April 2011 Blog Posts (30)

Dear Strength Coach!

In last week’s blog, I wrote about a way of applying progressive overload (also called a method variation) designed for the ISS block.

Check it out by clicking here.

So, why does the method variation look the way it does?

1st Consideration: The goal of the ISS block is to develop weak links, endurance of tonic stabilizer muscles, structural strength and the…

By Denise Konkol

URL:  http://muskego.patch.com/articles/muskego-coach-receives-recognition

Muskego High School’s strength and conditioning program fueled and formed by coach’s passion

When you meet Muskego High School’s Coach Mike Nitka, there’s no mistaking he’s a focused and dedicated man:…

For those interested, the latest NSCA bulletin has been published:  Version 33.04, concerning the month of April 2011.  Among other topics, new in this bulletin you will find:

• 2011 TSAC Conference Preview
• Personal Trainers Conference Wrap-up
• Review of Successful NSCA Clinics
• Updates Regarding NSCA Awards Programs
• And more….

To view and/or download the bulletin,…

I need your help!

I am running a sports performance camp at the high school I just got hired at, as the new strength coach.

This is anything but Ideal, this is why I need some ideas and suggestions.

I am starting to put together the program now.

Here are the dynamics:

It is a 6 week camp, held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday mornings with 3 one hour sessions each day.

I have not met or assessed any one…

It seems that when there is a major holiday I think more about my family and what family has meant to me in my life and my career. This probably should have been part one in this narrative of learning to coach because without my family, first my parents and my brother, now my wife and children coaching would be meaningless. My parents, how they raised me and where I was raised definitely molded me. They shaped my values…

A few recent events have made me realize that all strength coaches will eventually evolve to the same place. Like many of us, I listen and read a great deal from the internet. One trend that I have seen is that some of the previously “hard core” guys are gradually embracing the corrective exercise/ functional training side of the coin. This made me realize two things:

1-    Why I think the way I do

2-     Why others make fun of me

The reason I think the…

Dear Strength Coach,

In last week’s blog, I wrote about the importance of having a systematic way of applying progressive overload.

One of the more advanced considerations on progressive overload is that HOW you apply progressive overload is specific to the outcome variable of the training program.

Two blogs ago, I showed a three step combination exercise to be used in the ISS block. Here is an example of a method variation, designed for the…

Key Performance Indicators are those essential factors that determine success in you sport. It goes beyond sport demands and drills deeper into the actual physical performance parameters that must be trained to insure success in the competitive arena. Of course you must start with a through analysis of sport demands and subsequent analysis of position or event demands. Then what? You need to turn that analysis into…

Frank Dick developed this coaching development pathway that he presented at the Scottish Athletics coaching conference this past weekend. It is a clear pathway, but more importantly it is a growth process. There is no set timeline, it occurs step by step. The coach must earn their way through the pathway. (Please note: the titles are from Frank Dick, the descriptors are my own)…

For thee days last Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was totally immersed in coaching development. What an expereince! Spending three days with Frank Dick, an icon in coaching brought coaching right back to the center of the athlete development process. Conversations with Frank and the presentations on the weekend at the Scottish Athletics coaching conference were a powerful and timely reaffirmation of the role of the coach.…

Do You Want To Run Better?

If you want to run better train your neck musculature.                                                                                                                                                

Scalenes

The anterior, medial and posterior scalenes firmly fix to the frist and second ribs.  The scalenes aid in deep respiration, something we certainly do in heavy running.  The Scalene muscles are active…

Dear Strength Coach,

Let’s say your client’s goal is to improve a 1 repetition maximum in the deadlift.

With The Flexible Periodization Method, the client would start the macrocycle with the ISS block.

In the ISS block one of the key goals is to develop endurance in key tonic stabilizers for the chosen movement pattern.

Watch this exercise to learn a 3-step combination exercise to train the deadlift in the ISS block.

 …

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Jim Kielbaso.

Coach Kielbaso earned his Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science from Michigan State University, He then headed to Ann Arbor to get a Masters Degree in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan. While in school, Jim worked as an intern in the Strength & Conditioning Program in…

During the NFL lockout, workouts are an iffy proposition. The Kansas City Star reports:

It’s just a trickle for now, but one by one NFL players are spending the lockout pursuing hobbies or taking other jobs.

Chad Ochocinco of Cincinnati, you may have heard, practiced with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. Baltimore’s Tom Zbikowski is boxing for his…

These days there is no shortage of stupidity in the gym.  Stupidity, however, means different things to different people.  In my mind, stupidity is having your client perform cable curls while trying to balance on an upside down Bosu. 

Now having said this, let me set the stage for a most interesting lecture I received from a trainer I saw working with a client.  The gym where I run my business has been there about 25- years.  It is hardcore, old and worn, but has just about…

Sacred cows are ideas and concepts passed from generation to generation of coaches that no one questions or challenges. They may have made sense at some time in the past, but are now more likely to get in the way, still they persist. Some sacred cows are so entrenched that they are actually…