Last blog of the decade

So, this time 10 years ago we were all anticipating a Y2K collapse, with planes falling from the sky. Those of us in London were persuaded to go and see the "river of fire" on New Year's Eve, which turned out to be a damp squid.

What happened next?

The web kicked off, emails became a burden rather than a way of communicating, young people can not actually speak in proper sentences, or spell, or pay attention to something for more than 45 seconds.
Everyone wanted something for nothing, abdicating personal responsibility for what they ate, what they borrowed or what they did. I am not sure whether we have suffered the full consequences of all that yet.

The last 10 years have been eventful for me:
Set up this company;Completed an MSc; Competed in European and World Championships;Got Married; Moved house 4 times; Had two children- the best things that have happened definitely.

Highlights of the decade generally?
Movies: generally poor, apart from Gladiator right at the beginning and the 3 LOTR movies, a generally poor showing from Hollywood as the lowest common denomonator and multiplexes were catered for. 2009 offered a glimmer of hope with The Wrestler, Star Trek and Gran Torino.
Books: Lots of text books, e books, and journals to read. Gambetta, Bosch, Kurz and John Jesse I still refer to a lot.
Stephen Ambrose's history books, athough with a heavy US bias, Richard Dawkins is always good, Michio Kaku and Martin Rees to broaden the mind, just discovered Henning Mankell's crime novels for light reading.
TV Series- Thank you HBO: The Sopranos, The Wire, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Generation Kill and Band of Brothers, also in the UK- The Office.
Travel: Money and family have limited my travel escapades compared to the previous decades, but I have discovered the local area in more depth. Devon, Cornwall and Somerset have a lot to offer and I try to make time each week to go somewhere new in the vicinity. Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas is an obvious highlight because of our wedding, but that is an obvious get away from it all place. The best thing about the Cay was that we spent a week with friends and family there. Brittany too was new to me and we will be visiting there again. I also went to Japan three times for training/ competing purposes. Tokyo is a different world, but enjoyable, Hakone park is great for feeling part of rural Japan.


I am having a 2 week break from blogging to make sure I spend more time with my family and friends. That is what Christmas means to me, the chance to chat, relax and share some new experiences with people who matter.

Have a very Happy Christmas, a great New Year, thanks to everyone who reads this blog, who comments, who has bought services from us, or who has supplied the company with expertise.

Your feedback- free prizes

Hi, I am a bit short of comments on the blog at present, despite readership being higher than ever.
All comments are welcome (except abusive ones) and it leads to me improving my service because I get to see things from your perspective.

One example of this was me uploading free resources on LTAD here: http://www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk/child_latd.html

So, to kick things off - I would like to hear the top 5 questions that you have to ask about training, competing and coaching. That way I can tailor the blog to your needs.

As a prize, I have 5 Excelsior beanies and a pedometer to the 6 people who submit their questions first.

Thanks

New Year's Resolutions- Healthy Eating

I always like to get a step ahead of my competitors by ensuring that I start training before they do.
December is an ideal opportunity to do this as most people are switching off and over indulging. They then have a longer uphill struggle in January.

I have uploaded a useful guide on sports nutrition here: http://www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk/papers/UKA_Eat_and_Drink_Like_A_Champion.pdf

If you are trying to lose weight, maintain weight or improve body composition, then it is better to be consistent, then trying to do it in a hurry. Much easier to cut down on mince pie intake than trying to burn them off later (but still have the odd one otherwise you will be a weirdo who has a psychotic episode later on in life).

What matters now- free ebook - fresh ideas

Download this free ebook featuring ideas and thoughts from a variety of people here:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/files/what-matters-now-1.pdf

Nice to see a group project come together and useful to read stuff from outside of your usual scope.

One of the problems with Coaching nowadays is "groupthink", the Coaches are coming from a limited gene pool of ex players or from certain Clubs and Universities and rehashing what they were taught or experienced 5 years previously.

A fresh insight at least allows you to challenge what you are doing and reflect upon it. As we are coming up to the end of the decade- why not start thinking afresh now?

New Year's Resolutions- Reasons to Avoid

So, we have just over 2 weeks to go this decade. Are you thinking about what you might start in the New Year? If so, I can pretty much guarantee that it won't last.

If you really want to change something, or start something new- you would do it today, right now.
If not, then you are waiting for an external event or influence to do it for you. This may not be obvious at first, but it is an underlying trend.

I had the conversation with one of my Excelsior colleagues 2 weeks ago- he says that he is always being asked by people to help him get fit, or give them free advice. He clears 80% of the time wasters away by asking them to eat breakfast at home for 4 days in a row, then he will talk to them again. Only 20% of the people can manage to do this.

I have the same point of view when asked about exercise, or buying new equipment, or which gym to join- I say to the non exercisers to walk for 15 minutes a day and see how they get on. This immediately puts up barriers as I have put the monkey on their back.
"What, I actually have to do something to get fitter\ lose weight\ improve my health? Can't I just spend some money and my new purchase will do it for me?"

My point and my colleagues is that a change in your well being requires you to do something, if you can't stick to a healthier eating habit for 4 days, or find 15 minutes a day to start walking, then no amount of purchases will do the work for you.

If you wait until the New Year to start your new lifestyle, then you have wasted 17 days.

Recovery - travelling is not resting

Working with several different athletes this week, from fencing, modern pentathlon and basketball, who looked very tired.
When we talk about what is making them tired, it doesn't appear to be a heavy training load, their nutrition could be improved (whose couldn't?) but the key factor is the amount of travel that is required to attend their training or competition.

When you add the stress of work or school and study on there, you can see why they become ill or get injured.

Travel is not rest, so how can you make it less stressful?

Make sure you have warmed down, showered, eaten and rehydrated before getting on your journey post competition.

Take a form of relaxation on the journey- reading, music, or sleep (difficult if you are the driver).

Ensure that you have regular stops and move around on those stops, park as far away from the toilets as you can to make sure you get more walking done.

Avoid the service station food, instead eat and drink regularly on the journey.

As a Coach, factor travel time under additional stressors, and realise that a 3 hour round trip to do a 1 hour training session may not be conducive to achieving peak performance. Your athlete may be better off at home and working on individual skills and getting more rest.

How to Create Excellence In Coaching

For a start, I am not sure I have achieved this, but there are a few things that you can do to help make yourself and your coaching better.

• Learn- observe, participate, read, practice. Not just from the usual key texts, if all you do is read the same 3 books as everyone else, you will do the same as everyone else. Look outside your usual sphere of influence, try different things, listen to what your athletes are telling you.
• Analyse- look at what your athletes do when they move, don't come with a prepared programme to hand out, see what they can actually do. Look at what the sport requires in the game, using both top performers and beginners as benchmarks. Don't take an exercise as gospel because "Tiger Woods does it". Try to understand why he might do something, and then see if you need to do that.
• Share- share your ideas and opinions and thoughts with others. Physiotherapists, biomechanists, physiologists, coaches will all see the same thing as you, but from their perspective. This will add colour, depth and clarity to your own vision. This should help prevent group think, but also be aware of summating that information into a workable package for your athletes.
• Review- constantly, all the time, after every session, every day, every week, every month, every year. The mini reviews will help you adjust things before your next session. But the bigger reviews require time and no distractions. Take the time out away from the immediate pressing issues of the day and sit down with a blank piece of paper and a clear mind. Revisit where you want to go, think what you need to get there. Think what you have done and then match the two. Where there are gaps, look to improve.
  

'We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit’. Aristotle (384 – 322 BC).

Thanks to John Hogan for that last quote.