Strength and conditioning coaching

“Lost in Transition”

was the motto of the recent Level 2 strength and conditioning course I ran at Oxford Brookes University (The coaches were kept busy going from venue to venue and task to task, we lost a few on the way sometimes!).

Day 1 was spent looking at fundamental movements, with a special look at posture. As most people who want to be “S&C coaches” think of the outcome for “elite athletes” or “where are the Olympic lifts” this was a bit of an eye opener.

However, as the next two days developed, the coaches realised how important the ability to move correctly is. 

Indeed, with 1or 2 exceptions, they realised how their own inability to move seriously hampered their speed and weightlifting training.

For example, poor slumped posture leads to a tight thoracic spine and shoulders. If you are unable to press a bar behind the head in a parallel squat position, there is little point trying to do a snatch.

It is very easy to get good at lifting on a platform, but I am only interested in how we can apply that where it counts: in the sporting arena.

Co-ordination challenge

The next eye opener was the importance of co-ordination in training. Whether this was doing skipping, running or performing complex dumbbell movements in the gym.

Whilst I have been told that maximal strength is the primary consideration for speed training, I have yet to see this in practice.

The speed drills we did were designed to enhance co-ordination and technique.

Application, application & more application

At every opportunity over the 3 days I reinforced how we we were going to apply these new found attributes into the sporting context.

• How are our athletes going to start training?
• How are they going to practice?
• How are they going to be able to apply it in their own sports training and then when competing?

Unless we can see that application, why are we training? 

The coaches on this course were really keen to learn and I think they saw the importance of taking a long term approach to developing athletes.

Whilst I do teach the “split style Olympic lifts” and train my athletes in them, the reality is that initially 90% of people have severely inhibited movement patterns.  

Unfortunately just as athletes want short cuts, so do many coaches.  This is a serious problem. Luckily the tyrekicking “fast tracking” people tend to go elsewhere to get quick fixes. 

I am lucky to work with athletes and coaches who are in it for the long haul. 

• 5 tips on How to get started in strength and conditioning coaching
• The importance of posture in athletes
• How to run faster: programme and videos of drills.