I was talking to a few coaches over the last week and we all concluded that HRV (heart rate variability) is the new lactate. Promising but limited. Just like cybex testing before lactate, HR monitors in the 90s, VO2 Max in the 80s, blood pressure cuffs in the "golden" years, the numbers are nice but what does it really mean? If you are generation X or Y we will talk about sympathetic and parasym [...]

In Clearwater the best swimming clinic is hosting some of the best coaches ever in any sport. What is amazing is the numbers speak for themselves. Over 50 medals, countless world records, multiple national team championships, and a vast history of developing athletes. With an impressive list of speakers: Chris Davis, Dick Jochums, Eddie Reese, John Ivy, Dave Gibson, Lea Maurer, Paul Bergen, and Ra [...]

It was a great night for Spain and those that worked hard to prepare the team for neutralizing Germany and controlling the Dutch Boys. During the World Cup it was great to watch Paul the Psychic Octopus predict winner after winner. Basically winning a coin toss 7 times in a row is not a reason to start believing in magic or super powers but it did make me think of what the future will hold in the [...]

Now that the blogs on sports performance slowed down and the hype is died off a bit, I decided to do some careful reflection on some of the work of Guy Voyer from the late 90s. What I wanted to do was see what the impact of various seminars and conferences had on me. If I wrote my workout on Friday, what would Monday's changes be after the weekend course or seminar? Would the big picture be much [...]

Flexibility from eccentric work is now gaining a small resurgence again and several blogs are lighting up the current research on acquisition and retention of gains in range of motion.Tone from loading, Eccentric Tempo/Ratio are the primary variables I was exposed to from therapists and coaches to make change in joint flow. After about six years of experimentation, we decided to experiment on a c [...]

When is it good to be clueless? Or is it good to be clueless? Maybe being oblivious is a better option? The more I see on the Internet and read unedited, unreviewed “stuff’ the more I think it is good to be a bit clueless. If being clued in means cluttering my brain with a plethora of mindless information that focuses on trivialization of training then I prefer to be clueless. How can anyone f [...]

Attached to the blog discussion is a great PDF by Don Babbitt, a throws coach down in Georgia. What I like about this information is it shares what is important to him and how he tracks that information over a career. What information is important to you at any time? What information is urgent and what is something to reflect on later? For me I think next year will be 150m time, 30m time, Vertic [...]

I will like to give my late Grandfather some credit for teaching me things beyond a track drill, an exercise, or even a discussion about training at all. I was cleaning out some 3 Ring Binders, the same black ones he kept countless research articles on everything he found interesting and I found an old horse respiration when running article that made me smile. The purity of science and engineering [...]

"That is, however, exactly what happened on the night of unprecedented cold temperatures. Like many auto- mobile drivers, these decision makers falsely believed that redundant safety devices allowed them to oper- ate in more dangerous conditions without increasing the risk of a catastrophe."Sport Specific? Special Strength? Sometimes. I will share some general principals I read and see if people [...]

"Carl I was left with a few questions about foot mechanics and how to coach it. Could you share more about training the feet using the Ray Key thing? I was left wondering about the actual application of training the feet. Good stuff so far, for 24 mediacasts the price is great!"I don't coach foot mechanics as that is too advanced for me! I do put effort to have overall good looking technique wi [...]