Norwegian Athletics Training Conference

November 20 – 22 there was a very useful training conference at the Norwegian School of Sports Science. Here are some of the main highlights.

Vincenzo Canali – “Postural Base of Sport”, this was a true eye opener. His method of ´kinetic chain´ testing and building in the body, is fundamental for all sports particularly athletics, gymnastics, swimming and all yoga/pilates. His methods are simple and straight forward, but are underpinned by an excellent knowledge of anatomy and physiology. His six phases 1) passive, 2) isometric, 3) eccentric, 4) concentric. 5) dynamic and 6) sports specific, really show how posture is the medium between which strength and technique combine to produce effective power in a sports specific movement. Since his workshop I have been incorporating his techniques with all my clients on a daily basis. I am currently working on my own presentation of his ideas with video, in the mean time you can see his work at:

http://www.stabhochsprung.com/epvc/gymnasticmovies/index.html

The presentation he gave is at:

http://www.stabhoch.com/epvc/canali_gymnastics.pdf

Plus a lot of pole vault videos relating to his work can be found at:

http://www.stabhochsprung.com/

When you understand how the body best deals with force, with regard to postural postion in the sagittal plane, it becomes obvious how and why athletes are using their bodies. For example in the high jump there are variations in technique, all of which can be justified regarding the mobility of the individuals kinetic chain, like foot up or down during the jump, lead arm position, lead knee position and sartorial strength relative to adductors and hamstring co-ordination. If you would like to discuss any of these aspects please just email or comment below.

Edvard Harnes – Strength and conditioning for jumps. I had a good chat to Edvard about his experience with the German national team, and his website can be found at:

http://www.trenerforeningen.org/

He has a lot of presentations and video at:

http://www.trenerforeningen.org/webmaster.shtml