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. Thinking Fast and Slow: Book Review

   23rd July 2013 4:56 pm

   “What You See Is All There Is (WYSIAT)”

   is a common flaw we can all suffer from: our System 1 brain retrieves instant information and makes decisions based on currently activated ideas. Unfortunately it fails to allow for information outside of that.

   (Those of you who watch the immense self belief and ignorance of people on “The Apprentice” may recognise this!),

   0 Comments | Read More | book review, sports science

2. How to warm up for Athletics

   19th July 2013 11:06 am

    I was watching 4 of the athletes I train warm up before their track session last week and was amazed by the random and unstructured methodology they undertook.

   Track and field athletes are a special breed and don’t mind a chat at every opportunity between exercises, so I do bear this in mind.

   I asked one of them why he did what he did “I just copy what I have seen famous people do and mix them together.”

    Here are some tips:

   0 Comments | Read More | home gym, weight loss

3. Hope, mindfulness and compassion

   18th July 2013 11:00 am

   “Do you coach with compassion or for compliance?”

   Effective leaders bring out the best in people, they do this through inspiring hope,being mindful and coaching with compassion (1).

   That was one snippet from my recently completed 6 week course led by Richard Boyatzis called “Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence”.

   3 Comments | Read More | Coaching, cpd, leadership

4. Fit for fencing; part 3.

   2nd July 2013 9:53 am

   Summer training for fencers

   Sunday saw our 3rd training day of the South West Fencing Hub. The first half saw me working with the fencers in getting them ready for the summer, the second half was on coach education.

   Traditionally, fencers take the summer off training because there are no competitions, then return to a week long camp in 6-8 weeks time, get beasted on day one and break.

   0 Comments | Read More | fencing

5. Twenty Years ago today

   1st July 2013 9:16 am

   The streets are paved with gold…

   Twenty years ago today I stepped aboard the National Express bus from Taunton to start my new life. I had a new job as a fitness instructor at the Scandic Healthstyles Club in Victoria, London. 

   I had a 12-8 shift, a rucksack on my back and nowhere to sleep planned that night. I arrived at my new job hot and sweaty, took a shower, tried on my new uniform and got stuck in. 

   After work, I got a room in a local hostel for a week, until I could find a place to rent. Oh, the joys of being young.

   6 Comments | Read More | karate, mental toughness

6. Team building: a different approach

   26th June 2013 9:42 am

   “Pretty much everything we do in life is a co-operative endeavour”

   said Clay Erro at the beginning of his inspirational talk at GAIN. Clay is a recently retired Californian High School teacher and football coach.

   He was kind enough to share some of the lessons he has learnt over his career.

   2 Comments | Read More | Coaching, Transformational Coaching

7. Heart rates, wattage and VO2 max testing.

   20th June 2013 9:41 am

   “Heart rate should be an indicator not a dictator”

   says Bryan Fish the Development Coach for the US cross country ski team.

   This nugget of information came out at a breakfast conversation at GAIN. I know very little about the long endurance sports, so was fascinated to hear what Bryan had to say.

   He expands further here.

   1 Comment | Read More | Coaching, endurance, fitness testing

8. “It’s the people business stupid”: GAIN 2013

   17th June 2013 3:17 pm

   Coaches are in the people business

   I have just returned from another fantastic GAIN (Gambetta Athletic Improvement Network) in Houston, Texas.

   The 5 day event was full of ideas, tips and sharing of coaching philosophies.

   3 Comments | Read More | Coaching, cpd, GAIN

9. Flying the flag in Houston

   11th June 2013 8:52 am

   World Class line up at GAIN conference

   I am off to Houston today to attend Vern Gambetta’s GAIN conference for the third year in a row. There is an excellent faculty lined up to present.

   I am especially looking forward to learning from Steve Magness about endurance training to help the middle distance runners and Modern Pentathletes I coach.

   0 Comments | Read More | GAIN

10. Training to the test

    10th June 2013 8:26 am

    Be careful what you fitness test

    I bumped into a squash coach yesterday, with whom I had previously worked over a period of 5 years. He was telling me about his new coaching course that involved “S&C”.

    That involved getting his players VO2 max tested on a graded exercise running treadmill test. He then designed different levels of running including “E1, E2 and aerobic sessions” to get them fitter.

    0 Comments | Read More | commonwealth games