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 [...]

Yesterday my fellow blogging compatriot, Chad Williams, made mention of the importance of post-workout nutrition. While I can't say as the composition of his “Foamy Grossness” is optimal, an important message to take away is that you need to be taking in peri-workout nutrition. Unfortunately, particularly in endurance circles, anything beyond a beverage ending in “-ade” [...]

Slogging is not in the Oxford dictionary so don’t bother looking it up. It appears all the time disguised as training, usually included as integral part of warm-up or disguised as aerobic work. I am beginning to think it is a disease. It consists of thousands of very percussive negative foot contacts ambulating very slowly. Slogging is slower than jogging, hence the term slogging. Yesterday [...]

Some comments by Joe P. got me thinking about the process of program design. It is definitely a process, a blend of art and science tempered with a heavy dose of practical experience. For me there is a constant desire to get it “right,” therefore there is always a lot of fine tuning. For example this next cycle with Venice girl’s volleyball is pivotal. They are playing very well. [...]

You do not have to play the sport to know the sport. Today there are many tools touse to learn the sport. Virtually every sport has instructional booksand videos available that explain the sport from a technical andtactical perspective. Also remember the rules of the sport also dictateconditioning. That is why High School, Collegiate and NFL football havesubtle differences. To continue the America [...]

The following sign was posted at the foot of the stairs in a medical building where I was going to get a blood test: Check with Doctor before Climbing Stairs To say that I was taken aback would be an understatement. I almost turned around and took the elevator. I went ahead and climbed the stairs without asking a doctor; in fact I even climbed a second flight of stairs. I was struck with the irony [...]

Don't follow blindly! During a recent trip to Arizona, I found myself lacking literature half way through the trip.  In an effort to remedy this, I stopped by one of the many airport news stands to see what they had to offer.  As I was reading from title to title nothing seemed to tickle my fancy.  What did stand out to me, however, were the many claims on the covers of the [...]

Do not let appearances fool you. Yea, John Daly is an athlete. He probably does not use good judgment in his personal habits, but by many standards he can still get it done. He does not have to run the course, if he did the he would either be smaller or not play. If you use the appearance criteria then why do big fat linemen get a free pass? Fitness is relative to your sport and position. In fact [...]

When it comes to developing hip mobility, hurdle mobility drills typically fall way short of the intended goal.Case in point...I have 5 athletes of varying sizes training together and one set of hurdles set up for step-overs and duck-unders.(Smart guys don't give it away... just wait for it...let the others catch up)The assumption must then be that my bigger, taller athletes have much greater [...]

This an interesting article. They come down pretty hard on sports science here. Interested in your thoughts and reactions, I have mine, but Iwill hold back on this one.Athletics: Welsh ace’s hopes in lap of the godsJun 17 2007by Peter Shuttleworth, Wales On Sunday TIM BENJAMIN has gone from ballerina to Incredible Hulk as he bids to be an Olympic super-hero.The Welsh athletics ace has b [...]