LAST POST!

Hi Guys,

This will be the final post on the blogger site...don't panic...I'm still going to be sharing my thoughts on all things strength and conditioning, it's just I've got a new home. Check out the new site www.nickgrantham.com - it is still a bit rough around the edges but it is going to shape up to be a great site. More than just a blog.

Thanks for following and I hope you continue to follow me over at www.nickgrantham.com.

WWW.NICKGRANTHAM.COM

Go Backwards to Move Forwards

OK, this is not a post about taking a false step to move forward (we can do that another time!). A colleague sent me a clip of a coach with a nice, very polished video of some 'tennis specific' speed and agility drills. Knowing that I work with a group of young and talented tennis players, he thought I would be interested. I was...what I found really interesting was that all the drills were linear drills. There were some 'lateral' drills in there but the lateral drills were not lateral - facing forward at the start of the drill, then turning 90 degrees and running forwards is not a lateral drill, its just a linear drill in a different direction! I was also interested to see the distances covered (at least 20m)- the coach must have their tennis players playing on a huge court! Finally - there were no drills where the coach went backwards! This is one thing that really boils my P**S! The title of the blog post says it all, we need to coach our athletes to go backwards - but most books/DVD's are packed full of drills that go forwards, or left/right - maybe I just live in an alternate universe where people do have to move backwards from time to time!

It was a nice video but the content was lacking.

My advice for anyone wanting to develop tennis (or any sport really)specific speed and agility would be:
1. Work all multidimensional (that's one of Vern Gambetta's) - forward,BACKWARDS, left, right, up etc etc.
2. Keep the distances short - in tennis a point is played with between 3-7 changes of direction in a confined area - if your drills are in excess of 10m then you need to tighten things up.
3. Practice going BACKWARDS - everyone wants to get fast going forwards - everyone forgets that you need to be good going backwards as well!

Once again we have coaches taking 'track' drills that get people moving fast in a straight line (with the occasional left turn) trying to convince us that they will help with the performance of a multidimensional sport such as tennis! STOP IT!

Do You Need A Coach?

I'm still amazed at how often I watch people working out in a gym for months, even years, without getting any results. They must be happy spending significant amounts of cash on gym memberships, content that they are not really getting any results. Why do people have the mistaken belief that they know what to do when it comes to getting fit...news flash...you don't.

If I want my car fixed I go to a mechanic, if my boiler breaks down I call a plumber...the list could go on. I, like many other will pay for an expert to come and fix things. Why? Becasue they are experts at what they do, they will solve my problem quickly and efficiently. But when it comes to fitness everyone is an instant expert! Even my friends and family become expert,s having read the latest training or nutrition advice in HIYA or OI magazine! They are happy to tinker around with the most important thing in their life (their body - HEALTH and fitness) and work it out as they go along!

So lets have a reality check. If you are serious about getting into the best shape of your life, then guess what - you need to hire an expert to help you to achieve your goals. Research proves that you'll have more success if you hire a coach - you will also hit your targets a whole lot quicker (so in the long run you'll actually end up saving time and money). Data shows that working out with a coach is an effective method for changing attitudes (gets you out of your comfort zone and breaks your habits) and thereby increasing the amount of physical activity you do, which will make you fitter and healthier. It also shows that you are more likely to have long-term success - we can all hit the gym for a couple of weeks or sort our nutrition out for a couple of days, but you need to be in it for the long haul (Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2003) 2, 10-14). Just in case you are still not convinced and think that you know more than most coaches (forget the fact that I spent 4 years gaining undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications and then a further 12 years working on the floor to back up the book smarts), here are some more scientific facts:
•Supervised training with a coach is advantageous compared to figuring it out on your own.
•Women training in health clubs don't select appropriate training intensities needed for gains in performance.
•Training under supervision and guidance of a coach leads to greater gains in strength, workout intensity and workout levels. (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol22 (1) 2008
Ratamess, NA, Faigenbaum, AD, Hoffman, JR & Kang, J. )

Still, want to go it alone...crack on...but remember, you only get one body...think carefully about who you want to be looking after it.

Fitness Camps - Why are they so popular?

Why do people drag their backsides out of bed at 06:15 to go and train in the wind and rain when they could be grabbing an extra hour in bed catching z's?

Let's find out. I sat down today with the owner of the NE's most successful fitness camp (sorry if that upsets some of the other bootcamp companies out there but that is just the way it is!)to find out how is has transformed himself from an overweight out of shape engineer into one of the countries leading body transformation experts.

Paul Mort is an intersting character and has more energy than the energizer bunny. We spent 15 minutes exploring his background, grabbing some top fat loss tips and finding out why he is killing it in the NE compared to the competition. Love him or hate him, love bootcamps or hate bootcamps - it doesn't really matter - this guy gets results. Anyway, the boy can talk, the interview is in three parts!

Intro


Part II

P.S. Apologies for the quality of the video - I've not worked out why we look like it was shot is sepia! Anyway, I'm a coach, not a cameraman!

Part III

What makes a good S&C Coach

I delivered a session last night at the NE S&C Forum. I was opening up the topic of what makes a good S&C coach and challenging the group to answer the following questions:
1. Do you need to demonstrate the drill/exercise to be a good coach?
2. Do you need a variety of coaching styles to tackle a range of clients? (Young – Old, Male – Female, Able Bodied – Disabled, Team – Individual, High Performance – Average Joe)
3. Is it our job to motivate...are we entertainers, motivators or coaches?
4. How do we get our clients ‘focused’, ‘switched on’?
5. Is there a right or wrong way to coach?

The discussions that followed each question were very good and it was great to see everyone parking their ego's at the door and voicing their opinions. At the end I asked each coach for one piece of coaching advice. Here are the responses (some may seem obvious, but we often overlook the obvious!):

1. Always try to choose methods that will work best, not just what might the easiest or most convenient.
2. Recognise that all athletes are individuals with different motivations.
3. Relate sessions to upcoming goals.
4. Get to know the athlete, train them for what they need to be not what you want them to be.
5. Always maintain a fun element.
6. Treat the athletes with respect - as you would expect them to treat you.
7. Be able to coach a skill in more than one way.
8. Educate the athletes as to why they are doing what they are doing.
9. Try being coached yourself to experience an athlets perspective.
10. Be reflective on your practice/sessions.
11. Start sessions the way you mean to carry on.
12. Dont get sued (if what you are coaching is so dangerous that it could result in a court case then maybe you need to change your programme!)
13. Stick to core principles and philosophies but be flexible within them (big rocks).
14. Use simple but effective progressions
15. Athletes will respect the coach through the coach's example and behaviour
16. Dont change too much at once - try not too be overly innovative.
17. Dont give all coaching cues at once - and not during sets/reps. Wait til recovery and pin point 2/3 (max) coaching points

Going back to the 5th question - Is there a right or wrong way to coach? In my opinion - absolutely. Coaching is a process and you need to adapt your coaching to suit the athlete/client/situation. If you only have one style you will be limited.

On The Move

As we head into the last quarter of 2009 there are going to be a few changes! Don't worry, the content is still going to be as good as ever...we are just going to bring things up to speed with a new great looking blog that I know is going to be really user friendly. My IT guys are working flat out to get the site up and running and I'll let you all know when we are ready to do the switch so you can get the new site into your favourites list!

Coaching Female Clients

One question that I get asked a lot is how do I coach female clients. Do I take a different approach to working with male clients. Bottom line is no - I train the person in front of me, regardless of gender. That said there may be some subtle differences in the way I interact with a female client compared to a male client but whether you are male or female you still need to get in and train hard!

Without doubt, if I ever have any questions regarding training my female clients there is one person I go to. My go to girl is Rachel Cosgrove. Rachel knows her stuff. Why? She has been where a lot of my female clients have been - out of shape and not happy with how she looks or feels. She know's first hand what it takes to get into fantastic shape and she is now a hugely successful coach - she gets results.

If you want to find out how Rachel can help you to transform your body check out her fantastic new site The Female Body Breakthrough