Ian King

Someone spiked my drink…  

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Many years ago, after expressing my cynicism at repeated stories of athletes blaming their ‘natural supplements’ for failing sports drug testers, one of my newsletter readers send me a blistering email about the ‘science’ of how one could go positive on over the counter supplements. I remained skeptical.

I had a quite laugh when Andre Aggassi came out of the closet so to speak admitting he lied to the tennis body about his positive test for recreational drugs. For the record I have absolute respect for Andre and what he has achieved in tennis and life. I make no judgement about his fabrication or his drug use.

What I do believe his admission did was start to peel back the lid on some of the ‘someone spiked my drink’ stories….

Needless to say, the Women’s Tennis Federation a few years ago entered into a deal with a supplement supplier that offered up a$1 million US payment for any athlete who tested positive whilst taking its supplements, after this company took its products to a World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) accredited lab to ensure its formulas met the standards required to avoid any doping offences from their consumption alone.

Ian King

I was in the best condition of my life – I don’t understand it….

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‘I was in the best condition of my life – I don’t understand it.’

That was in essence what the athlete was reported in the media as saying – after his hamstring tore off from the bone.

I don’t want to draw attention to the athlete or the organization, as they don’t deserve anything perceived as negative aimed at them – they are simply a pretty good snapshot (in my opinion) of where the elite sporting world (and all levels down) are at in relation to the perspectives towards injury.

You see, the person responsible for injury prevention/rehabilitation added to this snapshot when he was quoted by the media as saying words to the effect:

‘It was just a freak accident.’

You might get by now that I don’t buy into this perspective – that in my opinion the athlete was not the best shape of his life (at least not in a global way – maybe in one specific area); and that it was not a freak accident.

Let me guess – after watching the video of the incident (no, I didn’t guess on this, as this was reported in the media!) they didn’t see anything significant that would explain why the injury would occur. Does that make it a freak accident? If we allow our bodies to get into an appropriate condition, and this leads to an injury during a relatively benign activity (like getting out of bed, tying your laces, picking something up off the floor – and yes, these are common actions associated with ‘can’t be explained’ injuries) – does that mean it was a freak accident? No – it means we got so off track in our condition that a minor incident was all that it took to take us over the edge.

So we have a franchise out of pocket for the players salary for the year, a teams plans thrown into turmoil because they just lost their marque player a week or two before the season start, an athlete who is out of action for the year and who knows what long term ramifications – these are not light consequences. These are not freak circumstances. He was not in the condition of his life.

This occurred as a result of the low level of understanding of professional athletes and their service providers (and the broader community) of what it takes to cause an injury and what it takes to prevent an injury.

It’s not good enough, but if people choose to participate in this perspective of injury, then they can’t shift the responsibility away – they got what they deserved. There is a better way….

Ian King

Giving credit

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I watched Brad Sugars in live seminar last week, fifteen years after first attending one of his seminars, and many in between.

For those who are not familiar with Brad, he is a Brisbane born lad currently living in the US who has contributed much to the world of business coaching. We have been among the many to benefit from his works.

Anyway, during the seminar last week he made multiple references to the late Jim Rohn, quoting Jim and immediately giving recognition to Jim as being the originator of the saying. He also recognized and expressed gratitude for Jim’s contribution to his life.

Imagine that? Imagine this level of honesty and integrity in physical preparation – in giving credit for original work and recognition for contribution to those who have added value to the life’s of many.

I didn’t hear Brad say how he ‘stole that saying from person x’, and I didn’t hear Brad attempt to pass off the sayings as his own. And Brad didn’t choose to ignore the influence Jim had on him.

Brad talked about Jim in the same way he did 15 years ago. He didn’t bullshit then, and he didn’t bullshit now.

Imagine that in physical preparation? One day….

Ian King

Why don’t you come and work in my yard instead?

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I was watching a young man in a strong man video clip on the web and as he was pushing the wheelbarrow up the hill I thought to myself – why don’t you come and work in my yard instead? Help me maintain my acreage?

I am talking about the raised popularity of pushing barrow, lifting and throwing types etc.

Now don’t get me wrong – I don’t have a problem with this type of training. Or any type of training for that matter. But what it did make very clear to me is that the standard of living is so high that some seek the ‘thrill’ of these odd lifts.

In the days where more did manual labour, I am very confident that few would go home and do more manual labour!

And for that matter, those who do manual labour all day long (or have done so for at least a few months) would know how tough it is to come home from a long day in the sun to do any weight training at all.

This odd lifts or push the wheel barrow trend is not new in sport. It has been recommended and used throughout my life by coaches and athletes who wanted to get or stay in condition for their sport.

However one of the factors contributing to the continual increase in sports performance is that the off-field training has become more targeted. Manual labour can rarely compete with more specialized training.

So in essence, lifting and throwing objects is only specific to the odd lifts competitions as far as sport specific training goes. For those seeking adaptations that are not necessarily for any specific outcome – as long as they understand the lowered specificity of this, and that if they were seeking more specific outcomes there may be more specific training forms that may be more suited.

In the meantime, you can all come and maintain my yard if you want to do some manual labour!