Coaching is managing

           Do you notice that the successful coaches are the ones that get their players to develop their skills, execute them at the right time and come together as a team when it matters?

            Managing is very similar to coaching and a lot of managers could learn a thing or two from observing how successful coaches interact with their players.

            In order to field a good team the coach has to know what each player’s strengths, weaknesses, and limitations are in order to determine how they can be effectively used on the field. The same is true of mangers trying to establish a winning team in the office. They need to know each one of the team members and what they bring to the table. Then, they need to determine how each person can effectively contribute to make projects a success.

            Players practice in order to get better. The coach guides the practice, determines what is being addressed that day, what needs help, where to spend extra time and how to ensure that the players are being developed in a way that contributes to the overall team. A good manager will train their staff. Working with the staff members to acquire new skills, or sharpen existing skills, helps each person improve. The better the overall quality of the staff, the better the team.

            When it’s game time, the coach knows that this is an opportunity to see how effective he has been in coaching his team and how well they execute. They will look to see how the team comes together and what the skills look like that they have been working on. If there is something wrong with the game plan they make adjustments to correct it. Managers do the same thing. By observing their staff in action they can see how well they have understood the objectives and work to solve problems. If it looks like there is a problem, they can then make the necessary changes and recheck to see how it looks.

Poor coaches, just like poor managers, pace up and down, yell, holler and scream, blame the other team or the officials for not being fair and berate team members for not playing well. Good coaches sit and observe. The want to know how well the team is coming together, what is working well, what needs improvement and where to put their energy in the next practice to get better for the next competition. They do not shout or blame others; they take responsibility for themselves and the team. If there is a bad call then they voice their concern respectfully. The same is true of managers, if they are not providing constructive feedback, then how can the team improve? Instead, give clear, precise feedback about what needs to be done right now in order to be successful.

In order to get the most from each member of your staff, think of yourself as a coach. It is your job to determine what skills are needed for the position, develop training programs to improve those skills, monitor how well the staff displays those skills and make any adjustments. The better a manager gets at doing this the more productive the staff will be.

Management

The job of a manager is to create systems, train staff in those systems and monitor those systems for success.

What tends to happen is that systems do not get created, team members are not adequately trained in the system or given clear expectations, or the system is not looked after once it is created. This then leads to confusion, lack of accountability and stagnation amongst the team.

For success to happen the manager needs to be actively involved with the team and the processes to see what is working, what is not, and how things can be done more efficiently. It is the job of the manager to make sure that the systems that are created are working appropriately and that the entire team is functioning as a cohesive group. If this is not happening, then the manager needs to find out why and fix it.

If the problem is the lack of an organized process that is leading to confusion among the team, then a system needs to be created and explained to the team to provide clarification on expectations. If the systems are in place and are not being followed, maybe the system itself is poor and needs to be changed, or perhaps the team members are wantonly disregarding it. If this is the case then there needs to be a conversation revisiting job duties with clear expectations and clearly defined repercussions for not doing what is expected.

It could be that the team is following the system, but it is out of date and no longer an effective means of operation. In this case, talk with the team about what would work better and work to create a system that is going to improve team efficiency and productivity.

Constantly monitoring the processes in place and actively working with the team to make things better will create an enjoyable work environment that boosts productivity.

stretch or not to stretch

Should you stretch? If so, when should you stretch? This depends on what type of stretching, when you are stretching and why you are stretching.

The different stretches are static stretching, which involves taking a muscle to a slightly uncomfortable length and holding it for 30-60 seconds.
Dynamic stretching involves reciprocal inhibition (contracting one muscle to relax its opposite) in order to improve the range of motion at a joint.
Ballistic involves a quick contraction past the point of comfort and is not recommended.

Prior to performing an activity it is important to promote blood flow and excite the nervous system. This is best accomplished by doing some sort of calisthenics, dynamic stretching, jogging or body weight exercises to engage your neuromuscular system. The purpose of this is to prime your body prior to the activity it is about to undertake. Doing exercises that stimulate your body will prep it for the work that is to come. Static stretching prior to activity is not recommended since it can decrease performance. This makes sense since static stretching is meant to be relaxing and calming to your nervous system. This is the exact opposite of what you want when it comes to exercise and competition where the goal is to excite your nervous system to perform well.

At the end of a workout, it is ok to static stretch. It may not decrease the change of being sore, but if it feels good, then go for it! You can also static stretch throughout the day if you have muscles or regions that are chronically tight, such as hip flexors and shoulders if you are sitting all day long. Stretching like this can help alleviate that tension in your body.

Static stretching may also be used if you are recovering from an injury that has caused some muscle tightness and restrictions. You may need to stretch that area in order to improve your health and functioning at that joint.

You can also try a yoga class if you are trying to improve general flexibility. Different types of yoga have different goals, but they each involve holding varying degrees of positions in order to strengthen your body (and your mind). By holding the positions you can reset your muscle tension and improve general flexibility.

Get organized

Have you ever been to an event that had a bunch of people working, but no one seemed to know what was going on?

I recently had that experience and it was very frustrating trying to find anything or check out. I even saw 8 people by the check out area and not one could offer any help. Why is it that people coming to an event seem to know more of what is going on than the ones working the event?

If you want to run successful events you have to educate your workers. This is not something that needs to be challenging, but going over the layout, the flow, and how to field questions can easily help make the event more successful. Managers also need to get more involved by walking around and seeing how things work, or don't work. If there is a problem, address it. Do what has to be done to make it an enjoyable experience for the customers.

Spending time to make sure that the event layout makes sense and that your workers all know what their job and expectations are will go a long way to ensuring that your event is successful.

Active recovery

That soreness that you feel after a hard workout is actually caused by small tears in your muscles. These tears occur so that when they heal your muscles are bigger and stronger than they were previously. This is also the reason that working out the same muscle groups on subsequent days is not recommended.

That is not to say that exercise should be discourage when you are sore. It just means doing something different. Doing some easy cardio to get your heart rate elevated and promote blood flow is a great way to reduce that soreness. Moving your body gently forces the muscles to work again and that can promote increased motion around the joint. If you are feeling extra stiff spend some time stretching after your cardio. That will help to lengthen the muscles and relax those tight areas. 

Leadership

What does it take to be a good leader?

It is not enough to be intelligent and a hard worker, you have to inspire others to work hard, too. It seems to me that there is a lack of good leadership these days.

People are getting so busy that they are focusing so much on themselves that they are forgetting about others. Take the time to have a meaningful connection with people, it will pay off down the road. Just showing others that you care and take an interest in their life will get them to trust you, and you cannot be a leader without trust.

You have to demonstrate that you have the interests of others on your mind and that you will work hard for them. When someone feels appreciated and knows that there is someone they can count on they will feel more secure and perform at a higher level.

In order to learn about others and what they have to offer and what their opportunities are it is important to listen to what they are saying. Do not count the seconds until it is your turn to speak, actively listen to what is being said and ask questions to ensure that you are completely understanding them. Afterwards, work on an action step. You had a conversation, now it is time to do something about it. It does not have to be a big step, but some sort of follow up is essential if there is going to be a change.

Guiding others and helping them aspire to be their best is a worthwhile endeavor. When you help someone else grow and prosper, you in turn grow and prosper. Nurture your relationships and help others be the best they can be.

Be honest. Communicate efficiently. When you talk with someone keep your comments brief so that there is no confusion and no muddying of waters. Having challenging conversations is not easy, but they are essential to make sure that there is no misunderstanding down the road.

Spending time perfecting listening, communicating and taking action will improve leadership ability and lead to being someone others want to follow.

Fitness anytime, anywhere

Do not let access to your gym dictate your workouts; with a little imagination you can achieve results anywhere.

If you are traveling or pressed for time try going for a run or a hike. This is a great way to burn some calories, get your heart up and soak in some vitamin D. If you need an extra challenge, kick up the pace for some intervals, run some stairs or choose the steeper trail. This will force your muscles to work harder and accelerate your gains.

You can also rely on an old standby for resistance when you're in a pinch; your own weight. Body weight circuits can be very challenging and effective for maintaining your strength with limited time. Try doing circuits for as many reps as you can in 4 rounds, or 20 seconds per workout:
squat jumps
pushups
alternate lunge jumps
plank to pushup
alternating lateral lunge
mountain climbers

You will be surprised how challenging that workout is and how effective it can be for challenging your body.

Now, get out there and have fun!

Coaching

When I think of myself as a coach and what I hope to achieve, it involves the development of my clients. I find out what our starting point is and then we set goals of what we hope to achieve. Then I lay out a framework that will allow us to meet those goals.

I use the same concept for teams and individuals. I create a plan that will maximize our ability to reach our goals. Along the way we reassess our position to see how well our plan is working to meet our objectives and make any necessary changes.

In order for myself and my clients to be successful we have to continually improve. We need to be stronger, more efficient and better week in and week out. Ideally, this improvement is linear over time, but there are times when things are easy and times when it is hard. Pushing through the hard times encourages mental toughness and inner strength and serves as a learning experience that will improve our overall understanding.

I work to educate clients about the choices they make and how those choices affect the realization of their goals and how to understand the impact of their decisions. I do not believe in dieting, or exercise days, but in a lifestyle. By creating and adopting a lifestyle it is easier to maintain focus and realize full potential.

It is vitally important to develop others, to allow them to grow and learn new skills. These new skills will improve self esteem and self confidence in every realm of their life. There will be mistakes along the way, but by learning from mistakes we can ensure that our development continues along the right path.

As a coach I get great satisfaction when people I work with improve their life and reach new peaks. Encouraging and fostering the development of clients will lead to their long term success in health and life.

Go play

It is becoming rare these days to see kids playing outside. I don't mean the organized play through a sport, but the grab some friends and a ball kind of play.

I do not see them riding bikes, throwing a football, playing catch or anything. I may see some younger kids on a playground or shooting some hoops, but even this is less frequent than I would like to see. Whatever happened to going outside to play? What has replaced it? Are people starting to work from a younger age and just don't have the time? Are they inside playing video games? I don't know what has replaced playing, but I do know it is a shame. Not only is going outside a great way to exercise, get some vitamin D and develop some skills, but it is a great way to socialize with others.

I can only hope that play is not lost and has not been replaced by organized activities. There is absolutely nothing wrong with leagues and competition, but there still needs to be time to let kids, and adults, just have some fun.

Go play. Go grab a ball, a stick, a glove, whatever, and a few others to do something with. Go play. Get outside, enjoy the weather, burn off some steam and excess energy and most importantly, have fun!

Overload and recovery

The goal of any workout is to push your current boundaries by applying a stress. This is termed overload and refers to the neuromuscular coordination, recruitment of muscle fibers, cardio respiratory system and proprioceptive system that is stressed during a particular workout.

When you push above your current level there is muscular breakdown. This is the soreness you feel after a hard workout. This soreness is the breakdown of the muscle fiber. As it regenerates it rebuilds itself through the recovery phase.

It is essential to give your body a chance to repair after a workout. This includes active rest, sleep, nutrition and listening to your body. In order to make consistent gains you need the stress applied through overload, but you also need the downtime and rest in order to give your body time to repair. 

A single workout is not going to achieve all your goals, but it is a step in the process and by having adequate recovery after the workout you can ensure that you are going in the right direction. 

Conditioning for sport

It will never cease to amaze me what passes for conditioning in athletics. It is very common for me to hear that athletes are running a mile or more for 'conditioning'. Even volleyball players are running these distances. This is easy to do as a coach to have your athletes go run, but it is not going to help their conditioning.

The purpose of any strength, conditioning or fitness program is to prepare for a specific reason. As an athlete your goal is to improve your skill set and strength in order to be better in that sport. Your conditioning program should also reflect that. Most sports are intermittent sprint based which means that you need to run at 100% effort and then recover from that effort in order to do it again.  Being able to run for a couple of miles is not going to help your sprinting, quite the opposite, it will actually make you slower.
 

In order to improve you need to prepare in a similar manner for your sport. For soccer you should do sets of 25-50 yard sprints while walking or jogging between sets. Football player's needs vary depending on position, but receivers and corner backs need to do 10-30 yards with a 15 second break between efforts and lineman should do 5-10 yards with the same break. Baseball and softball should perform sprints of 90 or 60 feet respectively. Basketball players need a lot of sprinting and moving and maintaining their recovery by doing full court sprints and high intensity intervals via crosstraining to improve. If you play volleyball it is more important to be able to jump repetitively without any breakdown in form than it is to sprint a lot since most movement is in a small space and requires more reaction and quickness than actual running.
 

Even cross country runners can benefit from sprints and cross training to change the loading pattern of repetitive distances.
 

By understanding the demands of your sport your conditioning can be efficiently and effectively improved without logging a lot of miles. 

Improving Thoracic Extension

One way to improve your posture and increase the range of motion in your shoulders is to open up your thoracic spine. While there is not a lot of movement available in that region, doing some simple exercises can stretch out your pectorals and latissimus musculature in order to make performing overhead activities easier. These are especially helpful for throwers and those that perform Olympic lifts.
 Perform 1-2 sets of the following for 10 reps.

Dowel overhead press

Place a dowel across your shoulders and pull your shoulder blades down and back. While holding that posture press the dowel straight up overhead continuing to squeeze your shoulder blades then return to the start position.

Dowel twists 

Place a dowel across your shoulders and pull your shoulder blades down and back. While holding that position try and rotate your mid spine to the right. Then try and move it to the left. This is not a large motion so if you are moving a lot it is probably from your lower back. Reset and try it again. 

If you feel cramping in the muscles around your shoulder blades you are doing it correctly. 

Immediately after completing these you should notice an increase in available motion at your shoulders.

Exercise selection

With so many exercises to choose from, how does one determine what the best fit will be? The first thing to determine is what your goals are and what you want to accomplish. This will guide the creation of the workout to achieve specific results. Next, we need to determine if there are any injuries or weak links that may need special attention. If someone is recovering from a knee injury and has limited motion for squatting then we have to choose other exercises.

Normally, I like to structure workouts around compound movements that work large muscles. This is very effective from a strength development standpoint, as well as a caloric expenditure standpoint, so it is helpful for gaining strength and burning calories. I then divide the exercises into different movements and choose a particular exercise to fit that movement. This is based on the individual needs of the client in order to create the most effective and efficient workout.
The movements I typically choose are squats, lunges, hamstrings, horizontal pressing, horizontal pulling, vertical pressing and vertical pulling. This framework allows for a number of different exercises without changing the overall structure or flow of the workout.

Squats
back squats, front squats, kettelbell squats, kettelbell swings, single leg squats
Lunges
barbell lunges, dumbbell lunges, alternating lunges, walking lunges, lunge jumps, rear foot elevated (Bulgarian) lunges
Hamstring
straight leg deadlift, Romanian deadlift, single leg deadlift, stability ball curl, Russian hamstring
Horizontal press
bench press, dumbbell bench press, incline bench press, dumbbell incline bench press, machine chest press, pushups
Horizontal pull
bent over row, cable row, one arm dumbbell row, standing cable row, machine row, Tbar row
Vertical push
push press, standing overhead press, standing overhead dumbbell press, single arm dumbbell press, rotational overhead press, seated overhead press, handstand pushups
Vertical pull
Lat pulldown, close grip lat pulldown, pull up, chin up, high row

Depending on individual circumstances and goals there are specific exercises that are implemented to support weak areas, target individual muscles, improve stability of joints

These can include lateral raises, scaption (45 degree raise), I,Y,T,W exercises, side leg raises, single leg lateral step ups, bicep curls, lying overhead tricep extensions and the like

This general guideline allows for numerous workouts and multiple organizational platforms that can be customized to each individual's unique goals and limitations.

Setting Goals

When I get asked questions about exercises and recommendations I try and make sure I ask 'what are your goals?' first. It is amazing how many people respond back with 'I don't know' or 'I heard this is a good exercise' or 'I want to train this particular muscle'. If you do not know your goals how can I answer the question appropriately? Just because an exercise or a routine is good for one person does not mean that it will be good for everyone. Every good workout is based on understanding what the destination is and creating a plan to achieve it.

If your goal is to lose weight then following the same workout a bodybuilder would use is probably not the best fit. If you are an athlete then you are going to have different goals than a fitness enthusiast.

And please do not say your goal is to 'be fit'. Once again, this means different things to different people. When you are thinking about your goals and what you want to achieve be realistic in terms of the time frame to get there and the commitment that is needed to get there. Goals can be attained, but if means that they need to be a priority and other things may get in the way of you achieving them.  You also need to be as specific as possible. This will force you to set a quantifiable number which helps with tracking your progress. If you want to do a 5K then we know you need to be able to run that distance at the end of the training program. Having these specifics ensures that your program is tailored to you and your particular case to achieve optimal results in the most reasonable time frame. Hopefully, the next time someone asks you what your goals are you have the answer.

Strength Training for Endurance Athletes

            When most endurance athletes think of lifting weights they think of bodybuilding and have the perception that lifting weights will make them ‘too bulky’. In truth, gaining a lot of muscle size is very hard and requires lifting moderate to heavy weights for multiple sets at a high volume and consuming a lot of calories to aid in recovery and promote muscular growth. Endurance athletes do not require that level of training, but by not lifting they are missing on some of the benefits it has to offer.

            Swimming, cycling and running all involve similar motions of hip flexion, lumbar flexion, and thoracic flexion. This type of repetitive use of the anterior musculature can lead to overuse of those areas and predispose the athlete to suffering an injury. With the restriction in range of motion due to the disciplines the body is not as effective at absorbing force or producing it which can lead to inefficiencies in form.

            Strength training can help improve overall posture and the range of motion of a joint. By strengthening the supportive musculature the body can become more resilient to injury. Some other benefits of strength training are improved balance, neuromuscular control and coordination and improved muscle recruitment that leads to gains in strength. By choosing exercises that work multiple joints and muscles a program can be very efficient with the use of time. These exercises also promote the greatest recruitment of muscle fibers so fewer exercises are needed.

            To start a strengthening program an athlete can choose one exercise for each of the following movements: squat, lunge, hamstring, horizontal press, horizontal push, vertical press, vertical pull, lower and upper body assistive work. These movements will incorporate all the major muscles and joints and will effectively lead to increases in strength and posture. Any exercise that fits into the movement can be used so exercises can be changed without loss of the overall workout structure. Examples of squats include bodyweight squats, back squats, front squats, kettelbell squats and kettelbell swings. Lunges include stationary, alternating, rear foot elevated (Bulgarian) or jumps. Hamstring work can be done by performing stiff leg deadlifts, Single leg deadlifts, stability ball curls or Russian hamstrings. Horizontal pressing can be bench pressing, dumbbell pressing or pushups, while pulling can be bent over rows, TRX rows, or single arm dumbbell rows. Vertical pressing involves shoulder presses, alternating or single arm overhead presses and pulls would be pull-ups, chin-ups, or lat pulldowns. Assistance work is meant to address areas that are weak or prone to injury and can be doing side leg raises for hip strength, calf raises for ankle strength, or scapular work for shoulder stability. 

            Exercises can be done 1-3 times per week depending on time, phase of the season and goals. Exercises should be progressed to allow for overload and adaption to the exercises. The repetitions should vary from 6-15 and move in a predictable fashion to make use of organizing the workouts for the best response. Time spent in each repetition range can range from 1-4 weeks and should continuously cycle for adequate loading. The development of strength will involve heavier resistance and fewer repetitions to stimulate maximal muscle recruitment while developing endurance and control will require less resistance and more repetitions.

            An option for developing muscular endurance, control, balance and cardiovascular health is circuit training. This is done by performing every exercise back to back without rest in order to maintain a high heart rate. This can be helpful when there is limited time to perform a workout, as a break from the typical endurance events, or as a different challenge for the muscles to accommodate.

            It can also be helpful to strengthen the ‘core’ muscles to assist with stability. The muscles in the lower back, abdomen and hips will be adequately trained by performing resistance exercises in the above movements. But, additional work may help with postural control, isolated strengthening of weak areas and greater stability when performing the endurance disciplines. Exercises that are beneficial to strengthen the core include prone planks, supine planks, and side planks. Bridging, bird dogs and wood choppers can also help with maintaining stability of the lower extremity during dynamic movement. These exercises should also be progressed over time by increasing the number of sets, increasing the duration of the exercise, decreasing the rest time between sets or increasing the resistance.

            Another supplement to endurance training involves the use of plyometric or jumping exercises. This type of exercise is beneficial in improving running economy through absorbing the landing and quickly rebounding, this action stimulates the stretch-shortening-cycle and increases jumping height and foot turnover speed. Exercises are vertical jumping, lunge jumping and hopping. They should be progressed over time by increasing the height of the jump, the number of repetitions, the number of sets or decreasing the rest time between sets. These are higher level activities that require good form to perform correctly so make sure your form is good before starting them. They can be helpful to include in your program to aid in the improvement of running economy.

            While implementing a strength training program will not make you better at doing the events, it is still important to swim, bike and run, it can help with improving your efficiency, strength and balance to keep you healthy. Being healthy enables you to train hard for continued improvement in your sport.