Things I Do Wrong

As Strength & Conditioning Coach, you quickly learn that there are trends that everyone follows. In the weight room, this means, learning multi-joint lifts first, and saving isolated lifting for either; beach time, advanced lifters or bodybuilders. I fell for that too, initially, but I soon realized that it didn’t work best in my situation.

Things I Do Wrong

# 1 Start With Single-Joint Training

This is a huge no-no, right!? Everything that I read, says that you have to train athletes with multi-joint training 80-100% of the time. They said, “Put your efforts in teaching the big lifts right away. That’s where you’ll get the most benefit.” I listened. In my first real coaching gig, I did exactly that, and it was a disaster.

In a group/team setting (minus the pro’s), everyone has such different movement abilities, patterns and habits. Trying to have everyone learn how to full squat, deadlift, lunge and do glute-hams was a disaster. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to que and re-que everyone. I quickly realized that:

1-2 people would do it perfectly

1-2 would never get it right!

And the rest would be somewhere in between.

What a disaster. I spend too much time getting not far enough. The first few weeks turned into wasted time, as far as fun and gains were concerned. I quickly became frustrated and the athletes lost interest. There had to be a better way.

The solution:

I needed to find a way to make each movement that I taught, fool proof. I needed to be able to show it to them quickly and have them do it correctly. Sorry, but this is what team/group training is all about. This means doing a big no-no. I had to actually try to find ways to simplify each movement. (This is the exact opposite of the current trend, of try to make each movement more functional and complex). I kept regressing most of the lower body movements, until I came to this terrible, but effective idea. Isolated & single jointed movements!!! Horrible, I know. Here is what I’ve come up with so far.

My new progressions, look like this:

Single Leg Pattern

Split Squat (from kneeling to standing)

Bulgarian Squat (from kneeling to standing)

1-leg Squat (from sitting to standing)

Split Squat

Bulgarian Squat

1-leg Squat

Lunge, backwards, in place

Bulgarian Squat

1-leg Squat

Squat Pattern

Dumbbell Squat (from the ground up)

Goblet Squat (from seated to standing)

Front Squat (standing to seated)

Dumbbell Squat

Goblet Squat

Front Squat

Hip Dominate Pattern

1-leg butt bridge

1-leg butt bridge, elevated

Physioball, iso hold, leg’s extended

Physioball, hamstring curl

Physioball, 1-leg hamstring curl

Hip Dominate Pattern

2 arm, 2 leg, cable RDL

2 arm, 1 leg, cable RDL

1 arm, 1 leg, cable RDL

1 arm, 1 leg, dumbbell RDL

For many upper body lifts I now progress from a seated position, to a kneeling position, to a standing position. I used to do it the other way around, but I am finding that teaching these movements isolated first, teaches them how to do it correctly first, without any confusion. Then, then I let more of their body be involved they seem to retain the correct pattern better. Some of these movements include:

Dumbbell Overhead Press

Dumbbell Curls

Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Before you go crazy, please realize what I’ve done. I’ve simplified how some basic movements are learned. Once I’ve progressed past these single-jointed progressions, I now can go into any movement I want because the basic activation patterns are now instilled. I have in no way eliminated big basic movements. Instead, I’ve just had to create a new way of getting to them. A way that allows everyone to develop each pattern correctly so I don’t ever have to deal with crappy lower body form again.

The Results:

I’m happy to say that everyone now learning to move better. The best athlete, the worst athlete and everyone in between now can do the movements that I prescribe, each and every day. And they continue to improve. Not only are they getting better, but they are also getting a “workout” each and every session along the way. That is a huge bonus because feeling like you are getting a workout is sometimes as important as actually improving. That’s what keeps bringing you back, remember! So if I can teach proper movement patterns in a team/group setting and avoid the waiting game for results that traditional set-ups create, then I feel like I’m doing my job.

Next time I’ll talk about Periodization and why I don’t do it in the weight room anymore.

Brad Kaczmarski, C.S.C.S.

SPEED-STRENGTH PERFORMANCE SEMINAR IN UTAH

March 7-9, 2008

Featuring Charlie Francis with Derek Hansen

Layton, Utah

Charlie Francis

Charlie Francis, three time Canadian sprint champion, former national team sprint coach and coach of world record holder, Ben Johnson, is coming to Layton, Utah to provide an advanced seminar on speed development and sprint training. Charlie’s athletes set 23 world records, more than 250 Canadian records and won nine Olympic medals. Charlie is recognized worldwide as one of the top authorities on speed training and athlete development. Elite athletes and coaches regularly visit his forum at CharlieFrancis.com to read what Charlie has to say. Here is your chance to talk to him one-on-one.

Derek Hansen

Derek is a NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist that has been working with athletes in speed, strength and power sports since 1988. He is the full-time Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC, Canada and is an instructor at the National Coaching Institute in Vancouver, specializing in Strength & Conditioning, Biomechanics and Recovery/Regeneration. His clients include teams and athletes from Canadian National/Olympic programs and professional leagues in numerous sports.

Seminar Content

Key areas of presentation and practical demonstration include:

Maximum velocity mechanics
Sprint start technique and acceleration development
Weight training for speed development
Explosive power and plyometric training
Periodization and planning through Vertical Integration
Recovery and regeneration techniques
Electronic muscle stimulation and other training tools
Speed development for non-track sports
Technological innovations and their application in training
Trends in sport training and their suitability
Sport psychology - fact or fiction?
Safe and effective supplementation for performance
Managing muscle tone and the nervous system in training
Managing training volume - how much is too much?
Effective agility and change-of-direction training
And, much, much more...

For information on how to register for the Speed-Strength Performance Seminar, please contact Mike Doyle and Kim Tulane at COR Performance at:

Phone: 801-444-2819
E-mail: corperformance@hotmail.com

DATE:

Friday -- March 7th, 6pm-9:30pm : Training Theory
Saturday* -- March 8th, 8am-5pm: More Theory, Technical Issues and Practical Demos.
Sunday -- March 9th, 8am-11:30am: Program Setup and Planning
* Lunch will be provided on Saturday from 12pm to 1pm

COST: $350 US Late Registration Fee – After February 21, 2008 - $400 US

Flyer and Registration form available in PDF format at:

http://www.strengthpowerspeed.com/CO...ce_Seminar.pdf
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Members and Guests

Be advised that both the CharlieFrancis.com and Athletes-Nation.com community forums are now operational. Please be sure to check out both when you time.

Over the new few days both sites will be seeing new additions to serve you better. We hope you enjoy!

Members

We are currently in the process of doing a full update on our website forum/community. During this time you may not be able to access the forums. All accounts are in good standing so regardless of the message you see, please sit tight until testing has completed.

Edmonton Alberta

Charlie Francis and the Team at Athletes-Nation.com in conjunction with SAS Sports Performance Centres successfully hosted a 3 day seminar called "The Realities of Speed" April 20,21,22nd.

Charlie Francis delivered several lectures and hands on mini-work shops for seminar attendees and got into the raw details of speed and strength development, proper program design, stretching, massage, analysis and much much more.

Attendees were given a rare opportunity to work side by side with one of Sports great coaching minds and we here at CharlieFrancis.com very much look forward to delivering continued excellence in Edmonton. Stay tuned for more details and video segments of the seminar which will put the viewer in the action.

SAS Sports Performance Centres Inc. Operates Athletes-Nation.com, an Athletic Performance Center specializing in team sport athletes. Our goal is to train and educate team sport athletes and coaches in the importance of proper training.

We are also excited to announce the construction of the new home of Athletes-Nation.com which will begin as soon as the snow is gone!!!

The new facility will include a weight room 2400 square feet, a open field area 50' x 120' (field turf surface), a short track 30' x 200' (field turf surface), upstairs viewing area, parent lounge, video conference room, pro batter batting machines, Omega Wave Sport Technology testing center, Dartfish video analysis, Tendo weightlifting analyzer, and shower and locker rooms.

Athletes Nation will also house a physiotherapy / Chiro-ART / Athletic message therapy wing catering to the maintenance and health of athletes.

Our new website www.athletes-nation.com should be up and running by the end of this week, or beginning of next week.

Anyone interested in attending this seminar, please contact us.

Email: dan@athletesnation.ca or acbf@telus.net
Phone: 780.458.3700

It is with great pleasure that I announce that Charlie Francis, in partnership with SAS will be holding a three day seminar series in Edmonton April 20,21,22nd 2007.

Tickets are going fast for this exciting event. Please be sure to contact the promoter directly to reserve no later than Friday April 20th at 1pm.

For RSVP please private message Nap on this forum or email acbf@telus.net.

Police identified the suspect who fatally shot and killed 32 students, faculty, and staff at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He was identified as Cho Seung-Hui, aged 23.

Cho, a South Korean national; took his own life after delivering what would be known as the worst mass shooting in US history.

His identity was revealed by Virginia Tech police chief Wendell Flinchum.

ABC News said of the killer:

Cho's identitiy has been confirmed with a positive fingerprint match on the guns used in the rampage and with immigration materials. It is believed that he was the shooter in both incidents yesterday. Sources say Cho was carrying a backpack that contained receipts for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol, sources said. Witnesses had also told authorities that the shooter was carrying a backpack. Sections of chain similar to those used to lock the main doors at Norris Hall, the site of the second shooting that left 31 dead, were found inside a Virginia Tech dormitory, sources confirmed to ABC News.
The university's associate vice president for university relations, Larry Hincker, said he was a resident alien.

Another law enforcement officer at the press conference at the university continued to maintain that they could not yet confirm that the same killer had been involved in the shootings at Norris Hall, the academic building where 30 were murdered, and West Amber Johnston, the dormitory where two students were killed. However, he said it was "reasonable" to assume that Cho was the killer in both cases.

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger said that Norris Hall would be closed for the remainder of the semester.

Most athletes and coaches are familiar with the concept of variable loading and a consolidation period but I wonder if they’ve really thought much about what it aids and how it aids it.

It is becoming widely accepted that the key to advancing the training agenda is to administer only the workload per session that the body can handle, and, if in doubt, to err on the low side. It is also becoming clear that the body adapts best to a relatively constant workload which minimizes adaptation stresses.

How, then, is this reconciled with the need for a down week and what is that period allowing you to recover from?

It would seem from the outset that it is not a muscular issue, as the recovery period there is met routinely. But it also seems that alternating high and low intensity training days will allow the CNS to recover as well, leaving duration of exposure as the likely culpret.

Whatever the actual mechanism is, manipulating the high intensity training sessions effectively allows you to construct a plan for longer term adaptation.

Mesocycles of 3 weeks of intensification and 1 week of consolidation have the widest overall application but are not the only approach and cannot apply across the board to all circumstances. Indeed the “down week” may not be a week at all.

If we accept that intensity and the capacity to generate it is the key determinant, a few simple observations should help in the construction of an appropriate individual plan:

1: The need for down periods rises with the number of training years the athlete has undertaken.

2: The need for down periods rises with the talent of the athlete undertaking a given training regime.

3: The duration of down periods may lengthen as performance rises from a few days to as many as ten days.

4: The timing of mesocycles can change during a given training phase, becoming shorter due to cumulative intensification.

5: Cumulative intensification dictates that training phases should become progressively shorter through the year, independent of the mesocycle system chosen.

6: To minimize adaptation stresses at the highest levels, the down period may have only marginally lower intensity, but a larger drop in the duration/volume of that intensity.

For further discussion on this topic on our forum, please click here

“Compete on one leg; train on one leg.”
“Train the sport specific way.”
It’s hard to miss the promotion of this training method or the self-promotion of its Gurus.
You can deep squat over 200kg, yet, when tested, you can’t do one unloaded single leg squat without starting to fall over. Amazed by your newly discovered ‘inadequacy’, you’re easily convinced that you must overcome it.
But that argument can be turned on its head. Since the formula for power output is weight times distance divided by time, it is precisely this same test that proves there will be training losses if SLS work is substituted.

Let’s get this straight from the outset. You will be hard pressed to ever lift one sixth as much with a single leg squat as you could with both legs, no matter how long you work at it, so there better be a convincing argument for its inclusion.
Supporters claim that you must be able to stabilize at least your own bodyweight to be optimally stabilized in motions specific to your sport.

But, like the gyroscopic effect of a bicycle in motion, the stabilization requirements for a body in motion are far less than when stationary, regardless of the direction of that motion.
Supporters argue that the single leg squat is more specific to the motion of the sport itself.
While that might sound reasonable at first, it doesn’t stand up to closer examination.
A study by Loren Chiu, a PHD candidate at USC, Dr John Garhammer of Cal. State Long Beach, and Dr. Brian Schilling of the Univ. of Memphis compared the movements of the single leg squat and other movements.

They found that the magnitude and direction of forces in a SLS were significantly different when compared to running to cut, backpedal and cutting to the left for both the hip and the ankle. In fact a bilateral squat was much closer to these movements than a SLS. (The Science of Specificity).