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Your chance to run faster
25th March 2025
The father of a 9-year-old boy asked me if I could coach his son 1-1 with his running technique. I said, ‘No.’ Boys that age should be playing outside with their friends, not stuck in an awkward situation with an experienced coach and an expectant father watching on. Unfortunately, the boy attends a private school […]
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The Complete Keys to Progress- Book Review

I shall be reviewing a few of the books I have read so far this year on this week’s blog.

complete keys to progress

Entertaining, well written.

The first is by John McCallum and is a compilation of articles first published in Strength and Health magazine from 1965-1972. (For students, this is before your expert lecturers in S&C were born).

At some 260 densely printed pages, it contains quite a bit of information. McCallum uses anecdotes and fictional characters to cover various different concepts related to physical training- mostly how to increase mass and strength.

They usually start with him or a friend who is a gym owner looking at a weedy youth who moans that they aren’t progressing quickly enough. It often turns out that the weedy youth has a rubbish diet, goes out late at night, and thinks that working hard involves 3 sets of bicep curls and talking for 60 minutes.

(Nice to see how things have progressed).

The book is full of different programmes, lots of tips on setting goals, improving concentration and working on specific body parts. It has some good dietary advice, and some not so good.

As it was a series of articles over 7 years, reading it in one sitting is tough. Instead it is an ideal book for dipping into.

Read our full list of recommended reading for strength coaches

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Robin Williams GB Footballer Paralympian
I have been training with James for over four years now and firmly believe he has played a key role in my transformation as an athlete and therefore as a footballer. It’s fair to say I was in poor condition in various aspects when we first met, however, James’ ability to focus on the most important things and eliminate the baggage from training has enabled me to develop rapidly, having missed selection for the 2009 European Championships I am now a regular in the starting lineup.
 
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