Vancouver (Ad-)Venture
Published October 25, 2011
So it’s official; I will be leaving Edinburgh for Canada in January to take on an internship role with the Simon Fraser University S&C department, which is run by Derek Hansen. SFU is the only NCAA University in Canada and happens to be located in Vancouver which isn’t a bad deal at all:
Although this is a big (and daunting) move from Edinburgh which has effectively become my second home, it is also a big challenge which represents the opportunity to learn from a world-class practitioner, and therefore is the ideal next step in my development. The role with the SFU “Clansmen” will include working with all the University’s key sports: American Football, Basketball, Soccer, Swimming, Track & Field, Volleyball and Wrestling.
Although I am very excited about everything, I will miss Scotland, Edinburgh and all the friends I have made here over the years very much, and want to thank everyone for making my time here as special and enjoyable as it has been.
Keeping It Simple, Keeping It Fun: The Path To Results
Published April 18, 2011
Nick Horton
This week’s warm-up post to Part 2 of Michael Hartman’s interview (click here for Part 1) is a really thoughtful and impressive article written by Nick Horton, who I did an interview with here.
Nick’s blog is full of great information and genuine care/thought on how to develop athletes, with the best part being that he manages to do this all by being friendly, open-minded and creatively analytical.
Click here for the link to the article “The Death of Heavy Days: How To Do More Work With Less Obsession”, in which Nick goes over habit breaker protocols, how to guarantee training program success with athletes, and what needs to be done to construct a benficial psychological training environment to achieve results.
Enjoy!
Posted in Olympic Lifting, Random, Recovery, Speed & Agility Training, Strength Training | 
1 CommentSimple Thoughts, Pictures and a Powerpoint
Published April 1, 2011
One of my big beliefs is that a true sign of intelligent thought is the ability to take something complex, and explain it in a simple and understandable manner to anyone. Few things (at least for me) are more agitating than the use of ten sentences where one will do, especially when someone is trying to explain something to me.
Of course this may have to be achieved in different ways (e.g. use of different examples and/or language) depending on the target audience, but certain elements must always be addressed when discussing and explaining manual therapy/strength and conditioning principles. In my opinion, the following questions are certainly points people in physical preparation and therapy fields alike should look to have answered when investigating different interventions/tools, all put in simple and clear terms: Continue reading
Wednesday’s Wisdom
Published March 2, 2011Thought for the day coming at you from the Dalai Lama. This post is not meant to stir any discusson on the topic of religion (plenty others do), in my opinion the below quote is something everyone can think about. Besides, it comes from a source that is primarily positive in orientation which most of us could probably do with more of in our lives anyway.
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered:
“Man.”
“Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
Tuesday’s Essential Food Group: Bacon.
Published February 22, 2011
Good morning campers,
Dan John often mentions that your actions should match your goals, if you are making the effort of reading this website its likely that these goals might include:
a) Being stronger than a wet dishcloth
b) Be able to run up a flight of stairs without keeling over afterwards
c) Move, look and feel better
d) All of the above
If this is you, nice one. If it isnt, it should be. Continue reading
The Evils of Squatting
Published February 21, 2011I’ve been a bit busy lately with completing my KMI certification so havent had as much time to update this site, new posts coming very soon I promise!
In the meantime, I wanted to post an enlightening video displaying very clearly how dangerous, fear-inducing and downright terrifying the squat is, and how it may very well make your spine explode:
Monday’s Random Fact
Published January 24, 2011
I’m currently working my way through “The Sopranos” for the first time (yes, apparently I’ve been living under a rock) and loving every minute of it. The other day I found out an interesting random fact about Silvio “Sil” Dante, one of the lead characters in this epic series and owner of the “Bada Bing” strip club, that I thought was worth sharing because its a Monday, I’m procrastinating from anatomy revision and who doesnt need a bit more randomness in their life?
Who knows, this little piece of trivia may even win you a million bucks in a quiz sometime, impress that special someone…or no one will care but you. Either way keep fighting the good fight for the forces of awesomeness, its all money in the bank. Continue reading
An Interview With Sean Waxman – Part 2
Published January 18, 2011
Sean Waxman returns to give Part 2 of his interview this week, which completes the recent weightlifting pairing with Donny Shankle. Make sure to read Part 1 if you haven’t already! This week Sean outlines some truly great resources, the most important exercise you should be doing to improve performance, and his thoughts on a concept that is currently devaluing strength and conditioning practices world-wide.Rant-a Claus is Coming to Town: Thoughts on Fascia
Published December 22, 2010
I’ve had some good discussions recently with a variety of coaches over the last couple of months about fascia, bodywork, and its meaning to both Strength and Conditioning professionals as well as athletes.
The camp seems to be split into two distinct groups; those that see the value of this tool and those that think it’s airy-fairy or too esoteric (mainly because science has not yet been able to definitively put the rubber stamp on it).
Confusingly, the latter group of individuals are also often the ones that reject a lot of the current science behind many training-related recommendations due to methodological inadequacies or lack of relevant study design (e.g. many studies use untrained populations and/or short-term interventions). They prefer to obtain their information from “real-world” results, intelligent coaches and methods that have been shown to work for decades.
Get Your Mobility On
Published December 14, 2010
Score 1 for mobility work.
Good morning campers,
Today’s post is to point you in the direction of Kelly Starett’s “MobilityWOD” (WOD=Workout Of the Day). No, dont worry, I have not converted to CrossFit, but I think Kelly’s material is solid so give it a shot, regardless of your preconceptions. This is meant to get you to move a bit more and loosen up, not do a million hang power snatch reps in 2 minutes.
One important note however: If anything you do causes pain that is not “normal” (some discomfort will be felt obviously) when doing this mobility/stretching work please see a good physio, manual therapist or osteopath.