Equipment, Training & Teaching Aids

THE TAKANO ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER

Vol. 1, No. 11

July 15, 2008

THE TAKANO ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER VOL. 1, No. 11
This free newsletter is to inform you of events, and thoughts regarding the training of weightlifters and the incorporation of the Olympics lifts into the training of athletes.

Some Thoughts About Getting Home and the NSCA National Conference
I apologize for the lateness of the newsletter, but as soon as I got back from the NSCA, I had to dive right into teaching summer school, had an unusually high client load and since my wife Marta is away visiting relatives in Argentina I was left to take care of the house and our four dogs, Sherman, Trouble, Lucky and Dixie. I'm also in the process of starting on a new project and today is the first time I've had to catch a breath and dig into the newsletter.

As expected Las Vegas was hot and though I'd expected daytime highs of 109 F, the night time low on July 9 was a bit much at 91. Phew! John Garhammer picked that night to lead our group on a trek to a restaurant called Ellis Island because they had a great price on steak dinners according to former NSCA president Dan Wathen. He was right, but I don't know if I'd make that trek in the evening heat too often. Superheavyweight lifter John Broz met us there and had two steak dinners while regaling us with stories about his friendship with Antonio Krastev, the man who'd snatched the heaviest weight in history, 216 kg.

The conference allowed me to catch up with a lot of familiar faces and to meet some new ones. Bill Whiting, Dan Wathen, Bill Kramer, Ty Stenzel, Bud Charniga, Ingrid Marcum, Lou DeMarco, Chris Frankel, Loren Chiu, Leo Totten, Tom DeLong and many more were there to share some time and thoughts about the state of weightlifting and its place in the strength and conditioning continuum.

My general impression is, and I think there is some consensus from most of the people I spoke with, that the Olympic lifts are just another modality available to Strength and Conditioning coaches to ply their craft. The lifts are given the same consideration as bosu balls, rubber bands, kettlebells and every other gizmo that someone can dream up. Fortunately there is still a staunch group of members that believe as I do - that there is nothing to compare with the Olympic lifts in their ability to develop a combination of speed, explosiveness, strength, torso strength, kinesthetic sense and durability in a minimal amount of time.

For this reason and because of my convictions I agreed to run for chair of the NSCA weightlifting SIG when outgoing chair Loren Chiu asked me. Loren has taken a job as a college instructor and strength and conditioning coordinator in his native Canada and must leave for the great White North. As it turned out I ran unopposed. The group is composed of sincere individuals with a true love of Olympic lifting, and it will be our focus to make sure that weightlifting receives the cache that it is due. It will be best for the athletes.

I got to meet Mr. Uesaka of Uesaka Barbell and his company sponsors the weightlifting SIG. I also spent some time with Leo Totten, who is now representing Werksan and of course with Bud Charniga who sells Eleiko. I'm going to look into incorporating their support of weightlifting within the NSCA as everyone will benefit in the long run.

Beijing Weightlifting Coverage
The coverage of weightlifting will be part of the 3600 hours of Olympic sports presented in the U.S. by NBC during the Beijing Olympics which are due to open on August 8. The preliminary schedule was printed in USA Today recently and I've tried to isolate the weightlifting coverage as much as possible. The specifics will probably change from day to day. Go to NBCOlympics.com as the schedule is tightened up. All times are EDT and PDT. Fire up the TiVo when appropriate!

Some Interesting Food for Thought
In the latest issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (Volume 22, Number 4), there is a research report titled Online Weight Training by McNamara etal that details an investigation in which 79 college weight training students were randomly divided into three groups: Traditional, Hybrid and Online. The first group trained regularly under the supervision of qualified instructors as well as receiving classroom lectures. The second group received some instruction online, and were only supervised for technique while in the weight room. The third group received all of their instruction online, and were allowed to workout on their own at a gym of their choice. Pre and post strength testing was conducted as well as two written exams that tested knowledge of course material. All three groups were provided with the same training program.

All three groups were comparable in the academic testing, but only the first two made significant strength gains. The general conclusion was that a wholly online approach is not as effective as supervised training. Not hard to figure that one out, eh?

While at Bud's booth one common gripe was that so many people are trying to learn the lifts by watching them on Youtube and that the resulting technique is less than desirable. Several of us felt that the timing looks different on video than what it actually is, and that further complicates the task. I've long felt that there is just something different about watching lifting on video and seeing it live.

I'll conclude this by stating that there is simply no substitute for good hands on coaching and even though society is enamored of the internet and technology, weightlifting training is best performed under the supervision of competent coaches.

The member section of the Takano Athletics Website has a number of full cycle, detailed weightlifting training programs and several detailed training programs for volleyball players. These programs are so valuable to anyone coaching weightlifters or is interested in how to incorporate the Olympic lifts into the training of athletes in other sports. Go to takanoathletics.com to become a member and download these programs and the accompanying coaching articles.

I didn't get to Interview John Garhammer
I wanted to interview John for the website, but the NSCA conference is just not a good situation. I've always felt that John has some great insights that have not generally been disseminated to the weightlifting and strength training audience. I'm going to try and do it by phone with Audio Acrobat, so look for that to happen and be posted soon!