Great to catch up with @AngusRossNZ last night and talk all things ‘spinal engine’ as it relates to sprinting The ‘spinal engine’ [Gracovetsky] is the concurrent lateral flexion, extension, and rotation of the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae that contributes to gait — something @PfaffSC refers to in this video ⬇️

https://twitter.com/ALTIS/status/1640304266295246848

Some context on this — these 5 are our ‘invariant rules’ — i.e. if you want top be an effect I’ve & efficient athlete who sprints— you HAVE to have these on point

There are others that are more variant — i.e. more individual — e.g. hip & shoulder undulation-oscillation

https://twitter.com/altis/status/1641382583744225280

Here’s what that looks like in acceleration — same rules, with slightly different shapes

https://twitter.com/StuartMcMillan1/status/1596212058080559107

At the end of this T&F season, I stayed in the UK for 10 days, & travelled around the country presenting to a number of the health & performance staffs from English Premier League football teams

In the following thread, I’ll share what I talked about

https://twitter.com/stuartmcmillan1/status/1562497557036937217?s=21&t=wmryE0YrP9IImfYH-0-9cg

“The component parts of a system are best understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems – rather than in isolation.”

THREAD PURPOSE: What does this statement mean, & how does it help you in being a better coach?

link.springer.com/referenceworke….

A face-on kinogram - besides giving us insight into step width - is also an opportunity to better understand propulsion strategies & asymmetries

e.g. we know effective gait involves spinal rotation & tilt - both of which are at near-maximal @ touch-down - but which is dominant? In this sequence, the strategy seems to be tilt - with not a ton of rotation.

Is this a problem?
Well - as always: it depends.

This is a 30 year old sprinter, & this is her ‘typical’ strategy, so we should be careful with how we affect change

Yesterday, I presented at @MovementMiyagi’s #SMSC2020.

I spoke about problems - identifying them, analyzing them, & trialing management strategies. This process is similar whether it is coaches working with athletes, or a *new way of thinking* struggling to find acceptance I wanted to respect the #SMSC2020 theme of ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ - so I spoke a lot about the folks I am most-influenced by —> whose ideas provide frameworks for our own work

My (seemingly) monthly (most-likely in vain) drum-beating against the continued ignorance of some folks on the complexity of speed, and the methods we employ to improve it:

SHORT THREAD >> Perhaps the biggest myth in all of training for speed is that "you need to sprint maximally to get faster"

For those who may be interested, I will share a few of the slides, as well as brief messages from my presentations the last two days with Rangers and Man City ... before commenting, please understand these are just slides outlining a 2 hour talk ... <<THREAD>> 1st up, I discussed the relevance of speed to field-based sports ... i.e. why should field-based sports staffs worry about speed (& more specifically the kinematics that govern it)

A RANT>> Firstly: there are probably a few people who know what the Chelsea players do in the WR, if anything. Most of us are not of those few - including me. There is one person who understood fully what was meant by Sarri’s comments to the media. His name is Maurizio Sarri 2. Let’s start with a thought experiment: you are hired as the new Head of Sport Science / Fitness / S&C, etc. (choose your title) at Chelsea FC, and have carte blanche to organize training in any way you like - starting this Monday.