Tag Archive: plyometrics

1. Power, acceleration and force: GAIN review 5

   22nd August 2011 9:57 am 7 Comments

   “Some research can’t interpret it’s own data, sometimes that data is wrong.”

   Jack Blatherwick opened my eyes with 2 great lectures. The first was on Acceleration, the second on research. He had some great visual slides, that just explained things very clearly. There was a constant sound of “oh, I see….” From around the room as people began to grasp hitherto poorly understood subjects.

   Not sure I can do it justice…

   Power…or acceleration?

   “Acceleration: more specifically, horizontal acceleration of body weight. The simplest and most accurate description from physics for explosiveness; quickness, agility and even speed. The words “power” and “force” can be misleading- not always, of course. Be a little suspicious. Trust your gut reaction.”  This was the start of the physics lecture.

   Does research that indicate heavier loads are necessary to generate power actually measure force instead?

   Most of you will know that

                       Force = Mass x Acceleration.

                                        F=ma

   But have a look at this continuum with the same amount of force being produced.

   F= Ma   ———————————————-  F=mA

    

   Powerlifting    Olympic weight lifting                                  Sprinting

   Body building                                          Sprinting with

   equipment

   Studies that show Olympic weightlifting produces high force, but they may forget to say that the centre of gravity does not move fast. The object is to get the bar to move fast.

   Conversely, using faster movements with out external load (extra mass) does create force too. If:

                           Power = Force x velocity

   then

                                       P= (ma)v

   In 100 metre running, greatest Power occurs 2-4 seconds into the run, due to the Velocity being greater. The greatest acceleration occurs at the beginning of the run.

   Which, if you rearrange the equation you come up with: A = F/m    Right?

   “Acceleration is more about how you apply the force, rather than how much force you can apply.”

   So, linked into the work from Bosch and Winckler, Acceleration is more about how you apply strength, rather than how much strength you have.

   Blatherwick uses the term Straight Line Extension (SLX) rather than triple extension when coaching the speed training. It is important to be able to apply the force when leaning, as the horizontal component is greater than the vertical component in this stage.

   From a start position, he coaches “Extend with a high head, the hips will follow” and uses lean starts where the body has to learn to lean in a straight line.

   He then proceeded to show a lot of his training methodology and drills on video clips. Using a lot of specially built (but homemade) kit, he looked to develop the acceleration and strength of his ice hockey players in different planes of movement. This was excellent stuff. Again, he starts slowly and builds up to avoid injuries.  He summed it up with:

   Functional Training: Integrate rather than isolate. 

    A note on Research and the use of Stats

   Blatherwick did a great presentation on the poor use of stats when working with athletes and also in research. I will be using some of this in upcoming blogs, but it is worrying that what is Dogma out there in academic land, is actually based on dodgy research and interpretation. Funny that the academics claim to have “science” on their side!

   (More on theory and practice behind Jack Blatherwick’s overspeed training).

   Kelvin Giles made reference to the “random number gatherers” in sport science, and how easy it is to fall into this trap.

   Next Planning and Summary

2. Strength and Power Concepts, Jim Radcliffe

   15th August 2011 3:03 pm 10 Comments

   “The best way to get in shape is not to get out of shape.”

   Jim Radcliffe strength coach at Oregon University has been coaching there for 26 years (That is longer than most “S&C coaches” in the UK have been alive). Unlike a lot of people who have been in situ for a long time, he isn’t resting on his laurels in a comfort zone of repeating the same thing year after year.

   Instead he has developed an outstanding sequence of practices and structures that allow him to deal with big numbers of big guys in limited time. Here is a review of some of his workshops at GAIN in 2011.

   The Warm Up

   Teach and train the warm up. Working on “pillars of strength” routines that warm up the body from the core outwards. One of the first exercises taught is the “hip hinge”.

   Stand as if ready to jump, fingers on hip bones. Then imagine a table has hit your thighs, pinch your fingers and bend forwards. Keep working this movement forward and backwards.

   Then work on a progression from hip hinge to hip extension. The weight training exercises such as good mornings, deadlifts, catches follow this progression.

   Sprint progressions he uses are:

   • Starts  (from various positions).
   • Accelerations from 5-25 yards
   • Barefoot speed drills.
   • Sprint intervals (notice that these are last once the mechanics are right).

   “Keep healthy, refreshed, sharp”

    Radcliffe defined the various aspects of strength as follows:

   • Core strength : bodyweight vs gravity
   • Absolute strength: overloads regardless of condition
   • Relative strength: overloads/ % of bodyweight
   • Dynamic strength: overloads / degree of speed
   • Elastic strength: overloads/ degree of rebound.

    With Athleticism increasing from top to bottom.

   Within these concepts the type of overload can be changed to affect the training outcome:

   • Resistive Overload: Gravitational, inclination, external.
   • Spatial overload: range, saggital, frontal, transverse planes
   • Temporal overload: Operating rate, impulse

    Does Weight Training make you slower?

   “The more weight you lift, the slower you move.” So time in the weight room can make you train slow to be slower, or train fast to be slower.

   It is better to concentrate on “movement efficiency” how you project your hips. You need more force, but then move faster too. Work on “Flex, extend, rotate” to apply this force.

   The long term objective is explosive power which comes from:

   • Functional Strength
   • Directional Speed
   • Transitional Agility.

   The short term objective is Power (endurance) reliability which comes from:

   • Work capacity (not necessarily more, but better)
   • Recoverability
   • Stamina.

   The training cycle

   Radcliff uses 14, 21,or 28 day training cycles, and uses a multitude of formats within that. He categorises the lifts as either single joint , double joint or multiple joints. He then uses sets and reps  as either fixed, plateau, stimulation or wave.

   All of these are adjusted during the training cycle to allow adaptation and stimulation to take place. So even if the lifts stay the same, the ways, means and loads on them differ all the time.

   The weekly cycle

   Within the week, Radcliffe looks at training different emphases. For example a few days might be on vertical jumps and tosses, another on horizontal jumps with bounds and hops. He uses different complex patterns that utilise strength and power together such as:

   • Squat\ Jump
   • Pull\ toss
   • Push | Pass
   • Lunge\ Bound.

   Radcliffe is dealing with big numbers of players remember (30 is a small group) so the system of training has to reflect this.

    Summary

   As Oregon have had some great successes recently, no small amount of credit can go to Radcliffe.

   What I liked about Radcliffe (and all the presenters), was how he had consolidated his thoughts and practices into easily digestible chunks for the young athletes.

   He has a system that is adaptable, rather than off the shelf, and has been proven in practice. Over the 4 years he has the guys, he can see the progression and introduce his key principles. That is what makes him one of the best strength trainers out there.

    Next: Plyometrics and Agility.

   I use these principles when designing strength training for sports programmes

3. Principles of Athletic Development : GAIN review 1

   12th August 2011 9:53 am 1 Comment

   “Are you making athletes better or tired or more predisposed to injury?”

   This was one of the key questions we were asked on the GAIN 2011 conference in Houston, Texas in June.

   It is easy to make Athletes tired, it is easy to do STUFF, but making them better and knowing why you are doing things is difficult.

   This is the 1^st of 5 blogs that will review some of the things covered over the 5 day conference. It is a summation of my reflections and thoughts since then: hence the delay.

   The conference was held over 5 days, with practical sessions starting at 0630 and seminars finishing at 2100. There were about 60 people attending, from several different countries (mostly USA) with a variety of backgrounds: Physiotherapists, track and field coaches, cricket coaches, Physical Education specialists (not Games teachers) Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Athletic Trainers.

   This varied gene pool led to interesting points of view and was a welcome change from spending a weekend with tubby S&C coaches carrying fat shakes around.

   Principles of Athletic Development

   This was the subject of the first afternoon, led by Vern Gambetta. Here we looked at what our role is as a Coach.

   If you have not read his book on Athletic Development, then I recommend it. The principle is that the body is a whole and we must remember why we are training at all times.

   • The Stuff we do must connect: training sessions, body parts, exercises with what happens in competition.
   •  As a Coach we have to “ Design and implement an effective practical training or rehab programme that produces measurable and visible results in the required time frame.”

    Physical Literacy in the 21^st Century

    Kelvin Giles looked at the current state of “athletes” now. If you do some of the S&C courses out there at the moment, you would think that every one walks into a gym ready to back squat twice their body weight, and snatch body weight: and that is all they need to succeed. However, the current young person is so physically deconditioned due to lifestyle, the lack of P.E in schools and too much sport specific training, this is a dream world.

   One of the problems is that “we live in a world where sport science at all of the pie. It has generated random number gatherers.”  All the physiological monitoring has failed to monitor the mechanical load. (Think of the bleep test with acceleration, deceleration, restarting, change of direction).

   • The athletes need to have the ability to endure agility and accelerate, decelerate.
   • 70% of ACL injuries are non-contact. If the athlete has been conditioning properly, we can reduce that chance.
   • Some programmes include a lot of lying down “core work”. Why? They lie down when they leave your session?
   • “Never load a poor movement, and certainly never consistently do it.”

   This was a bit of confirmation bias on my part, as all the work we have been doing with the SWT and TASS athletes over the last 4 years has led myself and Paula Jardine to conclude that most young athletes can not do basic movements well. Let alone efficiently, let alone under pressure or stress.

   Next: Strength and power concepts  with Jim Radcliffe

   Further reading:

   • Where to help your child become fitter.
   • How this helps the young athletes at the Excelsior Athletic Development Club
   • Learn to coach these principles on our Athletic Development Coaching Course

4. Louise wins silver at Commonwealth Games

   12th October 2010 3:27 pm Leave a Comment

   Congratulations to Excelsior client Louise Helyer (left in picture) who has won silver medal in the Women’s Epee team event at the Commonwealth games.

   “We beat England in the semi finals, and lost to oz in the final. Only three team members can fence in the team event, and I fenced all three team events so was a crucial member of the team.” said Louise.

    

   Further details on the whole competition can be found here.

   This comes on the back of her previous success in Modern Pentathlon