I sat down with coach Mike Hickey for an episode of his www.runnerspace.com segment Coach to Coach. We spoke about how to expand your lens as a professional and professional development, strength and conditioning principles, lowering injury risk, research, and how to and why we Start with the Core.
Read MoreMy friends Chris Johnson of Siuslaw High School in Florence Oregon and Dave Frank of Central Catholic in Portland Oregon recently asked me to join them on The Just Athletics Podcast.
After some small audio hiccups, we talk using regional interdependence as a coach, eliminating frivolous aspects of training, letting the goal be the goal, learning from those who aren’t in your specific sporting area and developing a trusted referral network. We also explore the topics of why questions and expanding the coach’s pattern recognition system while of course talking strength and conditioning.
They may have also gotten the first announcement of Start with the Core!
Read MoreI might have been gone for a minute, or two months, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy.
Coach Travis Floeck and I are teaming up, this time to write a book. ‘Start with the Core’ will be a major expansion on why we train athletes the way we do, by starting with the core. This book is an anecdotal and evidence-based deep dive into what the ‘core’ is, why we begin training with the core, specifics regarding our order of operations, progressions, and the pattern hierarchies that govern our approach, and how we have implemented these principles while training athletes across ages and populations to reduce injury risk and improve performance.
Recently I was asked to do an interview with High School Harrier. Thoughtful and thought-provoking questions were asked surrounding sports science and application in secondary school athletics, minimalist training, misconceptions about training, and my sometimes controversial positions regarding sports performance.
Read MoreThis blog is not meant to disparage another profession, belittle the knowledge and experience of my colleagues, or look down on weekend warriors. I am a proud member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and holder of the title of Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). I have been a personal trainer and group exercise instructor, worked in physical therapy and chiropractic offices as well as athletic training facilities, coached at every level, and been a strength and conditioning coach. I have a great deal of respect for each of these professions, but there are distinctions, and they should be respected.
Read MoreIt is a near constant to see exercise participants of all ages engaging in the prolonged static stretching of a given muscle or muscle group. From competitive sport to physical education classes to yoga, passive static stretching has been a mainstay. It is particularly common to see a variety of stretches for the hamstrings being utilized, however, this may not be the path to performance and injury resilience that many believe it to be. Increased mobility, pain-free function, and injury risk reduction may be contingent upon flipping the relationship between strength and flexibility in the lower extremity as we stretch our quadriceps, instead of strengthening them, and strengthen our hamstrings, instead of stretching them.
Read MoreRemarkably, while almost everyone agrees that the core is vital to injury prevention and sports performance, this is a topic that still needs to be discussed and written about, largely because there seem to be some fundamental and persistent misunderstandings regarding the why, what, how, and perhaps most importantly, when regarding the training of the core. The short answers to these questions are as follows:
Read MoreWith the outbreak of COVID-19, subsequent pandemic, and resulting worldwide shut down of athletics, things are a bit uncertain for many athletes, coaches, strength and conditioning professionals, athletic trainers, and a host of others who work in the industries that make sports possible. Thanks to some forward-thinking track and field and cross country coaches, a group of professionals has come together on social media to provide one another with collaborative opportunities to learn from and support one another over the last two months.
Read MoreI was invited to be a panel member this last Saturday at the Sports Related Injuries Continuing Education Symposium sponsored by Inland Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Clinic, Pullman Regional Hospital, and Gritman Medical Center.
Read MoreSince becoming an Athletic Trainer I have also resumed my roll as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. This dual role was a natural progression for a variety of reasons. Professionally and academically I am both an Athletic Trainer and a Strength and Conditioning Coach. Philosophically and functionally it is impossible to separate these roles and still provide the best patient care that I am able to. I also have excellent weight room facilities directly attached to my athletic training facility. +
Read MoreThe disputes and debates over the name Athletic Trainer have been of passing interest to me since 2015. Given the origins of the profession this title was once quite accurate. While this seems to no longer the case, I would like to submit that, particularly at the secondary school level, this is entirely a failing of us as a profession.
Read MoreAs an Athletic Trainer at a combined 7-12 grade Junior and Senior High school I have an interesting patient population. The school was built in 2003 and at some point there was a bit of foresight in the design and layout of the building. At the far east end of the building there is a long hallway that follows the entire eastern end of the school.
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