Ian King

Rhabdo – The New Black

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Mike would not be happy

In the late 1990’s a member of the Tufts University in Boston Massachusetts reached out to me. As a result of that initial email exchange, he first attended a live seminar with me in his home city in 2000,  and from there attended every professional development opportunity held in the US and some additional ones abroad. He was committed to this role, serving the athlete.

His name was Mike Pimentel.  Mike’s initial qualification was as an Athletic Trainer and he worked in the Tufts Athletic Training Department for about a decade, from memory. In the 1990s he was then approached to start up and run a new department at Tufts, their ‘strength & conditioning department’.

Faced with serving the entire athletic preparation at the university of over 700, Mike was no stranger to going the extra mile for his clients. Sleeping under the desk in his office due to working late and the long drive home and back for an early start, was just one example.

Being at the coal face, Mike felt pieces were missing and was looking for the answers, looking for a better way to prevent injuries and enhance performance.  That’s where I came in.

From about 2002 to 2018 I visited the university annually, providing guidance and learning more about the challenges faced.

One of the many innovations Mike put into place was a course that resulted in students with the qualifications to provide training supervision to their cohort.  Mike was a pioneer in solving the challenges faced by NCAA colleges, where the demand for athlete preparation services typically exceeded the budget.

I know I speak for all the students and alumni during Mike’s 30-year contribution at Tufts that all were blessed by his presence. It may have only been a Div. 3 college, but they received first-class service.

Just six years after Mike’s passing, his beloved Tutfs was home to the latest new-age equivalent of vomiting to prove how tough the training session was – heat induced near fatal rhabdomyolysis.

So what is rhabdomyolysis?

Rhabdomyolysis is a big word for saying that training was so intense, and the body temperature was so elevated, the muscles started breaking down, releasing their content into the bloodstream, and endangering organ status in doing so.

Rhabdo is the abbreviation.

What are some other variations?

Rhadbo symptoms can appear similar to heat-related illnesses and dehydration. It’s likely that athletes training in hotter environments show extreme symptoms of heat stroke first. The only way to determine if you have rhabdo is through testing.

How dangerous is it?

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention it is “a serious medical condition that can lead to permanent disability or death.”

How common is it?

Rhabdo is fast becoming the gold standard of ‘conditioning training intensity’. Here are some other examples (this list is not exhaustive):

Year Institute Sport # affected Timing
2024 Tufts Univ. Boston[1] Men’s Lacrosse 12 out of 50

(25%) confirmed [2]

 Sep 16 2024
2023 Mid America Nazarene University in Kansas, American Football Pre-season football late July
2023 US Miltiary[3] Military training 52 – 40.5 cases per 100,000 person-years, the highest rate observed during this study’s 2019–2023 surveillance period.
2018-2022 Between 2018 and 2022, at least 11 football players in the US—at the student and professional level—have died of heat stroke. And the number of young athletes diagnosed with exertional heat illness has been increasing over the past decade or so…[4] [5] [6] [7]
2020 Manly-Warringah Rugby League Club, Sydney[8] Rugby League 1 death 23 Nov 2020; First training back in the off-season
2019 Manly-Warringah Rugby League Club, Sydney [9] Rugby League 1 near-death offseason conditioning
2012 Ohio State University[10] Women’s Lacrosse 6 athletes admitted to hospital March[11]
2011 University of Iowa [12] American Football 13 athletes admitted to hospital offseason conditioning, return from school break
2010 Oregon high school American Football Among 43 players, 22 (51%) experienced rhabdomyolysis; 22 patients had upper arm myalgia; 12 were hospitalized; 3 experienced triceps compartment syndrome. an upper arm exercise held in a non-air-conditioned wrestling room.

Conclusion

There was a time when getting an athlete to vomit during ‘conditioning’ training was a sign of how ‘tough’ the session was, perhaps a badge of honour for the trainer. Not that I agree with this approach but it cannot be denied as a phenomenon.  Now it appears the stakes have been raised. Vomiting is not good enough. Near-death or death appears to be the new gold standard in ‘that was a tough workout.

That’s not encouraging. It’s insane, but is it going to turn around? Based on the lack of accountability I see in the official who ran the programs highlighted above, I suspect the answer is no.  It is going to get worse.

What you and I can do, if you share my thoughts on this, is to ensure that no such situation or outcome occurs on our watch.

We are here for the athlete, and I cannot see now near-death or actual death experiences from off-season conditioning training is serving the athletes.

On its surface, a statement such as this should be redundant. But it isn’t, considering the trend.

I believe Mike would not be happy about the event that occurred at his beloved alma mater in 2024. And no one who puts the athlete first should be happy with this new ‘training trend’.

 

References

[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2024/09/23/tufts-university-lacrosse-players-rhabdo-training/75347715007/

[2] https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/tufts-mens-lacrosse-players-hospitalized-following-workout-led-by-graduate-of-navy-seal-training-program/3494987/

[3]  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11107841/ The 529 reported incident cases of exertional rhabdomyolysis among active component U.S. service members in 2023 represent an unadjusted annual incidence rate of 40.5 cases per 100,000 person-years, the highest rate observed during this study’s 2019–2023 surveillance period. This increase in crude incidence rates was most noticeable in the Marine Corps,

[4] https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2023/09/football-players-deaths-excessive-heat-coaching/

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/football-player-heat-deaths-athlete

[6] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/09/21/heat-kills-student-athletes-how-schools-can-help/74843984007/

[7] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/23/high-school-football-deaths-heat-stroke

[8] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/may/03/nrl-player-keith-titmuss-died-after-inappropriate-training-session-coroner-finds

[9] https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2024-former-prop-lloyd-perrett-launching-legal-action-against-sea-eagles-heat-stroke-keith-titmuss-news-videos-highlights/news-story/f444cc32ea5ef9d968a7d5b899af09c8

[10] https://www.dispatch.com/story/lifestyle/health-fitness/2013/03/09/rhabdomyolysis-laid-low-6-athletes/23706206007/

[11] “In the Ohio State case, Kelly Becker told university officials that on March 6, 2012, the women lacrosse players performed a series of grueling upper-body workouts unlike anything they had done to that point in the season. The workout included pull-ups (she did 56), chin-ups and triceps-crunching dips without rest during a 20-minute workout. Two days later, they pushed football blocking sleds. The six players went to the hospital the next day.”

[12] https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=6061650

 

Ian King

Principles – The North Star of Physical Preparation

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The enduring power and importance of training principles

Before maps and compasses, humans would look for guidance when travelling, typically seeking them from stars that were consistent in their visibility.   Even in the more modern times, these same stars provide an enduring back-up system to travellers.

One can liken training to travelling. The purpose of training is to take our athletic and or physical qualities from Point A- where we are today – to Point B – where we want to be in the future.

In this physical training journey, decisions are made moment by moment. This is the reality of what earlier European literature referred to as the ‘training process’.  Ideally you begin with a plan, but the realities of the body combined with the environment require constant adaptation.

In making these constant and in the moment decisions we again ideally have something to guide us, in the same way stars were used for navigation before the advent of compasses and maps.

From my earliest professional development, I was influenced to believe that training principles would be used to serve this purpose.

What are training principles?

I describe training principles as:

Principles of training are general rules or guidelines that can apply to all aspects of training.  It is important for a student of physical preparation know these principles, to understand them, and most importantly, to consistently apply them in the training of the athlete.[1] [2]

For me ‘principles of training’ fall within ‘the theory of training’, and I appreciate not everyone wants to embrace theory. However, I strongly suggest that for the safety of the athlete/client, and for the optimization of retaining, that all physical preparation coaches embrace and internalize the principles of training. For this reason principles of training feature prominently in our coach education since it’s commencement in 1999.

What are examples of principles of training?

The following lists describes dominant principles of training as they were presented from 1999 in our coach education courses and books.  They are listed alphabetically, not in any order of importance: [3] [4]

  1. Active and conscientious participation.
  2. Contrarian principle.
  3. General to specific.
  4. Individualization.
  5. Opposite and equal effect.
  6. Progressive Overload.
  7. Recovery.
  8. Reversibility.
  9. Specificity.
  10. Transfer.
  11. Variety.

Do principles change over time?

The upside of learning and internalizing the principles of training is that, unlike trends in training, they do not change.

In fact, it is a tenant of what I seek to learn, master, and teach – the concept of generalized principles. Concepts that remain unwavering over time, despite many other things changing around it.  I credit the US thinker and inventor Buckminster-Fuller for the term ‘generalized principles’ – things that never change – and mastering and teaching these are far more important than ‘science’ or ‘trends’.

I am proud to have contributed to the area of principles of training, an area I have so much respect for, with a number of original principles.  I look forward to them standing the test of time…[5]

The world, society and the training environment is subject to continual change. There is the risk that some may assume that newer ways of doing things, such as the arrival of new trends of training, may over-ride or negate the role and importance of training principles.  I suggest this is not the case.

It would appear I am not alone in stressing that changing times do not mean principles wane or change. In his augural address, the 54th President of the United States said:

“As my high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.” [6]

What happens when we ignore these principles of training?

 When we ignore the principles of training there are levels of risk that may result.  I list them below:

  1. Overtraining
  2. Imbalanced adaptations leading to acute or chronic injury
  3. The shortening of the career, the quality of life, or of life itself.

1. Overtraining

Overtraining can occur very easily and subtlety, with the chances are the moment that it occurred and the decisions make that caused it going unnoticed and unrecognized.  It takes a commitment to objective review and high standards of excellence in outcomes to provide a measure of analysis and comparison.  In other words, most of these moments in training are missed and lessons are not learnt.   This is particularly applicable when the implications of that overtraining are not immediately and blatantly apparent.

Overtraining can lead to sub-optimal training and competition results, onset of injury, reduction of career span and quality of lifelong term.

2. Imbalanced adaptations leading in the acute and/or chronic injury

As with overtraining, any inherent imbalance in training stimulus – in all macro and micro variables – can be subtle, delayed in their appearance, yet significant on the downside.  And again, due to the subtle nature of these negative adaptation, and the lack of clarity around what is an optimal adaptation, the moments that these occur are typically missed, and the lessons fall to be received.

Case Study #1 – Acute or/or chronic Injuries

The following refers to an Australian NRL teams first season under a new coach:

The Titans came into their 2024 campaign with high expectation — and at one stage they were even exceeding it — but the season ended with a whimper after injuries decimated Des Hasler’s squad.

 Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was the first to go down with an ACL rupture ending his season in Round 3, while Jayden Campbell had a delayed start due to a knee injury before copping two more setbacks in another knee concern and a hand injury.

AJ Brimson battled with a niggling groin injury which eventually caused his season’s end prematurely, while Beau Fermor, Phillip Sami and David Fifita also had stints on the sideline.[7]

3.  The shortening of the career, the quality of life, or of life itself.

These subtle failings in training that it appears everyone is not held accountable for, can and most likely will result in significant life-changing implications. These range from shorter careers, through to shortened quality of life post-career, through to premature (or in some instances immediate) death.

Case study #2 – Career ending injury.

Here is a case study that highlights this risk.

“We went on a run, weren’t allowed any water and told ‘if you don’t like it, you can take your car keys to the field and go home’.

“Coaches and trainers do this regularly – try to see how tough you are.

“We had a run, then a short break, then got sent on another run… again without water, then a third run. 

“I guess my mind was stronger than my body. I don’t remember what happened – I collapsed and woke up in hospital with around seven doctors and nurses around me… I thought I was going to die.

“I couldn’t move my arms or legs … I’ve never been more scared.

“I was literally on my death bed … and it was 100 per cent avoidable.

“A nurse later told me that 60 per cent of people who get heat stroke die … I was one of the lucky ones.”

Perrett was just 23 at the time but his career was over. “I stayed at Manly but was never the same,” he said.[8]

Perret is now taking legal action against the club.[9]

Case study #3 – Life ending injury.

In November 2020, during the first training session back in the general preparatory phase at the NFL franchise Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, a 20 year old rugby league player passed away as a result of the training session.

Keith Titmuss lost consciousness immediately after a 139-minute training session at the team’s headquarters on Sydney’s northern beaches on November 23, 2020.

A coronial inquest into his sudden death heard several experts concluded the forward was suffering from exertional heat stroke when he had a seizure at an indoor facility. [10]

On the face of it one might consider the athlete may have had a pre-existing condition that led to his passing. However, evidence presented at the subsequent coronial inquiry may provide a different perspective. On 4 November 2019 the club doctor Luke Inman sent an email to the then head of sports science at the club warning about heat and the need for head monitoring at training:

“You are leaving yourself open to litigation from a player if they suffer heat stress or at worst, dies,” the email warned.[11]

This email was followed up the 7th April 2019 with the same warning, this time to more stakeholders within the club:

On 7 April 2019, Dr Inman forwarded a copy of his 4 November 2018 email to Mr Booth, copying in Mr Bonasera, Mr Hasler and Mr Singe, and relevantly wrote: Hi Mark, I am well aware of the NRL policy and guidelines. Furthermore, John Bonasera forwarded you my email in Nov 2018 regarding heat measurement at training and the clubs stand on the “recommendation” is that it is performed at every training session during the hotter months in preseason (see below). You were made aware of the clubs medical policy for heat measurement at training by John Bonasera and have not complied. You are leaving yourself and the club open to litigation from a player if they happen to suffer from heat stress or worse, die. We have already had one extreme example of this. I would strongly advise that this measurement is continued at training please. It does not take long to set up.

The counsel assisting the coroner Adam Casselden SC said the evidence before the coroner showed the training session had been “objectively tough”:

“It was unnecessarily and inappropriately tough, given it was the first extended training session of the new season,” he told the NSW State Coroners Court.

“With the benefit of hindsight, (it was) an inappropriately high level of intensity and not of a safe level or environment.” [12]

The coroner concluded:

“… the training session was “more likely than not inappropriate”, given a range of factors including the hot and humid conditions during the indoor part of the session.[13]

You can read the transcript from the coroners inquest here. [14]

Conclusion

 The coronial magistrate inquiry into the tragic passing of Keith Titmuss provided a number of recommendations including:

* Mandating a 14-day period of controlled training load acclimatisation following an off-season or extended break for players.

* It should also consider screening and classifying players for EHS risks, the mandatory reporting of every EHS incident and identifying what cooling strategies should be implemented for outdoor and indoor training sessions, he said.

* Magistrate Lee also recommended Manly make improvements to its record-keeping policies.[15]

It’s unfortunate to see the profession of physical preparation acting in a way that requires the oversight of the judicial system.  Does our profession really need a Magistrate to remind them of the fundamentals of the theory of training, including the principles of training? Simple concepts such as progressive overload and individualization?

From my perspective the risks involved when one ignores the principles of training can be serious. The case studies shared, and those that were not, are all for the most part avoidable. They do not need to happen.

It is important for a student of physical preparation know these principles, to understand them, and most importantly, to consistently apply them in the training of the athlete.[16] [17]

Our thoughts are with these athletes and their families.

 

References

[1] King, I., 1999, Foundations of Physical Preparation (Course)

[2] King, I., 2000, Foundations of Physical Preparation (Book), p. 26

[3] King, I., 1999, Foundations of Physical Preparation (Course)

[4] King, I., 2000, Foundations of Physical Preparation (Book), p. 26

[5] King, I., 2011, Legacy (Course), Unit 5 – Principles of Training, p. 2

[6] Inaugural Address of Jimmy Carter, Thursday 20 Jan 1977, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/carter.asp

[7] https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/nrl-2024-gold-coast-titans-season-review-ins-and-outs-transfer-targets-des-hasler-challenge/news-story/e1b658203153a70f60ef2deb13675fd0

[8] https://www.nine.com.au/sport/nrl/news-2024-the-mole-exclusive-lloyd-perrett-legal-action-manly-sea-eagles-keith-titmuss-20240501-p5jb0s.html

[9] https://www.nine.com.au/sport/nrl/news-2024-the-mole-exclusive-lloyd-perrett-legal-action-manly-sea-eagles-keith-titmuss-20240501-p5jb0s.html

[10] https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/sea-eagles/inappropriately-tough-session-before-rising-manly-stars-death/news-story/6f20fa3b30ed01621a271fa4a49086db

[11] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-09/nsw-ex-manly-coach-des-hasler-evidence-keith-titmuss-inquest/103448148

[12] https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/sea-eagles/inappropriately-tough-session-before-rising-manly-stars-death/news-story/6f20fa3b30ed01621a271fa4a49086db

[13] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-03/keith-titmuss-inquest-findings-inappropriate-training-session/103800424

[14] https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/documents/findings/2024/Inquest_into_the_death_of_Keith_Titmuss.pdf

[15] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-03/keith-titmuss-inquest-findings-inappropriate-training-session/103800424

[16] King, I., 1999, Foundations of Physical Preparation (Course)

[17] King, I., 2000, Foundations of Physical Preparation (Book), p. 26

 

 

Ian King

The western world’s blind spot to global physical preparation publications

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From their commencement in 1978 the American National Strength Coaches Association (NSCA, later changed to National Strength & Conditioning Association) produced very helpful and welcome articles on physical training (mainly strength training). However, one thing stood out at least during the period up to 2000 – referencing of non-US writers was sparse to say the least.

I asked around in the US as to why and the best explanation I could get as to why was that they felt that the non-US research could not be ‘verified’.

I don’t believe it was that simple, however that’s a discussion for another day. Let’s just say there were many nations that have been ahead of America during the modern history of our profession in the area of studying and quantifying physical preparation. And when the US stepped up its game the focus was narrow i.e. strength-centric. And I believe this disregard for non-US training publications created  a blind spot for in this profession.

A recent article highlighted this phenomenon.[1] The polite and helpful comments by a reader shed light on this. Full credit to the article author contribution, however it did reflect what I believe is the western world’s professional blind spot. And provides us all with an opportunity to make amends, to dig deeper and appreciate the origin and history of training theory and methodology globally.

I share this enlightening exchange below:

Reader Interactions – Comments

Anders Lindsjö

DECEMBER 14, 2022 AT 12:06 PM

Thanks for a very good article that hopefully will help coaches to use VBT in the future

REPLY

Giorgio

DECEMBER 14, 2022 AT 5:18 PM

Stepping off a low platform and immediately rebounding was in use in Germany and Poland ten years before Verkhoshansky experiments…

REPLY

Kim Goss

DECEMBER 14, 2022 AT 6:35 PM

Thanks for the comment. Can you give me a published, dated reference from researchers in those countries that I can research to compare their work with the classical plyometrics (i.e. shock training) from Yuri Verkhoshansky’s? I’ve never seen anyone challenge Verkhoshansky’s claim that he was the creator of classical plyometrics. Fun Fact: Dr. Siff told me the East Germans had teams of researchers translating the work of Russian sports scientists such as Professor Verkhoshansky.

REPLY

Giorgio

DECEMBER 14, 2022 AT 10:32 PM

It all begins with a statement by Tadeusz Starzynski, Polish jumping coach, in his “Le Triple Saut”, Editions Vigot, 23 rue de l’ Ecole de Medecine – 75006 Paris, 1987. On page 120 of this publication Starzynski states :
“La plyometrie est connue depuis longtemps et pratiquee dans l’ entrainement des triple sauteurs polonais depuis 1952”

REPLY

Giorgio

DECEMBER 14, 2022 AT 10:43 PM

Continuing my research, I found an old German manual, author Toni Nett, dating back to 1952.
The title was “Das Ubungs und Trainingsbuch der Leichtathletik”, Verlag fur Sport und Leibesubungen Harry Bartels, Berlin Charlottenburg 5, Fritschestrasse 27/28. In the section dedicated to the triple jump, the exercises using depth jumps with rebound appear

REPLY

Giorgio

DECEMBER 14, 2022 AT 10:56 PM

Already in 1962 Mr. Tadeusz Starzynski had published a manual on the triple jump, where he presented the methodologies already used for a long time in Poland (including depth jumps with rebound).
The title was Trojskok, Seria popularnych podrecznikow lekkiej atletyki, pod redakcja Jana Mulaka, Sport i Turystyka, Warszawa 1962.
This publication is in my possession and I can send you a copy.

Kim Goss

DECEMBER 15, 2022 AT 8:03 AM

This is why I played it safe and used the title “A Brief History….” “Rather than “The Brief History.” 🙂

The goal of the article was to recognize a few of those Iron Game pioneers who helped with the evolution of athletic training – I’m sure I left many other deserving individuals out.

With what you’re presenting, we could say that Verkhoshansky did extensive research on depth jumps and helped popularize this form of training in sports other than track and field. That said, your references are intriguing.

In “Supertraining,” the athletic fitness textbook Verkhoshanky co-authored with Dr. Siff, there is an extensive reference list. However, even though Verkhoshanky was a jumps coach, there are no references to the publications you listed. How could he have missed this?

This information will come in handy next time I write an article about plyometrics.

Kim

P.S. Thanks for the offer to share a copy. First, I’ll see if I can find those references through my resources first.

REPLY

Giorgio

DECEMBER 15, 2022 AT 10:39 PM

There’s more : Track Technique – The Journal of Technical Track & Field Athletics, Fred Wilt Editor, no 17, September 1964 Heinz Rieger, Training of Triple Jumpers. The article was translated and synthesized by Gerry Weichert from no 8 issue of “Der Leichtathlet” dated June 6 1963. Rieger was coach of the ASK Vorwarts Club in East Berlin ( former DDR).
Several Depth Jumps exercises are presented in this very old article.

Giorgio

DECEMBER 15, 2022 AT 11:19 PM

Track Technique – The Journal of Technical Track & Field Athletics, no. 20, June 1965
Heinz Kleinen, Winter Conditioning and Training for Triple Jumpers
Translated by Jess Jarver from no 4, January 28 1964 issue of Die Lehre der Leichtathletik, published in Berlin, West Germany
Several depth jump drills in this article.

REPLY

Giorgio

DECEMBER 15, 2022 AT 11:27 PM

In short, in Poland, West Germany and East Germany, Depth Jumps with rebound had already been known and practiced for a long time

REPLY

Kim Goss

DECEMBER 16, 2022 AT 2:09 PM

Good stuff! I’ll be sure to refer to this material in future articles I write about plyometrics when appropriate.

It also could be argued that gymnasts practiced depth jumps long before Verkhoshansky published any of his research. Again, the best compromise seems to be that Verkhoshansky popularized applying many training methods from track and field to other sports. Oh, and that he had a better publicist! 🙂

Thanks again for the references!

REPLY

Giorgio

DECEMBER 17, 2022 AT 3:58 AM

I would like to point out that the Germans, during the execution of the depth jumps, used mats, precisely because of the very strong impact on the ground, very similar if not equal to the “shock” method (and we are in 1950 – 1951).

 

References

[1] Goss, K., 2022, A Brief History of VBT: Iron Game Pioneers Who Revolutionized Athletic Training, Simplifaster,  https://simplifaster.com/articles/history-vbt-pioneers-revolutionized-training/

Ian King

What’s missing? The repetitive boom and bust cycle of fitness business models

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It looks like the Australian originated, global fitness franchise F45 is getting very wobbly at the business end.

Can’t say I’m surprised, but it’s disappointing. Disappointing for those who have chosen to  put their careers, businesses, and money into this path.

Some background to boom and bust.

The fledging fitness industry was very young in Australia when we witnessed the arrival of a new beast – the US modeled fitness center –

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, slick, glitzy fitness centres modelled on US gyms appeared around Australia at a rapid pace…. Membership agreements and contracts were often deliberately vague and many clients paid hundreds of dollars for badly planned and ineffective courses. [1]

My first personal exposure to this boom-and-bust fitness industry was in the early 1980s when my exercise physiology tutor was hired to consult to a new fitness chain named ‘Vigor’, and hired me to help him.  He must have liked what he saw in the fitness chain because he then purchased a franchise. A year or so later, it collapsed.

The wheels started to fall off the fitness boom in 1983-84….The first significant fitness failure was the Vigor group in NSW and Victoria, which collapsed in 1984. Several small, independently run gyms soon followed. In the second half of 1984, the John Valentine chain of seven clubs (six in NSW) crashed, owing creditors and customers $1.6 million [2]

It was incredibly coincidental that I was part of that history, and very helpful because it gave me a perspective that would serve as many flashy and attractive fitness industry business models boomed – and the busted.

The list of fitness industry boom busts business is long.  Some of the bigger more recent cases in the US have been Bally Fitness (filed for bankruptcy in 2007)[3], and 24 Hour Fitness[4] (filed for bankruptcy in 2020).

What’s missing?

Everyone’s going to have their own theories on what is behind this fitness industry business model boom and bust cycle.

Here are some thoughts:

Business model commission structure

Maybe it’s the commission model of the business structure?  In the case of F45, the CEO Adam Gilchrist apparently earned $500m AUD when the company floated on the NYSE.

F45 fitness founder and CEO Adam Gilchrist has just become one of the wealthiest people in Australia after a staggering result from floating his company on the New York Stock Exchange…F45 is valued at $US1.4 billion ($A1.9 billion) after it was put up for $US325 million ($A437 million) in its initial public offering on the New York Stock exchange at Thursday local time. Shares skyrocketed to $US17.75 ($A24 million) from their $US17 open, before closing on Thursday at $US16.2. Considering Mr Gilchrist holds 28.9 million shares in the company, that means he made around $US371 million ($A500 million) in one day.

And the founder, Rob Deutsch apparently pocked $67m AUD when he sold out in 2019.[5]

Sure, the franchisees made profit along the way – at least until they didn’t – however was the business model sustainable? 

Same product, different packaging

Essentially F45 was another group training fitness model.  With unique color in the logo, clean lines in the branding.  So same package, different packaging.

For decades fitness industry business models have competed on price, equipment, space, and appearances.  If that is all they have to differentiate themselves, perhaps this is not enough?

Serving the needs

Some suggest this group fitness model meets the needs of those who need to be ‘motivated’, and who seek social interaction of group fitness. This is a reasonable argument. But at what stage does value adding stop and start.

Let’s imagine you had 100 people with knee pain. There are going to be individual differences in the needs of each of those 100 people. But let’s say the only alternative they have is to go to a group class for rehab. It’s better than nothing, until its not. Until they realize their bodies specific needs are not getting met. Until they realize they are still in pain. Until someone comes up with a better way to serve their needs.

Perhaps one day the industry will choice the needs of the individual over short-term profit for a few?

Interestingly…

Apparently F45 used my 3-digit timing system as an integral part of their training systems.   Imagine if our industry could adopt the musical or similar creative  industries values and procedures where intellectual property and royalties are taken seriously.

Conclusion

F45 are not the first and won’t be the last in the fitness industry business models to boom and bust  Our goal with our KSI Coach Education is to guide our coaches towards sustainable business models.  Whatever F45 and the others have done is not sustainable. Somethings missing.

What do you think is missing?

References

[1] https://www.afr.com/companies/fitness-industry-gets-back-in-shape-19890811-kaiza

[2] https://www.afr.com/companies/fitness-industry-gets-back-in-shape-19890811-kaiza

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bally_Total_Fitness

[4] https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-06-15/24-hour-fitness-bankruptcy-coronavirus-gyms-closed

[5] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10678759/F45-gym-founder-sells-three-storey-ultimate-bachelor-pad-Sydney-mansion-18m-Rob-Deutsch.html

Ian King

The athlete and boiling water – how the lessons are lost

/by

There is an old fable that a frog in water where the temperature is being slowly raised will not jump out of the water, as the changes to their detriment are slow. Compared to a frog suddenly placed in boiling that may realize this is not a healthy place to be.

It appears to me that as the injury incidence rises in sport from decade to decade athletes are like this fable. They assume it is normal and accept the environment.

In an earlier article (A Lament for the Late Arrivals) I spoke about four waves of acceptance of strength training in sport (Table 1 below).  In this article, I seek to give specific examples of the lessons that should have been learnt from any of these earlier adopter sports, lessons that could and should have been passed on to improve the lot of the subsequent generation of athletes, and the later adopting sports.

For the purposes of this discussion, I will focus on the tipping point in the adoption of non-specific training referred to as physical preparation (or in the case of the American interpretation, strength and conditioning) as it relates to one specific sport sub-category – elite female swimmers in Australia.  To highlight the impact of this tipping point, I compare two cohorts – the pre-2000 cohort (1980-2000) to the post-2000 cohort (2000-2020), with specific reference to performance threatening injuries and surgeries caused by training.

The tipping point being the term credited in the first instance to American sociologist Morton Grodzins who coined the term in the 1950s[1], as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as:

“…the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place…” [2]

Therefore, I am not referring in my classification of sports and time to the outlier who was an individual early embracer of say strength training, but rather to the critical point where the rate of acceptance accelerated.

US futurist Joel Barker talks about the time it takes to reach 10 percent uptake in a new trend is the time that it races up to 90 percent acceptance, suggesting that the 10 percent mark may be a typical tipping point.[3]

Without actual statistics in each sport, my classification relies not only upon personal professional observations and is a generalization.

Table 1 – Four waves of sports that embraced physical preparation.

Phase USA Australia Sports
1 – Early embracers <1980 <1980 Track & field, American football
2 – >1980 >1990 Power and mixed energy sports e.g. rugby, Australian Rules
3 – >2000 >2000 Diverse medium sports e.g. swimming
4 – Late arrivals >2010 >2010 Displacement, balance and more coordination-based sports e.g. off-road motorcycle disciplines

©King, I., 2021

I now turn to the concept of turning point.  Vocabulary.com defines turning point as:

“…a specific, significant moment when something begins to change…” [4]

 The specific application of the turning point I introduce is when the impact of a tipping point becomes apparent in a larger scale, for better or worse.

We can measure this from the perspective of the intended goals of physical preparation – to prevent injuries (specifically to reduce injury incidence and severity and lengthen careers) and enhance performance.

Further, we can trade off the performance enhancement benefits against the injury costs.

The post-2000 cohort analysis (2000-2020)

A 2016 article identified Australian top 10 female swimmers post 2000.[5] This list included, in this order:

Libby Trickett (nee Lenton)

Petria Thomas

Leisel Jones

Cate Campbell

Emily Seebohm

Jodie Henry

Stephanie Rice

Alicia Coutts

Jessicah Schipper

Bronte Campbell

Libby Trickett (nee Lenton)

Triple Olympian Libby Trickett’s (nee Lenton) career spanned the post-2000 era – including the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics (with a brief retirement in 2009).

In the early 2000s, Australian swimming and triple Olympian Libby Trickett (nee Lenton) became the first swimmer celebrated by the swimming fraternity for their strength training induced physique changes, in contrast to the response that Australian triple Olympian Lisa Curry received for the same transformation in the lead up to the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Libby suffered from wrist pain throughout her career:

“I have always had weak wrists and this problem first flared up after Beijing (the 2008 Olympics),” she said.

However, in 2011 the injury got worse. It is apparent the pain was less related to swimming than to her dryland training, at least initially.

“But this year it has started to hurt a lot more, at first when I was doing push-ups, then chin-ups, then gym and boxing, and then actually swimming. It got to the point where it was extremely uncomfortable most of the time.”[6]

She subsequently underwent surgery in 2011 to remove a cyst from the right wrist. [7]

In late 2012 she then tore her scapholunate ligament in her right wrist during a “…regular gym session.’ [8]

In December 2012 she had a second round of surgery on the right wrist:

After a full wrist reconstruction that never completely healed, it became clear that her swimming career was over. Trickett retired for the second time in 2013 at the age of 27.”[9]

This injury forced her into retirement and denied her from fulfilling her intended legacy at the 2106 Rio Games:

Despite amassing great success representing Australia in three Olympics, the freestyler had her eyes set on Rio in 2016.   

‘The pack starts to fall away, and you find yourself in a rarer and rarer crowd: the elite of the elite. And you get a rush from chasing that kind of distinction. I’m swimming for my legacy. Three Olympics is impressive, but four is legendary,’ Trickett wrote…[10]

The value placed on strength training in Lenton’s career is reflected in the reference to and sequence of strength training in this quote, where it appeared before reference to swimming:

“AFTER all the hard work, sacrifice, hours in the gym and countless laps in the pool, Libby Trickett is about to find out if she still has what it takes to be an Olympian”[11]

Petria Thomas

Triple Olympian (1996, 2000 and 2004) Petria Thomas struggled with shoulder injuries throughout her competitive career:

“Recovering and coming back from her three previous surgeries during her celebrated career…” [12]

And by the age of 43 underwent her fourth shoulder surgery, what appears to be a shoulder joint replacement or similar:

“… recovering from a four-hour shoulder replacement surgery on her right shoulder – her fourth major shoulder operation…“Thankfully (I’m) not in too much pain after my shoulder replacement surgery today, which went well,” Thomas wrote….“My shoulder was very arthritic so (I) defiantly made the right decision to get a new one!”[13]

Thomas engaged in strength training at the Australian Institute of Sport whilst still in high school. Note the importance placed on strength training based on the sequence of training modalities in the below:

“Training at the AIS was gruelling for a full time student. Thomas would rise at 5 am and train at the gym or the pool for a couple of hours before school. After school she returned for more training before going to the study hall for her schoolwork.”[14]

Leisel Jones

 The first Australian swimmer to attend four Olympics[15] (2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012), Leisel Jones appears to be an exception.

“I work on injury prevention as part of my training. Luckily I haven’t had any major injuries, just a few niggles here and there…”[16]

Cate Campbell

Four-time Olympian (2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020) Cate Campbell’s underwent shoulder surgery in September 2014[17]:

CATE Campbell is prepared to sacrifice her world title defence next year for Rio Olympic glory and has booked in for shoulder surgery next week that has ruled her out of racing for the rest of 2014. 

The world 100m freestyle champion has silently battled through the “chronic pain” of a bone spur impacting upon a nerve in her right shoulder, but with her long course season now finished with another two gold medals at the Pan Pacs on Sunday night she revealed her next task was surgery. [18]

In addition to the shoulder surgery she received cortisone injections:

“…had six or so cortisone injections into her neck..”[19]

Suffered a hernia in 2016 and underwent surgery for this:

“Campbell developed the hernia 3 months ago, but was not able to have the surgery before Rio for fear it would disrupt her training and preparation….The Sydney Morning Herald says Campbell will have surgery in October, after taking a post-Olympics holiday.”  

That was her apparently second surgery for the same type of injury:

“That will be her second such surgery in the past year.”[20]

Campbell told The Australian that the hernia, her second in 12 months, did not impact on her performances in Rio de Janeiro where she failed to win a medal in the 100m despite being the favourite.[21]

She showed some appreciation of the injury implication for life quality post racing:

“I’m 22 and I’m waking up with chronic pain in the morning, it doesn’t bode well for 50 years’ time,” she said. [22].

Emily Seebohm

Four-time Olympian (2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020) Emily Seebohm is another exception to the post 2000 pattern.  She suffered a dislocated kneecap in 2015[23] whilst riding a horse[24] however otherwise describes herself as;

“…’lucky that I’ve never had any massive injuries.”[25]

Jodie Henry

2004 Olympian Jodie Henry failed to defend her 2004 title in the subsequent Olympics’ due to a hip muscle injury:

“Australian star Jodie Henry won’t defend her 100-meter freestyle Olympic title in Beijing because of a muscle imbalance in her pelvic area. 

.. “I have been struggling with an injury which has meant that I haven’t been able to train as much as I would have liked, and as much as I have needed to, to be ready for the Olympic trials.” [26]

An emotional Henry fought back tears as she admitted matter had finally won out over mind, confirming she would miss the Olympics after succumbing to a chronic and complicated pelvic injury.

Henry, 24, will now relinquish her 100m freestyle title and be a frustrated observer as her beloved 4x100m freestyle and medley relay teams try to defend gold against strong challenges from the powerful US and German squads.[27] 

She was adamant she was not retiring:

Henry immediately ruled out retiring and said the injury would only need a few months of physio and pilates treatment to be fully healed.

…”I’m happy to say I’m definitely not retiring. There’s no way I want to go out like this. Now I’m just looking at resetting goals and fixing my injuries,” Henry said.

“It does cross your mind but I quickly put it out of my head. I’m only 24. I’ve got good swimming years ahead of me. I’m a sprinter. There’s a 40-year-old trying out for the American team and she’s a good shot. I can keep on going.“[28]

She retired the next year:

“The 25-year-old said her persistent injury gave her insight into life outside of the pool and ultimately led to her decision to retire.”[29]

Stephanie Rice

Dual Olympian (2008 and 2012) Stephanie Rice struggled with shoulder injuries throughout her competitive career:

By 2010 she had racked up an un-viable amount of cortisone injections:

She has had seven cortisone injections in the shoulder, which is three more than what doctors recommend. If she had more it could cause structural damage that could end her career. “It is really inflamed,” Rice said.”[30]

She then underwent shoulder surgery in 2010, missing the 2010 Commonwealth Games:

“If she delayed the arthroscopic surgery, the 22-year-old Queenslander risked permanent damage and derailing her hopes at the 2012 Olympics in London…

 … Rice’s injury is not just one inflamed joint in her shoulder, but three joints, making surgery inevitable.” [31]

“Just got out of surgery. Things went well, thank you God … just cleaned the bursa in my right shoulder.”[32]

She repeated surgery in 2011 on the same shoulder:

“In a bit of deja vu, Australian superstar Stephanie Rice has undergone shoulder surgery and pulled out of the remainder of the Queensland State Championships, much like what happened in 2010 at the Pan Pac Championships when her problems first came to a head. It was last year’s version of these State Championships where she made her return after the prior surgery.”[33]

And there was a third surgery on the same shoulder, date unclear:

“Rice…having undergone three shoulder operations.”[34]

The surgeries did not resolve the issue as reported during 2012:

“The triple Olympic gold medallist revealed this morning at the New South Wales swimming titles that her troublesome right shoulder has not improved from recent surgery.”[35]

“Triple Olympic gold medal winner Stephanie Rice has admitted her injured right shoulder is giving her so much concern as she continues to nurse the injury towards next month’s selection trials, that if this wasn’t an Olympic year, she would have taken 12 months out of the water.”[36]

She managed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

“Rice competed in London after undergoing three shoulder surgeries between the two Olympics. She finished fourth in 200 m individual medley and a joint sixth in 400 m medley. The London Olympics was her last stop as a swimmer and she eventually announced her retirement in April 2014”[37]

However, despite more shoulder surgeries:

“Rice, who has been plagued with injury, has not raced competitively since her unsuccessful 2012 London Games campaign, having undergone three shoulder operations.”[38]

And retired in 2014[39] without having raced since 2012.

Alicia Coutts

Triple Olympian (2008, 2012 and 2016) Alicia Coutts suffered a serious shoulder injury in 2014,[40] which remained with her in the following years:

“A chronic shoulder injury that refused to go away..”[41]

She retired in 2016 following the Rio Games:

In the final individual swim of her three Olympic campaigns, fellow Australian Alicia Coutts finished out of the medals in the final of the women’s 200m individual medley, touching in fifth place before tearfully signing off. …I’m just excited I could go out on my own terms after shoulder injuries…I’m proud of my achievements.”[42]

Regarding the shoulder injury her coach, post her retirement, shared:

“Alicia tore her labrum in her shoulder but it was never fully repaired, leaving her swimming in constant pain for two years,” Fowlie said. 

“She had a choice, surgery and end her career or push through and basically swim over one million strokes of constant pain to get on that team for Rio. [43]

Jessica Schipper

Triple Olympian (2004, 2008 and 2012) Jessica Schipper is another exception to the post-2000 pattern, with no significant injuries or surgery.

Bronte Campbell

Triple Olympian (2012, 2016 and 2020) Bronte Campbell sums up her relationship with injury with:

“I’ve been injured for five years, which is half of my swimming career..”[44]

The joints involved are listed below:

“The 25-year-old former world champion freestyler has a history of shoulder, neck and hip injuries and the 2019 season had a lot to do with rehabilitation and recovery.”[45]

Further details of the impact on her availability to compete are outlined in the below:

She was hampered by hip and shoulder injuries in the lead-up and during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She took two months out of the pool after the Games. She continued to suffer issues with her left shoulder and then her right in the lead-up to the 2017 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. (swimswam.com, 06 Sep 2016, 23 Jul 2017)

She was hampered by a hip injury from November 2015 until February 2016. (au.news.yahoo.com, 05 Feb 2016)

She had glandular fever and chronic fatigue syndrome in 2010 that disrupted her career for two years. (smh.com.au, 10 Apr 2012)[46]

And not just one shoulder:

“Campbell, 23, struggled with inflammation in her left shoulder during the Olympic year and could only manage fourth in the Olympic final in Rio. And just when she began to feel she had that injury under some control, her right shoulder has gone.”[47]

She underwent shoulder surgery in 2018:

“However, injuries including her lingering shoulder issue that required surgery in 2018, conspired to ensure she had never re-scaled those heights.”[48]

Summary of the 2000-2020 Era

All these swimmers achieved great things in the pool as measured by the podium and the stopwatch. There is no question of that. The question I raise is ‘How good could they have been had they not suffered these injuries?’

A further challenge may be raised regarding the cause of the injury – some would suggest that shoulder injuries are ‘part and parcel’ of swimming. They didn’t use to be, at least not to this extent.

The pre-2000 cohort analysis (1980-2000)

In the absence of a third-party article, I can use to identify the ‘Top 10’ Australian female swimmers from 1980-2000, I include the following (listed alphabetically by surname), I apologize to any swimmers who perhaps should have been on the list. The intent is to provide a comparative sample.[49] Note also finding data on pre-2000 athletes is a challenge due to the relatively recent arrival of this platform:

Lisa Curry

Janelle Elford

Hayley Lewis

Eli Overton

Samantha Riley

Julie McDonald

Susie O’Neill

Nicole Stevenson

Petria Thomas

Karen van Wirdum

Summary of the 1980-2000 Era

Whilst the data pre-2000 is not as readily available as the post-2000 data due to the timing of the arrival of the internet, my professional experience combined with the limited data now available suggest the pre-2000 cohort had very limited incidence of competition threatening injury and surgery.

Comparative summary of both eras

The following table attempts to summarize and compare the injury statistics of these two cohorts.  The injuries included are indented to be training related injuries that caused loss of performance or ability to compete.  Both injury and surgery information are reliant upon that which is in public domain on the internet. The information for the pre 2000 cohort is more difficult to obtain.

Table 2 – Comparative analysis of injury and surgery between the pre-2000 and post-2000 Australia elite female swimming cohorts.

1980-2000 Injury Surgery 2000-2020 Injury Surgery
Lisa Curry

 

 Libby Trickett (nee Lenton)  

X

X
Janelle Elford Petria Thomas X X
Hayley Lewis Leisel Jones – –
Eli Overton Cate Campbell X X
Samantha Riley Emily Seebohm – –
Julie McDonald Jodie Henry X –
Susie O’Neill Stephanie Rice X X
Nicole Stevenson Alicia Coutts X –
Petria Thomas X X Jessica Schipper – –
Karen van Wirdum Bronte Campbell X X
Total 1/10 1/10 7/10 6/10
%age 10% 10%   70% 60%

Based on this analysis, the post-2000 cohort experienced performance and competition threatening injuries at a rate of 70% and surgery at 60%.

The pre-2000 cohort, based on the limited data available, experienced performance and competition threatening injuries at a rate of 10% and surgery at 10%.

Irrespective of the limitations of finding injury and surgery information about the pre-2000 cohort, and not withstanding any information that may come to light about the injuries of the pre-2000 cohort in the future, its fair to say there is a significant difference between the injury and surgery statistics of the pre-2000 cohort compared to the post-2000 cohort.

Put simply, there is a significant difference between the two cohorts in these measurements.

The next question is why? Many would justify the post-2000 cohort injuries and surgeries by saying look at the stop-watch – they are swimming faster and that is the price you pay.

Which leads to a second question, which I have not seen being proposed elsewhere – could  the performance improvements of the post 2000 cohort relative to the pre-2000 cohort have been achieved without such a dramatic lift in injury and surgery?

That is a subjective conclusion and I will leave that to the values of the modern day swim coach.

Swimming techniques may have changed, and average meter/second speed in training may have changed. However, I am not sure if any of these changes account for the changes in injury incidence and severity.

Let’s be clear – this is a non-impact sport – apart from the risk of swimming into the wall, the athletes don’t bang bodies as they do in classic impact sport. Nor is their gravity impact – the swimmers are in a medium where they are supported in part by the water.  The most significant impact is the drive off the blocks or wall in the starts, and the push-off the way in the turns.

The length of the pool the same. The medium – water – the same.  The events – very similar. The competition schedule is similar. States, Nationals, Pan Pac’s, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games.

So what has really changed between the training of both cohorts? The training? If so, is it the swimming training or the dryland training?

In relation to training, I suggest that the swimming training frequency and volume are not the difference. I suggest the most significant difference is the time spend in ‘dry-land training’ and the type. The average post-2000 cohort swimmer is performing maximal strength training three times a week all year around, a frequency that was not apparent in the pre-2000 era. The pre-2000 era may have conducted that frequency of dryland work but it was more literally by the pool, and bodyweight exercises.

The type of dryland training has changed in that in the pre-2000 ear the dryland training was more about circuits of bodyweight exercises. In the post-2000 era, a premium is placed on load displacement in the non-specific strength training exercises.

Secondly, in relation to flexibility training, swimming appears to have bought into the ‘all-sports just happen to think the same way’ paradigm that if any static stretching is to be done, it should only be done after training.

Thirdly it is possible that the post-2000 cohort may be doing more ‘cross-training’ than the pre-2000 cohort, to comply with the paradigm that ‘professional athletes’ have to do more training. So perhaps there are more road runs, more stationary cycles and rowing ergometers beside the pool.

Swimming has perhaps yet to work out how to achieve the advantages of dryland training, especially maximum strength training methods, combined with low injury incidence, minimal surgery and the avoidance of career-ending injuries, as experienced by the pre-2000 cohort.

This performance vs. injury trade-off dilemma/challenge is faced by all sports who have passed the tipping point in US-influenced physical preparation.

Conclusion

Yes, swimming is tough on the swimmer’s body. The initial goal of physical preparation is to prevent injuries, not compound them. I suggest this pattern underlines that is exactly what has happened since the tipping point of embracing strength training in swimming post-2000.

Another argument proposed may be that ‘the sport has changed’. The swimming pool is still 50 meters long, and there is nothing about the impact with the water that would explain shoulder injuries akin to contact sport injuries, such that they result in surgery.

Another argument proposed maybe that ‘Australia’s post-2000 cohort of elite female swimmers are achieving higher world rankings than the pre-2000 cohort’.  If this were true, does that demand the injury and surgery rate? Or could this performance be achieved with lower rates? The answer to that question alone creates a self-fulfilling outcome.

In my opinion, there are lessons here. I believe that that the injury and surgery incidence has increased beyond what can be justified.

Perhaps no one else is alarmed by this or sees the same concerns.

Either way, the lesson is not being used to serve sports or athletes within these sports that come along later.

This means the next generation of athletes and the sports I describe as late arrivals to physical preparation, especially the US version called ‘strength & conditioning’ will suffer the same fate.

I am sure they would have preferred if someone warned them about the hot water they may be about to get themselves in.

Something like this – ‘At the moment if you achieve your goals and reach elite status (in female swimming) AND keep doing what they (and basically everyone in sport) are currently doing, you have a 70% chance of experiencing performance and competition threatening injuries and a 60% chance of surgery. And a comparison to the generation before suggests that the next generation will probably be at 90 and 100% respectively. Unless things change….’

That’s a message that should be passed on.

 

References

[1] https://www.economist.com/free-exchange/2009/07/13/the-original-tipping-point-wasnt-one

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tipping%20point

[3] Barker, J., 1993, Paradigms: The Business of Discovering the Future Paperback – May 26, 1993

[4] https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/turning%20point

[5] https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/swoop/rio-2016-susie-oneill-to-libby-trickett-and-steph-rice-top-aussie-female-swimmers-since-2000/news-story/d9240b9a40e5e7ff5097f9770fca4405

[6] https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/libby-tricketts-cold-turkey-approach-to-relay-fight/news-story/694d8d397af4c63305ce03213318359a

[7] https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/libby-tricketts-cold-turkey-approach-to-relay-fight/news-story/694d8d397af4c63305ce03213318359a

[8] https://www.kalminer.com.au/news/goldfields/tricketts-focus-on-glasgow-ng-ya-284150

[9] https://hope1032.com.au/stories/life/inspirational-stories/2019/aussie-olympian-libby-trickett-opens-up-about-her-mental-health-struggles/

[10] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7517073/Libby-Tricketts-sudden-retirement-pool-confronting-truth.html

[11] https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/trickett-up-to-the-weight-of-expectations/news-story/276c2e1074796e951e46c825bf38bb2f

[12] https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/four-hour-shoulder-operation-a-success-for-olympic-great-petria-thomas/

[13] https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/four-hour-shoulder-operation-a-success-for-olympic-great-petria-thomas/

[14] http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/sg/thomas.html

[15] https://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/swimming/hurtful-dawn-fraser-sledge-leisel-jones-still-cant-get-over/news-story/e7f81f5c30e6090142a47abf237c25d2

[16] https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/how-i-look-like-i-do-leisel-jones/news-story/66a71b34c994f1c758bb731a765f981a

[17] https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1482861-campbell-cate.htm

[18] https://www.foxsports.com.au/news/cate-campbell-to-undergo-shoulder-surgery-after-starring-role-at-pan-pacs-with-rio-2016-on-the-horizon/news-story/3b98b78fabf72ec414ff0ce53dce2a41

[19] https://www.sbs.com.au/news/bronte-campbell-battles-shoulder-injury

[20] https://swimswam.com/cate-campbell-undergo-hernia-surgery-upon-return-rio/

[21] https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2007791/no-excuses-australias-cate-campbell-swam-hernia-olympic-games

[22] https://www.foxsports.com.au/news/cate-campbell-to-undergo-shoulder-surgery-after-starring-role-at-pan-pacs-with-rio-2016-on-the-horizon/news-story/3b98b78fabf72ec414ff0ce53dce2a41

[23] https://swimswam.com/australias-emily-seebohm-suffers-knee-dislocation/

[24] https://www.fina.org/athletes/1000096/emily-seebohm/profile

[25] https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/how-an-eating-disorder-nearly-ended-seebohms-swimming-career/news-story/2715dd0679644965018eb77ae343d10c

[26] https://www.espn.com.au/olympics/swimming/news/story?id=3269786

[27] https://www.theage.com.au/sport/henry-refuses-to-retire-20080301-ge6sdz.html

[28] https://www.theage.com.au/sport/henry-refuses-to-retire-20080301-ge6sdz.html

[29] https://www.olympics.com.au/news/athens-golden-girl-retires/

[30] https://www.sbs.com.au/news/tearful-rice-quits-games-for-surgery

[31] https://www.sbs.com.au/news/tearful-rice-quits-games-for-surgery

[32] https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-rice-has-right-shoulder-surgery-2010sep01-story.html

[33] https://swimswam.com/stephanie-rice-undergoes-second-minor-shoulder-surgery/

[34] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/09/australian-olympic-swimmer-stephanie-rice-retirement

[35] https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/shoulder-hurting-stephanie-rices-london-hopes-ng-3534790be8aa2e2415f9d3d363ff70c8

[36] https://www.smh.com.au/sport/injured-shoulder-an-olympics-concern-for-stephanie-rice-20120210-1sdr4.html

[37] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Rice

[38] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/09/australian-olympic-swimmer-stephanie-rice-retirement

[39] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/09/australian-olympic-swimmer-stephanie-rice-retirement

[40] https://www.fina.org/athletes/1006023/alicia-coutts/profile

[41] https://www.espn.com.au/olympics/story/_/id/14897629/alicia-coutts-ready-make-splash-nsw-meet

[42] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/10/australias-emma-mckeon-claims-bronze-as-alicia-coutts-signs-off-olympic-career

[43] https://www.olympics.com.au/news/triple-olympian-coutts-bids-farewell-to-swimming/

[44] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jun/05/bronte-campbell-ive-been-injured-for-five-years-half-my-swimming-career

[45] https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/bronte-campbell-counts-blessings-of-olympic-delay-that-grant-injuries-more-time-to-heal/

[46] https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/swimming/athlete-profile-n1482860-campbell-bronte.htm

[47] https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/injuries-cast-doubt-on-bronte-campbells-50m-100m-defence/news-story/51890d3b1684e4868b13f825417b21c8

[48] https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6218777/bronte-campbell-seals-swim-titles-berth/

[49] Note that this list is intended to include swimmers whose careers spanned both the 1980s and 1990s

Ian King

A lament for the late arrivals

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In the modern history of athletic preparation, there has been growing consideration for physical preparation. What the Americans call ‘strength & conditioning’. It may not be accurate to suggest that physical preparation is a new concept. The interpretation of the stories of the Greek athlete Milo of Croton from 6th BC gives support to a longer history.

However physical preparation has changed a lot in the forty-plus years during my professional involvement in sport.

A review of literature review reveals that track and field and then American football led the way in embracing physical preparation during the last century, especially the American version of physical preparation where ‘strength training’ dominants, literally and figuratively (i.e. in the title – strength… and then conditioning).

As surprising as it seems to the younger generation these were the only sports up until about 1980 in the US and 1990 in Australia that fully embraced the American interpretation of physical preparation.

Post 1980 (North America) and 1990 (Asia Pacific) a new wave embraced the American interpretation of physical preparation. Power and mixed energy sports such as most field sports e.g. rugby union, rugby league, Australian Rules Football, to name a few Australian based sports.

I call this the second wave.

Post 2000 there was a third wave that involved sports such as swimming. Some may suggest that swimming embraced strength training earlier – not based on my experiences working with both US and Australian-based swimmers. Let’s just say the discussions in the national team environment, that I was party to, were not favorable in the direction of strength training for swimming. I did not see any real acceptance of this until post 2000, and I include observations of coaching protocols as well as the content being shared at the annual Australian Swim Coaches Association (as it was known then) conventions.

Post 2010 there was a fourth wave that involved sports with great balance and less direct relationship with swimming e.g. surfing, off-road motorcycle racing. I call these the late arrivals.

There is I suggest a pattern to the sequence of acceptance by sports of the American influenced ‘strength and conditioning’. From sports where strength training plays a bigger role through to sports where strength training plays a lessor role.

Table 1 – Four waves of sports that embraced physical preparation.

Phase USA Australia Sports
1 – Early embracers <1980 <1980 Track # field, American football
2 – >1980 >1990 Power and mixed energy sports e.g. rugby, Australian Rules
3 – >2000 >2000 Diverse medium sports e.g. swimming
4 – Late arrivals >2010 >2010 Displacement, balance and more coordination-based sports e.g. off-road motorcycle disciplines

©King, I., 2021

Put simply, there is a reason they are late arrivals. And therefore, blind acceptance and embracing of methodology applied in all other sports has even more potential downsides the further along the continuum you go.

I feel for the late arrivals, and I lament the collateral damage they are potentially walking into. To see they feel, they are being more ‘professional’ by the mere act of ‘going to the gym’ and embracing the same training values as their predecessors sports is hurtful to watch.

There is a reason certain sports were later to the ‘strength training’ party, and if you fail to respect that and fail to reflect and consider more optimal ways, then these sports will pay the biggest price of them all. And I suggest it is happening.

Firstly, if the lessons of the last century of strength training for sport were made available. However, they are not.

Let me give an example. There would be very few swimming coaches in the Australian high-performance environment alive and coaching today who were around in the 1960s when Australian swim coaches began their initial flirtation with strength training. They learned certain things and reacted appropriately, pulling back from this modality, in at least the way it was being done. I base these observations on personal discussions with the late John Carew. I doubt too many if any of the current Australian elite swim coaches have had such discussions. The lessons have been lost.

The outcome is increased injuries and decreased performance. The exact opposite to the proclaimed benefits of ‘strength and conditioning’. A great example of this is Australian rugby, where it’s been nearly 20 years since Australia beat the New Zealand All Blacks for the cherished Bledisloe Cup, and the nation has sunk to a historic low world ranking of 7th in recent years. There are reasons for this, and a big part of this I suggest is the misguided off-field training resulting in decreased performance potential and increased injury incidence and severity.

It’s tough to beat a nation where the players may be more culturally and genetically suited to the game when your off-field training is letting you down.

Secondly, it may also be fine if strength training for sport, the American way, has evolved well past the programs used for American football. However, I suggest they have not.

Again, in anticipation of challenges to my last statement, let me give you an example – a golf scholarship athlete at a Div. 1 US NCAA college given the exact program as the American football team at the same college – post 2010…

Many American football players do not run far, do not touch the ball and so. If you are not playing American football and conduct your off-field training in a way that is heavily influenced, you will pay a price. And I suggest that is happening.

However how many were around in the 1970s transition to the 1980s in physical preparation to know from a personal/ professional perspective what had transpired in the formation of the American interpretation of physical preparation. Not many. The lessons have been lost.

All athletes want to play, and some want to play at the higher levels. In this pursuit, they seek additional and ‘new’ ways to train, to gain confidence they are ‘on track’ e.g., training like ‘all the other pro’s’.

I feel for the late arrivals, and I lament the collateral damage they are potentially walking into. There should have been a better message for you by now, however there is not. Tread carefully.

Ideally, I should be saving I hope your non-specific (physical preparation) training helps you thrive. That would be nice. However, based on my experience and observations – what I know – if you do what the rest of your colleagues are doing in their interpretation of the best way to train, survive may be a more appropriate term.

You deserve better. Our profession has failed to deliver safe training, let alone optimal training. Now it’s up to you to be more discerning. Don’t assume. Don’t imitate. Seek answers, dig deeper, objectively question and interpret the cause-effect relationship of what you are seeing and doing. Be more scientific in your review than our profession is.

Your future depends on it.

And not just your sporting future.

Ian King

The best gift a physical preparation coach can give

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At a time of year when giving is on the mind, I want to share that in my opinion the best gift a physical preparation coach can give is the gift of quality of life. And whilst the cardio-vascular benefits have decades of support, and the muscle density has now been raised to the same level of value through recognition of muscle mass loss as a correlate with aging and other risk factors, this is still not what I am specifically referring to.

I am referring to the muscles, bones and nerves.

In the early 1980s as I set out on my professional journey I realized the shift in posture from the 1960s and earlier bodybuilder (Reeves, Park etc) to the post 1970s bodybuilder such as Arnold. Their shape changed, and from my perspective for the worse.  I trained athletes, however I respected the power of bodybuilding as a medium and knew that these ‘dis-eases’ would filter into athlete preparation.  It was not happening, at least not on my watch.

This realization along with a desire to categorize strength exercises led me to the years of reflection that resulted in the Lines of Movement concept. Quite simply I wanted to avoid imbalances, and I ultimately shared this concept so the world could do the same.

Now that has not happened. Despite every ‘professional’ being able to recite the major categories in the Lines of Movement (albeit with that little one word twist that is a reflection of in individual’s attempt to be ‘original’), wax lyrical on the need for balance, and show the vernacular of push pull etc. in their training programs, the results show that knowing something and doing something are not the same.

Not that our Eastern philosophers are surprised, as they were very clear –‘To know and not do is to not know.’

In fact since the 1970s, more ways to create imbalance than I had ever expected have been added post 2000, as I speak about in Vol. 3 of Ian King’s Guide to Strength Training.

I don’t expect to save the world anymore. I have learned to let it go. I even witness young athletes see me one day and then be overwhelmed by the opportunities of professional sport and embrace all that is done to them, including the young highly gifted athlete whose shoulder relationship degraded by another say 10% in as little as 3 weeks. We know which bed he will be resting on soon and it is one with bright lights above and a person standing over him with a scalpel…

The greatest power I have is to identify and empower those rare individuals who are have come to a point in their career when they realize something is not right. Who have the courage to think for themselves, to train in a way that is not supported by the dominant trend or the current internet driven guru. It is these individuals that I now communicate almost exclusively with in a professional sense.

For whilst I have given up on expecting to save the world, based on the failure of the late 1990s teachings to achieve the intended goal in the ensuing 20 years, I have also given up the expectation that any but an incredibly small minority of the professionals in this industry either have the humility and courage to do what is best, or care enough for others to take these steps.

And for this minority, the best gift you can give is the gift of quality of life. The ability to move for as long as possible in the later years. The ability to play with your kids and grandkids in the back yard. And in the perfect world, your great grandkids.

For this gift will be the exclusive domain of those who listen to and are guided by my brutal search for the best way to train and remain injury free. A search I have been on for 4 decades now, and a few more planned!

So it is incredibly rewarding when I receive feedback such as this. And note this person has only just completed our Level 0 Coaching course! A very powerful experience, yet so many move levels to follow. If we can change lives through you, we are fulfilling our potential, for together we can do more than I an on my own.

“Really enjoyed it Ian gained a lot of information and knowledge (also when I look back at my training/ injury history it all seems very clear why I had those injury’s now. Incorporating a lot in too my training and clients. so far so good. Really like the way KSI goes about things. I am interested in learning more and progressing to level 1.”—CE, NZ

Ian King

The Barbell Hip Thrust – Winners and Losers

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I was receiving requests from some of my coaches to write about the barbell hip thrust. They knew I didn’t buy into it, yet I had remained silent.  They were tiring of the market pressure for them to conform, and wanted me to make a statement.

So I began to prepare, to research.

Didn’t take me long to realize I didn’t need to write an article about this exercise. There are already enough good ones out there. [1] [2] [3] [4]

What I have chosen to do instead is speak to the generation that ‘invented’, endorsed and more pertinently marketed this concept.

According to the number one advocate and ‘originator’ of the exercise, it all began in about 2006.

Almost 11 years ago, I thought up the barbell hip thrust in my garage gym in Scottsdale, Arizona. [5]

So in about 2008, this coach had a ‘bright idea’, apparently. Coach and writer Kim Goss has a different perspective on the history of this lift. [1]

Since then, I’ve been on a mission to popularize the movement….  took this information and ran with it, posting numerous article links and infographics on my social media channels relaying the news that hip thrusts are very well-suited for improving speed and that the force vector hypothesis was legitimate.[5]

Now the first ‘coach’ referred to above is a great marketer.  I like to give credit where credit is due. The world adopted the movement.  Not that they appear to need my acknowledgement. Enough acknowledgment was evident:

…I recently polled my newsletter list and social media followers and received over 7,600 responses as follow……As a prolific S&C educator with a large online following who gets rewarded for being “ahead of the research,” making bold predictions, and playing to the masses…

Rewards? Sounds like a game of winners and losers. And that may be accurate….

Then the bombshell. Some of his academic colleagues failed to support his own earlier studies.[7] [8]  (And yes, the research undermining this exercise may have its own flaws, but no more than the original ‘research’ used to support it…)

Now the retraction did show humility and gained respect from some quarters.

Unfortunately, I spoke too soon. The combination of 1) my inherent biases as an inventor, 2) my role as an online educator always seeking to provide cutting edge information to my followers, and 3) my greenness as a scientist prevented me from exhibiting a more tempered approach to the emerging evidence.[9]

Here’s my challenge.

How many of the athletes and coaches currently engaging in this exercise are aware of this reversal of support and admission of  ‘jumping the gun’? Not many.

Will the impact of this incredible marketing of this exercise go on for generations? Yes. 

Who takes responsibility? No-one.

Who cares? Not enough people. Their too busy moving on to the next way of becoming significant or popular.

Now I understand no-one really wants unsolicited advice, however to those keen to be significant – I express my hope that a few more may first reflect upon the impact of what they market before they met their needs to be significant.

Now I am not suggesting that validation through science is needed before sharing an innovation. I personally don’t.  Science is often a lagging indicator, confirming or otherwise at a later date.   I would just recommend greater reflection or more transparency. If science is going to be invoked as a validation technique, you might want to have more than one of two ‘in-house studies’.

To the physical coach – please use the grey matter you were gifted by your Maker.  I know this plea will fall for the most part on deaf ears, for the same ailment that Dr. Albert Schweitzer lamented in the 1950s  remains. When he was asked by a reporter ‘Dr, what’s wrong with man today?’ he responded:

Man does not think. [10]

To the athlete – you need to be, and have a greater capability to me smarter about your training decisions than your physical coach. They have many masters – ego, colleagues to professional associations, marketing trends. You only have one agenda – the future health of your body and the fulfillment of your potential. Its okay to reach your own conclusions about what’s right for you, even if it differs from your coaches….

This rush to the market exemplifies one of the key reasons I have chosen historically to test a new concept for about a decade before publishing it….

A coach can ‘change their mind’ (even as they hope for a recovery) after marketing, publishing and endorsing something so effectively. [11] [12]

But the stain remains.

With influence comes responsibility.  

[1] Goss, K., 2016, The case against hip thrusts, The Poliquin Group, June 14, 2016, http://main.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/1478/The_Case_Against_the_Hip_Thrust.aspx

[2] Kavanaugh, J., The heavy hip thrust is ruining our backs and this industry, Speed and Sports Institute, https://www.sportandspeedteam.com/the-heavy-hip-thrust-is-ruining-our-backs-and-this-industry/

[3] Kechijian, D., 2017, Science’ and the Barbell Hip Thrust, Simplifaster, Sep 8, 2017, https://simplifaster.com/articles/barbell-hip-thrust/

[4] Valle, C., 2018, Should Advanced Athletes Use the Barbell Hip Thrust?, Simplifaster, Jan 29, 2018, https://simplifaster.com/articles/athletes-barbell-hip-thrust/

[5] Contreras, B., 2017, Science is self-correcting – The Case Of The Hip Thrust And Its Effects On Speed,  Bretcontreras.com, July 27, 2017, https://bretcontreras.com/science-is-self-correcting-the-case-of-the-hip-thrust-and-its-effects-on-speed/

[6] Contreras, B., 2017, Science is self-correcting – The Case Of The Hip Thrust And Its Effects On Speed,  Bretcontreras.com, July 27, 2017, https://bretcontreras.com/science-is-self-correcting-the-case-of-the-hip-thrust-and-its-effects-on-speed/

[7] Bishop, Chris, MSc; Cassone, Natasha, MSc; Jarvis, Paul, MSc; Turner, Anthony, PhD, CSCS*D; Chavda, Shyam, MSc, CSCS; Edwards, Mike, MSc, 2018, Heavy Barbell Hip Thrusts Do Not Effect Sprint Performance, An 8-Week Randomized–Controlled Study, The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · July 2017

[8] Kun-Han Lin, Chih-Min Wu, Yi-Ming Huang and Zong-Yan Cai, 2017, Effects of Hip Thrust Training on the Strength and Power Performance in Collegiate Baseball Players, Journal of Sports Science 5 (2017) 178-184

[9] Contreras, B., 2017, Science is self-correcting – The Case Of The Hip Thrust And Its Effects On Speed,  Bretcontreras.com, July 27, 2017, https://bretcontreras.com/science-is-self-correcting-the-case-of-the-hip-thrust-and-its-effects-on-speed/

[10] Schweitzer, A., in Nightingale, E., 1975, The strangest secret, Nighingale-Conant.

[11] Contreras, B., 2017, Science is self-correcting – The Case Of The Hip Thrust And Its Effects On Speed,  Bretcontreras.com, July 27, 2017, https://bretcontreras.com/science-is-self-correcting-the-case-of-the-hip-thrust-and-its-effects-on-speed/

[12] Cressey, E., 2017, In defense of the hip thrust, ericcressey.com, September 13, 2017, https://ericcressey.com/in-defense-of-the-hip-thrust

Ian King

It’s Not Fair

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The Golden State Warriors were 1-3 down to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals Playoffs when Kevin Durant made a return to the court after about a month layoff with a calf injury.

His presence made a difference and the Golden State won the game, taking the playoffs to 2-3. Kevin paid the price and left the court during the second quarter, with an injury related to the reasons he had missed the prior month.

Devastated the franchise’s President of Basketball Operations, Bob Myers, spoke about the decision to play him and also defended Durant against criticism that he didn’t care enough for the team to make a comeback. He also said:

It’s not fair.

Now I’m not sure if he was referring to the unwarranted criticism of this great player or the fact that he was injured…again.

I will address the injury side only, and with no intent to make any judgement on the decision to play. Finals are different, the stakes are higher, and this changes the decision making.

What I will talk about is how he got to being injured in the first place. It may not be fair, but that opens a whole discussion about what’s fair.

I actually believe the body is pretty fair. It gives us heaps of warnings -through pain messages, through changes in length, tension and stability/function. And if we don’t listen, it sends bigger messages. Higher level pain, higher level tension and reduced function.

At some point of time the body gives it up, and we have a real injury.

Now don’t get my message wrong, because I’m a big fan of Durant. As an athlete, as a basketball player, as a person who is willing to stand up to being judged, and as a person willing to prove his doubters wrong.

I don’t expect athletes to have all the decision making skills. They rely on, as Myers said, ‘experts’, to guide their decision making.

The mere fact that Durant got injured in the first place was a failure to provide him with the care and guidance that is possible. And not just Durant – any athlete, any person, who is the care of and reliant upon others to guide them. To make, as Myers said, ‘collaborative decisions’.

Injuries are not a new challenge. They are a growing challenge. I call it an epidemic, in fact. And those willing to look at the injury stats are beginning to agree, at least in relation to the well-documented rise in ACL surgeries in Australian sport.

However allow me to really alienate many in my and related professions – nothings going to change. Why? Because if your interpretation of the cause of injury is off-track, you are not going to solve the problem. And in my opinion, based on my four decade professional journey of seeking to understand and optimize human performance in sport, and based on my interpretation of the causes of these injuries – the interpretations of the causes is off-track.

It’s not fair that people judge Kevin for sitting out for a month with the intent to rehab his injury. But the body’s not fair. It gave enough messages. It’s unfair in a way that Kevin was not looked after in so much as preventing this injury in the first place. I mean, how many times do you have to see the patterns of injury to understand in an accurate sense the causes and therefore prevent their repeat?

Kevin is not the ‘lone ranger’. He just happens to be one of the more high profile examples.

There is a better way, and I’m hopeful for those athletes and others who gain access to a high level KSI Coach, because for us – one injury is one too many. And we operate on my fundamental belief that all injuries are predictable and preventable, and this is our aim. Do we always get it right? No, but we go pretty damn close. A lot closer that what is happening to those athletes and others who do not have a high level KSI coach to help them make collaborative decisions.

Ian King

Lines of Movement – The Origin and Intent

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During the 1980s I began to research methods of categorizing strength exercises.  By the end of this decade I had developed a concept I called ‘Lines of Movement’.  After trialling this method for about ten years, I released details of this and other methods I had developed for categorizing exercises. I structure this organization under the umbrella concept of ‘Family Trees of Exercises’. I then expand into ‘Lines of Movement’. Then I divide exercises based on the number of limbs and joints involved.

These methods go far beyond simple organization – they allowed me to develop my methods of analyzing balance in strength training program design.  I believe these innovations are highly effective tools available to guide a person designing a program to create optimal balance and reduce injury potential.

I began my first public teaching of these concepts in 1998 with the following statement:

That’s a concept I am sure you have never heard before because this is the first time I have really spoken about it. [1]

I began teaching the concept of ‘Line of Movement’ during the late 1980s.  For example, in my 1989 presentation titled ‘5 Steps to Improved Resistance Training’[2] I wrote:

However it was not until 1998 that I chose to expand publicly on my innovations in this area: [3]

Family Trees of Exercise

The Family Tree concept is the foundation of my categorization, as taught below:

The following shows a breakdown of the body into major muscle groups/lines of movement, and then into examples of exercises.  It is what I call ‘the family trees of exercise’.  Use this to assess balance in your exercise selection. [4]

The first time I expanded fully on this concept was in a 1998 seminar:

After many years I have decided that there is two family trees in lower body exercises – one where the quad dominates, and one where the hip dominates. When I say hip I mean the posterior chain muscle groups – the hip extensors;  which are gluteals, hamstrings, and lower back – they’re your hip extensors.  And I believe this – the head of the family in the quad dominant exercises is the squat.  That’s the head of the family. And there are 101 lead-up exercises to it and there’s a few on after it as well. But the core exercise for the quad dominant group is the squat.  It’s the most likely used exercise in that group for the majority of people. 

The hip dominant exercises – the father of the hip dominant tree is the deadlift – which when done correctly would be the most common exercise of that group. There are lead-in exercises, and there are advanced exercises from it.

So I build my family tree around the squat and I build my family tree around the deadlift.  And I balance them up. In general, for every squat exercise or every quad dominant exercise I show in that week a hip dominant exercise in that week. And what do most people do in their program designs – they would do two quad dominant exercises for every hip dominant exercise.  What is the most common imbalance that occurs in the lower body? 

….To balance the athlete I work on a ratio of 1 to 1 of hip and quad dominant  – in general.  And I can assure you – most programs you’ll see are 2 to 1 – quad and hip.

That’s a concept I’m sure you’ll have never heard before because this is the first time I have spoken about it. [7]

In the following I discuss exercise options within each Family Tree:

….[hip flexion] Perhaps the long term staple of this family tree has been the straight or bent knee leg lifts whilst hanging from a chin bar…. Alternatively, I have devised many lower level movements so that this family tree can be given appropriate attention [9] 

…[quad dominant] I therefore chose to use the squat as the ‘head’ of the quad dominant family tree… Take the squat (quad dominant) and the deadlift (head of hip dominant family tree). [10] 

The squat is what I refer to as the ‘head’ of the quad dominant ‘family tree’…[11]    

The deadlift is what I refer to as the ‘head’ of the hip dominant ‘family tree’ …[12]  

The ‘head’ of the vertical pulling family tree is the chin up or similar. [13]

The chin up is what I refer to as the ‘head’ of the vertical pulling ‘family tree’. [14]

I spoke about Family Trees and my subsequent exercise category, Lines of Movement, in a number of different publications in the late 1990s:

I’m going to start working with exercises that I call come from the hip dominant family tree. Some of them are fairly unusual. But the aim of them is to balance the muscle development and the strength development with exercises more commonly done with the quadriceps.[15] 

Lines of Movement

I first expanded in writing on the Lines of Movement concept in my 1998 ‘How to Write Strength Training Programs’ book:  [8]

My first step is to create the following three sections:

  1. Upper body.
  2. Trunk.
  3. Lower body.

I then divide these three into the following:

1.  Upper body

  • Pushing.
  • Pulling.
  • Rotation.

2. Trunk

  • Flexion.
  • Extension.
  • Rotation.

3. Lower Body

  • Quad dominant (exercises that prioritize the quadriceps e.g. the squat and all its variations).
  • Hip dominant (exercises that prioritize the hamstrings, gluteals, and lower back (e.g. the dead lift and all its variations).
  • Rotation.

My next division is as follows, and takes into account lines of movement (i.e. vertical and horizontal.  Technically speaking, the vertical plane should be called the frontal plane, but more relate to vertical)… [17]

Up until I released these concepts in the late 1990s, the strength training industry relied solely on the division of the body into muscles groups when designing or analyzing a strength training program.

Before Ian popped up from Down Under, most coaches said to train all the muscles of the legs in one session and use the most efficient exercises. That means squatting and deadlifting on the same day. Problem — As effective as these big mass builders are, they’re also very fatiguing and really sap your energy levels. If you start your workout with squats, your deadlifts will suffer and vice versa. [18]

The following is a sample list, not in any order, of the major muscle groups of the body that I published in 2000: [19]

A sample list of muscle groups, not in any order. [20]

_______________________________________________

abdominals

lower back

hip dominant (e.g. deadlift and its variations)

quad dominant (e.g. squats and its variations)

vertical pulling (i.e. scapula depressors e.g. chin ups)

vertical pushing (i.e. arm abduction e.g. shoulder press)

horizontal pulling (i.e. scapula retractors e.g. rows)

horizontal pushing (i.e. horizontal flexion e.g. bench press)

biceps

triceps               

plantar flexors (calves) / dorsi flexors

forearm extension/flexion

________________________________________________

The following is another sample list, not in any order of importance, of the major muscle groups of the body and the ‘new terms’ I used to describe them, published in 2000. This list also clarifies the core strength movements associated:[21]

Table 1 – The twelve major muscle groups.

Street Name Anatomical Name My Terms Core Movements
Chest Pectorals Horizontal push Bench press
No name! Scapula retractors Horizontal pull Row
Shoulders Deltoids Vertical push Shoulder press
Upper back Lats Vertical pull Chin ups
Legs Quads/hamstrings Quad dominant Squats
Butt Gluteals Hip dominant Deadlift
Lower back Spinal erectors Back extensions
Stomach Abdomen Trunk and hip flexors Sit ups and knee ups
Lower leg Calf Calf press
Upper arm Bicep and tricep Arm curls/extensions
Lower arm Forearm flexors/extensors Wrist curls/extensions
Traps(upper) Trapezius Shrugs

After applying the conventional muscle group methods for many years, I had come to the conclusion that they did not adequately respect the overlap of muscles used in the different days of strength training, nor did it provide adequate insurance against imbalanced programs.

This injury prevention motive for creating this concept was reinforced in my earlier writings:

To simplify and ensure balance in upper body program design and training, I have divided the upper body movements generally speaking into four…..[22]

Muscle imbalance

Historically the focus in lower body strength training has been on the quads, and quadricep dominant exercises such as the squat.  This has been OK for say bodybuilders, whose worst-case scenario is to have poor posterior leg muscle development.  Even in track and field you will find authors admitting that during the 70’s the focus in power development in sprinters etc. was via leg extension as opposed to hip extension. If you take this fault in program design and training into strength training for athletes in general, the price can be a lot higher.  It is my belief that an imbalance between quad dominant and hip dominant exercises where quad dominance is superior results in a significantly higher incidence of injury and a detraction from performance.[23]

At the time of developing this concept (the late 1980s) the only references in the industry were to ‘quad dominant’ (a physical therapist term) and push-pull (a term used in strength circles).

There was no reference to ‘hip dominant’, nor was there any recognition to the differentiation of the vertical and horizontal planes available in upper body movements.

So I developed, tested, refined and ultimately shared my concepts by 1998 and in the years that followed:

Now, a little additional clarification before I go on. I refer to muscles or workouts that are predominantly anterior thigh as being quad dominant, and those that are predominantly posterior thigh as being hip dominant. The following is a hip dominant routine that balances out the previous quad dominant routine. [24]

Initially appropriate recognition was given, for example:

To help you understand how to divide and balance out your training, Ian came up with a list of major muscle groups that reflects their function:

Horizontal pulling (row)
Horizontal pushing (bench press)
Vertical pulling (chin-up)
Vertical pushing (shoulder press)
Hip dominant (deadlifts)
Quad dominant (squats)

Ian has a few other categories for abs, lower back, calves, and arms, but the ones above are main muscle groups you need to worry about. Based on this list, you need to be doing vertical as well as horizontal pushing and you need to be doing the same number of sets for each and keep the rep ranges equal where appropriate.

Let me give you an example of how this list can help you. Before Ian provided this simple list, I did almost nothing but chin-up variations for back training. Sure, I did rows occasionally, but not very often as compared to chins. This was an imbalance. Now I do just as many sets of horizontal pulling as I do vertical pulling and it’s really helped my back development. [25]

And this:

My favorite four-day configuration is one Ian King uses in his more advanced workouts, which you can find on t-nation.com.  I use his terminology to describe them:

Horizontal push/pull: …

Hip-dominant: ….

Vertical push/pull: …

Quad-dominant:….[26]

For simplicity’s sake, let’s use Ian King’s terminology and call them ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ pulling.[27]

The unreferenced and un-credited use of Lines of Movement

From about 2005 onwards, the number of ‘author’s publishing my original works without appropriate referencing or and credits resulted in a dilution of the quality of the concepts, and the awareness of the origin.  In my opinion this original desire by these authors to take credit for the concepts resulted in later publishing by ‘authors’ whose education lacked the teachings of the origin and intent of the concepts.

In the case of one ‘author’ who has created a niche market in the area of this and related topics, I have not found a single reference or credit to the source during the decade post 1999. Ironically this ‘author’ instigated a mass walk out of a seminar I conducted in the north-east of America where I was teaching these very concepts – alleging the content was terrible.

It is difficult to reconcile claims such as made the statement below from this ‘author’.

“I have read nearly everything there is to read in the field of strength and conditioning….”[28]

Either this claim is significantly embellished, or alternatively they choose to suppress the origin of the concept.  Neither option presents a positive role model of ethical, professional behavior, for future generations.

I note also there has also been a trend in some instances from 2005 onwards (seven years after I first publicly released the concept and nearly two decades after I created it) to substituting one word in my model – the word ‘knee’ replacing the word ‘quad’.

In fact, these authors now publish more widely than I do on my concept, without any reference to its origin, and may have succeeded in leading the masses to conclude this is the model.

I note that only ethical and well-read ‘authors’ reference the source.

Using Lines of Movement in program design

I used my Lines of Movement concept to illustrate program design breakdown and progressions. A number of examples of this are found below.  Prior to my publishing this technique, there was no such method of presentation.

Apart from the obvious advantages of analyzing and discussing program design via the use of Lines of Movement, the method I innovated to present program design as shown in the example below allows a person to illustrate or refer to Lines of Movement / muscle groups without needing to name the specific exercise.

An example of a 3/wk ’semi-total body’ split routine.  This split requires less of your time and allows more time for muscle recovery than a standard total body workout. [29]

Monday (A) Wednesday (B) Friday (C)
Quad dominant (e.g. squat) Horizontal push  (e.g. bench) Hip dominant (e.g. deadlift)
Lower back (e.g. good morning) Horizontal pull (e.g. row) Vertical push (e.g. shoulder press)
Vertical pull (e.g. chins) Triceps Biceps
Forearms Calves Upper traps

An example of a 4/wk split routine.  This split requires more of your time but also allows more time on muscle group. [30]

Monday (A) Tuesday (B) Thursday (C) Friday (D)
Horizontal push (e.g. bench press) Hip dominant (e.g. deadlift) Vertical pull  (e.g. chin up) Quad dominant (e.g. squat)
Horizontal pull (e.g. row) Hip dominant (e.g. good morning) Vertical push (e.g. shoulder press) Quad dominant (e.g. lunge)
Triceps Upper trap Biceps Calf

Unlike those who have copied my works in this regard, I did not abandon reference to or respect of the subject of muscle groups. In fact, I would typically interchange between terms as a synonym. This is also well illustrated in the above table from my 1998 book ‘How to write strength training programs’. [31]

Conclusion

The Lines of Movement Concept was released 21 years ago, in 1998, and was quickly embraced by authors who in the first instance recognized and credited the source. It within a few years from that certain authors began using this concept frequently in their publications, unreferenced. Professions with higher integrity protect the copyrights of innovators. Apparently not this industry. 

Writers who have done their research and are ethical in their values will appropriately and consistent with acceptable professional referencing guidelines will display referencing and crediting when using these concepts in their publications.

[1] King, I., 1998, How to Write Strength Training Programs (Book)

[2] King, I., 1989, 5 Steps to Improved Resistance Training, Weights Workout ’89, Workshop Tour

[3] King, I., 1998, Strength Specialization Series (DVD), Disc 3, approx. 1hr 03m 00sec in.

[4] King, I., 1998, How to write strength training programs (Book), p. 38

[5] King, I., 1998, How to write strength training programs (Book), p. 38

[6] King, I., 2000, How to teach strength training exercises (Book), p. 41

[7] King, I., 1998, Strength Specialization Series (DVD), Disc 3, approx. 1hr 06m 00sec

[8] King, I., 1998, How to write strength training programs (Book), p. 39

[9] King, I., 2000, How to teach strength training exercises (Book), p. 54

[10] King, I., 2000, How to teach strength training exercises (Book), p. 99

[11] King, I., 2000, How to teach strength training exercises (Book), p. 102

[12] King, I., 2000, How to teach strength training exercises (Book), p. 108

[13] King, I., 2000, How to teach strength training exercises (Book), p. 115

[14] King, I., 2000, How to teach strength training exercises (Book), p. 118

[15] King, I., 1999, Ian Kings Killer Leg Exercises’, t-mag.com

[16] King, I., 1998, Strength Specialization Series (DVD), Disc 3, approx. 1hr 03m 00sec

[17] King, I., 1998, How to write strength training programs (Book), p. 40

[18] Shugart, C., 2001, The Ian King Cheat Sheets, Part 1 A quick and dirty look at all the cool stuff Ian King has taught us so far, t-mag.com, 24 August 2001

[19] King, I., 2000, How to Teach Strength Training Exercises (Book)

[20] King, I., 2000, How to Teach Strength Training Exercises (Book)

[21] King, I., 2000, So You Want To Start A Weight Training Program? Part 4: Muscle group allocation and Exercise selection, Peakhealth.net  August, 21 2000

[22] King, I., 2000, How to Teach Strength Training Exercises, (Book), p. 114

[23] King, I., 2000, How to Teach Strength Training Exercises (Book), p. 99

[24] King, 1999, Limping into October Pt. 2 (now showing as ‘Hardcore Leg Training – Part 2’)
T-mag.com, Fri, Sep 24, 1999

[25] Shugart, Chris, 2001, The Ian King Cheat Sheets, Part 1 – A quick and dirty look at all the cool stuff Ian King has taught us so far, Fri, Aug 24, 2001, T-mag.com

[26] Schuler, L., 2006, The New Rules, Ch. 3 – The building blocks of muscle, p. 42, (2009 paperback version) Penguin Publishing, New York.

[27] Schuler, L., 2006, The New Rules of Lifting, p. 149, Penguin Publishing, New York.

[28] Authors name withheld to protect the message. A 2005 quote.

[29] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed!, Chapter 4 – How often should I train? (Book), p. 18

[30] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed!, Chapter 4 – How often should I train? (Book), p. 18

[31] King, I., 1998, How to write strength training programs (Book), p. 25