Posture training requires a lot of time and effort, so it is more likely to see transformations with body composition than body alignment. The focus now is on getting thoracic motion to a spine that is likely to be too kyphotic. I believe that the spine will move properly if you train properly. Instead of focusing on corrective exercise prescription I focus on improving technique. The lumbar, cerv [...]

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 [...]

Fundamentals or Advanced Training? I don't think drills are bad but they tend to fail to prove that they transfer as much as we think to believe. Some drills may have different effects on various athletes and various times of development. A drill at an early stage may teach a part but at advance levels may hinder change. Some drills are just physical tools to stretch or strengthen parts of the ev [...]

I was sent an article written by Ken Mannie, Strength and Conditioning coach at Michigan State entitled Traditional vs. Functional: Balancing the Scales. What is the difference between traditional training and functional training or traditional strength training and functional strength training? Is there a difference? What scales are we trying to balance? Let start with a definition - Functional [...]

Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending the Air Force Academy football practice and subsequent strength training session at the invitation of Matt McGettigan, head Football Strength & Conditioning coach. It was an amazing show. If you want to talk about getting a lot done in short period of time, in short efficiency that is what I saw. Not a minute wasted. This scheduled is dictated by the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Dennis wrote the following: Can you please share your thoughts on why you don't like the straight leg marches and the 1-leg rdl's?I believe the straight leg marches cause hamstring problems. They are too ballistic in warm-up. As far as one leg RDL or the RDL for that matter, if you are doing them to strengthen hamstrings, there are better more functional alternatives - the multidirectional lunge [...]

Each of the last five teams we have played with Venice volleyball have done some version of the so called movement prep. It has been interesting to watch. One team spent 18 minutes on this stuff. All at a walking temp almost at Tai Chi rhythm. Folks that does not prepare you to play a ballistic game like volleyball.Vern's post was again a shout of wisdom to an audience that doesn't have a basic [...]

I feel vindicated the Play Magazine section of the Sunday November 2, New York Times. They talked about things in the article some of us figured out 35 years ago - (Sorry for the sarcasm) but warm-up is just that, it is movement. Two of the exercises they illustrate in the article the straight leg march and the scorpion are two exercises I would NEVER do in warm-up. I think they are not appropriat [...]