Posted on Aug 19, 2008 under Yessis Editorials |
Tomorrow will be our third radio talk show. The show will focus on the training of Chinese athletes and the reasons why they are so successful in this Olympics. I will also contrast the training of the Chinese with the training of US and Russian athletes.
It should be very exciting and informative program that will include selection of athletes, starting ages for training, coaching qualifications, differences between Olympic and personal coaches, long-term planning and other key aspects of training athletes.
I hope you will be able to join us and get your questions answered.
The show airs at 6 p.m. Pacific daylight Time, 9 p.m. Eastern daylight Time. You only have to click on radio show in the top bar on the home page to listen in.
In a recent article by a world-class triathlete, it was recommended that you should begin to increase intensity when you are in season. This is needed to “mimic race levels.” Is this, however, a wise recommendation?
The answer is yes, if you consider the first few competitions as part of your training. In other words, you are seeking to peak near the end of the season because your body is not ready for race level work when you first begin the season. However, if you expect to do well in all of your competitions, preparing yourself for race level performances should begin before the season starts. There are several reasons for this. Read more… »
It is not uncommon to find articles dealing with strength training for runners. What is surprising, is that many of them advocate strengthening only the upper body since, in the authors opinions, the lower body is already sufficiently strong from the running. This, however, is a fallacy. Read more… »
One of the most ignored joint actions involved in the jump is ankle joint extension. But, this seemingly insignificant action can add inches to your jump. In addition, ankle joint extension in your cutting and running actions will greatly improve your speed and quickness.
To strengthen the muscles involved in ankle joint extension, as displayed in a quick jump, cut, or sprint, you should do the explosive heel (calf) raise. To execute, heel raises is most easily done on an exercise machine. But they can also be done with free weights while standing on a raised platform or step with a barbell on the shoulders or dumbbells in the hands. You may need assistants to help you maintain balance in this variant. Read more… »
The Russian twist is one of the best exercises for strengthening the abdominal oblique muscles. It is typically done on the Yessis Back Machine (Glute-Ham Developer) so that there is good support underneath the buttocks when the trunk is extended over the edge and the feet are secured between the rollers.
It can also be done on a high, sturdy table with someone holding your legs down and with the top of the pelvis positioned on the edge of the table with the trunk extended in mid-air. When properly positioned and with the arms directly above the chest, you then rotate the trunk from right to left through a full 180 degrees of motion. Read more… »
A recent newspaper article brought out how Pop Warner leagues are important for high school football programs. They start with Mighty Mite for boys seven to nine years of age, and then go on to Pee Wee ball for ages nine to 11, followed by Midget for ages 11 to 14 before going into high school at ages 14 to 18.
This is definitely a great progression for selecting the top players coming out of the Pop Warner leagues. Because winning and losing is most important in each of these categories it is relatively easy to see who the better players are and what their accomplishments have been.
However, even though each level is supposedly an instructional level to help develop the players, it is related mainly to learnimg the nuances of the game rather than improvement of game skills. Players are drilled on learning their respective positions and the tasks required of each position rather than how well they run, cut, throw, block and tackle. Read more… »
According to Sergio Garcia, “I start down smoothly letting the forward momentum of my body and arms lead the club”. Sergio is not the only one who states that momentum is used to help bring the arms down in the forward swing. What is often overlooked however, is that momentum is created after a particular body part has been accelerated into motion, after which it continues in motion of its own accord. Read more… »
According to many sources you get an imbalance between the gluteals and hamstring muscles (hip joint extensors) and the hip flexor muscles (iliopsoas, pectineus and rectus femoris of the quadriceps group ) from running. According to these running specialists, weak gluteals do not allow you to “swing through” your stride. The hip flexors are then recruited to pick up the slack. They pull the pelvis down making the lower back arch excessively.
If you study these statements carefully they are difficult to understand. How can weak gluteals prevent you from “swinging through”? If anything they should enhance it! Emg’s of the muscle activity show that the swing-through of the thigh is made possible by contraction of the hip flexors with concurrent relaxation of the gluteal and hamstring muscles. These latter muscles only contract at the end of the movement to stop the thigh when it is well in front of the body.
Read more… »
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