. Have breakfast of fruit juice, cereal, eggs, and milk or tea. 
    12:30 P.M Lunch of lettuce and tomato on toast (perhaps with two or three slices of bacon). Glass of milk or cup of tea. If you do not have bacon with the lettuce-tomato sandwich, you can drink a malted milk. 
    6 P.M Gymnasium. Have cup of hot tea with lemon before the workout.
    7:15 P.M Workout completed.
    7:45 P.M Home and dinner: half grapefruit or glass of fruit juice or cup of broth. A salad with olive oil and perhaps lemon juice. No vinegar! Meat -anything broiled or boiled; nothing fried. Steaks, chops or chicken.

    Stews are good if you need to gain weight. Also, a baked potato, if you need weight. But no pork, veal, lobster, shrimp, crabmeat, or starchy foods like spaghetti. For dessert: stewed fruit, prunes, apricots, pears, or rhubarb, etc. Also hot tea. No pastries. 
    8:15 P.M Relax half an hour.
    8:45 P.M Take a fifteen-minute walk.
    9 P.M Bed.

    The amateur’s diet is about the same as that of a professional; but the pro’s schedule is much easier from the angle of time. The pro is on the road at 5:30 A.M. Returning to camp, he can rest until 10 A.M., when he has breakfast.

    expert coaching devonThen he loafs until noon, when he can have lunch or a nap, depending upon his weight. He begins his gym work at 2:30 P.M. Then he relaxes until dinner at 5 P.M. or 5:30 P.M. After that more loafing or a movie until 10 P.M., when he goes to bed.

    An amateur who is training and working on a job, at the same time, must make sure that he gets eight or nine hours’ sleep every night. Otherwise he may go stale. He may become listless-dopey-on his job, and off-form in his sparring. He burns up much energy every day, on the job and on the road and in the gym.

    He must get more than eight hours of sleep in twenty-four to restore his energy. And he should sleep with his windows open. He can’t get oxygen-he can’t recharge his batteries-by sleeping in a closed room. ”

    Looks pretty good to me.

    Jack Lalanne, another 1950s icon has this 10 point plan for healthy living and well being:

    again, not much wrong with this, and even more relevant with an obesity and diabetes epidemic around the corner.

    Has this type of information changed and moved on in the last 50 years? To me, it is all to easy to be a “New Skool” coach with a very short attention span that is limited to “research” that has been published in the last 2 years. Or to things within their own narrow sport background.

    As Naseem Taleb says in “Antifragile“, it all too easy to get caught up with “new things”, but if it has been around for 50 years, it is likley to have real longevity.