Blog

Welcome to the Excelsior blog. It is a mix of current research and thoughts on Athlete and Coach Development, Strength and Conditioning and personal reflections.

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Thanks for taking the time to read it.

James Marshall

1. Why PE should be more WE than ME

   27th February 2015 10:33 am

   “Children need to express themselves as individuals” So goes modern thought as we create a generation of self-centred, narcisstic kids who are unable to cope with failure when it happens. In the U,K. there is a perceived crisis in our society and politicians are calling it “Strivers versus Skivers“. (I wrote about discipline versus liberty last week). […]

   7 Comments | Read More | physical education

2. Getting my gymnasts stronger

   10:10 am

   Understanding Strength for Gymnastics

   Over the past few sessions I have been going through the strength section of James’s Athletic Development Manual with him. We went through strength and velocity and how a high velocity exercise means the strength aspect could be low, and vice versa.

   0 Comments | Read More | gymnastics, strength

3. How can a gymnast maintain a healthy weight?

   10:08 am

   Take Nastia Liukin and Beth Tweddle. Both very different body shapes but both have won Olympic titles! Still, young female gymnasts don’t live in a vacuum and society itself places immense pressure on the female body image.

   2 Comments | Read More | gymnastics, sports nutrition

4. Speed and Power Training for Gymnasts

   10:06 am

   How to get faster for gymnastics

   I presented two workshops last month at a conference for gymnastics coaches: speed training and plyometrics myths.

   The coaches ranged in age, experience and their gymnastic discipline.

   There is no one size fits all approach to gymnastics, so I tried to cover the underlying principles first so that the coaches could then apply it in their own context.

   2 Comments | Read More | gymnastics, power, speed

5. How to coach different learning styles

   26th February 2015 3:10 pm

   Following from Monday’s blog about coaching blind people who are visual learners. We can look in more depth at different learning styles.

   2 Comments | Read More | Coaching, learning

6. 68 Lessons from the garage of pain

   3:01 pm

   “Challenge Assumptions”

   I have been reviewing things I have learnt working with athletes and coaches over the last 12 months. In no particular order and with some brevity:

   6 Comments | Read More | LTAD

7. Strength Ratios for Squats and Deadlifts

   2:27 pm

   Following on from our blog on Front Squat vs Back squat, here is some information about what you might be aiming for.

   Strength ratios

   The table below shows an estimate of the weights you should be able to lift based on other exercises. I.e. if you can back squat 80kg you should be able to Deadlift 100kg’s.

   2 Comments | Read More | strength

8. Jack Lalanne- mind body connection

   2:06 pm

   I was recently asked if I could make someone fitter if they gave me £30,000

   1 Comment | Read More | strength training

9. Exclusive Jack Lalanne Interview on his 93rd Birthday.

   1:53 pm

   “Hello Students”

   Jack Lalanne was famous for his TV show in the USA which ran weekly for 34 years. In it he also did some simple exercises (trimnastics) and gave a 2-3 minute monologue on how to stay healthy and enjoy life.

   His advice was years ahead of its time and if you think that the healthy food and moderate, regular exercise messages are new- think again! Jack said it all 50 years ago!

   11 Comments | Read More | strength training

10. Warm Up Specificity – spinning

    11:53 am

    Spinning is great, for cyclists!

    If you watch the first 20 seconds of this clip you will see Tomlinson warming up for his role as a running back on a stationary spinning bike.

    0 Comments | Read More | nfl, warm ups