Building on the excellent post of Dave's presentation on eccentric strength I decided to focus on the evolution of the taller athletes in regard to shuffling. The video above is a side view of Dayron of his run at Paris last year and it illustrates his specific joint angles with shuffling. Shuffling is a skill that is necessary for athletes that are taller and faster at the elite level, and it al [...]

Next in line of this video bonanza is an 8 minute clip from none other than the mighty, shiny-domed Dave Kerin. Although Dave has been made immortally famous and achieved rockstar status for his witty but semi-cryptic rants on ET; he is also well known for being one of the first to really point out the importance of eccentric strength development in the training of speed-power athletes. Dave is hi [...]

Stiffness and mobility are often looked as isolated modalities but they are a complex interaction when trained. It would be convenient that one can just do some mobility drills or bridges to become a great athlete but that is far from the truth. Reducing muscle slack at key times and allowing controlled motion requires very good coaching abilities, hence why interns at various performance centers [...]

Water is an excellent medium that provides unique qualities that athletes can exploit for various needs such as conditioning, specific strength, joint mobility/flexibility, and rehabilitation. What I like about the zealous enthusiast is that they explore all the possibilities that water can do, even if another option is superior. This is important for well rounded programs, as even if a tool or pr [...]

If you followed the swimming program of the recent Olympics closely, you know that 41 year old 5 time Olympian, Dara Torres, was one of the few female swimmers who looked cut and lean. You probably also know that she achieved unprecedented success for a swimmer of her age by winning a silver medal in the most explosive of all swimming events, the 50m. Dara attributed much of her career longevity a [...]

If you want to pull hamstrings then spend a lot of time focused on training the hamstring muscles in isolation. Do hamstring curls at least twice a week and try to fit in another day if possible. Be sure to go as heavy as you can and really emphasize the eccentric phase by slowing down the lowering action. If you do not have one, go out and buy a $400 ham/glute machine and add that into the progra [...]

 To The Honorable Mike, Carl and the unknown but debating "West58"I have some questions and some concerns with the Weyland study being discussed.1. I understand that much of the information came from treadmill running...2. While I don't object to the premise:Faster Top Running Speeds are Achieved with Greater Ground Reaction Forces not More Rapid Leg Movements  I do have co [...]

The so called Nordic or Russian Hamstring exercise has continued to grow in popularity, usually as part of an ACL prevention program. I will get directly to the point, this is a dumb exercise. Sure it works the hamstring, but once again it works the hamstring in isolation. Movement is dominated at one joint, the knee. It does work the hamstring eccentrically, but at very slow speed, no where [...]

The following is an excerpt from an article that Dean Benton and I wrote for Sport Coach in Australia. Continuum of injury prevention/performance enhancement exercise:The placement of exercises on the continuum is ultimately determined by the relationship to the function of the hamstring in actual running. It helps to look at the continuum as progressing from a low speed, high force emphasis, to [...]

How do you strengthen the Hamstring? In order to select effective exercises to prevent hamstring injuries and optimize sprinting performance, it is necessary to understand hamstring function. The nature of the injury & the phase of the stride cycle where the injury commonly occurs provide a major indication of hamstring function as well as insights into the mechanism of injury. Despite this clear [...]