A Philosophy of Strength and Health

I think the art of programming --- the selection, order, dosing and progression of movements --- is becoming a lost art. It seems to be more of a "plug and play" kind of activity rather than a craft. A good program, and the process of implementing that program, will be much more than the sum of its exercises. The use of software makes it easy to copy and paste.  Software makes every workout look basically the same. We pick from the list put the "power" exercises here, the "strength" exercises here and the "plyo" exercises here. Is this activity inherently different than writing --shaping--- a workout on a blank piece of paper or even white board? Are the relationships of the movements within a workout and among the various other days of the workout plan easily comprehended? The use of phones and tablets to display exercises means they are more likely to be displayed one at a time, possibly losing context of how they are connected to oth...

I've been ruminating on this subject for the last four years. My goal with this post is to spark some thoughtful discussion on the use of the RDL in performance and rehab programming. Some background. Prior to coming to US Ski & Snowboard in May of 2014, I'd been working in private practice for 10 years, primarily with high school basketball, volleyball and swimming athletes. In my world, the RDL was a highly advanced movement, reserved as an accessory training movement to prepare the body to efficiently move the bar from below the knee to the power position at mid-thigh in cleans and snatches. Because we did full range of motion squats (bodyweight, front, back), full range of motion hexbar deadlifts, step ups and lunges in varying directions, amplitudes and speeds, skips and all kinds of other movements, I did not see any reason for this group of athletes to do RDLs, Good Mornings or any other resisted isolated hip-hinging movement. Hamstring work wasn't isolat...

One of our former interns stopped by last week. She's deferred admission to a graduate program in S&C for a year to work in the private sector. She's the head of performance training for a small, private rehab/performance facility. The owner has given her full reign to revamp the youth training program. As some side work, she's taken on a few adult personal training clients at another commercial gym. This is an experience all young strength coaches should have--the opportunity to work with adolescent athletes, and apply/progress basic bodyweight movements with them. I'll argue there's also excellent value in doing the same with general population adults. She's seeing results. Decreased joint pain in her adult clients and youth athletes. Increased confidence and function. She's learning how to build proper movement progressions and seeing the power of these movements applied over time. Young strength coaches working in the collegiate or other ty...

Just a test post to try out the new Google Photos and a link to a good article. This is a picture of the conference building at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center. I had the great fortune of visiting this beautiful place last week and meeting many bright and thoughtful strength & conditioning professionals. I'd like to share a fantastic blog post by Andrew Wilson and a link to a great Google Hangout featuring Andrew Wilson, Al Smith and Mark Upton. If you are reading or are contemplating reading the new Frans Bosch book, you'll probably find the topic of dynamic systems and a more ecological approach to motor control / learning.

Current 6' 9" Pepperdine starting MB Mitch Penning front squats 100 kg in high school.   I get asked this question all the time. There are two major things to consider: 1. Does the athlete have ankle mobility issues with basic squatting? 2. Are you going to train the full snatch and clean, or lift from the ground on a consistent basis? If you answer "yes" to either of these questions, you should encourage your athlete to use weightlifting shoes during training sessions, with all barbell movements. Weightlifters wear these funky, clunky high heeled shoes for two reasons. First, firm soles give the athlete a firm connection to the platform so there is no loss of force when driving the feet into the ground on lift off, recovery from the bottom or the dip and drive of the jerk. Second, heeled soles give the athlete additional ankle dorsiflexion, which allows for optimal vertical torso positioning on lift off and recovery. Melanie Roach (53 kg) prepares to ...

This is video I shot back in 2007 when I paid a visit to the wonderful state of Washington to spend a few days with Melanie Roach and her coach John Thrush. Mel was working very hard to come back from back surgery and make the 2008 Olympic team. I went out to take some video for John for a more in depth look at her technique and to document improvement. As you will see in the graphs at the end of this video, Mel had made some great strides in her snatch technique and was no longer losing velocity on the barbell like she was prior to surgery. I was able to show her this using video and velocity measures captured via Dartfish. Eventually, Melanie went on to make the 2008 US Olympic team and place 6th in Beijing, snatching a lifetime best of 83 kg and going 3/3 in the snatch. She also set a new American record in the total with a 193 kg total, which included a 110 kg Clean & Jerk. This record still stands, as does her American record of 113 kg in the Clean & Jerk which was set...

This is a post from back in 2011. Just a little overview of the people and places that have influenced my thinking and approach to performance and health. Since 2011, I've certainly grown even more. Hope to share that growth over the next year. http://ironmaven.blogspot.com/2011/04/philosophy-of-strength-and-health.html