When I reviewed Day 1 I highlighted some of the speakers and summarized my takeaways, something I am not going to do here. I can’t do justice to Boo’s talk on jump training so I am going to get into some of the general themes and some commentary on the Conference as a whole. I will fire some light ideas from the conference here.
Evaluation of athletes is evolving to include more locomotion and technology methods, and sticking with the easy stuff isn’t working. I have mentioned that screening is evolving and we need to find better ways than broomsticks and goniometers, but we are getting there.
The quote of the day was Boo sharing that Keiser isn’t cutting it, as eccentric overload is more than 100%. Didn’t see too many people confront that concept that perhaps playing it safe is nice to do at first but eventually you need to compete and the professional sport injury rates this year is clear that change is needed. Not getting hurt is important while training, so conservative that basic laws of training are ignored such as progressive overload isn’t very progressive.
Note: I use Keiser for a few exercises as well as the TRX tool, but 2% of a program is not the same as 80%. With better monitoring I think coaches can increase intensity of lifting with low volume training without risk to fatigue.
If core training is working, why are we doing the same exercises for years to maintain function? My point is not that you have to switch exercises but if you can’t stabilize the spine after a few months, proximal development needs to think very distally to the foot and ankle. Train all of the body but don’t forget the first line of defense. Core training is also total body training.
I sometimes feel like my coaching is to primitive because I don’t have exotic periodization schemes. After seeing the lifts and numbers of other college programs I realize that talent and general ideas will trump the cool stuff. Nobody seems to be doing something so much better than anyone else and it’s just flavor or taste with program deign. So long as results are repeatable and consistent life is good.
Nutrition is the hardest element to help with athletes next to sleep. I think a really good life coach with knowledge of 10 exercises could be one of the best strength coaches in the world. Nutrition and sleep is so important but I don’t know anyone who is doing it with team sports. After seeing some international fitness coaches talk about glutamine and sport, I realized that Europe is behind but they have a more professional culture.
I met Ben Bruno in person as he sat next to me Friday evening. A lot of times I see people on the internet before I meet them in real life and many of them are way larger or smaller in person. It was good to meet people face to face as it removed a lot of the disconnect. I think we need more public forums as beliefs should be shared openly and not just on the internet.
I strongly suggest getting the BSMPG videos and watch and learn for yourself. The speakers were excellent and the information is the best in the country. I am excited to see what Art Horne and the others do next year as each year the bar rises higher.