Training should be a simple as possible but not simpler. I personally have a vendetta against those who pontificate KISS and other approaches to training design and programming. The stupid in this world haven't don't much so why are we trying to dumb things down? I would rather clarify than to simplify. With three requests for my training system I got this weekend I say with dramatic pause, the [...]

Two classic books that are must for every coaches, trainers and therapists library. They are both out of print, but if you search I know Total Body Training is available, the KiphutTTl Body book How To Be Fit is hard to find but still out there. The information and ideas on training may come as a surprise to some of the millennial generation that thinks training began in 1998. Total Body Training [...]

Found this in the archives - Thought it would shed some light on this now "controversial aspect of training. This was written in 2002, before movement prep was born!Warm-up is the most neglected part of the workout, yes it is part of the workout. The workout begins with the warm-up! The first mistake that people make is to take warm-up for granted. It sets the tempo for the workout to follow. It [...]

One aspect with Bobsled that I wished was further explored is rendering a formula to improving push clearance with the start. Oddly their is very little research and proposed theories on the best way to get a sled to it's fastest "escape velocity". Unlike track where countless conferences exchange great kinetic and kinematic data, the sport of bobsleigh doesn't have the economic resources to i [...]

While I do have a physioball that I used as my office chair at West Point and I don't have any problem with them being a PART of a balanced core training routine, this video pretty much sums up my feelings on unstable surface training and the way it's been pushed as the or athletic development. By the way, what is "Core Stability"? Has anyone seen a reasonable definition that holds up against [...]

The analogy of the mast of a ship being the spine is very popular but has a few problems. First, the support wires are not guy wires ( some PT from Toronto supposedly referred to them as guide wires for some reason) they are strays and shrouds. Ship building requires a lot of engineering and spouting off lame rehashing of Paul Chek is outdated at best. Paul has helped the industry back in the 90s [...]

I am using the word Trunk more and more as I find the use of the word core over used and biased towards abdominal muscles. Many of the experts are focusing on anti-rotation and that is far from effective than focusing on quality gyroscopic action of the core. A great observation from Steve (hurdlesfirst.com) is the fact the lead arm in hurdling is always moving because it's always working. The co [...]

The cut step is the last stride before the hurdle and the great hurdlers purposely alter the length and stride time in order to set up optimal take off. This is very difficult to teach as the step is so fast it can't be drilled effectively without proper coaching. I am not saying I am the expert on the cut step but many hurdlers need to set up their take off point optimally or they will find them [...]

Make sure you tailor your workout to suit your intentions. Yes pun intended. You can manipulate the following:Rest periods :30-45 seconds.Surfaces- Grass (various lengths), track surfaces, and even soft gymnastics flooring.Exercises: None between (passive rest) to a core exercise, to a lower body motions Integrate a drill - such as speed skips or other locomotive actionFootwear- various shoes and [...]

Great interview on the strengthcoachpodcast site. Not perfect but he understands stiffness but didn't go over learning to relax and rapidly exchange the contractile dynamics. Stu McGill is an excellent resource but he made statements I disagreed with.Dr. Stuart McGill Professor of Spine Biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, author of Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabil [...]