Another week, another group of podcasts and articles to read and listen to that I have dived into. Like every other week, there was a ton of content out there both in written form and through podcasts.

For podcasts, there were a lot of really good listens this week and I’m not going just recommend one. Tony Holler is always a must-listen, as is Nick Winkelman and Fergus Connolly. Zach Dechant was the guest on the Strength Coach Podcast and he is a wealth of knowledge. And Brett Bartholomew’s Art of Coaching Podcast is always great.

For articles, Derek Hansen wrote a doozy of a article on sprint training which I think would be well worth your time to read – lots of really good thoughts on developing faster athletes.

Enjoy!

Podcasts

Just Fly Performance with Tony Holler

Pacey Performance with Nick Winkelman

Strength Coach Podcast #248

Rdella Training with Fergus Connolly

Art of Coaching #11

Articles

Sprint Training: The Complete Training System by Derek Hansen

Guide to Strength and Conditioning Admin by CoachMePlus

6 Random Thoughts on Coaching Young Athletes by Mike Robertson

12 Leadership Books by Cody Royle

Our standard Bounding Progression that we use, the same progression I was taught in my time at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning.

Just like our Hurdle Jump and 1-Leg Medial/Lateral Hurdle Hop and 1-Leg Linear Hurdle Hop Progressions, our goal is to simply learn how the jump and land in proper positions, and then progressing from simple to more complex by adding gravity and/or more of a true plyometric.

1. Lateral Bound and Stick 👉 simply jumping and landing in the frontal plane with a combination and height and distance.
2. 45 Degree Bound and Stick 👉 instead of adding an obstacle like we do in most of our other plyo progressions, we add a linear component to the bound, but still emphasizing the ability to land properly.
3. 45 Degree Bound with 2-Bounce 👉 we have no added a small plyometric through a mini-bounce to start becoming more reactive to the ground.
4. Continuous 45 Degree Bound 👉 finally a pure power/plyometric

Well typically spend 3 weeks in each progression until we move on to the next ➡️ but we won’t move on to the next progression if the athlete isn’t ready.

Programming Advice: we stay at 3 sets of 5 hops each in all 4 phases. Since each phase adds a level of intensity, we keep the volume the same throughout the progression.

Without a doubt, I think push ups are the most under appreciated and under utilized pressing movement in the world of strength and conditioning. Loads of benefits that you don’t get from many other pressing movements and it’s amazing how many people struggle to do 5+ proper push ups.

Can we prevent all knee injuries? Not a chance. But developing and continually trying to improve landing mechanics is a good place to start when trying to reduce the risk.

❓Question via Twitter last week: Pull Ups (palms away from body) vs. Chin Ups (palms facing body) for shoulder health…which one and why❓

Couple thoughts 💭

Chin Up ➡️ generally the easiest for people to perform because of the greater biceps 💪 assistance and also generally shoulder friendly for most people because the shoulder is internally rotated

Neutral Grip Chin Up ➡️ about the same or slightly more difficult then a Chin Up (still getting a decent amount of bicep 💪 assistance) and probably as shoulder friendly as Chin Ups for most people

Pull Up ➡️ the most difficult of the three variations, and probably a less shoulder friendly pulling movement then the other two for most people because the shoulder is placed in an abducted and externally rotated position

With all that in mind, we almost exclusively perform Chin Ups or Neutral Grip Chin Ups because they are both probably a more shoulder friendly position for most people, and if I’m being honest, we just Chin Up 95% of the time ➡️ I should probably program more Neutral Grip Chin Ups for the sake a variety, but we hardly ever (never) perform Pull Ups because there are better options IMO.

Bonus Thought 💭👉 Ring Chin Ups are the real best bet, the problem is they seem to be much more difficult for athletes to perform and hard to incorporate in big groups when not everyone has to ability to perform traditional Chin Ups. But, the ability to internally/externally rotate in a way that the shoulder is designed to do (all other variations don’t allow for any movement) is a game changer in my eyes.

Our standard 1-Leg Linear Hurdle Hop Progression that we use, the same progression I was taught in my time at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning.

Just like our Hurdle Jump and 1-Leg Medial/Lateral Hurdle Hop Progressions, our goal is to simply learn how the jump and land in proper positions, and then progressing from simple to more complex by adding gravity and/or more of a true plyometric.

1. 1-Leg Linear Box Hop 👉 Learn to land properly without gravity
2. 1-Leg Linear Hurdle Hop & Stick 👉 Learn to land properly with adding gravity and the added deceleration component into the equation
3. 1-Leg Linear Hurdle Hop with Mini-Bounce 👉 Add a small plyometric though the mini bounce to be more reactive to the ground
4. Continuous 1-Leg Linear Hurdle Hop 👉 Pure plyometric/power development
   Well typically spend 3 weeks in each progression until we move on to the next ➡️ but we won’t move on to the next progression if the athlete isn’t ready.

Programming Advice: we stay at 3 sets of 5 hops each in all 4 phases. Since each phase adds a level of intensity, we keep the volume the same throughout the progression.

Happy Monday! Here are a few thoughts bouncing around in my head after a week of reading, podcasts and other continuing ed. Enjoy!

1. Traditionally our work in the weight room is vertical – we clean, we snatch and we squat. Traditionally our work in the weight room is moving weights slow. Yet sport/sprinting/skating is very horizontal. Sport is played fast. Explore the horizontal plane more. Sprint more.
2. Hard work, humility and honesty are what all the successful teams and organizations have in common
3. Can we ever be completely confident that we will prevent all knee/ACL injuries? Nope. But learning to land properly is a great place to start.
4. Contrary to popular belief, you can develop max strength doing sub-max work. We live in the 75-85% range with most our strength work and continue to get stronger.

Another week, another group of podcasts and articles to read and listen to that I have dived into. Like every other week, there was a ton of content out there both in written form and through podcasts.

For podcasts, there were a lot of good ones this week but I really liked listening to Pete Dupuis on Mike Robertson’s Physical Prep Podcast. Eric Cressey does a lot of interviews but you don’t get a lot from the other half of the Cressey Performance team.

For articles, I highly recommend reading anything from Tony Holler and Chris Korfist and Chris’ article “Are we really giving athletes what they need” is a must read – it’ll really make you think a little.

Enjoy!

Podcasts

CVASP#169 with Mike Rehfeldt

CVASP #170 with Michael Boyle

Physical Prep with Pete Dupuis

The Hidden Why with Fergus Connolly

Strength Coach Podcast #247

Articles

Are We Really Giving Athletes What They Need by Chris Korfist

Life’s Number 1 Supplement: Consistency by Calvin Loftis

A Cueing Checklist for Coaches by Brendon Rearick

8 Major Lessons from 10 Years in University Strength and Conditioning by Andrew Langford

Strength Coaching by BAS Barbell

From running and walking to climbing stairs, life takes place one leg at a time. Single-leg training helps improve your balance across a variety of situations and reveals asymmetries and dysfunctions that could be hiding during two-legged stance. – EXOS

Single-leg training makes up the vast majority of our lower body training for these reasons along with a slew of others.

🗣 Break the wall or break the ball.

Med Balls are a simple and safe way to develop power in various planes – but not if you aren’t throwing with max intent and with appropriately weighted med balls.

Intent + Speed 💨 – Everything Else morning