Posts by Team
The importance of a network: exchanging information and ideas
I don’t know the answer to every question an athlete has but I know a man (or woman) who does. I have had reason to call on my network of coaches, medical professionals, p.e. teachers and athletic trainers over the last fortnight (that’s two weeks you American readers). Athletes, or their parents, have asked me…
Read MoreThe Marshall Plan: Staying fit in my 50s
If I had £1 for every time someone said to me, ‘I need to get fit,’ I would have enough money to pay for a month’s food shopping. If I had a £1 for every time someone told me about their ‘steps’ or ‘Strava’, I would have enough money to pay the Council Tax too.…
Read MoreIs there such a thing as sport specific training?
The (insert sport here) specific agility programme
Or, endurance, or power or speed and so on.This is what is advertised, and it is what sports people want. Basketball specific, tennis specific and so on. But the question I always have is.
Is it Athlete specific?
Whether you are running after a rugby ball, basketball or tennis ball, the initial start is the same. Recently working on some fundamental movements with athletes from different sports has been interesting. Not only are some sports more open minded, but also athletes within those sports.
Read MoreLessons learned from Lockdown PE
After filming 72 PE videos over the last year, here are some thoughts. To paraphrase Admiral Ackbar in ‘Return of the Jedi’: “It’s a wrap”! Our final PE video was filmed and edited last week: #72. We initially started by planning only nine when I first contacted Willand Primary School 50 weeks ago. None of…
Read MorePrimary School PE in Lockdown 3
The Prime Minister announced Lockdown 3 at just after 8 pm on Monday night. At 0551 on Tuesday morning I had an email from Miss Hawkins, the Head Teacher at Willand Primary School, asking me if I would produce some more PE videos. ‘Of course,’ I replied. So, here we are again. Another series of…
Read MoreThe Top 5 Books of 2020
Here are my personal reading recommendations from this year. If you are stuck for ideas for presents or for something to read yourself then read on. Like many people, I immersed myself in fiction this year and yes, I did read Defoe’s ‘Journal of a Plague Year‘ that held worrying parallels with this year. Because…
Read MoreChoosing the right equipment for your local park
Regular readers will know of the work I have done with Willand Parish Council to improve our village parks. This is an ongoing process that started five years ago. We are gradually upgrading or adding play equipment and facilities in our village. Having a vision Willand is a large village in Devon with a population…
Read MoreHow to keep fit in your fifties.
Are you fit enough at fifty? The Covid-19 pandemic has focused minds acutely on risk factors that either prolong the illness or cause victims to suffer worse symptoms. Obesity, age, underlying health problems and ethnic background are four of these risk factors. We cannot alter two of these, but we can do something about the…
Read MorePost-Covid P.E.: The Health of The Nation
As pupils return to school they will find that the opportunities to play team sports will be reduced. Physical distancing will mean that rugby, football and netball, for example, will be too difficult to administer. Travelling between schools will also be reduced: the risk of transferring the virus will be too great. Teachers can teach,…
Read MoreShould you measure your training load?
The benefits and pitfalls of using technology to monitor training. There are many different ways of measuring the work you do in training. If you are doing a single discipline sport like swimming or running or cycling then you could use a simple metric such as distance covered. But using just one ‘easy to measure’…
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