S.P.A.C.E. Takes over where others finished

I have talked perviously about S.P.A.C.E TM which is a new system we have developed that is focussed on maximising athletic performance. This system goes a few steps further than SAQ and other systems as it incorporates all aspects of athletic development Speed/strength/stability/power/agility/co ordination and endurance and is based on a simple 4 step plan.
Analysis - sport/player/position
Planning - session/week/block
Performance - training/match
Review - player/training methods/testing data

The S.P.A.C.E. TM system will fill in the gaps for many coaches who can run great sesions but really have no idea where this session fits into the overall picture. I found with many systems you can learn to run great speed and agility stuff but how does this fit in with other aspects of athletic development. I We have developed a specific training program that encapulates all aspects of S.P.A.C.E. TM in an hour session and also a Introduction and level1 and 2 coaching course for people who want to learn more about total athletic development.

Pre Season Training

I want to use a team I am working with this year as a case study and forward the results and training program to you. The team is a semi professional soccer team Sydney Olympic who participate in the NSW premier league which is probably the second strongest competition in Australia after the A-League. The players were first tested in late October and given a 4 week program to complete at home and were again tested late November at the onset of the official start to training. Training comprises of 4 face to face sessions and 3 strength sessions/week. I have just completed the second 4 week block of training and can report a 7.5% increase in VO2 over this period. I am very happy with this and predict a further 3-5% increase over the next 4 weeks. I am happy to outline the training sessions if yanyone is interested and will do so at a latter date. THere have also been significant reductions in body fat, improvements in speed and agility and also improvements in verticle jump.

conditioningresearch.blogspot.com

Just wanted to recommend a really good blog run by Chris who takes time to answer posts and review the latest reearch. I like it because there is stuff for all people involved in the field and includes video and links. I read it daily and I encourage you to do the same www.conditioningresearch.blogspot.com

Happy Christmas and New Year

Happy belated Christmas I have been on holidays and sory for the lack of posts this will be a new year resolution to be posting each day. This is a season for friends and family but also one where many teams are in the middle of pre season training. It still makes me wonder how and why teams train for 6 weeks prior to Christmas and than give layers 3 weeks off with no training program. Anyway I have given players 6 days off with a program and tried to work it that this forced layoff coincided with the end of the second block of training tus giving a regeneration week.

Team Sports and Athletic Development

Athletic development and team sports is a challange. The difficulty is that you must compromise in what you want to do in the time restrictions that you have. Furthermore there are equipment restrictions, dealing with oversized squads and working to the rerquirements of the organisation. I think this is where you must use your skills of analysing the sport and determining what are the must have's and the wish haves to be effective. Strength is an interesting area as I find some spend too much time and some spend too little time and it appears that it is hard to get it right. I think in most game sports such as soccer, basketball, netball, lacrosse etc mush of the strength work can be completed with body weight and med ball which allows for you to train large numbers and helps with the specificity. I am presently trialing the Squat Spectrum TM from Vern Gambetta (see it on functionalpathtraining.blogspot.com) and this is the sort of session that is achievable with big numbers. I welcome your feedback as it is imperative we keep our eye on the big picture and this can only be done if we analyse what the athlete needs to be a success at their chosen sport.