Training Diary

What started as regular updates in a text message training group with friends, has morphed into these short video mashups. Not from an egotistical point of view of ‘looking how great I am‘ or ‘look what I can do and you can’t do‘. Because we all have different training goals and varying commitment’s to training,…

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Results Reflecting Training

There are exceptions to every rule. Statistical outliers, freaks of nature and randomness too. Especially for competitive sports where nature is part of the outcome (surfing, surf ironman, ocean paddling, windsurfing, etc).  Most of the time though our performance is a reflection of the quality of our training. Plain and simple.  Come game day sports…

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Go Train

More often than not, a net positive answer to whatever it is you’re thinking or feeling is to go and train. Hungry? Go train. Tired? Go train. Happy? Go train. Sad? Go train. Lethargic? Go train. Angry? Go train. In love? Go train. Depressed? Go train. Want to improve your sports skills? Go train. Want…

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Japan

Thanks to the encouragement of a few training partners, I travelled to Japan in late November for the So-Kyokushin World Tournament and the international black belt grading.  Kyokushin World Tournaments are like the Olympics, held once every four years.  It was great to watch the tournament live and support the Australian competitors.  From a coaching…

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Get Tested

My view and use of physical testing and assessment for sport has changed enormously over the past 20 years.    The TLDR is that everyone (not just sports people) would be best off having their flexibility, tension and posture assessed regularly. There are others, but these are an excellent and impactful start.  At minimum annually. Ideally…

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Nutritional Supplements

Nutritional supplements have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My earliest childhood memories include that smell of an open bottle of antioxidants walking into my Nona’s bedroom at home. Turns out she was also ordering Vitamin K from Sweden in the late 1970’s.  My brother and I would take…

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Body Temperature

Nothing you’re about to read is revolutionary. That said, leveraging body temperature is so fundamental it’s often overlooked at a great opportunity cost.  Leveraging body temperature will improve your training and if you’re over 35 years old and/or have chronic injury challenges it’s negligent not to make this a priority.  Most of the time you…

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Strength Overload

I received two related phone calls Friday 28th July.  The first was a former athlete who’s 13yo son now plays Rugby League. The second was a sports coach I’ve known, learnt from and worked with on and off for close to 30 years. The 13yo is pushing to hit the gym while his father based…

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Are Injuries In Sport Inevitable?

The short answer is it depends, mainly on the following: Before we dive into these areas, if you don’t want to read any further, in my experience injuries are not inevitable. Most injuries can be prevented and don’t need to happen. Despite this, injuries will continue on their current trajectory.  It’s no wonder when you…

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Flexibility and Sports Performance

Compared to other physical qualities, not much is written about flexibility when it comes to sports performance. Ironic when you consider the ability to express your strength, speed, endurance and sporting skills is mute without a healthy range of motion at each joint. There’s also a performance advantage hiding in plain sight. The catch is…

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