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<title>Mark Helme's Blog | iStadia.com</title>
<link>http://www.istadia.com/blog/Markhelme</link>
<description>Keep up to date with Mark Helme's blog at iStadia.com!</description>
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<title>Value of the Olympic Lifts.</title>
<description><![CDATA[ Firstly, I am not questioning the value of the olympic lifts, far from it, they play an integral role of many conditioning programs. What do question though is who they are valuable to.



Olympic lifts are considered the cornerstone of a strength and conditioning coaches aresnal, it is a mandatory element of the assessment, and appears in most job descriptions.



On Friday I conducted some strength and conditioning coaching assessments with my year degree students. In this practical they had to coach both the back squat and either the clean or snatch. Many of the students have struggled to pass this element, which includes elements for both their technique and the coaching of the technique.



This lead me to think that if these students, who&nbsp;have been schooled in these techniques for months and still have not mastered them, how does this affect who we give them to as part of their training.



I also am lead strength and conditioning coach for the college athlete development program. In this program the majority of athletes have never seen a weight let alone performed an effective snatch. Their lack of competence doesn't change the training objectives, therefore I have to think of different ways of achieving the same goals. In doing so&nbsp;I have adopted a motor program orientated schedule, whereby the different sections, which have&nbsp;a valuable training affect in their own right, are mastered individually, gradually becoming more complex. It is quite feasible that an athlete wont complete a single olympic lift in the two years on the program.



My question is this what is of more valuable a well defined and encyclopedic knowledge of the olympic lifts or the ability to give an athlete an exercise that works for them?



What do you think?
 ]]></description>
<link>http://www.istadia.com/blog/Markhelme/191</link>
<dc:creator>Mark Helme</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:35:10 GMT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.istadia.com/blog/Markhelme/191</guid>
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<title>Dwain Chambers Switch to Rugby League</title>
<description><![CDATA[ It is a rare occasion that Rugby League events make a significant impact on the national press, yet this week it most certainly has. The most infamous of British athletes, Dawin Chambers, has begun a months trial at Castleford Tigers. Many people have commented on this with respect to his ban for use of performance enhancing drugs. This however is not what i would like to discuss, I am more interested in on what physical basis, if any, there was in making this happen.



As a strength and conditioning coach there is an expectation that we have a strong research/science background. Therefore applying this we can see past the obvious dissimilarities between sprinting and rugby. What I am trying to do is see what precedent this sets in athletes moving from sport to sport. 



In its simplest form sprinting is the productionand channelling of leg power through the body, whilst the mechanics are different in Rugby, the core elements require the same thing. As a strength and conditioning coach, I can be confident that I would have spend much less time with Dwain in the gym than I would other athletes, this actually would allow to spend more time working on technical aspects.



Furthermore his training background will have involved many other activities other than sprinting, I would hop then that he would have developed a sense of proprioception much more honed than a normal individual. As a consequence it is possible that the time it takes him learn new skills may be reduced. 



As an international athlete for many years, he will have become accustomed to the physical and mental demands of full time training, and therefore will be comfortable in handling the training schedules. 



On a more physiological level sprinting is clearly dependant upon a strong proportion of type 2 muscle fibres. Rugby league is defined by its intermittant periods of highly forceful actions, tackling, sprinting, change of directions etc. Therefore genetically he has starting edge on those around him.



However, research shows that linear running speed is poorly related to agility, Young, McDowell &amp; Scarlett (2001). Gabbet, Kelly &amp; Pezet (2008) have also found that when examining the influence of fitness and skill on selection, skill is the key determining factor.



In conclusion then the notion that a sprinter can transfer to team sports isn't that far fetched, however there some significant consideratiosn that must be accounted for. As a strength and conditioning coach my main priority for working in this scenarion would be maintain his speed, but through skills conditioning, focus strongly on agility.



Mark

 ]]></description>
<link>http://www.istadia.com/blog/Markhelme/186</link>
<dc:creator>Mark Helme</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:03:50 GMT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.istadia.com/blog/Markhelme/186</guid>
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<title>Strength and Conditioning reflections</title>
<description><![CDATA[ Here I will reflect on recent events from the perspective of a strength and conditioning point of view. Whilst it will represent my views,&nbsp;I will always try to maintain an evidence based, analytical &nbsp;approach to the posts.



I hope this will evoke some discussion and I am always glad to receive other peoples opinions, however can those who would like to respond make sure they do so in an evidenced based way and that hopes to develop discussion and not argument.

 ]]></description>
<link>http://www.istadia.com/blog/Markhelme/185</link>
<dc:creator>Mark Helme</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:51:29 GMT</pubDate>
<guid>http://www.istadia.com/blog/Markhelme/185</guid>
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