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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James Marshall

1. Not too old at 37

   30th January 2009 10:50 am

   

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2. Post Match Recovery Food

   26th January 2009 1:21 pm

   There seems to be a new miracle food which is used as a popular refuelling method (at least here in Devon). Yesterday I saw an under -15 female rugby player using it, her Mum was taking her around the supermarket to find a suitable food and they both went into the car and had one. I know one physiotherapist who uses it as his favourite food stuff in between water polo matches.

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3. Starting Strength Training 5

   2:39 am

   Now you know what you need to achieve, you have started doing some varied movement patterns, you might be ready to do some of the actual meat and potatoes. I would start off with coaching medicine ball, dumbbell and other implement training before going into barbell work.

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4. Starting Strength Training 4

   20th January 2009 8:05 am

   What type of areas should be worked on first?
   If you are lucky enough to have access to a physio screening, then together you will be able to see how your movement patterns work and what may be inhibiting you. Two things are usually apparent at this stage, some range of movement is limited, and some muscles are weak. The exercises you programme will help the athlete develop greater ranges of movement where restricted, and also become stronger where they are weak.
   

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5. Starting Strength Training 3

   19th January 2009 10:14 am

   Ok, so lets look at some of the things I would put into chunks of training.
   The session might be divided into:
   Warm Up
   Session Part1,2…etc
   Warm down\ Finisher

   The overall priority of each bit must be that it has a specific purpose, it can’t just be doing stuff.

   Warm ups: I get athletes moving, so that it can either complement the session, or it is getting them ready to work harder.
   

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6. Starting Strength training 2

   14th January 2009 9:06 am

   Now you have some ideas of what you need to achieve, lets look at how you fit that into your existing schedule. When is a good time to start- I normally say Today, but if you have a competition on Saturday, I wouldn’t recommend doing something new. Instead, look at when you have got a couple of week break from competing seriously, and look to start then.
   

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7. PTA: Pain Torture Agony

   17th December 2008 11:26 am

   Lessons on weight loss from Wrestlers

   Cited in John Jesse’s wrestling encyclopaedia, Donald Cooper is quoted from Medical Aspects of Weight Control

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8. Function over form

   15th December 2008 10:26 am

   

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9. Periodisation Strategies

   9:30 am

   Periodisation is often talked about, but is soon forgotten once a season starts. It appears that some Coaches view periodisation as simply an offseason and a season. S&C Coaches may see it as 3 weeks of loading, followed by an unloading week- in my experience this leads to players getting broken.

   I have seen some professional clubs just do more and more work for 3 weeks, then take a whole week off- that is not periodisation in my opinion.

   Here is an article I wrote a few years ago:

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10. Body weight workout

    23rd January 2008 10:01 pm