‘Cool Story, Bro’ – The Fallacy of Training Systems and Conventional Wisdom on Training Prescription

Paul Gamble

25/05/2017 at 14:46 #19758

Let us begin with a revelation: athletes are humans not machines.

If we start with such a fundamental understanding of the nature of what we are dealing with, it quickly becomes apparent that the challenge of planning and prescribing training for athletes is not conducive to a ‘machine’ approach. Yet many in the field steadfastly cling onto a particular training system. And many of us are a slave to a spreadsheet approach to prescribing training.

[See the full post at: ‘Cool Story, Bro’ – The Fallacy of Training Systems and Conventional Wisdom on Training Prescription]

We are going to have a book give-away. The author of the best forum post (comment, question or a critique) will receive a free copy of the Comprehensive Strength and Con-ditioning: Physical Preparation for Sports Performance book. So, please go ahead and check the article, and use your critical thinking skills to make the best comment on the forum.

Eamonn Flanagan

20/06/2017 at 13:04 #19900

Would like to chip in here to say that “comprehensive S&C” from Paul Gamble is an excellent multi-purpose, textbook. Well worth getting your hands on.

Robert Simonic

09/08/2017 at 10:33 #20250

Great post Paul, thank you Mladen for putting it up.

I have a question regarding practical side of this on the side “of how to”?

I would too like to see that athletes would be treated morecfrom biological side rather than pure mathematical/analyitical side. But from what I saw till now it is good to have both sides up & ready. When we test the ahletes and anylize the results we have to put that in some form to start from there, wheter it is matemathical/statistical doesn’t matter. Because other way we are just guessing it. Maybe just that the most experienced S&C coaches can run good programs just on experience and “guts”.

I test and anylize the results than put them up in paper or spreadsheet and start from there. Than I can re-programe it when necessary based on “biology”: feelings, tiredness, awareness, progressions…

As one my prof. said during my hardest exam: “Human are biology, never forget that!”

Hope Paul will write follow up to this and offer us some progressions!

Robert