Strengthening the hamstrings. Part2of3. The thrust & roll

Part1 of this series - the reverse aeroplane - stretches and strengthens the hamstrings with particular emphasis on working the muscle through a full range of possible motion.  Loads in the reverse aeroplane are not large but focused.  Part2 - the Swiss ball thrust & roll (T&R) - increases load but continues the theme of Glute co-involvement.
The swiss ball thrust & roll can be done with 2legs (an ideal warm-up even when you intend to advance) and 1leg.  The T&R can be viewed in the videos below.
The critical coaching points are these:

1. two discrete movements: thrust with soles against the ball, and the ball close to your bottom.  Don't move the ball during the thrust
2. with the hips held high, slowly roll the ball away from your body toward full knee extension.  Roll only as far as your high hip position permits - no hip drop is allowed   
3. roll the ball back to your bottom, and lower your hips onto the ground.  Repeat

video: 2leg thrust & roll

video: 1leg thrust & roll

Strengthening the hamstrings. Part1of3. The reverse aeroplane (1leg Romanian deadlift)

This post gets the award for the longest title!
Hamstring weakness and tightness is a significant functional impairment.  The hamstrings are a critical sprint power muscle, and long hamstrings are also vital for efficient mechanics at the pelvis and lower back.
The first exercise in this series is one of our favourites: the reverse aeroplane.  We prefer the term 'aeroplane' over the classic Romanian deadlift because we use many variations that don't require a barbell or dumbbell, including this one.
Set up in an aeroplane bridge: neutral torso pivoting over one leg - the 'T' shape.  Note that the knee should be 'soft' - not locked.  Reach down to the floor with your hands and then slowly walk out into a bridge.  The unloaded leg remains in the air.  Lift the back leg as high as possible and then walk your hands back toward your pivot leg.  Strike the heel to the floor and then lift yourself back up into the aeroplane bridge using the hamstring muscle.
The reverse aeroplane involves hamstring stretch and shortening.  It's an ideal warm-up exercise and very useful as well in metabolic conditioning.  A hamstring muscle that does not cope well with an exercise like a reverse aeroplane is not likely to respond well to repeated high intensity exercise, so it's an excellent assessment tool of functional capacity especially in group scenarios.
The classic barbell or dumbbell loaded single leg Romanian deadlift is an outstanding hip-dominant exercise due to the comprehensive involvement of joints and segments, and the requirement of neutral joint motion for the exercise to function at all - it's very safe!

video: the reverse aeroplane (1leg Romanian deadlift)

The journey makes the champion. Part#1

I showed a young swimmer images of two different elite swimmers.  One is an Olympic champion and world record holder and the other swimmer is not.  One exemplifies the modern athlete swimmer: heavily muscled with wide shoulders tapering to nothing at the waist – a triangle.  The other is lean but blocky and unremarkable by comparison.  I asked my young swimmer to point to the image of the champion.  Naturally she pointed to the most impressive physique, and she was wrong.  The unremarkable looking swimmer is Natalie Coughlin; perhaps the greatest kicker in the history of competitive swimming, male or female.

The point we discussed was the difference between trying to reach for an ideal in the pursuit of excellence, versus undertaking a journey to make the greatest use of what you’ve got.  Champions are not champions because of the talents or skills they have but as a result of their journey to discover what they’re capable of.  Young athletes need to strive to be better but they need to understand; to learn to understand, that they can be more than the sum of the parts.

Sport asks questions and solutions needs to be found, and only the individual can truly understand what that means.

I had a school visit this morning with Year 6 kids (9-10 y/o) doing PE. Here's what I observed

It's cross country season so the theme today was lots of running disguised as play.  Here's what I observed: boundless energy, very good runs skills each and every one of them, and, above all, not an ounce of resistance or complaint - every child participated at full noise in every game or task with a grin.
These kids need nothing more than as many opportunities as they can possibly get to play.  They're like wound springs.  Release them, and watch them go.
There are some lessons in all of this for teens and adults:
1) Fun is king.  It distracts, it motivates.  Other people make things fun
2) The 'energy cost of movement' is the critical physical factor.  When the 'cost' to move is low, the pleasure derived from and the amount of movement likely is high.  Energy cost is determined by body weight (low is good) and basic motor skills (high is good)
Fitness (and the lack of it) is always a circular state: light bodies with great skills enjoy moving and that, in turn, promotes low body weight and motor skill development.  The circuit breaker is movement.  Move more and spend your exercise time growing movement skills.  (if your gym can't adequately explain how to build movement skills then go find a better one)

The essential 5 stretches and 1 massage

Teaching children to take some responsibility for themselves is not easy and it takes plenty of time.  It's helpful to first ask yourself whether you believe the task at hand is interesting or fun, or more like brushing their teeth.  If it's the latter then we are going to need to keep them honest until maturity takes over, just like we do with teeth brushing.
For young athletes, stretching and self-massage is essential.  Before puberty, fewer children need to stretch & massage, but from late puberty they all do.  The trick is not waiting until they need it, to teach them how.  Start them young and by the time it's important, inertia is working for you.  The routine in the link below is a small - about 5min - daily intent.

PDF: the essential 5 stretches and 1 massage

Who should be responsible for playing strategy?

Responsibility for strategy is different in team versus individual sports.  Athletes participating in individual sports must take responsibility for strategy while the complexity of team sport means coaches have a far greater obligation.

Why?  Strategy is a function of what you bring to the table by way of skill and capacity.  There is little to be gained from trying to play a game style you don’t possess the tools for.  No one knows (should know) better than you what you possess relative to the demands of the contest so game planning should be your responsibility.  Of course, it makes sense to consult others; especially during junior years.  In team sports, individuals must contribute ideas – the All Blacks are an excellent example of player involvement – but there are so many moving pieces that directorship from the side line is essential.

In reality, job responsibility in sport should be fluid.  A little less for the athletes when experience, maturity, or fatigue present obvious obstacles, and more as leadership and experience grows.  Communication and honesty are critical.  We are in it together, and our connection must be strong enough for us to trust each other.

article: Netball: The day the Silver Ferns finally turned on coach Janine Southby

The ten rules for teachers and students

click on the link below for the article.  the 10 rules are a great summary of the conditions that best support learning

10-rules-for-students-and-teachers - Open Culture magazine article

Managing and preventing overuse injuries in sport

Unless a young athlete plans to substantially and permanently reduce loading (time in sport)*, healthy soft tissues (muscles and tendons that are not irritable or sore) depends on striking the correct balance between work and restorative influences.  The tipping point is unique to the individual and takes time to find, especially when tissues are grumpy to begin with (image at bottom).

Restorative factors (deposits in the image below) include rest, massage and stretching, and improved tissue strength and joint range of motion.  There are other positive influences, such as adequate nutrition and hot/ cold therapies, but it's helpful to first understand and gain control over the major influences.  The stressors can be thought of as influences that further diminish tissue resilience.  Resilience is lowered anytime we impose additional stress on to already irritable joints and soft tissues.  Tight joints and poor management of posture are especially strong impairments to tissue health. 

The basic idea is that of a bank account, with deposits and withdrawals.  Healthy tissues are in the black while symptoms of injury and irritability represent an account in the red.  The critical fact about highly active bodies is that 'health' is a fragile condition - a bank account fractionally in the black.  This leads us to three important facts about managing and preventing sport overuse injuries:

1. small net improvements in restorative factors and stressors, e.g. marginally better posture and posture management, might be all that is needed to restore tissue health
2. 'transformation' is not necessary, only improvement.  The key is to understand the trajectory of tissue condition: are things getting better or worse.  Provided condition is improving it will eventually 'tip' back into health.  When we assess risk factors we aren't seeking to impose an ideal on a body but rather to determine the health trajectory and find obvious places to intervene
3. overuse injuries are like icebergs: 80% asymptomatic (below the symptom line) before 'the straw breaks the camels back'.  This explains the apparently innocuous causes of injuries that people experience.  The point is to be aware of the health of your body before a manifest problem occurs.  Massage is particularly useful in this regard - compression of irritable soft tissues hurts and a reduction in tissue sensitivity to compression is a good sign of restoration

How much time will be needed to regain soft tissue health is not fixed.  It depends on what tissue is affected (muscle versus tendon), how high frequency factors impact the tissue (e.g. sporting skills), and the emotional or psychological resilience of the individual.  Sometimes, more than a little bit of trial and error is needed.  Be patient and use common sense.

*athletes must push the margins and that means a lot of stress as well as an inherent risk of a 'speed bump' (e.g. an injury).  Risk and reward in sport are bed fellows.

Awareness is vital, and threatening at the same time

When we don’t know what we can’t do, it doesn’t bother us not to try.  Young children are unaware.  They are ‘have fun’ machines, dedicated to doing anything that makes them feel good.  They are also exceptional learners entirely without conscious intention.  When we are young we believe because we have no reason not to. 

At some point around puberty, this begins to change.  We begin to want and not just do.  We become aware of the rules that govern cause and effect.  We become aware of our limitations.  For young people, the onset of awareness can also be the onset of performance anxiety.  What if I don’t get the assignment completed?  What happens if I fail the test?  I’m not as good as those kids!

Awareness of fallibility brings the possibility (perceived) of loss and failure.  As parents, there simple ideas that we can reinforce to help them:

·        Show them life’s small victories.  Children are inclined to raise very high expectations of themselves.  Contextualise their achievements.  If we don’t show them, they can come to believe they are failing when progress is all around them.  They can also lose patience.  We are never the finished article as children and they need to understand that

·        Remind them to occasionally slow down and appreciate life.  The energy to compete is drawn from a more basic sense of well-being.  Balancing fun and ‘living in the moment’ with formal responsibilities is highly individualised.  Many children need help learning to switch off

·        Hug them as often as you can and praise them for their efforts.  Results are never more important or meaningful than the effort that goes in to achieving them.  Every effort is a victory

The All Blacks are the winningest team in elite sport history - here's why

The All Blacks have a 77% winning record over 115 years.  That is a remarkable statistic in all of elite sport.  These are the basic reasons why.

1. A multi-level development system.  There are not less than 5 levels culminating in the ABs: club, school, provincial, franchise (super rugby), and finally the All Blacks.  There is constant debate about the length and clutter of the rugby season (10 months from March to Dec) but the complexity of the system has one major positive effect which is multi-level, incremental player development.
2. The greatest example of succession planning of any sports team.  After the 2014 football world cup, Germany lost their captain (Lahm), their great strike weapon (Klose), and their defensive organiser (Schweinsteiger).  The effect of these loses was an exit in the group stages of the 2018 tournament.  France was similarly affected after the 1998 football world cup.  After the 2015 RWC, the All Blacks lost four of the greatest players to wear the black jersey: Carter, McCaw, Nonu, and Smith.  In the time since, they have lost 3 of 31 games (better than 90% winning record).  There is incredible depth in NZ rugby, but a balance still needs to be struck between introducing new players and maintaining standards.  The All Blacks do that better than any other elite sports team.
3. Belief and skills to match the ambition.  All Blacks players don’t merely expect to win, they are certain they can.  I recall reading many years ago about an overseas player saying of the All Blacks: “You never really beat NZ, they just run out of time (every now and again)”.  There is a relentless intensity that can be seen at every level of rugby in NZ that demands a matching skill set and athleticism.  Pace, space, and points rewards adventure and execution, and instills belief at the level of the team and the individual. 

The All Blacks are fallible, but they possess an unrivalled resilience and adaptability.

The mexican wave - a super core exercise

Your core is the middle segment of your body between the pelvis and bottom rib.  Because it contains no bony structures aside from the vertebral column, the core permits large motion.  This motion allows us to bend, twist, and reach.  Too much motion can hurt the spinal column and impair global movement of the body so we are designed with a set of guide ropes to limit and control core motion: the core stabilisers.
In real or functional settings, the core muscles work together to define safe and effective movement.  We need lots of core stiffness when global (whole body) loads are high, for example when we run or tackle bodies in sport, and minimal stiffness when loads are low and large ranges of motion are needed, e.g. during a Yoga class.  Like all motor abilities, core stability requires a healthy and strong postural foundation.  Simple core strengthening and stabilisation exercises are important in this regard.
The most basic of all core strengthening exercises involve 'anterior stabilisation'.  Exercises, such as bridges and most swiss ball exercises, require you to set your pelvis and lower back in a neutral position and then hold that shape while external forces are applied.  This is an effective but imperfect strategy because the two sides of the torso - the front or anterior side and the back or posterior side - are not stimulated together in any meaningful way.
The Mexican wave is one solution to this challenge.  You will need a light jump-stretch band and a floor.  The exercise can be viewed in the video below. 
Begin in the 'dead-bug' position lying on your back with your arms and legs straight and pointing to the ceiling.  The band should be tight around your feet and in your hands.  Slowly pull the band apart by lowering your arms and legs.  Spread your legs as well to activate your butt muscles.  Remember to breathe at all times!

video: the mexican wave

Should you over-weight a basic sport skill?

Over-weighting involves adding extra weight to a device, such as a racquet or club, or to the hands or body when an athlete is performing a basic sporting skill such as hitting, throwing, or stroking.
The short answer is no, not ever.  There are good reasons not to do it.
No two individuals produce force in exactly the same way though the pattern may appear very similar.  Each body possesses a unique set of physical tools that the brain uses to construct movement skills.  The length and weight of the arms and legs, hands and feet have specific values in the program that drives the skill.  If we artificially change any of these values, the program becomes contaminated with false information and possibly corrupted.  Additionally, the strength of joint structures is a function of the normal loads they are subjected to.  Sudden increases in leverage, by holding a heavier than normal object, causes large increases in stress on structures that stabilise the limb concerned.  Back injuries in sport are common examples of structures subjected to inappropriate loads.
Why is over-weighting done?  The premise is that we want to make muscles stronger and there is no more specific a conditioning target than the basic skills themselves.  There is, however, an important difference between conditioning a system in it's natural state and one with an artificial value somewhere in the chain.  Strength is a basic resource or tool.  Muscles or joints that are not as strong as we would like them to be can and should be strengthened but we do this by targeting at a level 'below the desired outcome'.  This is a truism in all of biology as well as sport.  Runners train at varying distances/ intensities but never carrying heavy packs or objects because to do so reduces efficiency and corrupts their movement.  Ditto swimmers.