Is Coaching Dead? AKA: Rise of the Machines!

Enter The Age of Technology: With explosion of athlete assessment tools in the last decade, everything from movement assessments (FMS), train-ability assessments (HRV), genetic assessments to immediate power output assessments (catapult) training variables and physiology can easily be measured. On the cheap and in, or almost in, real-time. When I first read about the Omegawave (HRV monitor), from Charlie Francis forums, the cheapest model was 10K. Now you can get a fairly reliable HRV app on that magic box that lives in your pocket for under $100, and that's the better ones out there. You can get a crappy one for FREE... These are all INCREDIBLY powerful … [Read more...]

Book Review: The Charlie Francis Training System

Charlie Francis reached the peak of his coaching career when his athlete won a gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1988 Summer Olympics. THE  single most highly regarded achievement in the world of sports among physical preparation coaches. Why? Cause everybody runs...and the guy who wins the 100 at the Olympics is, THE FASTEST MAN IN THE WORLD and that sh@t matters. Problem was that athlete was Ben Johnson.....yeah, THAT, Ben Johnson. The one who got disqualified for steroid use. So now you're all like, "How is he so great? His athletes used steroids and steroids are evil tools of cheaters. Righteous, virgin athletes like Lance Armstrong, Arnold … [Read more...]

Stop Doing This: Plyometrics

Earlier this week I had a discussion with one of the better, for sake of a better word let use, "athletes" at work.... He's early to mid 30's in really good shape and ran track in college, now he's part of a special campus security team. He asked me about "plyometric" workouts..... I knew it was going to be bad.... It was he had gotten a workout off of the interwebzzz that called for 3 sets of 3 exercises for sets of 10-12 each..... plyo's are NOT body building...nor should we use the DeLorme method. It just ain't right....plyometrics are about speed and power. So this is the basics of what I told him: First off 99% of what people call plyometric is … [Read more...]