michael reid

Mom & Dad Doing Chin Ups

You know how your parents always told you to eat your vegetables, while you can now add chin ups to the mix.  Here are my parents leading by example and doing some chin ups at this years Christmas dinner.   I have written about chin ups before ... it's a great exercise! 

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Great Movements #1

This is the first installment of "Great Movements".  It could be called "Great Exercises" but I decided to call it movements which will give it a little broader scope.  I will be including conditioning & rehab exercises, flexibility  & mobility drills, and other techniques I use with the athletes I coach.

One of my current favorite lifts is a combo lift that utilizes the clean, overhead press and jerk.   It is really nothing earth shattering but the classic clean & press with the addition of the jerk at the end.

I will generally place this exercise at the beginning of an exercise session and if I am doing an upper/lower body split I will place it in the upper body session.  It is not overly taxing on the legs, so I would not be worried about doing this either the day before or after a hard leg training day.  I currently use this with my basketball teams in-season training and they usually perform this combo two days before a game.

What load to use?  When using combo lifts, the weakest movement determines the load.  So in this case, the Overhead Press will determine what load you will use.  I like using this combo in a strength/power phase so I will prescribe a load of 80%+ of the athletes Overhead Press 1 RM.  As far as sets and reps I like using 4-6 sets with the reps being 1+1-3+2 which means 1 Clean, 1-3 Overhead Presses & 2 Jerks.  I prefer the split jerk for most athletes and will have them alternate their lead leg.  So, if they finish the set with 2 split jerks, they will do one with the left foot forward and one with the right foot forward.

Before you try this yourself or with your athletes you must first qualify to even attempt the combo.  How do you qualify?  Well, you must first be able to do the three lifts of the combo on their own.  Do not try putting a combo together of several new movements.  So with this combo it must be asked, Can you Clean?  Can you Overhead Press?  Can you Jerk?  If yes to all three, you can then try them altogether.

Have Fun,
Mike Reid

Further Explanation of Combo lifts: www.t-nation.com

Importance of a Coach

If you spend a few minutes on the internet you will be able to find a lot of information on training programs.  Anything you want to train for, whether it is getting strong, bodybuilding, basketball, dance, weight loss, marathon running ... it is all there.  A lot of it is free of charge and many are pretty good examples of how to write a program.

But there is something missing and that is the coaching of the program.  The importance of having a  good coach teach, evaluate, motivate, reassure the athlete while they are learning and doing their program is a very important part of the equation.   I would even say that the coaching is more important then the program!

Here is some research that shows what I am talking about.  This group of researchers took two groups of athletes and monitored there progress from a 12 week strength & conditioning program.  The only difference in the programs was that one group had direct supervision of a coach while the other group did not.  The results showed that even though both groups increased strength and body mass among other measures, the group with the coach improved significantly more!

The value of a good coach cannot be underestimated and should be a very high priority in any sports organization.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

reference

Aaron J. Coutts,  Aron J. Murphy and Ben J. Dascombe. 2004: Effect of Direct Supervision of a Strength Coach on Measures of Muscular Strength and Power in Young Rugby League Players. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 316–323.

NBA Coach Interview

I must recommend this audio interview to everyone to listen to.  When I say everyone, I mean players, coaches, parents and other teachers.  It is an interview with NBA development coach Don Kelbick.

Very insightful, great speaker, lots of wisdom.

Some of the topics covered in this great 60 minute interview:

How To Teach the Game of Basketball and Common Coaching Mistakes

Common Mistake Made By Players & Effects of the NBA

Coaching Basketball: Why Stress Retards Growth

How Basketball Players Can Learn Skills Faster

Coaching: Too Much Control Causes Problems & Running Effective Practices

Quantum Physics Analogy: How to Get Better by Reducing Fear of Failure

Key to Learning New Basketball Skills and Breaking Bad Habits

Why Footwork is Arguably One of the Most Important Things to Practice

How to Stop Post Players from Fading Away

Youth Coaching Advice: NBA Coach Stan Van-Gundy's Experiences

Practice Tip That You Can Do Away From the Gym

Please, spend the time to listen to this, you will be a better player, coach and parent after listening to this. 

Be Well,
Mike Reid

references:
www.breakthroughbasketball.com

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body

This is an old saying and certainly is not always true but I believe it is very relevant to many of the athletes I work with who are still finding out how hard they can actually push themselves. 

Be Well and Train Hard,
Mike Reid

Boxes

I am excited!  I got boxes made for the weight room.  These boxes can be used for doing weightlifting movements from, box squats or box jumps.  The design was very simple but is very strong.  It is essentially just 2x4's over lapping each other with plywood and rubber matting on top.  The boxes will be easily be able to accommodate up to around 160kg.

The box height will allow my tall (~2m) athletes to have the bar start below the knee.  Remember this is a gym in a basketball club, there are many tall men and women here.  The box height can be made higher simply by placing weight plates underneath them.

I would like to thank Roger Samuelsson and Kent Olsson for making these boxes.

Be Well,
Mike Reid