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I wrote this blog post for SimpliFaster to provide an assessment of the various wearable technologies on the market focused on the smart shoe and smart insole. I provide a review of Plantiga below, present unpublished results of initial validation studies, and discuss the direction the company is taking.

It seems like the smart insole and smart shoe space is beginning to take off. The technology, including pressure mapping, has advanced rapidly. As you will see below, Plantiga places an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in an insole, but in addition to reporting what an IMU actually measures (acceleration, position, orientation), they use artificial intelligence (AI) to provide performance and health insights based on how we move.

In addition to reporting what an IMU actually measures (acceleration, position, orientation), Plantiga uses AI to provide performance & health insights based on how we move. Share on X

Why Measuring What Matters, Matters, and How Wearables can Help

I have been working in elite sport for more than 20 years. The early part of my career was hampered by technology. More specifically, I wanted to take a scientific approach to training, but measuring most of the physical strength capacities was largely out of reach (e.g., rate of force development (RFD)).

The second part of my career was underpinned by a desire to get better at quantifying the impact of my programming on the performance and musculoskeletal health of the athletes I worked with. It’s hard to measure the impact of coaching, but it’s important, and just because something is hard to do, it doesn’t justify not doing it.

After the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 and spending time working closely with Derek Hansen and our speed skating program, I picked up a cohort of female alpine skiers.

Injuries are common in skiing, especially knee injuries. I found that measuring things that matter, like interlimb asymmetries, was helpful for me in terms of quantifying functional recovery after injury. I was interested in identifying trainable deficits that I couldn’t see with my eye, so that I could write more targeted and individualized training programs.

In my experience, if we don’t measure, we might miss important physical deficits. And it’s important for us to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the “real world,” which really just means on the turf, grass, court, snow, or ice.

The Gap

The gap between what we do in a laboratory and on the field of play is vast. I’ve written on the problems with injury prediction from baseline testing.

How can a test conducted in September accurately predict an injury six months down the road?

How do we know that what we measure in the lab isn’t impacted by the Hawthorne Effect, where the simple act of taking a measurement changes the behavior of the system of interest?

Enter wearable technology.

Wearable technology allows us to take measurements on the field of play, where they matter most, says @JordanStrength. Share on X

Wearable technology allows us to take measurements on the field of play, where they matter most.

Where Is the Smart Shoe?

How is that we don’t have a wearable in our shoes or a smart shoe that can measure our movements and tell us about our health and performance?

I think the answer is that it is incredibly hard to measure movement with a wearable technology that is durable, can fit in a shoe, and can then provide relevant insights to the end user.

About Plantiga

Plantiga approached me in 2016 when I was just about to wrap up my Ph.D. I had been using dual force plates to measure interlimb asymmetries in jumping to identify deficits in athletes recovering from knee injuries.

At this point, I had limited experience with instrumented insoles. I had used the PEDAR system, and I had seen other types of insoles. But the problem was always the same—the technology was either too obtrusive or just too difficult to use to make it valuable.

We had done projects with our speed skaters and skiers using pressure mapping, but we never got past the first few data collection sessions. The athletes hated the insoles, and we couldn’t make sense of how to use the data in practical terms to change what we were doing.

I was interested in functional asymmetries at the time, especially for tracking recovery after injury, and the science suggested that sensors placed remotely on the body did a poor job of detecting asymmetries during running and jumping.¹

There were companies that had placed wearables on the shanks or torso to measure lower-body movements, but there are distinct advantages to having the sensor in the shoe.^2,3 The signal is cleaner and far less noisy, making event detection that much better.

When Plantiga contacted me in 2016, they were (to the best of my knowledge) one of the first companies trying to tackle the problem of a smart insole. What intrigued me was the ability to measure functional asymmetries outside of my laboratory.

About the Plantiga Technology

I was keen on Plantiga because it addressed the gaps mentioned above. Plantiga uses an IMU measuring 16 g’s per axis placed underneath the mid foot. The IMU is fixed into a small cavity of a thin and flexible insole. The IMU has another slot to expand to a second accelerometer so higher magnitude accelerations can be measured. This is in the product pipeline.

The mass of the IMU is 0.0175 grams per pod, and it measures 3.25 x 42 x 46 mm.

The IMU samples at 400 Hz, providing the type of high-fidelity data needed to derive short time frame biomechanical measures like ground contact time. Consequently, an inordinate amount of data comes in from a walk or run, and the original goal of a Bluetooth device did not give sufficient stability or reliability for transmitting data out in the field. Wireless data transmission was even more finicky.

The solution was to have onboard data storage, requiring the user to dock the IMUs after usage. But inside a single data collection or recording, the user can flag events of interest and run smaller test segments, allowing for better granularity in the post-testing analysis. I really like the tagging system, actually, because I can seamlessly flag different events of interest inside one single long-duration recording without having to stop the session.

The extra step of flagging events and activities of interest and then docking to upload data was key to bringing Plantiga up to the standard of a laboratory-grade measurement device. The bigger vision was to first tackle how to make Plantiga a research-grade tool, with the goal of scaling to the masses as a second step.

Additional considerations for the research-minded practitioner are that Plantiga allows the user to view and download the raw data and has a flagging and notification system for hardware failures. A much-improved web interface has just been released that includes a dashboard for reviewing data and generating PDF reports.

Plantiga lets a user make “teams” for data collection so they can run activities and tests on a large number of participants at the same time, says @JordanStrength. Share on X

In terms of Plantiga’s usability in individual and group settings, Plantiga lets a user make teams for data collection so they can run activities and tests on a large number of participants at the same time. Data can be collected concurrently throughout a session and then uploaded after training through a docking station. The new docking station in development does not require a computer connection.

Early Days with Plantiga

In the early days, Plantiga used analytical algorithms for event detection and reported the accelerations at the foot as a measure of mechanical workload. There were no major issues with this approach, as a lot of work went into sensor calibration and time synchronization. The acceleration at the foot measured with the Plantiga insoles provided a clean signal and lots of relevant information for the practitioner, like the interlimb acceleration asymmetry. A validation project examining the mechanical workload during running obtained with Plantiga showed a strong correlation with the internal workload measured through the sessional RPE method and heart rate.

Analytical algorithms are tricky for measuring movements, though, because they rarely account for the complexity that arises outside of a controlled laboratory environment. There are too many exceptions to the rules we devise on how people move. It also can’t drive the types of insights most practitioners would want to see for tracking either performance or recovery after injury.

While Plantiga started out with the goal of being a load monitoring device for team sports, it dovetailed quickly into the world of gait analytics and, importantly, as a tool to help practitioners monitor the recovery of their patients after sport injury using AI.

Plantiga’s Transition to an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Company

Under the guidance of Chief Technology Officer Sean Ross-Ross, Plantiga migrated quickly from analytical algorithms and workload monitoring to a data science company that uses a form of machine learning called “deep learning” to extract insights from the complex signal collected by the insole. Workload monitoring is still an important application of Plantiga, and I find this to be one of the most practical use cases of the system. The sensors are low-profile, can be worn in all types of footwear, and allow the user to track workload in a whole range of environments.

Workload monitoring is still an important application of Plantiga, and I find this to be one of the most practical use cases of the system, says @JordanStrength. Share on X

However, I was very interested in the complexity coming from the Plantiga system. I was first made aware of the complexity of the signal through movement maps. A movement map paints a picture of the left limb versus the right limb during walking, running, and jumping (figure 1).

With his background in computer science and working at industry leaders like Tableau, Sean noticed right away that the complexity of the signal needed the type of deep learning that Google uses to distinguish a cat from a lion. These deep learning neural networks, called convolutional and recurrent neural networks, are adept at extracting features from complex images and data structures. Sean quickly pivoted Plantiga from a hardware company to a data science company focused on growing a human movement database that could be used to drive insights around health and performance.

This is not a trivial pursuit. Just like a human baby who enters the world dependent on its parents before it becomes a completely autonomous adult, a considerable amount of time and development is needed to grow an effective AI algorithm.

But then one day, a computer beats a human in chess, wins Jeopardy (rest in peace, Mr. Alex Trebek), and learns to drive a car. While there are well-known problems with AI—like bias, agnosticism, absence of morality, and inability to read context—it is well-suited for extracting insights from the type of movement data collected with the Plantiga insole system.

The combination of research-grade hardware and AI is what differentiates Plantiga’s trajectory from many of the other companies I have seen.

Plantiga Today

Today, Plantiga is a health and performance self-monitoring system. It measures Baseline Profiles and Recovery Profiles during walking, running, and jumping. It also allows the user to collect data in an Open Activity mode that is unrestricted. It can automatically detect walking, running, and jumping using a mode called Human Activity Recognition or HAR.

Users can perform bilateral jump tests, single-leg jump tests for height and distance, walk tests, and run tests, which output a suite of gait and jump metrics. AI drives the metrics coming from these tests. One of the algorithms, called GRIN (ground interaction), predicts when the foot is on and off the ground. This may seem easy, but I can assure you it is a lot harder than you would think.

Here is how the system has been validated. (Disclosure: There is still more work to be done here).

Participants (n=30) wore the Plantiga insole system and performed a series of vertical jumps on a dual force plate system (AMTI Accupower Force Plates, sampling at 1500 Hz). Running sprints were also performed on a Mondo track and on a treadmill at two different speeds.

In the first version of the GRIN algorithm, the data from the force plates was used as the gold standard to train the machine learning algorithm for measuring when the foot was on and off the ground. In the most recent version of the algorithm, the team at Plantiga has now progressed to using an additional reference point, including a generalized likelihood ratio test that predicts events of interest around the timing of the foot hitting and leaving the ground.

They have painstakingly gone through the training data set to ensure that the various features line up properly (i.e., a human has verified that in the training data set, things are as they should be). The second pass has greatly improved the accuracy of GRIN, and like all AI algorithms, the expectation is that GRIN will become increasingly more accurate with larger data sets.

The accuracy of Plantiga for detecting foot-ground interaction using GRIN is shown below in figure 3. This figure shows the reactive strength index (RSI) obtained from five consecutive countermovement jumps (CMJ).

The RSI can be assessed different ways, but it is typically reported as the vertical jump height to ground contact time ratio or the flight time to ground contact time ratio. RSI is most often measured in the vertical drop jump, and when the RSI is measured in the CMJ, it is referred to as the modified RSI.

Shown below in figure 3 is the percent measurement error for the first GRIN algorithm (left panel) compared to the second GRIN algorithm (right panel) for RSI measured as the flight time to ground contact time ratio in the consecutive CMJ test. Participants performed a series of consecutive CMJs with a variety of techniques and effort levels to help train and test the model.

As you can see, the percent error in RSI measured with Plantiga compared to the gold standard force plate improved from 4.81% with the first algorithm to 1.09% with the most recent version. Notably, there are fewer outliers in the newest version. This speaks to the bench cases that GRIN had trouble figuring out initially, but with refinement were identified and corrected, leading to a substantial reduction in outlying values. This is the promise of AI and Plantiga—it gets better with time.

This is the promise of artificial intelligence and Plantiga—it gets better with time, says @JordanStrength. Share on X

Figure 4 shows a strong correlation between RSI measured with Plantiga and RSI measured with a force plate alongside an improvement in the most recent version of GRIN (R² = 0.99) compared to the first version of GRIN (R² = 0.97).

Table 1 shows the absolute difference in milliseconds of the predicted versus actual timepoint for takeoff/landing in the vertical jump and push-off/touchdown in walking and running. Notably, the mean measurement error ranged from 3.47 milliseconds in the vertical jump landing to 6.61 milliseconds in the vertical jump takeoff. The absolute measurement error for push-off and touchdown in walking and running were 4.35 milliseconds and 4.95 milliseconds, respectively.

Users may also be interested in the measurement error for ground contact time (GCT) in running. With the second version of GRIN, the absolute measurement error for GCT is 5.60 ± 5.80 milliseconds and the percent error is 1.95 ±2.10%.

However, an important limitation at the present time is that the data set used to train the running model did not include very fast runners or very slow runners. Also, GRIN has never seen world-class sprinters.

This is a critical future step for Plantiga. The database needs to grow to include very fast and very slow humans so that it can make accurate predictions across a broad range of scenarios. Just like the AI in a driverless car that may not be able to differentiate a green hexagon that says free cucumbers from a stop sign, the GRIN algorithm needs refinement for bench cases. This is part of the technology road map.

Nevertheless, today Plantiga’s AI approach solves lots of unique problems, including providing increasingly more accurate biomechanical gait measures and external load prediction (i.e., how much load someone carries on their body—like a heavy rucksack), and as you will see below, they are predicting the presence of movement patterns associated with injuries.

Today, Plantiga’s AI approach solves lots of unique problems, including providing increasingly more accurate biomechanical gait measures & external load prediction, says @JordanStrength. Share on X

Preliminary speed validation appears promising (figure 5). Using the flying 30s performed by roughly 30 athletes and ex-athletes on a Mondo track measured with a Brower timing system, the average speed over 25- to 30-meter splits was obtained. The subsequent speed from the Plantiga system over the same time intervals was then obtained.

As shown below in figure 5, the mean percent error was 0.72% using the first version of GRIN and 0.58% with the newest version. It should be noted that a Brower timing system is not considered a gold standard measure of running speed, and average speed through a 5-meter split may not address all use cases, but it gives an indication of the accuracy of Plantiga’s speed algorithm.

However, as stated above, Plantiga needs to expand their training data set to include very fast runners to improve the accuracy of the speed algorithm with future iterations of GRIN. As we have seen with RSI, GRIN does have the potential to become more accurate as the database grows, and Plantiga has been amenable to working with their partners to improve functionality in specific ways.

Future Steps

In addition to the future plans to improve GRIN, here are a few areas that Plantiga is looking to address in 2021 and beyond:

• Improve the web interface to enhance the user experience.
• Provide user alerts that are based on an n=1 approach—basically, this means alerting the user when something has changed according to a baseline profile.
• Improve hardware stability including extending battery life.
• New technology that eliminates the need for docking.
• Partnership with orthotic and insole companies so that users can purchase customized insoles.
• Designing smaller and lighter sensors.

However, I am most excited about how Plantiga will use AI to help with primary and secondary injury prevention—this is the Plantiga Baseline and Recovery Profile.

The Recovery Profile is in development and will be used for post-injury management to help guide return to health, return to sport, and return to performance. Here, GRIN allows the user to obtain interlimb asymmetries in a variety of time and spatial gait parameters. Asymmetries of interest include stride length, stride time, ground contact time, limb speed, and flight time. Measures like limb speed and stride length require validation, and they are a beta release.

But a really novel and exciting algorithm in development is called the Plantiga Injury Score. Plantiga is developing a machine learning model that can predict whether our movement patterns look like someone who is injured. This can complement the various biomechanical measures coming from GRIN to allow a practitioner to gain insight on an athlete or group of athletes to determine who might have a hidden functional deficit.

Plantiga is developing a machine learning model that can predict whether our movement patterns look like someone who is injured, says @JordanStrength. Share on X

To me, interesting applications of the Plantiga Injury Score include:

• Remote monitoring of patients and athletes.
• Movement assessments for those of us who provide online programming.
• Monitoring an injured athlete in their hometown as they work with their own performance team.
• Monitoring in harsh environments like during military training.
• Self-monitoring for the active individual who wants to optimize their health and avoid injury.
• Identifying functional deficits in a cohort of athletes who are being evaluated for the first time.

Using Plantiga to track my own personal training—including running, heavy bag workouts, and tempo run sessions—has been great because, at least on an anecdotal basis, changes in my gait metrics and asymmetry profile such as the left versus right workload asymmetry have lined up with the occurrence of few overuse injuries and my overall effort level.

I have had the occasional hardware issue, but these have mostly been a result of a pod not fully charging. It’s been great to get a call from Plantiga after a session when there has been a hardware error to let me know how to troubleshoot. I also find the new web app to be a massive improvement over the previous version. I use Plantiga more often because I can easily record activities and find what I need.

I have used other apps to measure my run distance and speed, and so far, Plantiga appears highly consistent with these measures. I find it valuable to track my running and outdoor workouts in a more detailed manner. Not only can I track my speed and distance but also my biomechanics. I have even used the occurrence of an aberrant asymmetry score to modify a planned training session and introduce more mobility and tendon strengthening in a proactive manner. (I suffer from the occasional bout of Achilles tendinopathy.) Feedback from Plantiga is changing my behavior.

In closing, Plantiga is an AI company that measures how we move to drive insights on our health and performance. Plantiga measures performance in running, walking, and jumping through a suite of biomechanical metrics. Plantiga also provides interlimb asymmetries across all their measures that can be used to identify functional deficits, and they are working on an AI algorithm that can predict the presence of a movement pattern associated with an injury. Validation is under way, and while there is more work to be done, Plantiga appears to hold a lot of promise to measure what matters in the real world, where it matters most.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Kenneally-Dabrowski, C.J.B., Serpell, B.G., and Spratford, W. “Are accelerometers a valid tool for measuring overground sprinting symmetry?” International Journal of Sport Science & Coaching. 2017;13(2):1-8.

2. An, W.W., Au, I.P.H., Cheung, R.T.H., et al. “Shoe-mounted accelerometers should be used with caution in gait retraining.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. 2019;29(2).

3. Zrenner, M. Küderle, A., Roth, N., Jensen, U., Dümler, B., and Eskofier, B.M. “Does the position of foot-mounted imu sensors influence the accuracy of spatio-temporal parameters in endurance running?” Sensors (Switzerland). 2020;20(19):1-21.

Blending and bleeding are two similar approaches to training and teaching movement. Analogous to “a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square,” clear definitions are needed so coaches can exchange experiences with more precise language. Bleeding is transitioning from one activity to another, while blending is more abstract and can mean merging two motions or slowly changing one activity into another from instruction and/or training. There are no concrete rules, but for the most part, bleeding is a task during a single repetition and blending occurs over time from subtle influences like program design and patient, low-density coaching.

There are many reasons to utilize these two strategies, and coaches must decide what an athlete is ready for, as well as where it fits with purpose into a training week. Chief among the reasons for their inclusion in a training program is that blending and bleeding drills are low-cost ways to train additional rhythm and motor learning concepts.

Chief among the reasons for their inclusion in a training program is that blending & bleeding drills are low-cost ways to train additional rhythm and motor learning concepts, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

In this article I want to highlight the items that I utilize most frequently and the differences between them. Although blending and bleeding drills often have an exciting and novel appearance, I think it is important to note the purpose at the heart of each one rather than just aiming to do “stuff.”

Blending to Teach

Blending and bleeding drills are not for the extremely novice athlete, and I think they may be unnecessary if the athlete isn’t able to do remedial drills. I would urge coaches to think about what their athletes can currently do and build from there.

Here are a few blends I often use as an introduction to connect some easier items to some key drills and movements.

Rockette to A-Skip

An A-skip is a timeless and fairly simple drill; however, it is harder to do well than people care to admit. Enter the “Rockette,” which starts the transition from general movement to traditional sprint drills.

A Rockette is a straight-leg kick that utilizes a double hop on one leg before alternating into a kick on the other leg. The name comes from the actual Rockette dancers who have a much higher leg kick than I ask my athletes to perform. It is easier to place the emphasis on rhythm with low kicks and then add amplitude later.

After they establish a Rockette rhythm, I ask the athletes to bring their “knees up, toes up.” The only thing left to do is keep a slight forward lean with the chest over the middle of the feet and aim for where the back row of spikes would be. That way the foot has time to get dead center under the hips and deliver a decent strike to the ground.

Karate Kid to A-Switch

This one is coined after Daniel LaRusso’s iconic training snippet with Mr. Miyagi. I have seen this used as a hurdle drill, but I think it cleans up the A-switch drill quite nicely.

Many athletes have trouble with A-switches because they drop the non-support leg (strike leg) before they remove the stance leg. When this drill is done correctly, there should be a simultaneous stance leg removal and swing leg strike. This has been referred to as “remove and replace.” If an athlete cannot do this well, then they will also have trouble when speed is added. Doing this drill incorrectly is of no help at all, especially if the intent to do it correctly is not present.

The benefit of starting with the “Karate Kid” is that the athlete is more likely to switch their thighs correctly because of the exaggerated, artificial air time. It is then easier to cue them into just being sharper and to strike the ground hard by adding a forward lean and sprinter arms that move up and down free of tension. A double contact is still used, and this allows enough time for a “reset” to load the Achilles and thus strike the ground better.

Fence Single-Leg Rockette to Single-Leg A-Skip

This is like the Rockette to A-Skip, but we shift to isolating one leg. I have written about the value of prancing before, and I think single-leg A-skips are in the same realm as prances when looking at the coordinative and rhythmic demands. Lots of athletes are unable to do this from a contract and relax standpoint. I find slowing it down to add context to the movement helps.

I think single-leg A-skips are in the same realm as prances when looking at the coordinative and rhythmic demands, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

I have my athletes start on a fence and then perform a low, single-leg Rockette with the leg farthest from the fence. This gives them some support and allows them to focus on building the rhythm through the Rockette, then drawing the leg into an A-skip position. Finally, they remove their arm from the fence and add locomotion from the prior movement.

Blending and Bleeding Jumps

Jump testing is dependent just as much on the skill as it is on improvements in power. Broad jumps, standing triple broad jumps, and various bound tests come to mind.

A broad jump is a “single-jump” test that has shown some correlation to initial and early acceleration ability. Novices often seem uncomfortable projecting at an incline during broad jump tests and likewise during start drills.

Developmental athletes also tend to work against their body when jumping. If you are like me, you have seen an array of arm errors, including athletes throwing their arms in the opposite direction during these exercises.

The main issues are that single jumps do not allow much flow or learning since there is only one repetition at a time, and there is no bridge between these types of jumps and multi jumps. In-place jumps such as squat jumps, lunge jumps, or extensive plyos allow for more repetitions, but horizontal power jumps are a different breed.

I think bleeding and blending jumps allow more time for learning to improve both ends of the spectrum from a single broad jump all the way up to a 10-bound test.

Bunny Hop Broad Jump

A bunny hop, as I teach it, utilizes a bit of a hinge position with a long spine. This allows an athlete to be more in control of their falling hop forward through control with the glutes.

Key cues I use are to try to match the torso and shin angles at the onset of the jump and to retain that posture with each successive hop. Arms are relaxed and hands may almost be “flappy’” to ensure that they contribute to the forward propulsion that happens much more quickly than in multi jumps. Taking the emphasis off of jumping maximally and putting it on moving forward with timing and rhythm through extensive repetitions is the main goal here.

Combining these smaller jumps with a broad jump is useful, since the athlete has experienced good syncing of the limbs prior to a max effort broad jump into the sand. I have also done these on the turf with athletes alternating back and forth between bunny hops and a broad jump that is about 80-90% of their perceived capability once they show improvements in a single rep.

L-L-R-R Baby Bounds to Alternating Bounds

Bounding is also often rushed. I would rather spend time teaching than just testing 3-, 5-, or 10-bound capabilities. This bleed is an excellent way to see who has the motor skills to shift from a low-level item into something resembling a true bound. I love left-left-right-right bounds since they are easy to establish a rhythm on because of the double hop before alternating legs.

I have used a 5-yard zone to start with the L-L-R-R before the athlete drives the knee up and out into a traditional alternating bound. The prior arm action and foot strike success on the lower-level bound gives them information about how to transfer it to the higher-level bound.

Taking a page from Rob Assise’s bound work, I have progressed an athlete through a bounding bleed series as a sprint day item:

• LLRR bound to baby bound
• LLRR bound to toddler bound
• LLRR bound to teenager bound

The goal is to set up the limb timing and then use it to go further with confidence.

Blending Sprint Drills

There are many drills I like to combine and blend depending on the athlete and focus of the day. Most of them are about the flow and new challenges, and I tend to test them out myself before unveiling them with an athlete.

With the many drills I like to combine and blend, most are about the flow and new challenges, and I tend to test them out myself before unveiling them with an athlete, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

Below are several blends I absolutely love. It is imperative that the athletes can do the drills well by themselves. The combinations are fun and motivating and push them further along in their motor skill development. This is not a complete list, and I have a lot of other items that are a work in progress.

Without adequate levels of rhythm, timing, and decision-making within the reps, these may be near impossible to do. It is easy enough to scale things back and necessary because, while tough challenges are okay occasionally, most of the time we want to meet athletes right at or just below their current abilities.

A-Series Blend (March, Skip, Run)

This is a simple concept, but harder than it looks. When performing marches, lots of athletes tend to put the focus on covering ground rather than nearly marching in place and aiming for a good foot strike. I find keeping the pinky toe pulled up when marching helps the lower leg muscles stay active and allows more time for the foot to slot under the hip.

I think it is easy to pull out of the march that sets the tone into an A-skip that is also predicated on ground strike.

I keep the zones appropriately spaced and have done a 5-yard march into a 5-yard A-skip and finished with a 10-yard high-knee A-run. It is important to instruct the athlete to bleed into the A-run when the knee is at the apex during the A-skip. This allows for a natural switching of the thighs. If they start the A-run when the knee is below the apex, then the transition is abrupt and clunky.

Single-Leg A-Skip/Single-Leg Prance

I have enjoyed using this one with hurdlers, as it seems to help teach good lead leg position through leading with the knee up high and staying dorsiflexed. The single-leg variations of both of these drills are much more challenging than the bilateral version. It is a good screen to see who is able to contract and relax effectively as well as take advantage of reflexes in the foot.

With all blends, we look for the drill to change without any abrupt stoppage, just like good acceleration patiently becomes good upright running. The coach must instruct the athlete to stay relaxed during the single-leg A-skip and then gradually lift into a single-leg prance. They need to be ready for the ground by landing in a double-leg position that utilizes the stretch-shortening cycle and a simultaneous thigh drive.

Alternating Relaxed Prance/A-Run

I usually prefer to start with four 5-yard zones, and I enjoy this one because it feels a lot like Vince Anderson’s “Ins and Outs.” As he says, “The outs inform the in.”

The first 5 yards (In) is done much like the “strike drill” that I will explain in more depth later in this article. After the first 5 yards, the athlete will relax into a prance (Out) in which they maintain posture and front-side emphasis, but ground strikes are not as forceful. It has been helpful to use Vince’s analogy of a boxer on a speed bag when describing Ins and Outs. Tweaking it slightly, I usually use similar sounds to get the desired effect.

1st 5 yards in – BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM

2nd 5 yards out – bop bop bop bop bop

3rd 5 yards in – BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM

Repeat for the desired length.

The athlete’s head position and posture should stay the same across both drills. This is a very nice blend to practice “In and Out” style work and begin learning how to maintain key sprint qualities even when relaxing.

Bleeding Sprint Drills

Bleeding is less a combination of drills and more a gradual increase of intensity within a repetition. It has always felt to me that the lowest intensity of the bleed sets up the highest intensity. If the lower intensity has errors, then the highest will have them too. We can’t expect smooth movement to grow out of a dysfunctional beginning.

We can’t expect smooth movement to grow out of a dysfunctional beginning, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

A block start requires a good transition from initial steps to late acceleration and finally to maximum velocity. The changes in posture and rhythm during acceleration increase quickly, but also gradually and smoothly so that no energy is wasted. Nothing is rushed or abrupt. Bleeds are an excellent way to train this quality somewhat indirectly and generally.

Gallop to Buildup Sprint

In the past, I have used a “skip and switch” fly, but after doing the gallops, the skip and switch looked clunky, and I have put it to the side with most of my athletes. Skipping for distance tends to be a little more violent and “grabby,” whereas the gallop just seems to be more rhythmic and lends itself to a nicer transition into the sprint. The recovery of the swing leg during a gallop is higher to the hamstring and cycles through, allowing the athlete more time than a skip to get the foot slotted under the hip and seamlessly come out into a sprint without any delay.

I do not have my athletes gallop maximally but instruct them to build from a quick gallop into the biggest gallop they can in a 10-yard buildup zone. When they land at or near the 10-yard mark, they should break into a pretty-looking sprint. I usually have them go about 20-30 yards or so.

I like this because the athlete must make a decision about how much gallop speed is too much and what isn’t enough. It takes some good timing and awareness to be in a strong position for the sprint. I look for good posture that does not change much or too quickly in both the gallop and sprint. The gallop usually has a little less forward lean than the sprint does.

Strike Drill to High-Knee Run

This starts with a high-knee run in place that gradually increases in both frequency and ground force. Carl Valle has described it as a quick transition from an 800-meter runner high-knee pace to a 100-meter runner strike in place. The knees should not be artificially high, and the forward lean should begin more upright at the lower frequency and shift subtly forward so the chest is over the midfoot.

Once the athlete feels the peak of the high-knee drill, they should begin to move forward using the prior ground strikes to inform the rest of the buildup run. Often when an athlete first does this drill, they are not comfortable enough with the timing to bleed in without it looking like two separate things. A bleed has to climb the intensity scale nearly imperceptibly, and each climb has to build on the prior rungs.

This is a drill that will be extremely valuable for a while as a rehearsal and as a teaching tool. It is instantly clear to a coach which athletes have it and which ones don’t.

Wickets to Flying Sprint

This is probably one coaches are more familiar with, but it’s worth including here. Unfortunately, it does necessitate that wickets are not arbitrarily thrown out there. This means if an athlete runs a rack of wickets spaced at 5 feet, and the coach asks them to sprint out of it into a fly, the 5-foot spacing has likely inhibited stride length. I would imagine that the resulting fly transition would not be clean, since stride length would be abruptly lengthened.

Reduced spaced wickets like Gary Winckler’s “shorter than” drill have helped extremely loopy runners, but I would still have some sort of a distance progression within a wicket line. The first step would be to figure out an athlete’s current stride length. I have ballparked athletes’ current max velocity stride lengths in two ways:

1. 1. Throw down 10 meters’ worth of bulletin board paper and tape it to the track. Have the athlete sprint over the paper during the fly. Measure the distance from spike mark to spike mark. This is not suitable for large groups.

 

1. 1. Use Freelap to get a fly time and convert it to velocity (m/s) by dividing the fly distance by the time. Then, use Dartfish to figure out the stride frequency of the rep by timing five full sprint strides (six touchdowns) with the full support stance as the guide. Then divide five by that time to get stride frequency. Divide the fly velocity by the frequency and you have the stride length.

 

Curtis Taylor has a nice chart in a Freelap article that shows if an athlete’s stride frequency is too low or too high, and wickets can be used in conjunction with Vince Anderson’s spacing to build them to a desired spacing.

If the progression of the wickets is fairly appropriate, and the athlete runs the wickets and six-step run-in with a purpose in their contacts rather than just feigning a “front-side look,” then the resultant fly sprint should not instantly revert to a loopy sprint.

Ankle Bounce/Straight-Leg Shuffle/Straight-Leg Bound

Straight-leg bounds often look awkward when postures are off and athletes place the effort on having a high leg frequency rather than pushing powerfully away from the ground. If their posture reclines back too far, then it seems to become hard for the ankle to stay neutral and slot adequately under the hips. This makes it hard for the ankle to support the body weight, so the hips drop, and the scissor action of the thighs looks mistimed and hurried.

I have found this bleed useful to set up a good foot contact and upright posture at the onset and then slowly add speed to the lower limbs and then finally power. An advanced athlete could further blend the straight-legged bound into an A-run.

Skip/Gallop/Prance Buildup Bleed

I won’t break each of these down by themselves because they are so similar in execution.

The general rule of thumb with this bleed is that the exercises change from low to high, quick to powerful, or short to long. This is similar to how a dribble bleed retains the same movement of “stepping over” while just changing the amplitude of the concentric circles made by the foot (ankle, calf, knee height).

I think the benefit here is that they prepare athletes for actual sprint buildups and add some movement variability, which creates better athletes and avoids movement “pace lock.” It is interesting to see which athletes seemingly know how to use their feet to go quick and light and subtly progress to being more reactive or creating more pressure and power with the lower body.

Place the emphasis on a smooth transition, where each prance, skip, or gallop changes ever so slightly until it is soon maximal.

Hammer the Basics, Then Add Spice Later

Bleeding and blending can serve as a teaching tool or as a way to advance athletes in their movement skills. Coaches can be creative as long as they follow a good progression or regression model, and there is no point blending drills that aren’t good by themselves.

The main thing to get across with bleeding & blending is that the transitions need to be seamless & smooth. If an athlete can’t do this, it tells you something about their current abilities. Share on X

Bleeds that change without any abrupt movements are fantastic to teach rhythm and relaxation that can carry over to improvements in longer flies and speed endurance work. Although some of these items can be fun to see, it is important to place things on days and in ways that support the main session of the day. The main thing to get across is that the transitions need to be seamless and smooth. If an athlete cannot do this, it tells you something about their current abilities.

This is in no way a complete list of options, and there are more blends and bleeds I am working on that I am excited to experiment with and unveil in the coming months.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Speed kills. Sprint training will enhance body composition, build explosive power, and increase an athlete’s ability to make a game-defining impact on their game. I designed The Blue Program to introduce sprint newbies to speed development without blowing a hamstring in week one, so athletes can make long-term gains and become more effective all season long.

Research consistently demonstrates that faster athletes make more big-time plays¹, appear better conditioned, and even make more money². There is no denying that to be the best, your athletes must address sprint speed. Some will argue it’s all genetic, but my experience working with various athletes at all levels has shown me that speed is a trainable quality. And while I can’t turn the weekend warrior into Usain Bolt, everyone can get faster and improve their ability to make a bigger impact on game day.

Intricate technical drills and confusion regarding efficiency and effectiveness of body positions and postures leaves many athletes intimidated and unsure of how and where to begin. Share on X

Because the importance and trainability of speed is becoming more well known, I have noticed an increasing number of questions from parents, coaches, and athletes coming my way. They know they need to be sprinting, but intricate technical drills and confusion regarding efficiency and effectiveness of body positions and postures leaves many intimidated and unsure of how and where to begin. That’s why I created The Blue Program for building game-breaking speed.

Foundations

This program is an amalgamation of the various speed development programs I’ve rolled out with basketball, rugby, soccer, and cricket athletes over the last five years and mostly closely resembles how I prepare my academy Cricket New South Wales athletes today. I designed this program to establish a foundation of general physical preparation for team sport athletes who want to begin regularly sprinting, and it sets the scene for more individualized approaches with technical coaches down the line. This program is most appropriate for uninjured, active athletes 16 years of age and above, but you can also use it following a return to running program for reconditioning from injury.

Before we get into the program, let’s establish a few key things:

1. Technique is critical.
   
   • To begin with, focus on a tall, proud, and relaxed posture when sprinting.
   • Work the hands from the lip, back past the hip, and let the elbow flex and extend between the front and backswing. Arms should be smooth and relaxed, not robotic or mechanical. Drive the arm action at the shoulder.
   • Initiate the foot strike through the ball of the foot and aim directly beneath the hip—do not “run on your toes.”
   • Use a front-side dominant lower limb action—get the legs working in front of the body as much as possible by driving the knee high. Avoid a big, long kick out the back after toe-off.

2. Fatigue is the enemy.

• A proper speed development program requires plenty of intra-set and inter-rep recovery. For some, this may feel like dead time. But as the legendary sprint coach Charlie Francis famously taught, anything under 95% of top speed is just conditioning. If we fatigue as the workout progresses, our outputs will diminish, and before long we’ll have stopped making progress with the goal in mind. While this program isn’t always about max effort sprinting, when longer rests are prescribed, it is critical they are adhered to.

3. Sprint training is a risky business.

• For team sport athletes who have never followed a speed training program, this is the program with the greatest injury risk they’ll ever complete. Running at top speed exposes muscles and tendons to movement velocities that can never be replicated in the gym. This is why this program is so important to follow before going headlong into a full-blooded speed development program.
• This program aims to build tissue tolerance and condition the body to handle top speeds, so that once completed, the athlete can push the limits and get maximal gains. Follow The Blue Program to the letter before individualizing programs later down the line.

The program consists of two main blocks. Block one is an accumulation phase, with two extensive tempo sessions each week and one speed development day. In the second block, an intensification phase commences, and the script is flipped to one extensive tempo day and two speed development sessions each week. I designed this program to be completed in the off-season; however, by eliminating one set from each tempo session and halving the reps on speed development days, athletes who just can’t wait to get started can also safely and effectively complete it during the pre-season or in-season.

Warm-Up

Because sprinting exposes the body, particularly the feet, calves, quads, and hamstrings, to such large magnitudes and rates of force, a proper warm-up is critical. The warm-up for this program consists of two components. Component one is the general dynamic warm-up and component two is the sprint-specific priming and potentiation exercises.

Because sprinting exposes the body, particularly the feet, calves, quads, and hamstrings, to such large magnitudes and rates of force, a proper warm-up is critical, says @nathankiely_. Share on X

General dynamic warm-up—perform each for 10 meters walking.

1. Hamstring ground sweeps
2. Lunge with overhead reach
3. Toe walks
4. Arabesque
5. Quad stretch
6. High kicks with a straight leg

Video 1. I have carefully selected these bang-for-your-buck exercises to increase range of motion and also strengthen and activate specific muscle sites of common injury seen in high-speed running.

Sprint-specific priming and potentiation.

1. Dribble build-up: 2 x 30m with walk back recovery
   • Fast feet with knee drive, actively dorsiflex the ankle at all times, focus on landing on the ball of the foot.
   • Perform first 10m small cycles, middle 10m medium cycles, and final 10m big cycles with intent to snap up and into the glute with the heel.
2. Triple exchange: 2 x 10m with walk back recovery
   • 1-2-3 stick and hold.
   • Emphasize vertical displacement—this should feel bouncy up and down, not rushed like you’re tripping over yourself while moving forward.
3. A-skip with switch in the air: 2 x 10m with walk back recovery
   • 1-2 jump and switch.
   • Focus on limb exchange during flight phase.
4. Straight-leg scissor bound build-up: 2 x 30m with walk back recovery
   • Keep knee extended at all times by flexing quad; initiate ground contacts by pulling back and down through the glute and hamstring.
   • Perform first 10m short strides, middle 10m medium strides, and final 10m long powerful strides with intent to cover as much ground as possible with each stride.
5. Stride-throughs with walk back recovery
   • 1 x 10m @ 75%
   • 1 x 20m @ 85%
   • 1 x 30m @ 95%

Rest for three minutes following the warm-up prior to commencing the day’s training session. 

Video 2. The four exercises in this video target ankle stiffness, hip lock, extension reflex, and posterior chain-driven paw-back to facilitate improved self-organization and performance while mitigating injury risk. Take your time to explain, demonstrate, and provide feedback to athletes on their technique in these exercises, as they can take some time to learn.

Phase One – Accumulation

The accumulation phase, as the name implies, is all about building work capacity. Each week progresses in volume and intensity to create a broader base of high-speed running conditioning. These volumes and intensities are initially inspired by guidelines and programs from great coaches like Keir Wenham-Flatt, Graeme Morris, and Mike Young. However, I have modified these to complement all elements and the context of this specific program.

You should use hills, sleds, or prowler sprints immediately prior to completing the main exercise on each speed development session to provide a neuromuscular priming effect and reinforce effective and efficient application of ground reaction forces. A hill of an approximately 20- to 30-degree incline is usually best, but other hill inclines can work just as well. If you’ve got access to a sled or prowler, this can be an even more effective tool for overloading specific acceleration qualities.

Contemporary research shows lighter sleds may not be as effective as first thought and sled loads up to 130% of body weight can be highly effective for improving sprint performance. Share on X

For sled or prowler sprints, based on research by Cross et al.³, a load of 75% of body weight should be used for resistance to optimize peak power output. Some coaches believe this is far too heavy, as it changes technique; however, contemporary research shows lighter sleds may not be as effective as first thought⁴ and that sled loads up to 130% of body weight can be highly effective for improving sprint performance⁵.

Video 3. Athletes can perform resisted sprints up a hill, using a prowler, or with a sled like the SKLZ SpeedSac.

The extensive tempo sessions are used to build tissue robustness and improve conditioning to handle repeated exposures to high contractile velocities. Each of these tempo sessions is a simple every minute on the minute (EMOM) workout. This is where the athlete keeps a rolling clock and commences each new repetition as the clock ticks over the minute.

In this type of training, the recovery time is dictated by the speed at which the work is completed. For example, if the athlete completes their 100m in 18 seconds, they get the remaining 42 seconds in the minute as their rest period. Take a full three minutes to rejuvenate between sets in the tempo sessions.

A heart rate monitor may be useful when completing extensive tempo training. The goal is to avoid excessive lactate and glycolytic metabolite accumulation by staying in a predominantly aerobic state. To do this, a helpful guide is to keep the heart rate below 80% of maximum at all times (estimated HR max = 220 – age in years). If the athlete’s heart rate climbs progressively throughout the set, you should decrease velocity to allow for the retention of an aerobic state.

A typical male high school athlete should start by aiming to complete all tempo 100s in under 20 seconds. A well-trained adult male team sport athlete should aim to complete tempo 100s in 16-17 seconds. The tempo session should feel easy, and they should execute the last repetition with the same level of rhythm, relaxation, and technique as the first—err on the side of too slow if you’re unsure. Remember, in speed development, lactate is the enemy—avoid it at all costs.

Phase Two – Intensification

The intensification block changes tack from phase one and begins to emphasize exposure to high-speed running, leaning heavily on inspiration from Mike Young’s speed development guidelines for team sport athletes. Two entry criteria must be met before commencing phase two: the athlete is injury-free and there is no excessive overreaching (consider regular assessments of neuromuscular fatigue via jump testing). This phase uses intensity to drive adaptation and development—while plateauing the volume of work capacity sessions—so recover just as hard as you train during this block.

Phase two begins to emphasize maximal velocity sprinting, and the mini-hurdle wickets drill is an especially useful exercise for improving this aspect of technique. Use wicket runs to practice a strong knee drive, maximal hip height, and vertically orientated foot strikes immediately prior to all-out sprinting on the speed development days. During phase two, tempo 100s should be completed around one second faster than they were in phase one.

Video 4. In this clip I explain the purpose, benefits, and application of the mini-hurdle wicket drills, as well as the correct spacing and setup for seamless delivery in your training sessions.

Once athletes complete this eight-week program, you can bet your bottom dollar they will be better conditioned, have improved body composition, be faster and more explosive on the field, court, or pitch, and be ready to make game-breaking plays week in and week out.

A Word on Strength Training

Yes, you can and should be completing strength training at the same time as this program. Many roads lead to Rome when it comes to getting strong, and I’m not about to tell you which of the many great programs you must follow in conjunction with The Blue Program—besides, that’s outside the scope of this article. However, you should make a few key considerations to optimize training adaptations and mitigate injury risk.

You should prescribe heavy lower-body strength training—particularly targeting the posterior chain—with care. Consider prescribing lifting after sprint training on the same day. This may compromise your outputs in the weight room, but no one ever won a match with a game-defining deadlift, so just suck it up.

This will allow for improved recovery—do not train lower body on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays (the day before Blue Program sessions)—and create greater windows for adaptation. I also recommend incorporating exercises specifically designed to address sites and mechanisms responsible for injury during sprinting, such as Alex Natera’s run-specific isometrics, Nordic hamstring curls, and unilateral strength movements such as split squats and step-ups.

Be Ambitious

Most speed programs I’ve read on the internet aim too low, treating athletes and coaches as if they cannot handle complexity, or they use sprinting as a general training tool for the average Joe. This means they fail to adequately consider the nuance of physical preparation in athletic populations—promising all the rewards, but conveniently ignoring the risks. That’s why I felt The Blue Program was so dearly needed: A program aimed at smart coaches and athletes who want a starting point for getting fast without blowing a hamstring two weeks in.

Most speed programs I’ve read on the internet aim too low, treating athletes and coaches as if they cannot handle complexity, says @nathankiely_. Share on X

I’ve used similar periodization and progression in my speed programs over the last five years and consistently see improved sprint times, greater impact on game-defining plays, and greater levels of robustness and injury resilience. This program is the synthesis of my learning, practice, mistakes, and coaching triumphs during this time period.

A strength coach once told me: “Getting strong is easy. It’s like falling out of a boat and hitting water—anyone can do it.” Speed development, on the other hand, is a tough task and takes years of refined coaching and work to build. Speed grows like a tree from a seedling, slowly gaining height over the years. But with The Blue Program, there’s no longer an excuse not to start the quest for getting fast. By following The Blue Program, you plant the seeds today that can be reaped tomorrow.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Faude, O., Koch, T., and Meyer, T. “Straight sprinting is the most frequent action in goal situations in professional football.” Journal of Sports Sciences. 2012;30(7):625-631.

2. Treme, J. and Allen, S.K. “Widely received: Payoffs to player attributes in the NFL.” Economics Bulletin. 2009;29(3):1631-1643.

3. Cross, M.R., Brughelli, M., Samozino, P., Brown, S.R., and Morin, J.-B. “Optimal loading for maximizing power during sled-resisted sprinting.” International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2017;12(8):1069-1077.

4. Clark, K.P., Stearne, D.J., Walts, C.T., and Miller, A.D. “The longitudinal effects of resisted sprint training using weighted sleds vs. weighted vests.” The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2010;24(12):3287-3295.

5. Cahill, M.J., Oliver, J.L., Cronin, J.B., Clark, K.P., Cross, M.R., and Lloyd, R.S. “Sled-push load-velocity profiling and implications for sprint training prescription in young athletes.” The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2019.

Many trainers offer younger clients the same types of exercises and advice they do with elite athletes. The only difference is they shrink it down to size. Lift lighter weight. Go shorter distance. Aim lower. They’re treated like miniature adults.

But are beginner athletes being shortchanged with this approach?

Without baseline strength, coordination, and skills, many exercises aren’t helpful for younger athletes. Some may even be injury risks. Let’s dig into what I’ve seen and what would be better for athletes just starting out.

Bear Crawl Races

Let me preface by saying that bear crawls are not dumb. In fact, I use them with all my athletes. Bear crawls have many variations that can develop a number of important athletic qualities. The problem? Some coaches program them in ways that are dumb.

These coaches use bear crawls in ways that can cause injury, especially to the upper body. They believe that more, longer, and faster is better—all of which, when it comes to crawling, are bad ideas.

If you are looking to injure a wrist, elbow, or shoulder, then look no further than bear crawl races. Nothing like taking an exercise that should be slow and controlled to a still-developing young athlete whose upper body is most likely weak and unstable, and asking them to crawl as fast as possible without regard for form or technique.

If you are looking to injure a wrist, elbow, or shoulder, then look no further than bear crawl races, says @JeremyFrisch. Share on X

Let’s remember we are human beings and our preferred method of locomotion is walking upright. Our lower bodies are specifically made to handle the forces of the ground when moving. Our upper bodies, especially as children, are not.

Bear crawling shifts a significant amount of body weight onto the upper body. When athletes bear crawl as fast as possible, they are repeatedly slamming the hand into the ground. The small bones of the wrist are not made for this type of high-load, high-speed stress.

Ask any high-level linebacker or offensive lineman how their wrists feel after a season of smashing their hands into opposing players. These players go to great lengths in training to sensibly strengthen this area—most athletes asked to bear crawl at high speeds do not.

Another dumb way coaches use bear crawls is as a form of punishment disguised as mental toughness training. I once watched a youth football coach make his 6th grade players bear crawl up and down a hill at the end of practice. As the players fatigued and their form deteriorated, the coach droned on about how poorly they played their last game, how they needed to be mentally tough, and how this particular activity would make them “not quit” in the 4th quarter.

About two minutes into the bear crawls, most kids were already quitting because they simply couldn’t do the exercise anymore and they certainly were not listening to their coach’s inspiring words of encouragement.

So what is bear crawling good for and how do you use them? Bear crawls are great for developing:

• Shoulder and core stability
• Cross lateral coordination
• Systemic strength
• Spatial awareness
• Hand/wrist strength and mobility

Crawling should be used in very small doses, though. Typically I use them in distances of 10-12 yards during the warmup period of our training sessions. The idea is to be slow and controlled in perfect position.

As the athletes get better at the exercise, instead of adding distance we simply add reps or change the surface the athlete is crawling on. For example, we use soft foam blocking pads to increase the balance demand, or planks to decrease the surface width and add incline and decline. This serves as a great way to improve upper body strength as well as stability.

Elevated Handle Trap Bars

Way back in 1995, I bought my first trap bar. I loved using the handles on the side rather than bending over to pick up a traditional barbell. I worked hard and long at that exercise and after some time and sweat equity, I was finally able to handle some decent weight and had some of the nice muscular gains that come with lifting heavy loads.

Today you see everyone and their mother on Instagram smashing heavy loads with a trap bar. But there is one major difference between ‘95 and now. Unlike today’s trap bars, my original trap bar had no elevated handle. In order to pick it up you had to have good hip mobility and sink fairly deep to pick up the weight, which ultimately limited how much weight I could lift.

Today’s trap bars with elevated handles make for a very short range of motion. The elevated handles make a lift that was once the perfect hybrid between a deadlift and a back squat more like a quarter squat.

Today’s trap bars with elevated handles make for a very short range of motion, says @JeremyFrisch. Share on X

Somewhere along the way, someone thought it was a good idea to introduce the elevated trap bar deadlift to 10- and 11-year-olds who were yet to even hit a growth spurt. By combining the elevated handles with a body that is short in stature, we get an exercise that is all show and no go. The end result is that you have a movement with very little range of motion, and nearly zero benefit.

With very little hip flexion and knee flexion, athletes are not really learning anything in terms of movement skill. They are not really squatting or deadlifting. It’s a crappy hybrid that does not appear to carry over to the field or to more complicated lifts. At least a walking lunge or goblet squat really focuses on developing strength through a full range.

With such a small range of motion, what comes next should have many parents concerned: the belief that the kid is actually strong. Next, the coach start piling on weight. We know that young spines are growing rapidly and rapidly growing spines will have weak spots. Believing that a young athlete can handle high loads just because he can lift through a small range of motion is a sucker’s bet and the results can be catastrophic.

Before teaching young athletes how to lift weights, we need to teach basic movements through their full range, under control with moderate loads. Young athletes need to focus on building complexity rather than loading. The loading part can come later when the athlete has mastered a number of different movements and has a solid movement skill set.

Age-appropriate exercises are safe, carry over to the field, and lead to learning more complex lifts in the weight room. For my money I choose the kettlebell sumo deadlift. It’s a legitimate hip hinge that’s easy to set up, choose a load, teach. Best of all it allows for a full range of motion. We can teach it in bilateral stance, single leg, and staggered stance. Once an athlete masters the kettlebell sumo deadlift, they’re ready for its more dynamic cousin: the kettlebell swing.

Battle Ropes

Once upon a time, there was a professional athlete who was swinging some ropes around. Then someone put it on YouTube and before you know it the trickle-down effect began. College athletes started using them, then high school, and before you know it, every personal trainer or CrossFit across the country was swinging ropes around for internet fitness stardom.

Before I go any further let me just say I don’t hate battle ropes, but for young athletes they are a waste of time. They can obviously be used in many more ways than swinging them around and can be beneficial when used for certain cases. For example, I once used them for some basic conditioning for a football player who broke his foot and for an obese client who couldn’t run.

But when I see videos of young athletes swinging battle ropes, I cringe. Clearly this is another case of adults thinking that adult training ideas are good for young athletes.

I’ve heard that kids think they are fun to do, but I don’t buy that. Obstacle courses are fun, playing tag is fun, and relay races are fun, but swinging a rope around for 30 seconds while some coach yells at you is not very fun.

Then comes the argument that they are great for endurance. The problem is, the last thing we need to develop in young athletes is endurance capabilities. Endurance takes little time to develop and most kids get enough of it at sport practice or playing outside. What young athletes really need to develop are things like strength, power, sprinting ability, coordination, technique, and decision-making skills—all of which take years to develop.

What young athletes really need to develop are things like strength, power, sprinting ability, coordination, technique, and decision-making skills—all of which take years to develop, says @JeremyFrisch. Share on X

In the small amount of time I have to work with young athletes each week, there are so many other activities I could be doing that battle ropes work isn’t even on my radar. Sprint work and reactive games like tag, learning strength training exercises, tumbling, movement skill work, and obstacle courses work/gymnastic/parkour all hold much more potential than standing in place swinging ropes.

But if you are the creative type, a battle rope can hold some value. Here are three alternative battle rope activities that I find useful when working with young athletes:

• Various hops over rope
• Tug of war
• Sled pull relay

Weighted Carries

Another complete waste of time for young athletes is weighted carries.

Again, let me preface this by saying that weighted carries and its variations are not necessarily bad exercises. Many of my much bigger and older athletes employ carries in their training cycles. It’s a hybrid exercise that trains multiple athletic qualities, mainly grip and core strength along with a nice conditioning kick at longer distances. Older athletes get a lot out of weighted carries.

But young athletes don’t.

First off, weighted carries for young athletes are just plain boring. Training young athletes has to be engaging and fun. Nothing is less engaging for an energetic young kid than walking around with weights in their hands.

Training young athletes has to be engaging and fun, says @JeremyFrisch. Share on X

My other problem is that it’s an exercise that promotes very little range of motion. As a coach I look for exercises that train the entire body through a complete range of motion.

All young athletes should be doing some form of hanging, swinging, or climbing. For example, climbing across monkey bars challenges the entire upper body, creates a rhythmic awareness, and improves hand-eye coordination. Not to mention, it is challenging and kids always love a challenge. We have many of our young athletes develop upper body strength by climbing across a training rig. It is my belief that if kids did more of this at a young age, we would see fewer arm injuries down the line when kids get into competitive baseball.

Pro-Style “Showcase” Events

That leads me to a problem in youth baseball, as well as in other sports: showcases.

Every summer as a kid, I would attend a football camp at one of the local colleges. Around 6th or 7th grade, I was introduced to another formidable camper by the name of “Horsepower.” As you can imagine, Horsepower was big, fast, and fairly athletic for his age group. He pretty much dominated the majority of campers in the 40-yard dash and agility drills. On the field I made it a point to stay out of his way.

The next year we crossed paths once again—but this time something was different. I’d grown and he hadn’t; I was faster, he was the same. The kid was still a good player, but Mother Nature had evened the score between us.

This story plays itself out over and over in youth sports year after year. The early developer dominates the youth sports scene only to become an average player later on. Look at the Little League World Series: how many of those players play baseball in college?

It doesn’t matter, though, because all across the country, parents are ready to spend money on their kids’ athletic future. Big or small, slow or fast, young athletes line up in droves in the hopes of getting scouted or discovered for a future scholarship. And savvy businessmen will set up scouting combines and showcases to lure in these young athletes and their parents.

As a youth football coach I see “youth football combines” pop up all over the place.

Pay us $100 and we will time your son in the 40-yard dash and pro agility drills. Afterwards, we’ll tell them how slow they are compared to the professional athletes.

Or:

Come to our skills clinic and in one day we will teach you how to….[fill in the blank: hit, shoot, block, kick, hit, etc.]

Name the sport and somewhere there is a “clinic” to turn your son or daughter into the next superstar. Or test them and compare them to adults. But why are we testing youth athletes who are still in the process of developing all-around athletic skills?

Asking the Most Important Question

Younger athletes need to develop things like basic strength, hand-eye coordination, and reaction ability. Their 40-yard dash times don’t matter and neither does their ability to do static drills while bored half to death.

When training younger athletes, it’s easy to get swept up in style over substance and do what the adults—and the pros—do. We see so many exercises on the internet, especially on social media, and as the years go by it can be difficult to remember what we needed as young athletes just starting out.

Trainers who work with younger athletes need to think seriously about what they’re teaching and why. If something seems beneficial, they need to first see through the glamour and ask themselves exactly how it would be helpful for an athlete.

Then they need to ask: how about for a kid?

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

When I was an athlete, at the end of each season I used to have my own mini review. I asked (what I thought were) probing questions: Did I meet my goals? Where could I improve? What was my goal for the following season? What performance was required to achieve those goals?

On the surface, this sounds like a useful exercise—an athlete taking ownership of their performance—and research demonstrates that realistic performance reviews are a crucial part of developing an elite athlete’s psychological toolbox. However, the mistake I made was that I generally didn’t forge a strong enough link between my performance review and the changes I needed to make to my preparation the following year.

The mistake I made was that I generally didn’t forge a strong enough link between my performance review and the changes I needed to make to my preparation the following year, says @craig100m. Share on X

For example, after the 2006 season, in which I struggled to perform at my best, my goal was to go to the World University Games in the 100m and challenge for a medal. To do this, I believed I had to be able to run around 10.25 seconds. My approach to this was, essentially, to train harder—I pushed myself in my key sessions, lost some body fat, and nailed down my sleep and nutrition habits.

In 2007, I had the best season of my life, running my personal bests of 6.55 seconds for the 60m and 10.14 seconds for the 100m. I made the semi-final of the World Championships in the 100m, won a bronze medal in the 4x100m, and won a silver medal at the European Indoors over 60m. My goal for the 2008 season was to make the Olympic final—I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that my approach to this was to do the same things I did for 2007, only better.

The Strategy Book

I don’t think my approach is uncommon; in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some athletes, and perhaps even some coaches, don’t even bother with a post-season review. My problem was in linking what had happened before with what I wanted to happen in the future via a coherent, planned, and systematic method of performance improvement.

After retiring from sport, I worked for a sports technology start-up; now I work for a national sporting organization. These companies have exposed me to different models and methods of doing business. A word often used in these settings is “strategy.”  As someone without a strong foundation in business, I’ve had to spend some time getting up to speed with what a strategy is, what creating one entails, and how it can be useful.

One of the first books I read in this area was The Strategy Book by Max McKeown. As I made my way through its chapters, I started to see clear parallels between how businesses develop strategies and how athletes and coaches might use this information to better inform their planning process. The line between sport and business is continually blurred—and if you follow any sports coaches on social media, you’ll perhaps think it’s very overdone—but I remain convinced that The Strategy Book holds some useful lessons for us all when it comes to enhancing performance in sport.

When reading The Strategy Book, I saw clear parallels between how businesses develop strategies and how athletes & coaches might use this information to better inform their planning process. Share on X

McKeown says strategy is “…about moving from where you are to where you are to where you want to be … strategy is as much about deciding what to do, where to go, why, when and how as about choosing what not to do … Planning backwards for a better future.” A crucial aspect to keep in mind is that, as a starting point, strategy is not specifically about the detail (often that comes in an operational plan).

As Henry Mintzberg is quoted as saying, “strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point.” Strategy informs our planning, but then relies on individual actions and behaviors to deliver what is required—indeed, strategy execution is often considered far more challenging than actual strategy development and is where the best-laid plans often come undone.

Strategy, according to McKeown, is both analytical and creative. We have to understand where we are, where we want to get to, and what our competitors are doing—each of these requires some level of detailed analysis. We then need to be creative in our approach; what are some of the methods we can use to get from where we are to where we want to be? Finally, we return to analysis: How do we know if we were successful in achieving our strategic vision?

“The Strategic Self”

The first major section of McKeown’s book is dedicated to the strategist—in this case, that is you, the coach. Being able to develop a useful, comprehensive approach requires strategic thinking, which means we need to think before we plan. Specifically, McKeown provides four prompting questions:

• What do we want to do?
• What do we think is possible?
• What do we need to do to achieve our goals?
• When and how should we react to new opportunities and adapt our plans?

An additional large part of the planning process involves what McKeown terms “looking over your shoulder”—in business, this is understanding your competitors and markets. In sport, this is getting a better understanding of:

1. Who your competitors are.
2. What they do well—why are they successful? Commonalities between competitors may suggest that this trait underpins success.
3. What do they do badly? What could we exploit to drive our own success? During my career, I ran against a couple of athletes who I knew couldn’t handle pressure at the end of a race; their game plan was to have an electric start and hold on. As a result, my strategy for these races was to put myself in a position where I could exert pressure on them from 60 meters onward, and then relax to move past them. Where are your opportunities?
4. What do the best coaches and sporting systems in the world do? Or, perhaps more importantly, what don’t they do?

Let’s look at this through the prism of the coach of a promising 100m runner. That athlete has had some success at the junior level, making the World Under-20 Championships final and running 10.25. A crucial part of any strategy development is understanding what is required for success; in the 100m, this could broadly be defined as the interaction between stride length and stride frequency, and the underlying physiological and mechanical traits that contribute to both of these variables. Alongside this, we have to layer on psychological and broader physiological traits, such as the physiological resilience to tolerate the required volumes and intensities of training, and from a psychological perspective, compete well under pressure.

A crucial part of any strategy development is understanding what is required for success, says @craig100m. Share on X

An understanding of the required performance to achieve a specific outcome (such as a World Championships medal, final placing, semi-final placing, etc.) can assist in setting goals. From there, an evaluation of where the athlete is now—from a physiological, psychological, tactical, and technical standpoint—compared to what is required for these performance levels will guide planning.

“Strategic Innovation”

As I mentioned earlier, part of the strategic process requires thinking creatively. In sport, I’d argue that we don’t do this enough; we typically have set ways of doing things, and we unquestionably and uncritically accept them as valid. However, the veneer of many strongly embedded beliefs within sport is starting to crack. As an example, John Kiely has critically analyzed and appraised the research base on periodization theory. Periodization theory is a foundational bedrock of training theory, and yet some critical thinking suggests it is not as well proven as we initially believed.

Along this vein, McKeown has some prompting questions, which I’ve added to, for us to consider and reflect on—and which may drive our own thinking and planning innovations:

• Why don’t we change the rules?
• Why do we do what we do—do we know it works, or do we think it works?
• How do we know what we do works?
• Are we happy with the status quo?
• What would happen if we did something different?
• Why might we fail in our plan?

That last prompt is, to me, a really useful question, and is similar to the concept of a pre-mortem, popularized by Gary Klein. Here, we move ourselves into the future and ask, “Why did we fail?” By listing the various reasons, we can then take steps to mitigate the chances of those reasons for failure occurring.

Additionally, it is crucial to avoid developmental inertia, and a key quote from McKeown sums this up really nicely: “Success from doing what you are doing stops you from seeing what you should do next.” Similarly, a popular quote I’ve seen shared a number of times (not from McKeown) is “The most dangerous phrase in the language is ‘we’ve always done it this way.’” An important theoretical concept here is “what got you here won’t get you there”—but that’s another book entirely.

Again, let’s return to a sprints coach: Their athlete has a goal of running 10.10 for 2021, and qualifying for the Olympic Games in a quota spot (i.e., not an automatic qualifier). How might they fail in this? Here are some quick ideas:

• Three athletes from their nation run faster and qualify ahead of them.
• The athlete is injured and either can’t compete or can’t complete sufficient training sessions to perform at their best.
• The athlete cannot psychologically handle the pressure of competition and so does not perform at their best.
• The athlete doesn’t accumulate sufficient World Athletics points to qualify.
• A global pandemic limits international travel, meaning the athlete cannot travel to their planned competitions.

We can then consider some solutions to these, which can feed back into both the setting of strategic priorities and the development of a plan of action:

Know What You Can Do Best

Many companies know what they’re good at and aim to become market leaders within that niche. Google’s goal is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Obviously, Google started off as a search engine—a good way to make information accessible—but through being guided by this strategic goal, Google now owns YouTube (allowing them to make video accessible and useful) and has developed Google Books, Google Scholar, Google image search, and a plethora of other products to make information easier to come by.

Google even organizes our personal information through Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. By having a clear goal, Google developed a strategy that enabled them to be the best at what they do.

In sport, the end goal is more or less fixed: if we want to win the gold medal, we generally know what performance is required to achieve that. An important part of building your strategy is developing the process for achieving that performance. Once you understand the required performance and its constituent parts, you can then shift to better understanding:

1. What is your relative strength?
2. What can you do better than your competitors?
3. Can you manufacture situations in competition to suit your strengths and expose your competitors’ weaknesses?
4. How do you go from where you are now to where you want to be?
5. Is it better to work on your relative weaknesses or focus on maximizing your strengths?
6. How much of a threat are your weaknesses to your performance?

Don’t Just Plan—React!

It’s tempting to think that, once we have a plan in place, we need to stick to it. This is the wrong approach, writes McKeown. Instead, we should view our training strategy as an initial framework to guide us toward our goal; something we use to inform our plan. In this process, we continually need to update our plan with new information as it comes in:

• What’s working and what isn’t?
• How is the athlete responding to the plan?
• Do you need to spend more time on a given area?
• Can you recognize new opportunities that present themselves?

It’s tempting to think that, once we have a plan in place, we need to stick to it. According to McKeown, this is the wrong approach, says @craig100m. Share on X

By accepting that we need to respond and adapt—daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly—we can be flexible in our response to this new information, while simultaneously, through our strategic plan, moving in the general direction of our end goal.

Making Decisions

Once you have an understanding of the general path you need to take to be successful, you must make some decisions, in the form of putting together a (flexible and adaptable) training plan. The decisions here are, essentially, what to put in and what to take or keep out. Through your analysis, you should know what the constituent components of performance are and, as a general rule, how good you/your athletes are at them at present.

The next step is to set priorities—what do you need to allocate the most time to work on?—and develop an understanding of how best to improve on them. Using this, you can create your training program, but you also need to consider:

1. How will you know if what you’re doing is working?
2. How will you know when to make a change?
3. If something isn’t working, what changes will you make?

In this way, we enter the planàdoàreview cycle, with different cycles occurring on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.

Do–>Review

An important part of the strategic process within businesses is to manage the ongoing delivery of the strategy, check for progress, and make changes. This process is so important that some companies have a chief strategy officer. Utilizing strategic thinking and principles within the athlete development process need not be any different; regular check-ins to ensure the training strategy is progressing as planned, and making any refinements, are crucial.

There can be different levels to this, ranging from quick trackside conversations to full-blown review meetings. An important part of regular review meetings is that everyone within the performance team should be able to have their say and provide ideas, giving a true 360-degree perspective on how things are progressing and ensuring new and innovative ideas are being brought to the table.

Danger Before Failure

In sport, it’s likely that your key strategic goal can occur only once a year (e.g., qualify for the World Championships), or perhaps even less frequently, such as winning a medal at the Olympic Games. Often, this means that there can be a lot of time between planning and knowing whether success has happened.

An important process…is recognizing danger signs that suggest you may be at risk of failing to meet your big goal, says @craig100m. Share on X

An important process during this time is recognizing danger signs that suggest you might be at risk of failing to meet your big goal. Part of the strategy process is understanding what systems you have to have in place to recognize that danger; it might be training load monitoring to identify periods of increased risk of injury, physiological testing of key traits, or stress testing the athlete in specific competition scenarios.

Each of these tests has the potential to identify risks to achieving the strategic goal and, crucially, buys you time to make any changes that may be required to get you back on track. Here, the key question is: “How will you know if you’re at risk of not meeting your goal?” The sooner you can recognize any potential danger, the more time you have to prevent failure.

“Strategic Tools”

The last section of the book is a collection of various strategy tools that may prove useful when developing your own strategy as a coach. One of these is the five basic strategy questions developed by McKeown, which should provide a starting point for much of your planning:

1. Where are you now?
2. Where do you want to go?
3. What changes have to be made?
4. How should changes be made?
5. How shall you measure progress?

Other tools include:

• A SWOT Analysis—helping you identify strengths, weaknesses, and threats to performance.
• The 7-S Framework—allowing you to understand the strategy enablers you can use to deliver your training strategy.
• Kim & Mauborgne’s Four Actions—important in identifying what to keep, what to lose, and where to innovate.
• Kotter’s Eight Step Model of Change—often, part of delivering on a strategy requires managing a process of change, perhaps within yourself or with the athletes you coach. This model describes a process of working through that change.

Each of these tools may prove useful in developing a training and performance strategy, and so they are well worth looking at more closely.

Strategy Reminders

Strategic thinking can be complex and challenging, which is why the best strategic thinkers are highly prized by businesses. But I think McKeown’s book gives us some insight to develop our own framework to think strategically about how we develop athletes:

1. Understand the event: In terms of performance, what does it take to be successful? How will this change over time—are performances stable or trending upward (or even downward)? Is the overall depth in the sport/event changing? How might any proposed rule changes or innovations affect this? How might the venue of future championships affect the required performance (e.g., heat, humidity, altitude)?
2. Understand the constituent pieces: For a given performance (identified in point 1), what are the individual building blocks required for success (e.g., physiological, technical, tactical, psychological, social, etc.)?
3. Understand where you or your athletes are now.
4. Understand how to get from where you are now to where you want to be: What are the different methods that you can use to develop your key identified capacities?
5. Think innovatively and question your assumptions: The more established the process, the more you should question it.
6. Set priorities: Which area do you most need to improve in to achieve your goal?
7. Understand what could go wrong, mitigate the key risks, and have a plan in place for responding to others.
8. Set a plan.
9. Understand how best to measure progress across different time points.
10. Continually refine the plan, mixing short-terms goals and appraisals with a long-term vision.

This book is a crucial read for coaches. It sets out a framework for developing an effective long-term plan to drive performance success, which will greatly assist in guiding you forward. Share on X

Overall, this book is a crucial read for coaches. It sets out a framework for developing an effective long-term plan to drive performance success, which—when combined with other tools specific to your sport such as periodization and training theory (both of which you must critically analyze!)—will greatly assist in guiding you forward. I also think you need to give this book time: It’s a lot to take in on the first read, but rarely have I read a book that has had me highlighting sections so frequently.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

I was raised with three older brothers who were all athletes by parents who were highly educated and loved us very much. My parents taught and modeled for us that “Emotions negatively impact your life, so avoid being emotional. Think rationally.” As I grew older and experienced more of life—and after coaching and teaching thousands of athletes over a 30-year period—I realized that my well-meaning parents had it wrong. Humans are NOT rational beings who allow their emotions to occasionally get in the way. Instead, I have firmly come to conclude that humans ARE completely emotional beings who occasionally have rational thoughts.

As a tenured professor in the kinesiology department at Whitworth University for the past 25 years, I have taught sports psychology courses to a wide variety of college students and student-athletes. In addition to that academic background and experience, I have served as the head track and field and cross-country coach for 25 years, with approximately 100 men and women on the rosters each season. Fifty years ago, if you asked an athlete, student, or coach how much of an impact they thought someone’s mind had on their performance, you would have gotten an answer ranging from “none” to “some.”

There is likely full agreement that a problem exists within most athletes that their mind negatively impacts their performance…How do we solve the problem? Share on X

Now, the answers are more informed and may range from “some” to “all.” There are several ways to look at sports psychology, or the mental aspects of sport. However, there isn’t much of an argument on whether or not our brain impacts our athletic performance; in addition, there is likely full agreement that there exists a problem within most athletes that their mind negatively impacts their performance. However, the big question also exists: How do we solve the problem?

To solve any problem, we need to first understand exactly what the problem is.

If you are a coach who looks at your athlete as a collection of mechanical movements that you are attempting to maximize efficiently, you will struggle with the mental aspects of coaching. However, if you view your athletes as breathing humans who are full of all kinds of competing emotions, thoughts, and feelings, then you will be in a better position to help your athletes manage their emotions.

I used to think that the only option I had to help some of my athletes to resolve their mental barriers was to cut their heads off. That excessive detachment would allow them to reach their full athletic potential. They were fast and strong and prepared, but their brains got in the way of all of their athletic potential and training. Now I see my athletes as flawed humans with hormones, doubts, fears, low self-confidence, and a myriad of other psychological complexities, and they require tools to help manage their emotions.

From Problem Recognition to Problem Solving

Once we have properly identified who we are working with, we must take the next step to properly define the issues that athletes are dealing with. How often do you hear an athlete say “I am stressed out” when they walk in the door? The answer is quite often. How many times have you responded, “That is great!” The answer is never.

Our society views stress as bad or negative. However, we all know that stress is neither bad nor good: Stress is defined as “a demand placed on something.” We lift weights (a demand) to get stronger. We put demands on our muscles in a variety of ways when we train. We don’t see that demand as negative or bad—it may hurt, but it has benefits, and that is why we subject ourselves to it. We run to put demands on our heart and lungs for conditioning. Athletes see it as negative, but the truth is that we all agree it is beneficial, and that is why we do it.

Stress is not inherently bad. Stress is…stress. Therefore, when an athlete says that they are “stressed out,” we know what they mean; unfortunately, they don’t. And because they don’t properly identify what is going on, they can’t efficiently find a solution. The question to ask them is “What is the demand on you?” It is usually something that is overwhelming them.

Distress is defined as “a demand that causes harm.” Too much of a demand (being overwhelmed) can cause mental harm. School is difficult. Life challenges. Change. Relationship issues. Financial problems. Unmet expectations. One or two or three of those things can give an athlete a sense of harmful stress.

Throughout the season, I witness athletes struggling in practice. The struggle is not simply fatigue or physical distress. When I ask the athlete “How are you doing?,” responses may range from a shrug to a laundry list of issues that they feel are out of their control (two common examples are a relationship that is coming to an end and/or a set of academic classes that are beyond the student-athlete’s perceived capabilities). Most of the time, simply verbalizing the issues will help the athlete recognize that life isn’t as out of control as they may imagine it is. A coach may be the only person to whom an athlete feels they can safely vent their fears and anxieties, and hopefully the coach is empathetic enough to listen and provide support.

Coaches need to point out to athletes that fears and anxieties are demands, just like weight training is a demand, and we can use them to make us better or allow them to damage us. Share on X

As coaches, we need to point out that these things are demands, just like weight training is a demand, which we can use to make us better or we can allow to damage us. Framing our problems accurately will help us correct or manage them. When we have a slow athlete, we shouldn’t label them as “slow” and move on. Capable coaches figure out why the athlete is slow (lack of strength, poor fitness, improper mechanics, lack of confidence, etc.) and then implement a plan to fix those issues. The same should be true for mental barriers to success. Coaches need to help athletes identify the areas in their life that cause stress or other mental barriers and then equip them with the tools to manage or overcome them.

Addressing Distress

Distress can cause anxiety. Fear—which is different than distress—can also cause anxiety. Fear refers to how we perceive the possibility of something happening to us instead of the probability. When we look at the logical probability of something happening to us, it is typically low, but the possibility of it happening, no matter how small, results in fear. The “fight or flight” response is a physiological reaction to a perceived harmful event.

In other words, our body gets full of adrenaline so it can either run away from the charging saber-tooth tiger or stand and fight the big kitty. Our body has been conditioned to react to fear. Fear, however, is an emotional response to a perceived danger or harm. That emotional response exists because of the lack of trust. When we trust ourselves or others, we don’t perceive events as being harmful to us. Few people fear sitting in a chair, as they trust the chair will hold them. Many people fear public speaking because they don’t trust how the audience will respond to what they say, and/or they don’t trust their own ability to deliver a coherent message.

We need to identify our fears and learn to control them by understanding what it is that we don’t trust in the situation. When we can understand the psychological response to fear and control it, we can then allow the physiological response to help us to fight and not engage in flight. Allow fears to be a fire that fuels you and propels you forward and upward, but don’t allow fear to be a fuel that burns you up.

Mental Toughness and Resilience

Defining the problem accurately helps us find a solution. What is mental toughness? Is it being focused? Is it being angry? Is it being strong or intense?

Mental toughness is not accurately described by any of those, as they are all different areas that must be addressed separately. Mental toughness is most accurately described as the “ability to overcome an adverse situation in an expedient manner.” Mentally tough people aren’t better than anyone else. Mentally tough people are simply better at rebounding from challenges and rebounding in a shorter period of time than those who are not mentally tough.

Mentally tough people are simply better at rebounding from challenges and rebounding in a shorter period of time than those who are not mentally tough. Share on X

We all have heard the line “time heals all wounds.” Give us enough time and we will “get over it.” A mentally tough person “gets over it” and “gets over it” fast. The mentally tough person isn’t flawless or perfect—a mentally tough person makes a lot of mistakes. The difference is that when a mentally tough person makes an error, the next time a ground ball is hit to them they make a great play. Air ball? They drain a three. Mentally tough people respond to adversity and respond quickly. How does that happen?

Resilience, which is “the ability to rebound, recover, or bounce back to the original form,” is a skill. We are not born resilient. We learn resilience over time. But how do we learn resilience? Like any skill, we learn it with practice.

Sports have historically been an effective environment to help teach resilience. Failure is inevitable in sport, and when there is failure, there is an opportunity to practice resilience. No athlete bats 1.000 for very long, nor do they make every shot in every game. Getting a hit one out of three at bats in a game is seen as successful. Two out of three made field goals will get you a lot of praise in basketball.

Most athletes understand those statistics and realize that failure is part of sport and is something to overcome. However, not all athletes handle failure equally—often because some never learned to be resilient in the first place. Sport alone does not teach athletes character or skills, including resilience; sports are merely a tool that a coach can use to teach character and skills.

All athletes are not created equal—they come from various family environments and have various levels of support. Bobby Knight, the Hall of Fame college basketball coach, once stated in an interview: “Athletes today are not any different than athletes 30 or 40 years ago. What is different is the parents who raise them.” He went on to elaborate how parents (and coaches and teachers) tend to overly protect children, and that protection prevents the natural exposure to failure and thus the opportunity to learn resilience. When an athlete fails and a coach is present to help them cope with that failure, they acquire resilience. When an athlete fails and allows their emotions to take over, they may quit the sport or pout until they are “over it,” or simply blame the failure on others (e.g., Coach isn’t any good).

Many athletes—but not all—come from homes that include loving parents who go to great lengths to take care of their children and protect them from harm. A kid falls off a bike and the parent runs over and picks them up. Or even “worse,” the parent doesn’t let the kid have a bike until they are confident that the kid won’t fall off while riding. Similarly, athletes often have great teachers and coaches who want the best for them, and that “best” may include keeping them from pain or disappointment (insert rant about “participation trophies,” “everyone plays equal time” rules, or “ties are okay” that often come up when talking about our “entitled children” and lack of resilience).

I love my kids, so I try to provide for them and help them avoid the pain and struggles that I unfortunately went through. However, by attempting to protect them, I may be keeping them from the opportunities that I had as a kid to learn resilience. My attempt to help them may prevent them from developing the skill of resilience, which will be beneficial in their future challenges. In my 30 years of college coaching, there hasn’t been a blueprint for athletes who have resilience and those who don’t. In my experience, though, the athletes who have had more struggles in life tend to handle struggle easier than those who have had a smoother path.

I often work with Paralympic athletes. These athletes are not all the same, but one common characteristic that I have found is they tend to “grind” more and shrug off failure much more quickly than able-bodied athletes. I believe this is correlated to the fact that much of their life has revolved around overcoming adversity. The necessity to drag a competitive wheelchair around whenever you want to work out requires more resilience than simply throwing a pair of shoes in your backpack.

Coping, along with resilience, is a skill… Coping is not a passive activity—the skill of coping must be learned, and thus coaches must teach it. Share on X

Coping is the manner in which we “deal with problems.” Coping, along with resilience, is a skill. We all have different ways to cope. Ignoring is a common “coping mechanism.” However, ignoring is not actually a successful coping strategy—it will not allow us to deal with a problem for the long term. Ignoring simply delays the requirement to cope until later. Successful coping requires four steps:

1. Control our emotions. Emotions cause us to think less rationally and allow feelings to direct thoughts and behavior. Take a big deep breath and calm yourself.
2. Organize the inputs. In other words, what is happening. This is like the “data collection” step in the scientific method.
3. Plan a strategy. Once we have all of the data, we can plan a strategy.
4. Execute that strategy. This may seem like a simple step, but it is often the most difficult.

We are often capable of planning, but actually executing a plan requires a risk that many of us are unwilling to take. Control, Organize, Plan, and Execute. C-O-P-E. It is easy to remember the steps of coping. It is much more difficult to actually cope with our problems.

Coping with Loss

Loss is the most common area in our lives that requires coping. Loss of any kind will cause anxiety, distress, depression, and a lack of self-confidence, all of which can benefit from coping. Whenever we lose something, our emotions get the best of us. Lose a game. Lose a loved one. Lose a relationship. Lose our car keys. Obviously, we react to some losses more than others, but all losses require some form of coping.

Controlling our emotions requires patience and trust. Organizing the input requires focus and awareness. Planning a strategy requires critical thinking and problem-solving. Execution requires risk-taking and motivation. Coping is not a passive activity—the skill of coping must be learned, and thus coaches must teach it.

When an athlete has a poor performance or fails, they may act out or shut down—their emotions take over. In order to control emotions, a great first step is to take a deep breath. That simple action causes the athlete to pause. Sometimes, controlling emotions requires a coach to “talk the athlete down off the ledge.” Giving your perspective and listening to the athlete’s emotions will help them control their emotional state. Once those emotions are less overwhelming, you can address rational thought. “Why are you so upset?” “Was the performance as bad as you thought it was?” “What variables did you have control over that you didn’t control and what variables were out of your control?” (e.g., the opponent was much better, the referee made an untimely call, etc.).

Athletes need to understand that flawlessness is rare in sport. Improvement is more likely. Share on X

Once the facts are laid out, the coach can help the athlete strategize how to move forward. “What can we do at practice next week to improve and raise the probability of a better performance?” Words are key. Probability is different than guarantee. Better is different than perfect. Athletes need to understand that flawlessness is rare in sport. Improvement is more likely. Set process goals and not outcome goals, and then communicate with the athlete during the week to check how the process is going.

Coping leads us to being content—but not satisfied—with our current situation. Contentment and satisfaction are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Satisfied refers to being “pleased or full.” When we are satisfied, we no longer want or feel the need for more. As an athlete (and as a human who desires to reach their full potential), satisfaction prevents us from pushing forward—when we determine something is full, there is no need to do more. More tends to cause us to overflow, which becomes a waste. If we are satisfied, we lack motivation to get better.

If an athlete beats an inferior opponent, they can feel satisfied with the victory, and that may lull them into a false sense of confidence and prevent them from putting forth the effort to improve. After beating an inferior opponent, the athlete should feel good about their win, but realize that the next competition may bring a greater challenge. In addition, if an athlete fails to reach their goal, they don’t need to be happy about their performance, but they can be at peace with how they executed the game plan. They should realize that with more effort, they will perform better next time and possibly come out on top.

On the other hand, contentment refers to peace in our current situation. Peace allows us to see the good in what we have accomplished but doesn’t limit our desire to achieve more. We should be content (have peace), but we should never be satisfied unless we are finished with the process of getting better. Whether we win or lose, post a personal best, or perform poorly, we must be grateful for where we are and what we have been able to accomplish (contentment). Yet, we also must allow the win or loss, success or failure, to fuel us to become even better and to not settle (satisfied) for where we are.

Mental Skills on the Field of Play

Many of the suggestions thus far may seem easier said than done. Changing someone’s mindset is similar to changing someone’s mind: It takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. One thing that doesn’t take much time and energy is the concept of breathing. Breathing is simple. We all do it, or we wouldn’t stay alive. Unfortunately, we all don’t breathe well enough.

Breathing is important. Routinely taking a BIG, DEEP BREATH is essential. Breathing detoxifies and releases toxins. Breathing releases tension. Breathing relaxes the mind and brings clarity. Breathing relieves emotional problems. Breathing relieves pain. Breathing strengthens our immune system. Breathing improves posture. Breathing improves the quality of our blood. Breathing increases digestion and assimilation of food. Breathing improves our nervous system. Breathing strengthens our lungs. Breathing boosts our overall energy levels. Breathing improves cellular generation (which helps us heal). Breathing elevates our mood. Breathing forces us to pause and be patient. Breathing keeps us alive.

So, stop and take a DEEP breath! Stopping thoughts and taking a deep breath now puts us in the position to think more clearly and rationally. This allows our emotions to be less in control, and we can tap into our brain, which contains the tools we need to make a plan on future thoughts and actions.

We should not avoid or ignore the mental struggles of our athletes. Share on X

Coaches play a huge role in helping athletes to be aware of their emotions and training them to manage those emotions. We should not avoid or ignore emotions. We should not avoid or ignore the mental struggle of our athletes. As coaches, we must help athletes understand their emotions and how they can manage and control them, so that they can reach their full athletic potential.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

With research in assisted sprints gaining steam over the last few years, I wanted to use this article to look at some of the specific methods we’ve incorporated into our long jump training regimen at Loyola University Chicago. I think a key element in the future of sprint and jump training involves effective uses of overspeed and assisted work to meticulously tease out potent speed adaptations. Nonetheless, it’s imperative that coaches consistently take a bird’s-eye view throughout the macrocycle, paying close attention to how gains in speed affect all other biomotor abilities.

As this is the second installment of an article series on long jump training, I wanted to briefly look back at the first part. In it, I tackled power development through resisted sprint training utilizing a method that involved working within zones of resistance on the 1080 Sprint in order to transfer big peak power outputs achieved at high resistances down to slightly lower resistances where velocity plays a larger role than force. The methodology of manipulating resisted sprint loads to transfer peak power outputs to lesser loads within a session aims to prepare the long jumper for added velocity at takeoff, where time frames to express power into the board are marginally reduced.

A similar thread runs through our assisted sprint training designs, albeit on the opposite end of the spectrum with the added load being assistance rather than resistance, and the analyzed metric being peak velocity rather than peak power. Although we didn’t utilize zones with assisted sprints, the prevailing idea of transferring high training inputs produced from higher loads down to lesser loads is at work here as well.

We’ve tried a few different methods in assisted sprint training over the last couple of years involving changing the settings on the 1080, using Brower timing gates, and trying various complexes, but in the end our methods are quite simple and similar to those mentioned in the previous article. (A side note here: I haven’t had much success doing complexes of assisted and unassisted sprinting. However, complexing higher and lower assisted reps 1 kilogram apart has served well as a catalyst for potentiation. I’ve found it best to either do isolated assisted sessions or segmented work. For the most part, we segmented full approach work with assisted sprints as separate components of a session.)

By the end of the article, we’ll consider a complementary advanced multi-jump exercise to enhance reactive strength to prepare for added velocity at takeoff. Overall, I hope you’ll find some similarities with the first article on power development through resisted sprint training and start to see an underlying training philosophy emerge.

Paradigms in Assisted Sprint Training with the 1080 Sprint

Focusing on the specific assisted sprint training program for two of our long jumpers at Loyola University Chicago, Eric Burns and Mackenzie Arnold, last year we worked up to 6 kilograms and even 7 kilograms of assistance once or twice, but this year we only went up to 5 kilograms.

By gradually reducing pulling forces, those increased velocities become normalized and methodically pared down into the athlete’s natural ability, says @BobThurnhoffer. Share on X

This was mostly because both of them no longer required that kind of assistance to achieve the peak velocities we were targeting.¹ This highlights how we thought of progression with assisted sprinting: namely, achieving big peak velocities at lesser and lesser assistances. As time goes on from mesocycle to mesocycle—and even macrocycle to macrocycle—the goal is to progress by not needing as much assistance, thereby enhancing assimilation of greater speeds into the athlete’s natural max velocity capability. The less assistance produced by the machine, the more speed generated by the athlete. By gradually reducing pulling forces, those increased velocities become normalized and methodically pared down into the athlete’s natural ability.

Throughout the past couple of years, we’ve placed assisted sprint work primarily in the third to fourth mesocycles, which for us at Loyola falls in the mid/late October to early December range (though we do continue to microdose during the season). The reason for implementation in late fall is threefold:

1. 1. As a further progression or intensification for max velocity training.

 

1. 1. On the practical side, we don’t have an indoor track, so we have to work within the limitations of an approximately 50- to 55-meter wall-to-wall straightaway of rollout track when the weather turns in Chicago. This makes fly sprints rather difficult and speed endurance reps untenable. With that in mind, we rely on assisted sprinting, since it allows us to achieve supramaximal and maximal velocities within a 35- to 40-meter sprint.

 

1. 1. In the case of Eric and Mackenzie’s long-term development—having done countless repetitions of fly sprints, wicket progressions, and any other types of max velocity and/or max velocity qualitative work over their career—in the last two years, assisted sprints served as a mode of speed training through which to challenge well-refined skills in a novel way.

 

Generally speaking, we found that Mackenzie had her best sessions when we integrated assisted work first, followed by max velocity/full approach, whereas Eric benefitted from unassisted work followed by assisted. More specifically, we had two slightly different methods for assisted speed work, one for Mackenzie and one for Eric. They did, however, do some crossover sessions where they used the other method just for variation’s sake.

With Mackenzie, we often used complexes of higher assistances followed by slightly lower assistances; for example, a few sets of 5 kilograms followed by 4 kilograms. With Eric, the concept of the sessions was similar to what we did with resisted work on the 1080—we would surf from a lower assistance, riding a wave up to a higher assistance for a rep or two before sliding back down to try to carry those velocities achieved at the high assistances down to the lower assistances. The progression through the macrocycle was to utilize less and less assistance; 5 kilograms was phased out by the time the season started.

This is all anecdotal, but a good analogy to use in understanding assisted sprint work is to think of 1 kilogram of assistance as 1.0 m/s tailwind. So, 2 kilograms is similar to 2.0 m/s, 3 kilograms to 3.0 m/s, 4 kilograms to 4.0 m/s, and so on. I have no evidence for that, but I’ve found it helpful in understanding dosage, prescription, progression, and programming for assisted sprint work.

This is anecdotal, but a good analogy to use in understanding assisted sprint work is to think of 1 kilogram of assistance as 1.0 m/s tailwind, says @BobThurnhoffer. Share on X

For Mackenzie, in the fall we favored complexes consisting of sets of 5 kilograms’ assistance followed by 4 kilograms. We found that the 4-kilogram reps were potentiated by the slightly stronger 5-kilogram pull. We mostly worked that type of complex while segmenting it with full approach work to be sure that increased speed levels weren’t outgrowing approach development. Occasionally, we added a segment of a few reps at 3 kilograms at the end to see how close the peak velocities achieved at 3 kilograms were to 4 kilograms.

Later, during indoor, Mackenzie achieved big peaks at 5 kilograms and 4 kilograms, so we phased down to 3 kilograms and lived there for the duration of the season. When administering assisted sprints, it’s important to not have too much variety in pulling force within a session so the athlete can lock into a rhythm and cadence while becoming further attuned to the nature of the pull. Midway through the indoor season, she was regularly hitting 9.5 m/s-9.6 m/s peak velocity at 3 kilograms.

Video 1. Mackenzie on an assisted sprint rep. This is all rollout track in a student rec center. In this particular session, we segmented six assisted sprints of approximately 40 meters at 3-kilogram pull followed by six full approaches with no takeoff. We closed the session with timed single-leg depth jumps (discussed further below).

Over the course of fall training with Eric, we wouldn’t do complexes—instead, we used a chiastic structure working from 4 kilograms up to 5 kilograms and back to 4 kilograms, with the intent of converting peak velocities from 5 kilograms to 4 kilograms. As training progressed, the sessions evolved into 3kg-4kg-3kg, targeting 3-kilogram peak velocities, and eventually moved to 2kg-3kg-2kg, where 2 kilograms was the focal point. In that sense, the game we played was to see how close he could come to his peak velocities achieved at high assistances down at lower assistances, which became a source of motivation for him each time we worked on it.

Below, you’ll see a session from the latter stages of the fall, where he had a breakthrough at 2 kilograms, hitting a peak of 11.15 m/s. In that sense, it was always the back half of the session that was most critical for development.

For Eric, channeling those big velocities toward the lesser assistances over the course of the season proved effective. In other words, transitioning from actual overspeed reps to assisted sprints seemed to allow for greater transfer. By overspeed, I mean hitting velocities the athlete would not be able to create on their own, even in perfect conditions; whereas, by assisted sprints, I mean using the 1080 to aid the athlete in hitting speeds they are likely capable of producing on their own in ideal or close to ideal conditions.

Throughout the macrocycle, we favored segmented sessions packaging full approach work with assisted sprints. Combining those within a session while bracketing them as separate components seemed to sift more speed into the approach work. Intensity in one aspect of a session begets intensity in subsequent aspects of a session, provided volumes are kept within a reasonable range. Once the season began, we paid more attention to density patterns and reviewed assisted sprints once every two weeks in reduced quantity.

Video 2. Eric on an assisted rep during the same session as seen in the clip above of Mackenzie. In this instance, Eric had already completed four full approaches with no takeoff; then we did six assisted sprints of approximately 40 meters.

To complete the training effect of assisted sprints for long jumpers, the takeoff leg must endure subsequent improvements in specific forms of reactive strength, says @BobThurnhoffer. Share on X

To round out this examination of assisted sprint training, I want to contextualize the training effect brought on by assisted sprints by recognizing the corresponding effect at takeoff. Meaning that, in order to complete the training effect of assisted sprints for long jumpers, the takeoff leg must endure subsequent improvements in specific forms of reactive strength as well. When considering transfer in any context, it’s essential to examine training effects holistically—otherwise, dysfunction can ensue. With that, we’ll turn to the last section, pairing distinct modes of depth jumps with assisted sprints to culminate the training effect. 

Multi-Jump Corollary to Complement Increased Velocity at Takeoff

It’s no secret that increased velocity is vital for further long jumping. That increase, however, has a cascading effect on every element of the event—most notably, it minimizes time available for takeoff. It’s not enough to simply train to get faster: Any speed upgrade has to be calibrated into the various elements involved in the long jump, especially the takeoff. This year, we added single-leg depth jumps as a consistent, weekly multi-jump activity in order to address the dilemma of having fractionally reduced time to express force into the board. In that sense, I thought it wasn’t enough to simply administer assisted sprints to gain in max velocity potential; there also had to be substantive gains in unilateral reactive strength to bring those training gains into completion.

Any promotion in speed development for a long jumper must be underscored with adequate advancements in elasticity for takeoff. Furthermore, adding single-leg depth jumps on assisted sprint days seemed like a natural fit. It sent a clear signal to the body of what we wanted to train: speed + faster ground reaction forces. This gave each athlete confidence that they could handle more speed at takeoff, and the vertical nature of the depth jump paired logically with the max velocity work.

There are several more reasons for the choice to do single-leg depth jumps:

1. 1. Mackenzie and Eric both learned to thrive in the weight room on unilateral static lifts. Our sports performance coach, Dave Vitel, did a wonderful job progressing their key static lifts into unilateral dominant eccentrics and isometrics, often with the heel lifted off the ground. These lifts served as another step toward greater specificity in the weight room to complement our sprint and jump practices.

 

1. 1. Unilateral depth jumps are more specific to the long jump takeoff, and we saw it as a rational progression from the bilateral depth jumps done in previous years.

 

1. 1. Since their natural tendency was to favor longer ground contact times and greater vertical impulses at takeoff, we administered single-leg depth jumps in a particular way. We could have done depth jumps with the progression being to raise the boxes gradually; however, that would favor large ground reaction forces through longer ground contacts. Instead, we capped the height of the boxes at 18 inches for Eric and 12 inches for Mackenzie, typically doing 6-9 jumps each leg once a week after approach, max velocity, and/or assisted/overspeed work from late September through the majority of the indoor season with a focus on speed of movement.

 

Early in the fall we only did six each leg; later, once we had graduated from short approach jump progressions, we left that behind in favor of added full approach volumes and an uptick to nine single-leg depth jumps per leg each session. During the indoor season, we backed off to 3-5 each leg per session for maintenance purposes and held off at times based on the continual overload of competition jumping.

Instead of progressing by height, we progressed by time to get used to expressing large forces in minimal time. The idea here was to target ground contact times similar to elite long jump takeoffs.² I used the Coach’s Eye app to time ground contact on the depth jumps and monitored it throughout the season. In that sense, the activity never changed, but the data analysis allowed us to methodically track progress over time.

We elected to not advance the activity by increasing height, since that would not address the issue of decreased time available at takeoff as effectively as tracking ground contact time at the same height over the course of a season. It’s a subtle difference, but it has implications on the specific nature of the training effect. In this case, our choice on administration of single-leg depth jumps favored faster reactivity off the ground compared to the alternative. Over the season, Mackenzie improved from .18 down to .155; Eric went from .21 to .19. In retrospect, Eric would’ve been better served using a 15-inch box.

It’s critical to not target shorter ground contact times in jumping activities, or sprinting for that matter, until sufficient force application is stabilized, says @BobThurnhoffer. Share on X

Overall, I felt this activity equipped the takeoff leg for added velocity and gave each athlete confidence they could handle it. I waited until this year—both athletes’ senior year—to incorporate single-leg depth jumps, because I see it as a very advanced multi-jump activity that shouldn’t be conducted without suitable long-term development. Furthermore, it’s critical to not target shorter ground contact times in jumping activities, or sprinting for that matter, until sufficient force application is stabilized.

Panoramic View

To close, I’d like to offer a few thoughts on assisted sprinting as a whole. Looking back at the past few years spent experimenting and refining approaches to assisted sprint training, I now feel as if I didn’t do enough of it 2-3 years ago. An incubation period must occur as an athlete adopts and adapts to assisted sprinting, but the fear of diving in must be overcome by clever initiation tactics. Any athlete can finish a max velocity or late-stage acceleration session with 1-3 reps of assisted sprinting with a light pull of 2 kilograms. Over time, they acclimate and can handle greater pulls; then, once adaptation further solidifies over time and intensity builds, pulling forces can be reduced, thereby offering even greater opportunities for speed maturation.

I now see assisted sprinting as the greatest element the 1080 Sprint has to offer, since you can easily control and program it through the machine. When executed well, assisted work can enhance sprinting economy. If the pulling forces match the buy-in of the athlete, it will allow them to sell out to greater vertical force application, applying forces at ground strike earlier than they would otherwise. This will reduce over-pushing late into ground contact and enhance front-side dominant mechanics, since displacement is secured through the pulling force. As comfort with attacking assisted sprints grows, neural adaptations are enhanced, reactivity of the ankle complex evolves, and coordination of limb exchange is amplified. We’ve augmented our assisted sprint training protocols with the methods mentioned above and will continue to do so in the years to come.

When executed well, assisted work can enhance sprinting economy, says @BobThurnhoffer. Share on X

The plan heading into outdoors was to nurture our unassisted/unresisted sprinting through extensification, utilizing longer efforts of complete sprints and sprint-float-sprint protocols between 50 meters and 90 meters, along with extending assisted sprint efforts into the 50-meter to 60-meter realm favoring 2-kilogram to 3-kilogram pulls—but the pandemic meant otherwise. The idea was to expand our sprinting and assisted sprinting reps into slightly longer efforts, stabilizing greater levels of speed while enhancing coordination of limb exchange over incrementally longer distances. After all, comfort with elevated velocities is required for sifting greater levels of speed onto the runway and coordinating it into the approach rhythm and takeoff.

Exposure breeds familiarity, familiarity breeds confidence, confidence breeds applicability, and applicability breeds transfer. Combining the methods for improved max velocity set forth here with the schemes for power development provided in the article on resisted sprints allows for several raw ingredients to jumping farther: composure with increasing velocity so it can be incorporated down the runway, improved elasticity for faster reactivity, and enhanced rate of force development for rapid power expression capabilities at takeoff.

With some strategies in speed/power development in place, in the next article we’ll look at joining those physical gains with skillful execution in the long jump approach. A key theme moving forward will be ensuring that gains in speed/power don’t grow faster than long jump skill acquisition.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Some of these thoughts were triggered through a conversation at dinner with Joseph Coyne, Keith Herston, and Jon DeGrave the night before Coyne put on a clinic at Florida State University in July 2018.

2. Referencing IAAF studies in biomechanics, World Athletics Research Centre

In the current “Information Age” of strength and conditioning, young coaches can get lost in the vast ocean of information. Social media, journals, blogs, podcast- and subscription-based services: The pool of information is ever-growing. New methods and practices are being developed daily, while old-school methods continue to produce solid athletic outcomes. So, what is a coach supposed to do? Hold to the tried-and-true and risk being left behind? Jump at every new method and hope to gain an advantage, but risk having it fall flat?

This is where the concept of training principles comes in. There is an opening phrase that makes the rounds on strength coach Twitter every now and then, which goes something like, I’m not an Olympic coach, or I’m not a Westside coach, or I’m not a 5-3-1 coach, or I’m not a triphasic coach, and so on. I guess that the point of this declaration is to demonstrate how the coach is not biased toward one system over another. While this looks good and open-minded, I think it is potentially dangerous. What is the limiting principle keeping these coaches from hopping from one program to the other or mixing too many methods at once?

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, “As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods.” Principles are the North Star that keeps a coach on track through a sea of information. They don’t dictate exact bearings, but rather maintain a generalized course toward the objective.

I believe every coach, especially young coaches, should develop a set of guiding principles for their programming and training, says @Tate_Tobiason. Share on X

I believe every coach, especially young coaches, should develop a set of guiding principles for their programming and training. These principles should be broad, yet clear in their objectives, providing the framework by which a coach can decide whether a new method may be worth their time. Change for the sake of change is reckless, but by establishing guiding principles, change for the better is made possible, while simultaneously protecting against rash knee-jerk reactions.

For me, a principled approach to training began back when I was a young intern at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Back in the day, Boyd Epley and Mike Arthur developed a list of 10 “Husker Power Principles,” which they hung on the wall and treated as if they were the Ten Commandments. As a young coach, my opinions on training constantly changed with whatever rabbit hole I dove down, and thus I thought these principles were too rigid and narrow-minded, and I treated them as methods rather than guiding principles.

As my time at Nebraska progressed, I developed more of a relationship with Mike Arthur and began to probe him about these principles. Now, if you have ever met this soft-spoken man, you know that he is a wealth of knowledge, but sometimes getting an answer from him is like pulling teeth. Eventually, I learned that he got the idea for these principles after reading Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. By examining high performers in society, you can reverse-engineer effectiveness down to common habits or principles.

A similar concept can be found in Ray Dalio’s book, Principles. By examining what had worked and what hadn’t over the years at Husker Power, Coach Arthur outlined the underlying principles on which the program had built its success.

After hearing this, and reading the mentioned texts, I wanted to develop my own set of principles. Setting out, I began to examine successful training programs, trying to understand why they were successful. From the collegiate realm of Husker Power to the powerlifting realm of Louie Simmons and the track and field realm of Charlie Francis, I found common trends. Paired with first-hand experience, I started to form the following principles.

Principle 1 – “Athlete-First” Training

If you have been coaching for any amount of time, chances are you have heard the phrase “Athletes will not care how much you know, until they know how much you care about them.” Far too often, coaches get so caught up in boosting KPIs or demonstrating our knowledge of the field that we end up alienating our athletes. Not to say that KPIs are not important, but rather that they do not tell the whole story, especially in team sports. This took me awhile to understand, coming from a powerlifting background where the numbers did not lie.

Coaching, first and foremost, is a people business. Learn to listen to your athletes. Having a good relationship with a player may provide you with better and more honest insight than any screening tool. Coaching should be geared toward furthering their career, not your ego. I’m looking at you, social media coaches. As Bill Walsh puts it, the score takes care of itself. Focus on your athletes as individual human beings first, and you’ll be surprised to see how many other outcomes fall favorably into place.

Principle 2 – Ground-Based Training

Plain and simple, the majority of sports are played on the ground. Athletes need to learn how to display force and power into the ground to obtain maximal athletic output. Unstable surfaces may be great for rehab, but we are performance coaches. You may argue that unstable surface training expands the toolbox of an athlete’s ability, but I would counter that until you pour the foundation, set the frame, and hang the drywall, you do not need a Stubby Nail Eater in your tool pouch. Principles are not about demonizing certain movements, but rather putting them in the proper context.

Principles are not about demonizing certain movements, but rather putting them in the proper context, says @Tate_Tobiason. Share on X

Principle 3 – Power-Strength Training Split

Strength is the underlying quality for all athletic movement. It doesn’t matter how quickly you can move if it isn’t of any substance. On the flip side, strength levels only matter up to the point where your opponent is better able to display their strength levels. Therefore, I construct my training split into specific power and strength days.

On power days, we prioritize bar velocity with the ability to target specific sections of the velocity spectrum. Furthermore, by expanding the day to focus on high-velocity explosive movements, I don’t tend to worry about the Olympic versus non-Olympic debate. It allows me the possibility to start with some good old-fashioned power cleans and move on to trap bar jumps. Moreover, on strength days, we prioritize mass—whether it be building mass or moving mass. Primary lifts on this day—such as squat, bench, and deadlift—can have a velocity prescription, although it will be on the lower end of the continuum.

Principle 4 – Heavy-Light or High-Low Training Split

While 100% effort is required to improve athletic performance, 100% intensity is not always required. In fact, it can be counterproductive. A mentor of mine told me that strength coaches would be better described as “stress managers.” It is our job to know when to push adaptation via high stress and when to back off to allow adaption to take hold. Examine some of the great coaches of history: Their programs followed this principle, understanding that athletes require high-quality stimuli to induce adaptation, but realizing that high intensities of training are unsustainable day after day.

Principle 5 – Progressive Overload

As the athlete progresses, so should the challenges the athlete faces. Progressive overload can take on a variety of forms other than the common “add five pounds per week” mantra. Load is the accumulation of total reps, weight, and form/range of motion. The goal should be to challenge athletes weekly by making incremental changes that increase total load.

For example, if an athlete has three sets of five reps on dumbbell shoulder press, and they complete 40-45-50 pounds for their three sets, rather than attempting to increase every set by 5-10 pounds each week and risk failing, they could instead perform 45-45-50 pounds in Week 2 and 50-50-50 pounds in Week 3. Total load will have increased from 675 to 750 pounds lifted over the three weeks.

Athletes need to be challenged off the field, so they can be a challenge for their opponents on the field, says @Tate_Tobiason. Share on X

The goal should be to challenge athletes weekly by making incremental changes that increase total load. Athletes need to be challenged off the field, so they can be a challenge for their opponents on the field.

Principle 6 – Successive Patterning

Establishing proper movement patterns is key in the weight room. Start with the basics (squat, hinge, push, pull, stabilize) and move on from there. As coaches, we sometimes spend too much time hammering home the basics, or we skip over them altogether. Establishing a base is key, but don’t be afraid to move on to more advanced tasks.

An overhead squat with a dowel is great for teaching freshmen to move correctly, but not for a senior who has already been around the block. A good coach will not only teach the athlete the ABCs of movement, but also teach them how to string these movements together on the field.

Principle 7 – Appropriate Energy System

In the weight room, training from sport to sport will not differ greatly. However, on the field, the nuance of athletic development shows itself. Each sport has unique energy system demands and should be trained accordingly. Soccer and football players may both cover a lot of ground, but one is a free-flowing sport, while the other has short breaks in-between plays.

A proper understanding of the energy systems is what separates the good coaches from the great, says @Tate_Tobiason. Share on X

First, identify the work:rest ratio of the sport, the position, and even the style of play run by the coach. Then, implement an appropriate training plan. The goal is to prepare the team for their style of play, not regurgitate a safe textbook answer. A proper understanding of the energy systems is what separates the good coaches from the great.

From Principles to Outcomes

Principled training is not so much about creating success as it is preventing failure. It’s about keeping us away from the rocky shorelines that are injury-plagued, losing seasons that ultimately result in athletes watching from the stands. While my principles have helped me have success with my athletes, more importantly, they have helped keep my athletes safe, healthy, and progressing in a state of improvement.

I encourage every reader to create their own guiding principles that they can use and follow throughout their career. In a world full of information and emotionally charged debates, it is important to have a North Star to keep the ship on course. So, do you have a guiding star, or do you find yourself afloat in a sea of training ambiguity?

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Your first year as a coach, whether as a graduate assistant or an intern, is a unique and challenging one. Often that struggle is due to one or more of the reasons below:

• You just finished playing collegiately and therefore still see yourself as an athlete.
• You have a hard time balancing your personal relationships with the athletes and your professional responsibility to instruct and educate.
• You excelled at your sport and feel you are already a good coach.
• You excelled in the weight room and feel you are already a good strength and conditioning coach.

There is a lot of information on social media these days about improving yourself as a coach, but little out there on how to begin that process in your first year in the job. I wrote this article to give you a greater understanding of what it is like to be a coach and how to get the most from your graduate assistantship/internship.

1. Have Great Time Management

Being in graduate school and working full-time as a coach isn’t easy! As an international student, I had to take three classes (nine hours per week) and was given three teams to coach during my first semester. The amount of time I had to spend doing schoolwork and doing my job was overbearing at times.

When you have sessions as early as 6 a.m. and don’t get back to your dorm room after night class until 9 p.m., it can be tough. Much like our athletes who juggle their time between classes, practices, lifts, and social activities, your schedule will be tough but doable with the correct time management.

A piece of advice: the sooner you set your schedule and organize your time between the office, classroom, and library, the easier the transition into grad school and coaching becomes. Any extended periods of downtime you have in the office should be seen as opportunities to get some schoolwork or programming done, or to engage in some structured learning (like reading an article or watching a presentation).

You ask your athletes to get 1% better every day, manage their time effectively in order to get adequate sleep, and eat enough food to stay energized and recover from practice, but you have to walk the talk too! Buy a planner and get organized.

Buy a planner and get organized, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

2. Be Vulnerable

When I first started as a graduate assistant (GA) strength and conditioning coach, I didn’t ask the head strength coach anything. I didn’t ask what he did with the teams before I got them; what he thought about my program; what he thought about the way I was training them; what he thought about my periodization model, loading, exercise selections, etc.

There were two reasons for this: pride and fear. He had been in the profession for four years and, even though I had previously been a personal trainer in England, this was my first semester training American collegiate teams.

Did I need some help and guidance? Absolutely! But I avoided asking as I didn’t want him thinking I didn’t know what I was doing; it was this threat of perceived ignorance that stopped me from asking for help.

After two months or so I finally asked for his help only to discover what will surely come as no surprise: he was actually very helpful and supportive when answering my questions, and gave me crucial insight and knowledge I could use to improve my programs. Needless to say, from that point on I talked to him on a daily basis about my athletes and our programs.

The biggest problem I have experienced and see other GAs struggle with is being vulnerable. We are too proud and/or scared to make mistakes. But this is how we learn!

There are countless stories of famous inventors and athletes who made many mistakes in their careers, but they learned from them and became better because of this failure and learning process. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and ask your head coach something you aren’t sure of. The likelihood is they will respect you more for asking.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and ask your head coach something you aren’t sure of, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

3. Ask Specific Questions

If you ask the coaches you work for broad, wide-reaching questions such as how they condition the team or how important nutrition is for athletic performance, that can actually be counterproductive! Everyone is busy, time is precious, and interrupting a supervisor’s thought process to ask a broad question isn’t ideal. Asking the right question is a skill, and focusing on specific, well-timed questions can be a gamechanger for a GA/intern’s relationship with their supervisors.

Pre-session, when everything is set up and the athletes aren’t in yet, is a great time to ask these questions; mid-lift is not. This distinction might sound obvious, but when I was an intern often I wanted the answers to my questions immediately.

For example, asking about an athlete’s power clean form mid-session isn’t the right time. That’s the time to listen to the coaches around you, to hear their coaching cues and the individual feedback they give the athletes, and to write all of these points down.

After the session is when you can get the notepad out, go back to your original questions, and ask the coaches. They will be impressed that you wrote down their cues and took the care to even have a notepad and pen, and will be grateful you didn’t ask them the questions when they were trying to coach multiple athletes at once.

Timing of questions is crucial—you want the coaches’ best answer so you have to know the best time to ask.

4. Build a Great Relationship With Athletic Trainers

Strength coaches and athletic trainers (ATs) work towards the same goal: both want their athletes to be high-performing, injury-free, and available to play every game. For preventing and rehabilitating injuries, a strength coach and AT overlap in their job descriptions. Therefore, communication and cooperation with the AT staff is crucial in this process to ensure the best care for the athlete.

Injured players often have training contraindications, which means a modified strength and conditioning program. There needs to be clarity and a specific purpose for these sessions in order for the athlete to maximize their time in the weight room. Great communication and similar training philosophies between a strength coach and an athletic trainer can really set your athletic performance model apart from others.

My AT and I are constantly sharing articles, screenshots, podcasts, and Twitter and Instagram links with each other—iron sharpens iron. You will likely share a room with this person on the road, spend a lot of time together at practices, and will both come up with the most appropriate tests for your athletes when testing week rolls around.

If you have a data tracking system (we use Kinexon at Furman), having your AT take an active role in this is crucial. We text our head coach every day with a report on what we saw from the data at practice. If the relationship between a strength coach and AT isn’t healthy, then everything they do will be sub-optimal.

As a young strength coach, your ATs should be a constant source of information. I was fortunate at the University of Alabama in Huntsville because some of the ATs were CSCS certified, which made conversations about programs, requirements of the athlete in the weight room, and return-to-play protocols that much easier.

I’m entering my sixth year as a strength and conditioning coach in the US, and I’ve realized that this relationship is as important as the relationship you have with your head coach and players, so make sure it’s a healthy one!

5. Learn From All Your School Classes

In some cases, the Master’s program you choose will be directly related to the coaching field you are working in: for example, a Master’s in Exercise Science, Coaching, or Strength and Conditioning.

But this isn’t always the case. I earned a Master’s in Management with a focus on Human Resource Management, but my main focus was pursuing a career in strength and conditioning coaching. Even though I wasn’t passionate about 80% of the classes I took, some of them were brilliant for developing my coaching philosophy and role as a strength coach.

I took a leadership class and my professor was one of the best public speakers and educators I ever had in college. Thanks to his class, I developed a greater awareness of the type of leader I was and the various class projects that semester really challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and embrace public speaking. Even though your master’s may or may not be relevant to your job and career path, there are still opportunities to learn as a coach.

Even though your master’s may or may not be relevant to your job and career path, there are still opportunities to learn as a coach, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

You will likely find that there are other GAs in your classes. Use that as an opportunity to get to know them. I had various sport coach GAs in my classes who I still know, one of whom is now in the same conference as me and one who is the head soccer coach at the same school we graduated from.

6. Have an Insatiable Appetite for Learning

Learn, learn, learn! Before I had the GA coaching position, I thought I knew what it meant to be a coach. That first year showed me how much I needed to learn if I wanted to really make an impact in this profession.

My appetite for learning is as strong as ever; the imposter syndrome still keeps me on edge and I’m grateful for it. Learning is fun when it’s your passion and you know that knowledge will positively impact people.

Once your studies are done for the semester and your finals week is over, use that as a great opportunity to finally read what you want to read, study what you want to study, and geek out over training articles and continued professional education content.

It’s also a great time for reflection: look back on the semester with your teams, assess how you did, and ask your head strength coach and head coach for feedback. Seek out this information, the truth will always make you a better person and coach.

7. Manage Your Money

If you are working as an intern and getting paid, you are in the minority and you should cherish every dollar you get. Internships and graduate assistant jobs are a time when you are working to gain experience and learn, not to be paid for being a novice and having no experience in the field.

You have to go into these roles with humility and recognize that you can’t bemoan the fact that you are working for free because you have nothing to offer. You are at the bottom of the food chain and your job is to assist in any way you can. The same goes for any industry: an internship is phase one and you have to earn the right to get paid for skills that you are acquiring.

So my advice to a graduate assistant coach or intern is to manage your money very carefully. Sleep on a buddy’s couch, ask for a meal plan, pack your own lunches rather than eating out because it’s convenient, and ask if the facility has a nutrition station that is available to you.

I was given three shirts and two shorts as a summer intern at a Division I school, and mid-week laundry at my buddy’s house was the norm. I wore those shirts out but didn’t ask for more gear because I wanted to earn it and I knew being an intern was a unique period in my career. I’m a firm believer that you’ll earn what you earn; phase one is about survival, not accumulating disposable income.

8. Turn Your Social Media Into an Educational Tool

The days of posting pictures of you partying are gone. You’re a coach now, so you must see yourself as a working professional and your social media as an online resume. I’m not saying you suddenly need to post pictures of the books you’re reading, leadership quotes you like, or videos of your squats, or even that you can’t post anything personal.

However, you must be more aware of who your audience is now. If your profile is public, I can guarantee your new athletes will look at your profile, as well as your coaches and administrators. Make sure there’s no current content that could immediately jeopardize your position, and from here on out: be aware of your audience and act accordingly when deciding what to post.

Taking inventory of who you follow is also important. As you progress in your career you will start to seek out coaches you admire and follow them on various social media platforms. This might take some time; I remember when I first started out I had no clue who was who in the industry.

Admittedly, social media back in 2015 was very different from today where it seems every strength coach shares content of some sort or is at least visible online. To get started, ask your head coach who they respect and who puts out some great content. Follow those people and turn your social media feeds into an educational tool rather than a time-sapping, brain-numbing distraction.

I did a social media inventory this summer during the COVID-19 pandemic and made a conscious decision to use my social media pages for educational purposes. I unfollowed random people, followed some new people whose content I liked, set an app limit on my Twitter and Instagram accounts, and took back some control over my social media time.

Now when I go online I see my close friends, family members, and professionals I admire; these steps have had a big creative influence on my programs since I came back to work. Use social media as continued education, not as a break from work—it can do so much more for you than that.

Use social media as continued education, not as a break from work—it can do so much more for you than that, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Your first year coaching is such an important time for you to grow and develop. I hope my words have been an encouragement and will provide direction for you to maximize your time as a graduate assistant or intern. To summarize, take these tips:

• Manage your time efficiently
• Be vulnerable
• Ask great questions
• Build a relationship with the support staff
• Apply your degree content to your job
• Learn something new every day
• Manage your money
• Use social media for good

Thank you for reading. Good luck out there!

Since you’re here…
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