One of the S&C coaches that I'm currently working with as part of her mentorship programme delivered a presentation yesterday on the importance of strength and conditioning for athletic development and one of her slides featured Mary Poppins.
Now, if you have young children or even if you are an adult fan of the film, I'm sure you will have an idea of where I'm going with this post. The image reminded me of the following phrase taken from the film and I think it sums up exactly what we need to be focusing on with our athletes and client.
"...PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY..."
In an era obsessed with volume, density, intensity, crossfit, 300 workouts, and bootcamps lets not forget that we also need to execute our training programmes with solid technique and purpose. I'm all for tough sessions and accept from time to time things get a big ugly. We can't always be pretty, pretty! However, if all you have in your locker as a coach is the ability to beast people until they puke and hang the technique, then I think you need to watch Mary Poppins and remind yourself that it is not all about grunt and sweat!
Sacrificing quality of movement for load is one of the biggest mistakes.
Technical Failure - a set ends when the client can no longer perform a correct rep - Charles Poliquin
Technique - Technique - Technique