Late Christmas Present!

A late Christmas present has finally arrived: Strength and Conditioning: Biological Principles and Practical Applications has been winging its way to me from England for over a month. Thanks Royal Mail and US Postal Service!



I had hoped to have had it read by now but I will do my best to get through it in the next few weeks and post a review up here. By the looks of it though, you shouldn't really have to wait for reviews of this book to come out. This is something you need to have on your bookshelf.

I owe a big thank you to my mother for sending this through to me - THANK YOU!

1 year of "In Pursuit of Performance"

Yesterday marked 1 year since I created this blog and wrote my first piece: "1st post" (wonder how I came up with the title for that one). I have really enjoyed the experience and have to thank the people that have spent the time to read, comment, and email me about it.

My five most visited posts have been as follows:
1. Strength and conditioning internships & snapshots
2. Strength and sprinting speed
3. The responsibilities of the elite coach: embracing the science of coaching (part II)
4. Early / late specialization part II - Cal Naughton Jr
5. Prue Cormie - how strong is strong enough?

The above have mostly been popular thanks to my friend Google - but I thought I would list a few other blog posts that I have either enjoyed writing, feel are important to me, or have been stirred up questions or controversy somewhat.

The elusive 5%
I see/hear this everyday.

Liverpool injuries, Rafa Benitez, & the big picture behind an injury crisis
We as coaches and SCCs have to take a critical look at our own practices.

The image of the strength and conditioning coach
Something I believe more than ever before. I am not just picking on the big strong guys here - being underdeveloped or out of shape for the sport you are working with won't help you either.

Strength & conditioning blogs vs. journal articles
Seeing this reminds me I need to get on it myself!

My soundtrack to the last 10 years
Just because I enjoyed doing it so much - everyone should spend a moment and look back themselves.

Pick your squad for the World Cup
Notice that Robert Green IS NOT in my squad!

Thank you for visiting over the past 12 months. I owe some people some answers to questions they have asked and a few interviews - that is next on my list to take care of.

Another productive 12 months lies ahead!

Football clubs fined for rotating players?

What do we think about Blackpool being fined recently for "fielding a weakened team" against Aston Villa? Yes they made 10 changes from the previous game, but surely it should be up to the manager how he rotates players so that he can best accomplish the team's goals.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/blackpool/9378679.stm

In Blackpool's case, I imagine their ultimate goal is to stay up in the Premier League, and not necessarily win the next game every time.

I do see the point made by the Premier League that the fans pay a lot of money to watch games, and that they deserve to see the best players on the pitch, but it is a long long season. We know that physically, it is hard for players to maintain a high level of performance for the whole year, and so surely manager's such as Ian Holloway should be respected for their forward thinking in such instances. What do we think?

A bit "different" - perhaps Holloway's alternative thinking
can keep his minnows in the biggest league in the world
(and keep us amused during the post match interviews)

Smart training = Rhabdomyolisis? Iowa football players hospitalized

This is what happens when players training, hydration, and (physical and physiological) status is not monitored:

Courtesy of Yahoo!

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)—The University of Iowa said Wednesday that 13 football players had to be hospitalized this week with a muscle disorder following grueling offseason workouts that left them with extreme soreness and discolored urine.

The players have rhabdomyolysis, a stress-induced syndrome that can damage cells and cause kidney damage and even failure in severe cases, school spokesman Tom Moore said at a news conference two days after players were hospitalized at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.

School officials said the players, whom they would not identify, were in stable condition and responding well to treatment, which includes bed rest and the administration of hydrating fluids. Moore said he did not know when the players would be discharged.

Director of football operations Paul Federici said the players participated in workouts that started last Thursday after they returned from winter break. Some of them complained to medical staff after a workout on Monday and symptoms included soreness throughout the body and tea-colored urine, and other players were told they should receive treatment if they had similar problems, he said.

Ex-pros as fitness / S&C coaches in professional football

Through the grapevine, I have heard many complaints from young aspiring football (soccer) fitness coaches that ex-professional players often get positions at clubs that they are not qualified for. I have to hold my hand up and say that I may also have had such thoughts in the past.

Just like in any industry, the best man (or woman) may not always get the job. This is certainly true in professional football where there certainly are some unqualified, or no so good staff in the game - fitness coach, physio, scout, analyst, or otherwise.

However...

Ex-pros are exactly that - retired players that spent their formative years playing the sport, and were not (until recently) able to continue studies, therefore it may be unfair to pigeon-hole them all. Just because these guys may not have masters degrees or all the fancy certifications does not mean that they are not eager to learn new things or continue with their education now that their playing career is over. They also have a wealth of experience from doing. They know how it feels to be a young player who struggles physically in the 1st team, what it is like to suffer a career threatening injury, and they probably have had years of working with many different fitness coaches themselves.

A BIG thank you!

I want to take a moment here to say a big thank you to all the professors, students, interns, volunteers, coaches, and subjects (athletes) that have been crucial to the data we have taken over the past few days. All forms of testing went very well and it is down to all of your hard work.

Between now and April, we have more testing dates, along with the continual monitoring of all forms of training, competition, and recovery. Your input is very much appreciated. I could not be around (and learning from) better mentors, students, and friends.

Thank you!

Howard

The other side of monitoring - keeping track of outside stressors

Regular readers of t his blog will know how much I value monitoring training/matches. Heart rate monitors, GPS units, video analysis, and RPEs can all be used to quantify the volume and intensity of training. My own research for my PhD centers around this subject.

Something that I have not really written about, however, is the importance of monitoring other aspects of the athlete's life. We as coaches work with our athletes 1 to 4 hours per day. What they do for the other 23 to 20 hours per day has a huge impact on the all important process of recovery & adaptation.

Outside stressors can range from lack of sleep, family problems, inadequate nutrition, and stress.

Outside Stressors (from Stone, Stone, & Sands, 2007)

We are all in this industry (I hope) to help our athletes improve. Having some method of tracking outside stressors will help them move towards their goals. On a selfish front - we can create an excellent training program for our players but if they are doing the wrong things away from the field and gym, then our program may well not seem so good. If the athlete is going through some hard times (relationship break-up, illness of a family member, etc.), then we probably should modify training otherwise performance may suffer and/or injury could be more likely.

Train weaknesses or strengths?

A number of the ETSU men's soccer team returned to town over the weekend, and it was great to see these athletes getting back into it and catching up with each other today.

Today, Satoshi and I were also able to catch up with head coach Scott Calabrese and talk about the needs of each player in this next phase of the training year. During each training week, there will be certain windows where players will break off into groups to work on areas where they are weak (be it physical or technical aspects). This is a typical approach, and may well be appropriate for many players / teams out there during certain phases of the year.

Last week I read a very good blog by Vern Gambetta entitled, "Training Your Strengths". Vern Gambetta has a fantastic ability to think critically and challenge standard practice and mindsets, and this one struck a chord with me. In this post, Vern gives some of the reasons why you should train strengths rather than weaknesses - something that I first heard when I was still playing (in an Arsene Wenger interview I think).

Power balance bracelets - false claims admitted

Thanks to sportsscientists.com for drawing my attention to this - their finger is firmly on the pulse!