This entry was posted on
March 09, 2010 by Mike Robertson.
It was tagged with
Random.
Speaking Calendar
I've been getting a lot of questions lately regarding upcoming seminars
and speaking engagements, so evidently I haven't been doing the best job of
keeping everyone up to speed. :)
Here's my tentative speaking schedule for the rest of 2010. If
you'd like to book me for a seminar, please shoot us an e-mail ASAP at info@robertsontrainingsystems.com
April 17th - High School Athletes and Strength Coach
Seminar
Fort Wayne, Indiana
I'm not sure of the exact scope/set-up of this seminar just yet, but I
know it's geared towards high school athletes and strength coaches.
I'll be doing a hands-on presentation regarding single-leg work, and how it
can benefit the young/developing athlete.
June 18th - 20th - Bootcamp
Bootcamp
Louisville, Kentucky
Bootcamps are all the rage - but are yours ideal for ALL of your
clients?
At this event, I'm going to discuss the need for assessments in
general, as well as why you should be assessing your boot camp clients in
some form or fashion. I'll provide practical solutions for both
smaller camps, as well as bigger ones.
June 25th-27th - Perform Better
Summit
Chicago, Illinois
We all know that Perform Better is the best in the business with
regards to seminars, and their three annual summits are can't-miss
events.
This year I will be speaking on the topic of single-leg training.
This will include an hour lecture on the science and anecdotal evidence to
support/refute single-leg training, as well as an hour of hands-on to
improve coaching and observation skills.
August - Midwest Performance Enhancement Seminar
Indianapolis, Indiana
I would love to gauge some interest on this one. It's something
I've been mulling over in my mind for over a month now, and I think it
could be an extremely viable event.
How many of you would be interested in coming to a seminar in
Indianapolis in August that features the best strength coaches,
nutritionists and business minds in our industry?
If I get a decent amount of interest, I'm going to go for it - but I
need to know I have some support!
December 11th and 12th - Vancouver
Seminar
Vancouver, British Columbia
Rick Kaselj and I are in the final stages of planning this two-day
event, and it should be fantastic!
The basic theme is this: Two intensive days, one on the lower
back, and the other on the knee. This would be similar to the
Building the Efficient Athlete seminar, where we cover functional anatomy,
assessment, training, etc. Needless to say, I think this is going to
be a powerful event. I'll keep you posted on this one as well.
Stay strong
MR
BTW - if you want to download my Low Back Care presentation from last
year, all you have to do is sign-up for my FREE newsletter at the top of
the page.
This entry was posted on
March 08, 2010 by Mike Robertson.
It was tagged with
Motivation and Stories.
Big Joe Williams
This past weekend, I was reminded what it's like to have a great
training partner.
I met "Big" Joe Williams back in 2000 as we had both joined the Ball
State Powerlifting team that year. I was a weak guy trying to get
stronger; he was a converted bodybuilder that was looking for something new
to try.
We started training together after our first powerlifting meet, the
Blacksmith Open. It was over Christmas break, and I clearly remember
some ridiculous training sessions. We would train sometimes 2.5-3
hours (hey, nobody ever said it was always the smartest training!), and
barely say anything at all outside of coaching cues and words of
encouragement.
I would come home, and my then girlfriend (now wife) would ask, "How's
Joe doing? What's he been up to lately?"
The crazy thing was, we would spent 2-3 hours together 3-4 days a week,
but we really didn't know much about each other at all!
That's also what made it great.
We weren't focused on making small talk, chatting about the weekend, or
anything in between.
Our one and only goal was to push each other and see what we could
accomplish.
I don't really remember what we hit over the course of the next year or
two, but I know that both of our numbers steadily climbed. And how could
they not? When your focus is that dialed-in, that laser-like, you
really don't have any other option but to succeed.
That's what a great training partner can do for you.
My clearest memory of Joe competing was at the Blacksmith Open the next
year, when he benched 353 and deadlift 501 pounds at a bodyweight of
165.
The craziest event was actually in between the two, on his final bench
attempt. Joe was a really strong guy, and he took 369 down and brought it
up to within an inch of lockout. At that point, the bar rolled in his
wrists and actually came crashing down on his chest!
Needless to say, we were all a little freaked out. Not a big deal
to him, though, he came back and pulled a new PR of 5 bills!
Have you ever had a great training partner? Someone who virtually
guaranteed you of having great workouts when you trained together? If
so, I'd love to hear any stories or anecdotes below.
Have a great week!
MR
BTW - Joe, if you ever read this, thanks for all the great sessions
buddy. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you.
This entry was posted on
March 03, 2010 by Mike Robertson.
It was tagged with
Coaching.
Young coach
This past weekend at the Cosgrove Businses Seminar, I got a chance to
meet some great young coaches.
Monday evening, I spent some time with a guy who has been around and
has coached for years in Chip Morton.
Between the two, it's gotten me thinking about the progression that
every coach must go through if they want to be great. Here are some
of the basic steps you should work on early in your career if you want to
improve your craft.
1 - Use your eyes, shut your mouth
One of the biggest issues I have with new coaches is their tendency to
talk too much.
Do we need to build rapport with our clients/athletes?
Absolutely.
However, this doesn't mean talking incessantly throughout the course of
the workout.
Instead, shut your mouth and watch what they're doing. I've
discussed this before, but you have to stop and be present if you want to
get a firm gauge on how they're moving and what needs to be addressed.
Improving your eyes is the first step. After that, you need
to....
2 - Trust your instincts
A few nights ago I was working with our intern Ellen. We were
coaching a young gal who has some issues through her low back, hips and
core. I got her fixed up on the first set, and the second set I let
Ellen do the coaching.
She set her up perfectly, but as the set went on (and fatigue set in),
she started to lose her positioning. I could tell she wanted to fix her, but was
leery. She didn't want to make a mistake.
Here's the thing, though - her instincts were right! She was out of
position, and she wanted to fix her, but she didn't. This will
improve with time as she learns to trust her instincts and her eyes
more.
Unfortunately, this is only something that will come with time and
reps. This is what separates coaches from guys who talk about
training on the Innerwebz.
The final step for young coaches then becomes...
3 - Strike the balance
Once you trust your instincts and your eyes improve, there's a clear
understanding of how poorly many people move.
The problem, herein, is that you want to correct everything. You want
every rep of every set to be technically flawless.
This becomes a conundrum, and can become quite irritating to a
low-level client. They may be doing their best, but physically unable
to perform an exercise perfectly at that point in time.
This is where the balance comes into play - the balance between too
little and too much coaching. Everyone has their interpretation of
where this is, but you have to find that balance for yourself.
Unfortunately, sometimes you just have to accept good enough. If
they have 10 things they do poorly, work to address the 1-2 major
limitations in a session. Get those cleaned up, and then move on to
two more the next time they come in.
So these are just a few thoughts for beginning coaches out there.
What do you guys think?
This entry was posted on
March 03, 2010 by Mike Robertson.
It was tagged with
Training.
Ankle Mobility
The winner of our "Rock the Vote" blog post, we're going to discuss the
best ways to integrate Olympic lifts into your training program. What
I'm actually going to do is spread this out over numerous blog posts, as
it's a pretty expansive topic.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not a world-class Olympic lifting
coach. I've spent a lot of hours coaching lifters and working to
improve their performance, but this isn't meant to become the be-all,
end-all O-lift resource. Rather, this is geared towards the average
guy or gal who wants to start utilizing the lifts in their
program.
The first set of posts is going to cover developing the
flexibility/mobility necessary to do some of the basics correctly:
Hold the bar in the front squat position, improve t-spine and hip mobility
in the squat, etc.
Please don't
try the lifts without first developing a certain degree of
mobility/flexibility. I have these horrible visions of a huge,
inflexible bodybuilder going out and trying to full snatch for the first
time after reading this blog post, so please don't be that guy!
He has great mobility - you
probably don't!
Olympic lifters are some of the most mobile athletes in the
world. Even from a joint-by-joint perspective, these guys fit the
bill, as everyone at a high level possess amazing mobility through the
ankles, hips, thoracic spine and gleno-humeral joint.
(Note: If you need to figure out exactly where you need more mobility,
be sure to check out Assess and Correct.)
A Primer on
Mobility
When chatting with former Olympic lifter and good friend Geoff Neupert
a while back, he stated that he developed his mobility by working on it
every single day. In your case, if you really want to get serious
about the lifts, you'll need to get serious about your mobility work as
well.
Let's start by examining the ankle joint, and how you can start to
improve mobility there.
Ankle Mobility
A large degree of dorsiflexion is necessary to squat deep, so that's
where we'll start our journey. Average dorsiflexion is approximately
20 degrees, although Aaron (an O-lifter we trained at IFAST for a year or
so) actually had closer to 35 degrees of dorsiflexion!
Aaron Cunanan - Deep squatter
extraordinaire
From a foam rolling/soft tissue perspective, start by using a lacrosse
ball or foam roller to loosen up the gastroc, soleus, and peroneals.
Improving tissue quality should result in an immediate improvement in
dorsiflexion range of motion.
From there, it's time to actually groove dorsiflexion mobility.
The wall ankle mobilization is a great place to start:
Many have a tendency to perform this exercise incorrectly, so follow
these cues to improve performance:
Weight on the heel and outside of the foot.
Drive the knee forward, or slightly outside the foot (do not go
inside!)
Don't make it a goal to max out mobility on Day 1. Start to
groove proper technique in this exercise, and focus on keeping the weight
on the heel/outside of the foot.
When performing this exercise, you'll probably not a discrepancy
between sides, especially if you have a history of ankle sprains.
Work on getting things symmetrical first and foremost, and then work on
improving total capacity.
Lastly, you can always just throw on a pair of O-lifting shoes and
grealy reduce ankle mobility needs and influences!
In Part II of this series, we'll discsuss hip mobility and how we can
start getting the necessary range of motion to catch those big cleans and
snatches!
Speaking Calendar
