Breaking Muscle

I've recently joined forces with the team at Breaking Muscle as one of their regular contributors. I kicked off with a piece looking at the art of invisible training. You can check it out here

The Recovery Cycle: Master the Invisible Side of Training

I've followed up with a couple of shorter articles in which I take a crtical look at periodisation (The Truth About Traditional Periodisation Models) and injury prevention (The Myth of Injury Prevention).

Here's a taste of each article...

The Recovery Cycle: Master the Invisible Side of Training

There are two common problems when it comes to recovery and regeneration in training. The first is that it's often overlooked in the overall training process, and the second is that the majority will try the sexy quick fixes over thinking about the long-term training picture. It would appear we've learnt very little since Mel Siff's Supertraining hit the bookshelves thirty years ago and definitively addressed the recovery process.

The Truth About Traditional Periodisation Models

What if I told you all the “successful” periodisation models we believe in are driven by tradition rather than evidence? Athletes and trainers have sleepwalked into believing traditional training periodisation and the various iterations it's gone through over the decades is the key to success. Jump online or hang around a gym long enough and someone'll tell you about their linear, blocked, semi-undulating programme with a transition into wave loaded concurrently conjugated patterns. Just like the Emperor in the classic tale The Emperor's New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen, they're playing along with traditional ideas of periodisation because they don't want to appear stupid.

The Myth of Injury Prevention

When I left university I made a pretty bold statement: I would be able to develop physical preparation programmes for the athletes I worked with that would prevent all injuries. I was newly qualified and thought my shit didn't stink. I believed in a couple of years, all physiotherapists and surgeons would be out of a job because my athletes would have zero injuries.


Head over, take a look and let me know what you think! I'll be covering a range of topics during the next couple of months, including...what's wrong with most speed and agility training, why I don't believe in sport specific training, the use and misuse of technology in coaching and fuzzy fitness!