July 21, 2021

Reflexive / Reactive Eccentrics

Reflexive/reactive eccentrics and oscillatory reps (both in an advantageous and a disadvantageous position) are another form of training that work well especially later on in the season when we are really focusing on speed development (more so than basic strength development such as early on in the year). From what I understand these types of methods are based initially off some of the research done by Russian scientist Dr Matveyev who was looking at the relationship between agonist and antagonist muscles in athletic movements. The idea behind such forms of training are that it allows the athlete to learn to...

February 21, 2021

Propulsion and Absorption

As strength and conditioning coaches it is likely that a number of our athletes will be involved in running-based sports. Hence in my opinion it’s important that we gain a good understanding of exactly how they move, how they run and the possible strengths and weaknesses associated with such movement patterns. A concept I first learned from Loren Landow was the idea of propulsion and absorption and the way in which we can relate this to the athletes we work with. As an example propulsion based issues are more likely to be soft tissue related. This may be in the form...

July 21, 2020

Tempo / Regeneration Days for Athletes

A good conversation I had with a friend over the past week or so is the basis and logic of a tempo/regeneration day for sprinters (100m, 200m, 400m and 800m). In my opinion there is no right or wrong answer, I think that more importantly it's just about understanding the individual athlete and why we as coaches have prescribed what we have. Most commonly tempo/regeneration days are programmed after a day that involves some form of speed and/or acceleration work. If I use Stu McMillan's work as an example, tempo/regeneration days are programmed on a Wednesday in between an acceleration session...

January 29, 2019

Exercise Progression

When it comes to programming, I often like to think of exercise selection in the form of a continuum. What I mean by this is that just like sets and reps, exercise selection also flows from one program to the next. If I use split squats/lunges as an example, we could set it up like this: Accumulation 1 – Front foot elevated split squat Intensification 1 – Split squats (both feet on the floor) Accumulation 2 – Rear foot elevated split squat Intensification 2 – Alternating lunge Another very basic and simple example would be the overhead press. Beneath is how such an example may look: Accumulation...

January 2, 2019

Challenge your thinking!

We are all open minded about things until we are challenged on something we feel strongly about. From a strength and conditioning point of view most coaches have come from some form of training/sporting background e.g. power-lifting, Olympic lifting, gymnastics and hence we all have our biases and different perspectives and views on things and how they should be done. Sometimes though I think that we really need to challenge ourselves in terms of the way in which we apply our certain biases towards the athletes that we work with. What is it exactly that our athlete needs in terms of...

December 7, 2018

Implementing Strength Training Throughout The Competition Phase

From the Australian Track and Field Coaches Association Journal “Strength training is simply a mix of mathematics, physics and biomechanics” – a quote I really liked from Louie Simmons.   One of the most difficult challenges I have had in my time working with sprinters has been how to best apply strength and conditioning methods in-season. It is at this point of the season in which athletes are expecting to not only be at their best but to also perform at their best whilst at the same time it is the time of year in which they are also under the most amount...

December 7, 2018

Four Challenges of Being a Strength and Conditioning Coach

I was having a good conversation over a coffee with a young footballer (soccer) I do some work with yesterday. He asked me about some of the harder aspects of my job. It got me thinking. In terms of working with people I think that there are four areas that can be tough at times: 1 - As a strength and conditioning coach you will never know how many injuries you helped to prevent or minimise, something that is a big part of our job - there is no justifiable way in which we can consistently measure something like this 2 -...

November 27, 2018

What to Consider When Prescribing an Exercise

Introduction When it comes to programming there are always numerous factors to take into account. If I use a talented young athlete with aspirations to represent their country at the next Olympics as an example then some of the factors that I may have to take into account if simply prescribing a very common and basic exercise such as the squat include: Exercise Considerations - Probably the most important point – what is the reasoning and logic behind such a prescription - Squat variation eg back squat, front squat, safety bar squat etc - Unilateral or bilateral - Sets/reps - Volume/intensity (this will be dictated by the...