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. Bones heal, chicks dig scars

   13th October 2014 2:55 pm

   The author of this quote- Evil Knievel, died 7 years ago at the age of 69. Famous for his successful and unsuccessful motorbike stunts, he entertained many of us in the 1970s.

   I remember setting up ramps and jumping over model cars to be like him with friends.

   The full quote is

   1 Comment | Read More | motivation

2. Beware of the Mom Taper

   6th October 2014 3:03 pm

   “Jodie can’t make training tonight because she is exhausted and worried about her homework deadlines”

   A phone call, text or email late in the day from the Mum, and your plans for the night’s training session are scuppered. This is extremely frustrating as a coach. It happened to me 3 times last week alone.

   4 Comments | Read More | LTAD, overtraining, running

3. Coaching the Millennials

   2:51 pm

   Generation Y Me?

   Sometimes known as Generation Y, this group of people are the ones coming into the workplace since the Millennium.

   A bit different from the Generation X “slackers”, the Millennials have been hot housed, nurtured and been led to believe that they can achieve anything.

   4 Comments | Read More | Coaching, LTAD

4. Do you follow the latest training fad?

   10:09 am

   ““When you start to coach, you coach the system you played, but you begin almost to immediately discard what doesn’’t fit you or your material, and you look for what does…. All of us are takers, but if a person can’t add something to what he takes from others, he should get out.””

   Vince Lombardi in “Run to Daylight“.

   0 Comments | Read More |

5. The best agility equipment for sports

   9:57 am

   “Where can I buy the best agility kit?”

   I was coaching an agility workshop at the weekend which included some tips on how best to use equipment.

   The idea of using equipment is to enhance or assist movements which translate to your sport.

   0 Comments | Read More | jack Dempsey

6. Periodised agility?

   9:07 am

   The balance between specificity and overload is a crucial one. Your agility can’t just be Organised Despair, nor can it be just playing games.
   One way of overloading the balance/ control system is to practice transferring from stable to unstable surfaces. I am not a believer in circus tricks: standing on swiss balls has very little transfer to real sport.

   1 Comment | Read More | agility

7. Strength training for young people

   22nd September 2014 8:56 am

   “You never see an oak tree with huge branches and a tiny trunk”

   Kathryn “Wiggs” Catto on a last week’s level 1 coaching strength and conditioning for sport course.

   This was her way of describing to young teenage boys the necessity of developing strength in a safe and progressive manner.

   2 Comments | Read More | LTAD, strength training

8. Ice Baths- Giving muscle soreness the cold shoulder?

   1st September 2014 9:54 am

   What is the current thinking on Ice Baths?

   Success in sports depends on an athlete’s ability to perform functional movements, such as running, jumping or changing direction, to a high level on a daily basis. However, the fatiguing effect of high intensity competition and training experienced by elite athletes can reduce the quality of performance.

   

   4 Comments | Read More | recovery

9. Planning your Training: Periodisation for Young Athletes

   23rd August 2014 8:46 am

   What is Periodisation?

   Periodisation is the term given to the practice of breaking down an athlete’s  conditioning plan into specific phases of training.

   5 Comments | Read More | overtraining, periodisation, planning, Young Athlete

10. 30 years of strength training

    21st August 2014 5:12 pm

    45 today!

    I first started strength training when I was 15 years old. My Dad had given me his old power bar and I started using that in my bedroom doing curls, presses and squats. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was doing something. I worked at my part time jobs for six months to save up for a set of plastic spinlock dumbbells and a flimsy bench with bar rack.

    0 Comments | Read More | strength, tommy baker