The simple question is "What impact will hip thrusts and other exercises coined by Bret Contreras" have on elite sprinting? My answer is I am not sure, since every few years a new or old idea comes up claiming it will be the next big thing and always seems to loose ground when the track season starts. Why? Reality. The reality of the exercise list is that no evidence of transfer is available. So [...]

My post-collegiate track and field group resumed training last week following the conclusion of their seasons and 4-6 weeks of complete and active recovery. This year at least half of the group will be coming in following a year of training with me and should still be in pretty good shape. And because we're starting training relatively early (late July) we're going to take our time in the genera [...]

This is the introduction to my presentation at the Long Beach Perform Better event next month.This presentation will be different. It may not be what you expect. It will not be about the past. This will not be a nostalgia trip or rants from an old man about the good old days. Rather I will look back to gain a perspective, a historical context, to move forward with clarity and purpose. It will be a [...]

The most valuable learning experience is working with high end Sports Medicine professionals during the beginning of the year. I find that using a combination of approaches to evaluating or appraising the competence of the athlete is most effective path. With many coaches that have small budgets and limited staff, one way to best use existing funds is to learn to front the money early to save reha [...]

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 [...]

One of the most interesting reads is looking at what process many of the testing programs are doing to evaluate improvement year to year. I think the strength's of years past was that much of the information was based on the combination of physical education and military training from WW2, not just sports medicine. You have x number of weeks to get people you have never met into prepared athletes [...]

The pictures are from old corrective exercise books and manuals from nearly a 100 years ago, and it's interesting to see what people were doing. Not much has changed. Some stuff was better, some obviously outdated. I do believe corrective exercise is important but how much is necessary in a good program? What issues can a coach help with and what stuff should be left for the sports medicine staff [...]

The five biomotor abilities are often described as the elements in eastern medicine. Before people think I am trying to go voodoo or guru I don't like boxing things into pretty categories that much as many exercises and workouts are not purely one biomotor ability. Overlap exists and often the composite is unique. What happens to the low back type I fiber/musculature after one hour of olympic lif [...]

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 [...]