The gym had a visit from Chris Pitsis this week. In the 1980′s, Chris lived down the street from your gym owner when he was growing up.

Chris is the current World Record holder for the 70-74 years and 75-79 years age brackets in the 56kg class for the Snatch and the Total. He is one of the oldest people in history to snatch their bodyweight.

In 6 weeks he is heading off to Torino in Italy for the IWF World Masters.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the 2nd called the gym yesterday. She said that had heard great things about Shire Speed and Strength and that it would please her, and give her great pleasure to know, that the gym was open next Monday for normal hours and that heavy barbell lifting what take place.

So, I hearby decree, that the gym will be open for normal trading hours on Monday June 10th as it has been every Queen’s Birthday for the last 4 years.

Shire Speed and Strength hosted a charity fundraiser for the Rode 2 Recovery drug and alcohol rehab center and 1000km bike ride on Sunday May 19th.

The Head Coaches of both the South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons, Michael Macguire and Steven Price participated in a deadlift demonstration, both clubs provided prizes for the raffle held on the day. SSS member John Rahma was the driving force behind the day that Shire Speed and Strength was proud to support.

Lifting demonstrations, raffle prizes, autograph signings and loads of food attracted media from channel 7, 9 and 10. 5 lifters PR’d their deadlift on the day, and 2 new members of the 500lb deadlift club were added.

The day marked a double celebration as the gym turned 4 years old this week. So many people have added value to the gym over those 4 years and so many people have benefited.

Scott and I would like to thank all those who were so generous with their time for this event and have been such great supporters of the gym over the years; here’s hoping we will all experience many more positives years of success.

Coach Peter Upham

The ripples continue to fan outwards in the ASADA and ACC investigations into drugs in sport and criminal spin off.

The Australian Senate is forming an inquiry into the involvement of Sports Scientists in high-level sport in Australia.

Greens Senator Dr Richard Di Natale stated, “The ‘whatever it takes’ mentality of Australian sport should not come at the cost of compromising the health of our athletes”.

On the surface a Senate inquiry might be a way of getting statements in the public domain. Testimony in questioning to the ACC is sealed and people can decline to give evidence in investigations by ASADA; at a Senate inquiry, people cannot decline to be interviewed.

This might indicate some maneuvering taking place where a Senate committee is attempting to assist ASADA to gain evidence by testimony; speculation on my part. I have no dog in that hunt, what I do care about is the sorts of legislative effects that may ripple from such a process. The terms of reference for the inquiry are as follows:

 
a. The current scope of practice, (this includes definition, function and operation) and accreditation and regulation arrangements, for the profession;
b. the role of Boards and Management in the oversight of sports scientists inside sporting organisations;
c. the duty of care of sports scientists to athletes.
d. avenues for reform or enhanced regulation of the profession
e. any other related matter

My thoughts on the missed issue in this entire saga I have written about here and here. It is this coach’s opinion, that there is a tendency amongst the preparation of many professional sporting bodies to desire to appear to be cutting edge rather than be generally competent. The influences of therapy and commercialism upon the concept of sports science, means that the actual profession of sports science should probably be pseudo-Sports Science.

This could be the moment when the professional body ESSA, is given powers beyond just the current position as the DET go-to on tertiary education syllabus and as professional development arbiters.

It’s possible that from this, a codified standard of protocols, not born of the rigors of performance, but of commercial and therapeutic influence, won’t just be the norm in professional sporting organizations as they are now, but will be the only allowed methods at all.

ESSA has released a statement in support of this Senate inquiry. They want to be the sole and compulsory accreditors of sports scientists in Australia and as expected, an ‘assurance of practical standards’ is part of their submission.

Submissions to a Senate inquiry can be made via this process.

Many athletes have to negotiate their training time to incorporate lifting in the gym and running or technical-tactical training on the same day. Which should you do first?

Ryan finished 3rd at the State championships in the 800m

Here is a simple thought experiment. Which has the greater priority right now? The prioritised need should come first.

An analysis of where you are in your training calendar is required to properly answer the question. The training calendar will change the emphasis given from the ‘General’ realm to ‘Specific’ realm as the competition block comes closer.

Reasons to Lift Before Running/ Technical tactical training.

* The athlete has a history of not enough general capacity strength training even though the competition season is close; it is a major deficit.

* It’s the off-season and the athlete is a long way from the competition season.

* Weather considerations have altered the training day.

* Logistical issues mean that lifting makes more sense to do first (eg whole team is not available until a certain later time but individuals can lift earlier in the day)

* There is a type of injury that can be trained around in the weight room but not on the field.

* Active recovery is needed in the weight room first and no strength or power development that would interfere with the on field training is going to take place.

* The weight room lifting will only be of a maintenance level and will not interfere with the on field training.

Reasons to Run/Technical-tactical training before Lifting.

* The general strength capacity is of a high calibre, whilst the running/work capacity and technical-tactical capacities are under-developed.

* It’s late in the preseason or into the competition season.

* Logistical issues may mean it makes more sense to train on field first before being in the weight room. (eg availability of facilities)
Remember that SSS also offers running skill services. Information can be found here.

They say,

‘Coaching is an art; not a science’.

Said by; Everyone. And no, I do not need to check my sources on whom everyone is.

Let’s break this statement down a little bit. Science seems to be put in the pejorative here. Is Art axiomatically better than Science? What is it about Art that makes it a good approach to coaching? And what’s so bad about science all of a sudden?

The Artistic realm hints at creativity, and creativity hints at the gaining of competitive advantage. These are good things. There is always a temptation in finding a new and ground-breaking method that gets us ahead of the competition. The tendency to look for the rare silver bullet solution, and appearance of being cutting-edge, dominates over the desire to do well-established things efficiently, with its’ need for consistent every day attention to detail. The Artistic realm is also a subjective one.

The Scientific realm, when considered as a pejorative, hints at stuffy, inconsiderate prescriptions by doesn’t-give-a-shit cronies who have a cover-their-arse education and ignorance to anything innovative. The Establishment.

Science at it’s best, is constantly barraged by new ideas. It needs to be. It’s part of the method and that method is also an objective one. That thing we are often told to ignore, anecdotal evidence, is where we generate innovative challenges to established processes. What must happen next, after the new idea or obscure unexplainable observation has occurred, is a testing phase; a sometimes difficult phase where banality can enter the framework. The need is created for a bit of charisma, and this is where the Art comes in.

Now, let’s head back to the title of the post. ‘Coaching in Poetry; Programming in Prose.’ This is my response to the misguidedness of the Art not Science wind-bagging. The Scientific Method can be tedious, boring and un-sexy, but it is objective. I might have to explain a process using all my dramatic license in order to convince someone that it is worth doing whole-heartedly, and the nature in which I do that starts subjectively. But ultimately, all of the decision making is reason and evidence based.

Day to day coaching delivery, encouragement, loading adjustments, miscellaneous issues that impact any training session; these are all opportunities for innovative real time coaching decisions. Not one of those decisions ultimately is based on anything but science though. A sum of experience, drawn from exposure to trial and error experimentation and practical application of recognized theory is part of the scientific method. The intuitive coach must be creative at times in selecting what, and when; but it is always justifiable. You Coach in Poetry, you Program in Prose.

You’d have to be living under a rock not to have exposed to the current ASADA investigation and fallout involving NRL club the Cronulla Sharks. Being that the club is just 2 kilometres down the road and that many junior development players, ex-players and current club captain Paul Gallen have trained at Shire Speed and Strength, the investigation and surrounding ACC push into drugs in sport is of particular interest here.

Paul Gallen trained at SSS for 3 weeks in 2011 before the World Cup.

Last night, Insight on SBS, focused on sports science and medicine in the main Australian football codes and other high profile sports. A link to the uploaded version of the show can be found here.

The program raised several important issues but left me to make the following charges that go beyond the main focus of the ACC and ASADA case; PED’s.

The following charges I place at Australian professional sports in general, and the stake holders who control it.

On the charge of failing to provide long-term athlete development, starting with elite youth levels; Guilty.

On the charge of failing to develop general capacities for players involved even up to and over 10 years in a professional sporting club; Guilty.

On the charge of using attritional selection protocols, starting at youth levels; Guilty.

On the charge of cronyism and nepotism to hire staff; Guilty.

On the charge of emphasising, and creating an environment, for the necessary appearance of being ‘cutting-edge’ over being generally competent; Guilty.

On the charge of therapy-based exercise prescription being emphasized  over performance for un-injured athletes; Guilty.

On the charge of a lack of overall program management, and appointing a technical-tactical specialist coach as the main management authority; Guilty.

On the charge of conflating Sports Science as an undergraduate degree program that teaches high performance development protocols; Guilty.

On the charge of creating fertile ground for the consistent use of the Argument from Authority; Guilty.

On the charge of robbing the word Science of its meaning; Guilty.

On the charge of valuing credential over education and performance; Guilty.

Much has been read and said on the plight of the Cronulla Sharks players. The investigations are on-going and the responsibility for whatever indiscretions that might be found will have to be portioned out. What I do know as fact, is that those players through 2011 had glaring general capacity weaknesses and that it seems there was an initiative towards exploring ‘cutting edge’ silver bullet solutions rather than identifying and improving those weaknesses.

The real shame is that those players never should had PED’s offered to them; they should have just been trained better.

This article from the Sydney Morning Herald raises the question of whether Olympic athletes should repay the cost of their training and competition under the government funded Olympic program.

One thing to add from me on this. Generally, I think this is a provocative concept and worth considering. However, the government benefits from the program in terms of the public interest and national exposure provided by the athletes and the tv rights are sold with monies distributed to the AOC. Additionally, the likeness, image and records provided by athletes is retained and used by the AOC as well as the funded programs like the AIS into the future without financial benefit of the athlete.

If a HECS style system was to be set up for athletes who benefit financially from their training in the future, then their image should not be used in the promotion of the AOC nor any training program.

An unrelated picture of Sean front squatting.

We get quite a few football players through SSS, of all codes. One of our first ever members though, has been busy overseas the last few years and only gets to train in Australia in the off season.

Blake Muir holds quite a few gym lifting records at SSS and for last 2 years has been playing football on scholarship at the University of Hawaii. Despite starting all 12 games in 2012, he is transferring to Baylor of the Big XII conference.

Blake will sit out 2013 due to transfer rules and then be eligible for 2014 and 2015. Joining him there will be younger brother Sean. The prospect of the two brothers living, studying and playing together is a tremendous opportunity. To do so at such an excellent program like Baylor is beyond what could have been dreamed.

Baylor represents a significant step up from Hawaii. Conference rivals Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, TCU and Iowa State represent some of the cream of college football. Baylor’s rise the last few years, including the play of  2011 Heisman Trophy Winner Robert Griffin III, has taken the program to its highest heights.

Blake is back in Australia training hard for Fall camp and preparing to enter the Baylor program at the top of the athletic food chain. You can keep up to date with Blake at his blog here. Sean Muir will be a center and join the Baylor program in either August 2013 or Jan 2014. The athleticism of both Blake and Sean were significant features in choosing them over what is a hotbed of football talent in Texas.

The Australian Crime Commission (ACC)  this week released a paper ‘Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport: New generation Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs and Organised Criminal Involvement in their use in Professional Sport.’

The paper can be downloaded here.

The investigation has drawn on information over the last 4 years and has resulted in everybody, with the exception of martians hiding out in Area 51, being potentially implicated with involvement in PED’s and match fixing.

Source theage.com.au

To be fair, the release of the report is largely a phishing expedition, an attempt to scare people into thinking that the Police are about to knock at their door and they may as well come clean now to save their own skin. To say that it deliberately encourages PED Profiling would be an understatement. AFL, A-League and NRL organizations have been quick to come out in their own defence, stating-matter-of factly that ‘they’ are not being investigated; the laughable part being that they wouldn’t know if they were, fact sharing amongst crime and sporting organization integrity units being low.

Everybody and anybody could be guilty of something under these far-reaching but unspecific ‘findings’. The paper draws together professional sports, their players, coaches, support staff and administrators; crime gangs, anti-aging clinics, drug traffickers, recreational drug users and the gambling industry.

Minister for Home Affairs and Justice Jason Clare, is the government face to this investigation. An interview with him on ABC’s Insiders can be seen here.

Last week news of the peculiar story of the supplement regime of the Essendon football club in the AFL was made public. Players were requested to sign paperwork acknowledging the use of injections were legal and they consented to their use. Stephen Dank, the former sports science employee at Essendon had analysed the blood work of Essendon football players last year and prescribed a regime of injections, which depending on whom you listen to, included vitamins, but maybe peptides and hormones, supposedly legal but perhaps not.

Players were taken to sterile locations to have injections by registered nurses, which some former players and peers claimed gave the impression of the East German drug regime. 

The element that will not come out in the media.

Athletic sporting development in Australia can range from cutting edge to laughably primitive.

Strength development in team sports in Australia, by the admission of Prof Rob Newton at Edith Cowan University…

“The other trend that I have observed over the last two Olympic cycles is a reduced training focus on the underlying qualities of neuromuscular strength and power. Put simply our athletes are not sufficiently muscular or strong enough to compete with the likes of China and the United States.”

Focusing for a moment on the strength and power element of why athletes take PED’s in order to gain a competitive edge, it is a disgrace that athletes are resorting to PED use when a better training regime would yield greater and safer results. Highlighting the NRL code, because of the exposure SSS gym has with NRL players and trainers, the strength capabilities and training knowledge of players and those employed to train them is in the kindest description; poor.

Teenagers training for 11 months should not be stronger than NRL players who outweigh them by 16kg.

A 106kg NRL representative player, maxing out on the deadlift at 165kg for a set of 5 is troubling (as happened at SSS). Players who cannot squat down to a legal IPF depth because of poor mobility is breath-taking (seen 2 weeks ago at SSS). The admission by trainers who are employed to instruct players from early development stages through to burgeoning professional careers, that they do not possess the skills to improve these issues is unacceptable.

People may claim that PED use has taken place under a cloak of illegal dealings, unethical practices and recklessness, but in my view, there is one extra shocking detail; that player performances could be even better without PED’s if they improved their training practices.

The only element of investigation it seems the ACC isn’t pursuing is that concerning the kinds of PED use that aren’t just happening and are illegal, but also are unnecessary because of the ineptness of some modern athletic development protocols.