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

Supercross, Super Injured

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As the 2023 Monster Energy AMX Supercross season unfolded it become increasingly apparent that it was going to be a season remembered for its shocking injury toll.  I will specifically focus on the 450cc class, to keep the article as brief as possible. The 250cc class injury list was equal in length to the 450cc class.

Here’s he injured list as of 2 May 2023. These riders missed one or more rounds or failed to complete a round in the 2023 season due to injury sustained in racing or practice:[1]

450SX

  • Eli Tomac – Achilles
  • Colt Nichols – Unknown?
  • Jason Anderson – Neck
  • Cooper Webb – Concussion
  • Justin Barcia – Collar Bone
  • Benny Bloss – Collar Bone
  • Grant Harlan – Shoulder
  • Christian Craig – Hip, Elbow
  • Dylan Ferrandis – Concussion
  • Brandon Hartranft – Back, Shoulder, Hip, & More
  • Scott Meshey – Leg
  • Marvin Musquin – Wrist
  • Bubba Pauli – Thumb
  • Aaron Plessinger – Hip
  • Alex Ray – Finger
  • Justin Rodbell – Achilles Tendon
  • Malcolm Stewart – Knee

The author of this list acknowledged they may have missed a few injuries because the injury list was so long. They have missed at least:

  • Adam Cianciarulo – Concussion [2]
  • Kyle Chisolm – Knee [3]
  • Christian Craig – Hip and elbow [4]
  • Joey Savatgy – Wrist [5]

And in the week following the compilation of this list add the following:

  • Ken Roczen – Knee [6]

In the seventeenth and final round of the season in the 450cc class, 4 of the top 10 riders on points were not available due to injury. That’s 40% of the top 10 points leaders. And  if you add Ken Roczen  who didn’t complete the final round, that 50%.

But even that stat is misleading on the upside, as it only includes those riders healthy enough to be in the top 10 points leaders by the last round.

If we look at the riders who started the season, it’s worse. Using the 20 riders listed on the official series web site,[7]  only the following three (3) riders may have avoided missing 2023 rounds due to injury.

  • Justin Hill
  • Shane McElrath
  • Dean Wilson

Assuming the 20 riders featured were the top 20 riders for 2023, this means 85% (17 of 20) of the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross top 20 lost rounds or their season due to injury.  85%. That’s a huge number, even for a high risk sport. I have not seen or made any comparisons to prior seasons; however I suggest it is a PB – for the wrong reasons.

Many were surprised and shocked, including the riders, and industry experts.

The final stretch in one of the most exciting years of the Monster Energy Supercross Championship is playing out much differently than we had expected … several contenders in the 450 Class are now sidelined with injuries. [8]

These injuries have brought out the armchair experts, submitting their theories as to the cause.

Firstly, you did not need to surprised and shocked. At least not if you had read my blog article on this very topic, warning of the impending injury impact and the reasons why.

Secondly, while everyone is entitled to their opinion, most have no ‘skin in the game’. What if their hypothesis as to the cause of the rise in injury incidence is wrong? There is no price to pay. However, someone in every racer’s team is or should be accountable for ensuring the riders enjoys an injury free career, and it’s obvious they are failing their rider.  Now this is not uncharacteristic in sport as very few athletes enjoy an injury free career for the same reason. I will share my vision for the athlete in this regard.

Thirdly I share another principle I have developed – injuries are predictable and preventable. But only if you can accurately predict them. If an athlete I injured, either they have ignored their advisors warning or their advisor failed them.

And fourthly and finally, what are some key steps a racer can take to avoid the arrival on the injury curse’ in their sport.

I told you so

I was going to name this article this ‘I told you so’. But I felt the perception that I am a smart-arse might leave the messenger targeted and obscure the message. The message is that the rise in injuries in the sport of moto/super ross was and Is predictable, and unless changes are made it will continue as the new norm. It has in most sports for their systemic failure to understand the cause of injuries, and there is nothing about off-road motorbike racing that leads me to believe they will rise above other sports in the similar situation.

Anyway, coming back to my prediction. On 8 Sep 2021 I wrote blog article titled A Lament for the Late Arrivals, where I spoke specifically about the relatively recent embracement of sports including moto/super-cross and the tipping point that has been passed in the relatively recent embracement of messed up popular dryland training methods. The lament was for the price they would pay – specially injuries and performance decrement.

I wrote:

I feel for the late arrivals, and I lament the collateral damage they are potentially walking into…. The outcome is increased injuries and decreased performance. The exact opposite to the proclaimed benefits of ‘strength and conditioning’.. 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.

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross class of 2023 walked into this collateral damage in this season.

I have a saying –

‘I take no delight in being right about my injury predictions.

I did tell you it was coming, but I don’t take any satisfaction from it. I said from the outset:

I feel for the late arrivals, and I lament the collateral damage they are potentially walking into….

Every athlete should be given the opportunity to fulfill their sporting potential, free from injury

I have been publishing this vision statement for many years now:

My vision is that every athlete should be given the opportunity to fulfill their sporting potential, free from injury.

For two reasons – firstly, performance and career results are inversely related to injury incidence and severity. The less injuries and or the less severe the injury, the higher the performance and career achievements.

I learnt this lesson unequivocally by the early 1990s and used this ‘zero-tolerance to injury’ approach to produce championship and podium outcomes in team and invidual sports.

The second reason I formed this vision was that it’s the right thing to do. Unlike the majority of coaches, I believe we can dominate in sport and provide optimal long-term health outcomes for the athlete concurrently. They are not mutually exclusive.

Other than the occasional regurgitation of my vision claimed by the usual authors unable to create original content, I don’t see many embrace my vision in the coaching decisions.

Which I why I expressed the following in my blog article titled A Lament for the Late Arrivals:

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.

Injuries are predictable and preventable.

It appears that everyone has an opinion as to the cause of this injury rise in moto/super cross. And they are entitled to their opinion. What if their hypothesis as to the cause of the rise in injury incidence is wrong? You can’t prevent an injury if your hypothesis as to the cause is off track.

The most common ‘fail’ in injury explanation include:

  • It was a freak accident.
  • It’s just part of the sport.

This is a complete abdication of responsibility and ability to take control and prevent injuries.

Which is why I was shattered when I listened to and re-read Eli Tomac’s explanation for his season ending and championship denying Achilles tendon rupture in the 2023 season:

Basically at a loss for words right now over what happened and how it happened,” he said. “In my mind, it was just a freak deal and a racing situation, you know. I look back, I barely over jumped that tabletop and was just standing up into that ramp and I guess the high g load took a little too much for my Achilles there? I don’t know. I honestly just put it as a freak deal. I’ve over jumped into plenty of other jumps just as hard, if not harder, and have been totally fine before. I guess this stuff happens with racing.”[9]

You might notice some key words that I referred to above, including:

  • It was just a freak deal… I honestly just put it as a freak deal.
  • …a racing situation… I guess this stuff happens with racing.
  • … I don’t know.

I am not surprised he didn’t know what was going on with his Achilles before it tore off the bone. It would have taken a highly competent member in his support team to have provided this information. However, to not understand it better in retrospect – leaves a lesson not taken, and the probability of repeat injury.

He is a great athlete and dominating his class. This is the beauty of human performance. Even the best can be better. And one avenue available to Eli to advance would be to adopt a value-set towards injury more aligned with the philosophy described as the Serenity Prayer:[10]

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.[11]

I formed this saying many years ago –

Injuries are predictable and preventable.

However, if a coach lacks the ability to accurately and consistently predict an injury in advance – yes, in advance – then they have no chance of contributing to preventing them.

Let’s use Eli Tomac’s 2023 Achilles tendon rupture as an example.

It’s incredibly unlikely that there were no signs or messages that Eli’s Achilles was in trouble, and about to snap. Appropriate injury prevention screening would have picked this up.

If an athlete is injured, either the athlete has ignored their advisors warning – and that’s rare because why would they hire them only to ignore them? – or their advisor failed them.

Some key steps a racer can take to avoid the arrival on ‘the injury curse’ in their sport

It’s not good enough to be critical without providing at some solutions, so this section touches upon a few key, simple recommendations in the area of dryland training that will contribute to avoiding the collateral damage of mainstream training.

But before we go there let me clarity – my reference to ‘the injury curse’ was facetious. It’s the default go-to used by sports and coaches that want to abdicate their injuries to a source other than one within their control.

I have not seen it used in moto/super cross yet, but that’s only a matter of time…

Here are three simple considerations for racers to avoid injury, including crashed caused by training induced physical imbalances.

 

  1. Tissue length and tension.

I’ve been championing stretching and tissue manipulation for injury prevention, rehab and optical performance for decades. Then along came the abolition of stretching. I liken the attempts to scare individuals to avoid stretching to the many periods in history when reading or specific books were banned.  I suggest stretching has been pillared for the same reasons – because those who drive this paradigm stand to lose out (commercially) in the event you discover the benefits of stretching. Don’t became a victim to this. Stretch. Including static stretching.

As for tissue manipulation, the popularization of foam rollers is by the same interest attempting to ban stretching. Despite the economic gain for others of selling you a foam roller, the roller is innate. It can’t interpret your tension and adapt its work to address this. Whilst I do not suggest throwing out (or burring) your form roller, keep in mind it is just one of many modalities available to you to lower and monitor your tension levels. I suggest including some input from a competent human being e.g massage therapist or similar health professional with good hands and a sharp understanding of optimal tension.

Tip: If you spend more time on your bike than you do lengthening and softening your connective tissue, you will become an injury statistic.

  1. Reverse the damage of your sport before you seek to replicate it.

It shatters me to see athletes, including now off-road racers, performing ‘sport specific’ dryland training, especially strength training. A key principle I have developed and teach is that the primary goal of strength training in the first instance is to reverse any inappropriate adaptations that occur your specific sport. Let’s take the landing from jumps.. Let’s imagine that the calf and Achilles tendon increase in their tension and reduce in their length over time due to repetition of absorbing the G-forces in landing. Let[s pretend that if you don’t reverse this adaptation they become shorter, and weaker, dysfunction and inhibited, and finally experience a tear or worse a complete rupture. Actually we don’t need to ‘pretend’. That’s what happens and Tomac’s 2023 injury is a classic example of potentially failing to prioritize this ‘reversal’ work in dryland training.

Tip: Yes, you can do so-called ‘performance enhancement training’ by doing so-called sport-specific training – however if this is contributing to performance decrement because it is making the sport specific adaptations worse, you are creating performance decrement. On the other hand, if you enhance your muscle function by reducing negative sport specific adaptations through injury prevention/rehab training, you are going to enhance your performance. Sounds counter-intuitive but that’s my perspective.

  1. Challenge every adaptation.

 All training results in an adaptation. Is this adaptation truly serving you as a racer? I divide training into two simple categories – specific and non-specific. The only specific training is playing your sport, so that means when you are on the bike. All other training, no matter how much lip-service any gives that it is ‘sport specific’, it is not. It will give you specific adaptations. The only question is whether those specific adaptations will transfer to your riding.

Many athletes get a warm feeling from the muscle mass and strength increases from strength training. In part because of the social rewards placed on ‘getting buffed’, and in part because it gives them a feeling of being a warrior. There is no correlation between muscle mass and or non-specific (gym) strength that trumps optimal technical and tactical development. More likely, you will see a decline in technique if your dryland adaptations contest skill execution e.g., if you develop leg imbalances in the gym, which most do even if they are trying not to, you will load inapproachably over jumps and increase crash frequency. Just one of many examples.

Tip: Critically analyze, and in a futures sense, the adaptations your dryland training is and will give you, and question it’s transfer. If you a getting big and strong because of low-self-esteem, read a self-help book. And remember this – most of the current crop of riders leant to ride well before adding dryland training, after which they will experience a higher frequency of crashes and related injuries (because of the imbalances ij their dryland training).

Conclusion

I did intend to keep this article brief, however as I wrote my empathy for the athlete, in this case the racer, took over, and I sought to give a bigger lifeline.  (Lucky we restricted the focus to 450cc class injuries, and only over the one season!)

I don’t take any joy in saying ‘I told you so’, but it was quite ironic that what I wrote about 2021 came to be manifested within two years.

There are ways to train that can reduce a racers crashes and subsequent injuries, however it will take a fresh look at the options. Simply following the herd will not avoid this rising phenomenon of injuries that will be blamed on anything and everything other than the actual cause.

As an athlete you are not expected to solve all the problems and challenges of a long, injury free career by yourself. However, as an individual sport athlete the onus is on you to ask the right questions, and to appoint guides who have the best answers. That is you burden. Those appointments can make or break your career.

And if injuries do occur take the lesson. Avoid writing it off as a ‘freak accident’ or ‘that’s what happens in racing’.  The injuries will occur in conjunction with a crash so don’t rush to assume the injury was caused by the crash. The injury might have caused the crash. In the same way an equipment setup can cause crashes (e.g., inappropriate sag setting or similar placing too much weight on the front tyre and front washouts occurring more frequently), inappropriate body set up (e.g., imbalances in your musculoskeletal system) can cause crashes. If you don’t fully understand what causes crashes, you may never unlock the code of body-bike relationship and miss an opportunity to ‘tune’ the body in the same way your suspension mechanic tunes your bike to avoid you crashing.

Your physical coaches KPI (Key Performance Indicator) should be a reduction in crashes and injuries ahead of an increase in non-specific performance (VO2 max or load displaced in the gym or the size and strength of your muscles).

In my five decades of helping athletes fulfill their potential in a wide range of sports and in diverse countries through a double-digit number of Olympic cycles. I have seen that despite the challenges faced by athlete due to adopting misguided but dominant paradigm-based training programs, many athletes seem to want to cling onto the ego attachments of their choices. Others want to conform.

My hope is that you can do what the truly best I the world athletes do. Feel no desire to be like everyone else and find a way to train in a way that is best for you. This will need you to be willing to be different, and to make your own mind up. This alone will reduce your numbers of competitors. That’s the way of top performance. There are a few at the top so far ahead of the rest. There is a reason they are there, and you need to scratch below the perceptions to understand what sets them apart. Look beyond your sport for the best clues.

 

References

[1] https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/moto-related/current-2023-injury-list

[2] https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2023/04/26/adam-cianciarulo-aaron-plessinger-detail-injuries/

[3] https://www.fullnoise.com.au/fullnoise-news/the-emergency-department-2023-ama-supercross-championship-round-7-arlington/

[4] https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2023/04/10/christian-craig-timetable-for-return-uncertain-after-glendal-injuries/

[5] https://www.vurbmoto.com/joey-savatgy-injury-update-2/

[6] https://mxvice.com/injury-update-ken-roczen-10/

[7] https://www.supercrosslive.com/riders/450

[8] https://www.swapmotolive.com/2023-supercross-late-season-injury-updates-championship-changes/features/kickstart/

[9] https://www.vurbmoto.com/eli-tomac-on-future-after-achilles-injury-in-denver/

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer#:~:text=It%20is%20commonly%20quoted%20as,wisdom%20to%20know%20the%20difference.

[11] https://uscatholic.org/news_item/commentary-how-i-discovered-i-was-wrong-about-the-origin-of-the-serenity-prayer/

Ian King

The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

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The following is an abridged version of The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach.

Introduction

The content is written for those who seek a higher level of mastery of my approach to physical preparation. Several concepts deserve discussion at this point.

I seek not to teach you what to think, but how to think. Therefore, I choose not to use the word ‘system’ in describing my approach. Instead, I chose the word ‘philosophy’, and believe this is more accurate.

I have divided this book in to five sections. Each section is devoted to key philosophies as they relate to the ‘being’ or ‘thinking’ of a physical preparation coach, although I stress these divisions are arbitrary.

This book is about philosophies that I have arrived at. I trust they serve you as well as they have served me.

Part One – Professional Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Only results matter.

It doesn’t matter what you, another person, textbook or research article thinks/claims should happen as far as the training outcome – all  that matters is what is happening, what was the outcome. Value this above all else and respond accordingly, with no attachment to your prior perceptions where the message is to the contrary.

Do no harm.

The aim of physical preparation training is to improve the body in whatever specific way the athlete/client seeks. It is your responsibility to understand the impact of the training you provide, and ensure it does no harm. If in doubt, seek guidance or assistance. This may involve referrals to other health care providers.

Do the least amount of training needed to get the result you want.

Seek to identify how little you need to do to achieve your training and competitive results. This approach is less draining on the athlete’s recovery ability and reduces the wear and tear on the body.

The goal of a training session should be to do the amount that will result in the best improvement into the next workout of the same kind, not to do as much as one can.

The underlying deciding factor in how much to do in each workout should be found in the answer to the question ‘What amount done today will give me the best improvement into the next session?’

I don’t know.

I don’t know how to design a program for anyone – until I receive more information from/about that person. I combine my knowledge, experience and intuition with their knowledge, experience, and intuition – then we have information to create a program.

Transfer is far more important than specificity.

Whilst the principle of specificity is important, it is not as important as the principle of transfer. This principle reinforces training that, irrespective of its apparent specificity, transfers more effectively to the specific event.

Flexibility can be trained and expressed statically or dynamically, or a combination of both.

As with any physical performance, there is debate and misinterpretation of how to train for what is seen to be the way it is expressed.  Those who have been misled down the road of over-exaggeration of the role of specificity may see flexibility being expressed dynamically and conclude that this is the only way to train it for that event. This is not so. Remember, transfer of training effect is more important than apparent specificity.

There is very limited correlation between what can be lifted in the gym and the scoreboard.

The only sports where how much weight you can displace in the gym are fully correlated with success are the lifting sports themselves – power lifting and Olympic lifting. From there the correlation slides downhill quickly.  There is no place for justification of the success of the sports strength program based on the amount of weight lifted in the gym when there is no relationship between the two. Rather, the focus should be on the scoreboard.

A model of optimum movement in speed relevant to the athletes’ needs is needed.

The physical preparation coach should have developed a model of movement that is considered in a general sense optimal for each type of speed used by each position of athlete and use this as a guide on which to move the athlete towards.

Fatigue masks fitness.

When people judge performance of an athlete or team in a mixed energy system or endurance-based sport, they are seeing the work capacity. When the work capacity is low, the most common and erroneous knee-jerk reaction is that they are ‘not fit enough’, and the response is to do more endurance-based training.

The training effect is optimized when it is considered as a combination of training and recovery.

The training effect that happens to your body is not simply a product of your training. If combined with recovery, you can achieve a far greater result than the impact of training alone. In fact, the short-term impact of training is to reduce the work capacity of the body. It is the recovery from this that results in potentially rebounding to levels of work capacity in excess of your prior levels.  A new baseline.

Two major focuses of physical preparation coaches are injury prevention and performance or function enhancement. I believe injury prevention to be more important.

When training an individual, first seek to remove or reduce their injury potential, then shift the focus to performance/function enhancement. This does not mean that one needs to be done before the other is worked on. They can be trained concurrently. Simply prioritize injury prevention initially and ensure that any concurrent performance/function enhancement training does not interfere with the injury prevention focus and progress

Part Two – Personal Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Detach from the outcome.

This final point or mantra reinforces that we should not get attached to the way we do things today. If we find a better way tomorrow, we should feel no attachment to the limitations of our current way and be willing to replace any aspect of our thoughts or actions with more effective thoughts or actions.

When the student is ready the teacher will appear.

This is a fantastic little saying, but it is more than just a sentiment. I have seen the difference between situations where a person is interested, and where a person is truly committed to being a student. If you have a burning desire to learn, you will ultimately find a teacher appearing.  You may be surprised to know how many potential teachers are watching you, waiting to see you show the commitment to learning from them that warrants or motivates them to want to avail themselves as your teacher.

Trust your intuition

I don’t know the answers to how to train – at least I don’t know as much as the individual I train does. Between my abstract ‘scientific’ knowledge, my empirical observations (you know, those secondary to research!), my willingness to form a hypothetical potential cause-effect relationship – only then, when married with the individual’s information, can I even go close to individualizing a training program!  And even then, it is nothing more than an educated guess based on experience and my ability to draw out the information from individuals who in most cases don’t know or understand how they could possibly have the answers!

Part Three – Business Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Physical preparation coaching is a service-based profession.

Whilst it may seem a simplistic concept, that physical preparation coaching is a service-based profession, I believe the implications of this connection are often overlooked. The upside of being a service-based profession is that if you are suited to be a service provider, you can achieve great self-fulfillment and receive high financial rewards. The downside of being a service-based profession is that if you are not service oriented you may not achieve great self-fulfillment or receive high financial rewards.

The degree of giving you put into every service and product will be evident to the receiver.

It is a very subtle point, but the end results can be massively different – between just doing a job, writing a program – versus taking as much love and care you can in the shaping of a client’s program, in the focus on and achievement of exceeding their expectations.

I see physical preparation being more an art than a science, and in that reality, the provision of our services, the shaping of a program, akin to an artist creating a fantastic result from raw products. Like a fine sculpture from a block of marble. Or a beautiful painting from a collection of different paints and a blank canvass.

The number one marketing method you should use is word of mouth.

One of the reasons I believe you need less marketing in exclusively service situations is based on the proviso that you provide such a truly outstanding benefit to your clients that they become raving fans, telling all they can in totally committed tones about the ‘need’ for others to do as they have done – see you and receive similar benefits.

Yes, you can (and do) sell!

I am amazed at how many physical preparation coaches have the initial mindset ‘I can’t sell’ or ‘I am not very good at selling’ or ‘I am not a salesperson’.  I thought I was the only one who (used) to think that way! Whatever the cause of this belief, the response is the same – you can and actually do sell already anyway!

Competition comes from a lack mentality.

You can choose to operate your business with a mindset of competition, or in a class of your own. When you choose the mindset of competition, you fall into comparing yourself with another business/person, and this is an act of the ego.

Your business/profession does not define you.

Leading a balanced life begins with an understanding that you are not what you do to create income or seek fulfillment. You are you, and at this point in time that is how you are spending a lot of time. But how you currently spend your time does not define you. That is unless you choose it to do so. And I recommend you do not.

Busy is not optimal!

There is a perception in the business world that if you are busy (in business) you must be successful. My philosophy is counter to that. I believe that busy is undesirable. The people in business who I pity the most are those who lead the busiest lives!  Even highly paid busy people are just highly paid rats in the rat race!

Part Four – Financial Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Your beliefs about money will determine how much you receive and or retain.

No matter how much you strive for or desire a life without financial hardships, if you have limiting beliefs about money, your ability to create/attract income and or your ability to effectively retain that money will be limited by these beliefs.

Ideally, before you go and work in exchange for money or build businesses with the intent to create income and or profit, you should become intimate with your beliefs about money.

True abundant living can and needs to come before money.

The most effective path to creating more money in your life begins with losing the feeling of lack. If you strive for money from a position of ‘I don’t have enough’ or similar lack or scarcity perspectives, you will always feel this way.

This lack mentality can impede the flow of money to you, and may also leave you in a constant search for more. When is more enough?

Physical preparation coaches don’t need to be poor!

I have sensed a belief or perception with physical preparation that being a physical preparation coach means you need to forgo financial success, because we are little more than a community service. Granted the recent history of this industry has been volunteer-based, but those days are gone.

You don’t have to remain poor because you chose to be involved in physical preparation as a coach!

Financial offense is how you play the game to obtain money.

The analogy of money as a game is something we as physical preparation coaches can relate to.  Financial offense is the way we play the game of money and life to obtain money. The way you obtain or attract money is a direct reflection of your values on your worthiness to receive money.

Financial defense is how you play the game to retain money.

The analogy of money as a game was established in the prior chapter.
Financial defense is the way we play the game to retain money. As a custodian of money, you are responsible for the way you manage it. If you give it all away, you didn’t want it. The way you handle money once you have received it is a direct reflection of your values on your worthiness to have money.

Part Five – Spiritual Philosophies for the Physical Preparation Coach

Spiritualism versus religion.

The concept of spiritualism should not be seen to be the same thing as religion.  Religion can be described as adherence to and belief in a collection of beliefs, values and rules.  Spiritualism rises from the concept of the spirit, which Deepak Chopra describes as the source of all creation, and is not limited to the bounds of any one religion, nor does it typically contain as many constraints in perspective.

The concept of universal laws.

Universal laws involve ways of describing and defining outcomes or cause-effect relationships that affect all persons at all times, have always done so and always will. They can be considered ‘generalized principles’. The only variation is how they are labeled, described, or defined, but the concepts are the same. They are considered immutable, and applicable to all, irrespective of whether a person accepts or recognizes them. They relate human’s lives and actions to the universe and provide guidance for all.  The well-known spiritual writer Deepak Chopra (1994) describes these laws as the process by which the un-manifest becomes the manifest.

Spiritualism, universal laws of the universe, and the physical preparation coach.

It has been my experience in coaching physical preparation coaches to greatness that has forced me to confront and better understand the things that stand between each of us and our greatness.  There are many ‘keys to success’, evidenced by the number of texts on this topic. My goal in the following pages is to draw on aspects of spirituality that I believe can assist in addressing some of the common and foundational limiting beliefs and beliefs in habit in physical preparation coaches.

I have seen high achievers in other endeavors use all avenues available to them to fulfill their potential, spiritualism being one of them. I encourage you to investigate and master all of these areas on your path to fulfillment.

Conclusion

This content, as you now know, went far beyond the professional, technical know-how of being a physical preparation coach. It covered areas that truly touch upon every aspect of you, as a person, as well as a coach.

My approach to education is based on this holistic belief that building up only one part of you, such as professional development, is not optimal. Rather, it is far more effective to build balance in your knowledge and abilities, to best fulfill your potential.

I have also learned first-hand many of the factors that hold us back, as physical preparation coaches, from fulfilling our potential.  Between my own personal experiences and the lessons, I have been taught by the coaches in the KSI educational programs over the years, I am all too aware of the human frailties that turn the ease of succeeding into a struggle..

Whilst the mainstream chooses to teach professional smartness, I seek to teach each of the five areas covered in this book – professional, personal, business, finance, and spiritual development.

This holistic focus is just one of the unique features of our program. For everything you were exposed to in this book is integrated in the KSI educational programs at a higher level.

I trust you have benefited in one or more ways from studying this text, and should our paths cross, I look forward to learning of your movement towards fulfilling your potential in physical preparation.

What others have said about The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach

I read the The Way of the Physical Preparation Coach – what a book!!! I think this is my favorite title of yours and I’m now going back through it taking some notes as there is so much wisdom in there.

In particular, I really valued the philosophical nature of the book. I liked that you included the core values of a Physical Preparation coach from your perspective.

I also really valued the holistic nature of the book and the time spent on the spiritual side of the philosophy.  I have been very curious about other perspectives and practices and had previously read the Tao Te Ching (which was very interesting to read, but my understanding was very limited!). Since reading The Way, I’ve just finished listening to the Tao of Abundance audiobook (which had been frequently referenced in The Way), which I must say is life-changing for me. It was fantastic. It has resonated and impacted me so much, that I’m starting to incorporate some daily meditation and also practicing reframing how I view the world (Eg. Life is a gift and acceptance of what is experience).

So in essence, I just wanted to thank you for producing such a great piece of work. It’ll be a resource to base my career around and a reference that I’ll continue to come back to. Cheers!— Mathew I., AUS

This book takes you ‘behind the scenes’. An amazing insight into the thought processes and philosophies Ian has learned and created in over two decades of physical preparation. The philosophies and methods contained in these chapters have changed the way many people train and perceive training around the world. The wisdom is timeless, powerful and provides life changing opportunity to the reader! –Mike Pimentel, USA

I was able to spend 13 hours of travel from Australia to Los Angeles last week reading Ian’s latest book, time really did fly! I received so much value and insight from reading and will receive more value each addition read. The first page of the first chapter (the training process) is incredibly profound, spoken from so much experience. The words on that page alone are worth the book’s investment! This book takes you behind the scenes of Ian’s thinking – it’s an amazing insight into the thought processes and philosophies Ian has learned and created in over two decades of physical preparation! –Mitchell Kochonda, AUS

Hi Ian, I read “The Way of…” and enjoyed it immensely. Mitch said you don’t sell many of these and now I know why; very few people are ready for such a holistic philosophy on life. Covering the 5 areas you do, allows readers to access to your philosophies on all aspects of a person not just one or two. I would say that your book is a practical guide to philosophy for people with physical pursuits. I found the book of great value and I’m also glad you inserted the references to other books you found valuable, as I can now chase these to read also. A great book; congratulations!!—George V., AUS

I was so touched by the concept you share in ‘The Way’ book. You did a fantastic job compiling all of that great stuff. Everyone should operate in that way! –Sandy Riedinger, Beverly International

The Way of the King Coach is a distillation of Ian King’s philosophies applied to achieving success as a Coach in Physical Preparation, while simultaneously achieving balance in life.

This is a fantastic works ó more of a treatise that will enlighten you to new ways of thinking, new ways of doing and new ways of learning. If you have been seeking answers outside of the traditional sets and reps approach, you will be pleased with the wisdom of the Master. These are powerful words and thoughts from the voice of over 20 years of on the field experience, that has resulting in Ian achieving the highest level of personal and business success.

Ian suggests you choose your mentors with care you will learn the truth from those who have accomplished what they teach, and Ian is the Master in the field of physical preparation and teaching abundance in building your business and achieving balance in life. If you have wondered how you can become successful in physical preparation, how you can earn more money, how you can attract clients that you can’t wait to train – then you need to read this book!

Trends, theories, and science have their place and use. Most coaches are blinded by theories or depend on trends to prove their own credibility or reason for program design and or methods of training they employ. Ian shows you why using your intuition, humility and having a long-term focus on the clients needs (ahead of your own) will ultimately provide the greatest impact on the success, injury-prevention and improved health of the athlete or client you work with. This approach will translate into your own personal and business success, with your clients referring you more business than you can handle!

If you are open to being inspired, to learning why great achievements take time and how personal development can create more income in your business, then the The Way of the King Coach will offer many avenues to pursue, and new ways of thinking that will set you apart from the rest of the pack!—David, USA

I was elated to read in Way of the Physical Prep Coach that you intuitively banned music from your training sessions with athletes. I felt the same way but you’re the first to discuss this that I’ve read. On the rare occasion that my local gym had sound system issues and cut it off, I’ve had my best workouts ever. Smoother technique, better energy replenishment between sets, better focus….I’m not sure my clients appreciated it when I told them there’d be no music in my facility though!! –Scott, UK

This is an excellent work! A master works in fact. As I read this book, I gain a greater understanding of the breadth of Ian’s mastery in that he can reduce complex topics and ideas to simple, short sentences. Ian, I congratulate you! There is nothing like this in the market in relation to Physical Preparation! –Darren, CAN

Ian does it again – another must have book for all physical prep coaches, trainers and those who want to get into the industry! It’s an excellent read and consistent with all his material. Read this book and understand why Ian’s approach to physical preparation leads the way!–Miguel., USA

Ian King

Rugby’s Holy Grail – Beating the All Blacks

/by

New Zealand is the most successful national team in the international history of rugby.[1]  Every national team seeks to test themselves against the Gold Standard of world rugby, the New Zealand national rugby union team known as the All Blacks.

And Australia is no different. In fact, as they are such close neighbors, the rivalry may be at its peak between these two countries.

The Bledisloe Cup is a rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia and New Zealand that has been competed for since the 1930s. The frequency at which the competition has been held and the number of matches played has varied, but as of 2016, it consists of an annual three-match series, with two of the matches also counting towards The Rugby Championship. New Zealand have had the most success, winning the trophy for the 46th time in 2017, while Australia have won 12 times.[2]

For more than 80 years Australian rugby has pitted itself our nearest neighbor and the most successful team in world rugby history – the New Zealand All Blacks.

To date the win loss record between these two teams is very uneven, with over two-thirds of the games being won by the All Blacks.[3]

Playing Venue

 Played Won by

Australia

 Won by

NZ

 Drawn Australia points NZ points

Australia

 83 26 51 6 1270

1675

31% 62% 7%
NZ 74 15 58 1 924

1623

20% 79%

1%
Neutral 5 2 3 0 115

92

40% 60%

0%

Overall

 162 43 112 7 2286

3413
    27% 69% 4% 40%

60%

In summary, historically speaking, Australia has about a 30% chance of beating the All Blacks when playing at home (Australia), a 20% chance of winning when playing them in New Zealand (away), and a 40% chance of beating them when playing on a neutral venue. I suggest this last statistic is influenced by the fact that the ‘neutral venue’ games are typically ‘dead rubbers’ – in other words, they don’t matter as much to the Kiwis, as they have already won the series.

The 1980s – A decade of adversity for Australia

Despite the advent of the World Rugby Cup in 1987, when Australian’s want a true assessment of where they are at, you can always look to the trans-Tasman series.

It was 1980 and the All Black’s 24th tour of Australia resulted in Australian dominating with wins in two of the three Test matches and retaining the Bledisloe up. [4]

The Australian Wallabies toured New Zealand in 1982, losing two of the three Test matches against the All Blacks, who regained the Bledisloe Cup from Australia. Australia had held the Bledisloe Cup since 1979.[5]

In 1983, in the single Bledisloe Cup game that was played in Sydney, New Zealand prevailed and retained the Cup.[6] In 1984 during the 25th tour of Australia by the All Blacks, the touring team won thirteen of their fourteen games, including two of the three tests against Australia, retaining the Bledisloe Cup.[7]

In 1985, another year where the Cup was contested in only one Test, New Zealand achieved a narrow win on home soil.  In 1986 Australia took back the Bledisloe Cup winning two of the three Test matches on New Zealand soil.[8]  1987 saw a return to a single Test to determine the Cup. New Zealand convincingly beat the Wallabies 30-16 on Australian soil. [9]  The 26th All Black tour of Australia in 1988 resulted in New Zealand retaining the Bledisloe Cup – again. And the score lines were amongst the worse for Australia during that decade. [10]

1988 30 July Concord Oval, Sydney Australia 9–30  New Zealand
16 July Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane 19–19
3 July Concord Oval, Sydney 7–32

The 1990s – A decade of dominance 

It was 1990 and New Zealand rugby was on a roll. During the second half of the 1980s New Zealand rugby were dominant. At provincial level they won the South Pacific Championships every year of its existence.

At the national level, the All Blacks seemed invincible.  They experienced their longest unbeaten streak in Test rugby of 23 Tests from 1987 to 1990, with one game being drawn and the rest victorious. [11]  For four years between 1986 and 1990, Australia was unsuccessful against the All Blacks.[12]

This changed on the 18th of August 1990 at Athletic Park, Wellington.

Date Venue Score Winner Competition
18 August 1990 Athletic Park, Wellington 9 – 21  Australia 1990 Bledisloe Cup
4 August 1990 Eden Park, Auckland 27 – 17  New Zealand
21 July 1990 Lancaster Park, Christchurch 21 – 6  New Zealand
5 August 1989 Eden Park, Auckland 24 – 12  New Zealand 1989 Bledisloe Cup
30 July 1988 Concord Oval, Sydney 9 – 30  New Zealand 1988 Bledisloe Cup
16 July 1988 Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane 19 – 19   draw
3 July 1988 Concord Oval, Sydney 7 – 32  New Zealand
25 July 1987 Concord Oval, Sydney 16 – 30  New Zealand 1987 Bledisloe Cup
6 Sept 1986 Eden Park, Auckland 9 – 22  Australia 1986 Bledisloe Cup

This was a turning point in the belief for Australian rugby. After half a decade of non-dominance, this result signaled a new decade, one in which they would win many times, including two Rugby World Cups.

We had a turning point against New Zealand in 1990 in the last Test of the tour and from that moment the group knew they had an opportunity or at least the goods to match it with New Zealand on any given day and that was what we built on.[13]

One of the ‘memorable moments’ of that game was described as follows:

The third Test is still implanted in Australian minds. There was only one try scored, and that was by Kearns, who surged over the line and stepped into history as he invited Sean Fitzpatrick to ‘two barbecues’ with a typically Churchillean two-fingered gesture. The 21 to 9 victory ended a 50-match and 23-Test unbeaten sequence for the All Blacks. They showed that New Zealand could be beaten by positiveness and determination.[14] [15]

Another media article put it this way:

The third test, however, would be somewhat of a turning point for both teams. Australia won 21-9, thanks to five penalty goals by Lynagh, but also to that memorable try by Kearns and the even more memorable ‘celebration’ afterwards (see clip below).  The win gave a young Wallaby outfit some real belief as they halted the All Blacks’ record run of victories – 50 games and 23 tests.[16]

Another great example of the shift in self-belief by the Wallabies towards the All Blacks was when back rower Sam Scott-Young took up blowing kisses and winking at the All Blacks as they performed the haka.  In 1992 the Wallabies won the series with incidents such as this part of the fabric.

The Wallabies had gone from a team in fear of the All Blacks and expecting to lose, to a team that respected rather than feared them and expected to win.

Post 2000 – The decline and drought

In 2001 Australian won the southern hemisphere Tri-nations. The only times it has won it since have been 2011 and 2015, which were World Cup Years. In World Cup years the competition is shortened so that each nation only plays each other once, not the usual twice.

August 2001 was the last time the Wallabies have won a test match against the All Blacks in New Zealand.  (Australia hasn’t won a Test match at Eden Park, Auckland, since 1986)

2002 was the last time Australian won the Bledisloe Cup. In a best of two Bledisloe series, Australia retained the Cup with a single win of 16-14 win in Sydney.  That was the fifth year in a row holding the Cup, and the last year as the end of 2022. That’s twenty (20) years of failing to secure the Cup.

Looking at the team photo from the 2002 Sydney Bledisloe match, about half the team spent a lot of their career in my care. Many of them retired soon after.

On November 12, 2005, the Australian scrum was so savaged by the English scrum during a Wallaby tour game that the game ended with uncontested scrums. English prop Andrew Sheridan appeared to ‘deadlift’ the Australian scrum off the ground, and they were marched backwards distances rarely seen in Test rugby.

In the lead up to the 2017 Bledisloe Cup series, Australia Wallaby Coach conducted higher volume training months to ‘prepare the team for the games against the All Blacks. 

Cheika suggested the Wallabies’ sub-standard displays against Scotland and Italy was in part due to their higher training workloads in camp.

“If we didn’t do it over these three weeks and start that, it’ll be too late for later on,” he said. “Maybe that’s taken some of the edge off some of our performances because we’ve been going hard at it. [17]

How effective was this?

The first Bledisloe Cup game was played in Sydney, a great advantage for the Wallabies. They could get off to a first up win as you would expect from a home game, and in the best of three series they had two home games (played in Australia).  This is a recipe for a successful series.

In the first Test in Sydney the All Blacks scored 54 points in the first 48 minutes of play…

If Australian rugby fans needed any further reminding of the poor state of the game in this country it was provided by the All Blacks, who destroyed the Wallabies 54-34 in their Bledisloe Cup encounter in Sydney.

The final score line flattered the Wallabies, who were outclassed at the Olympic stadium by the All Blacks, with the World Cup winners taking their foot off the pedal after they led 54-6 early in the second half courtesy of eight tries…[18]

Here are some unenviable records created by the 2017 Bledisloe Cup results:

* It was the most points the All Blacks had ever scored against the Wallabies;

* A crowd of just 54,846 spectators, the lowest ever for a Bledisloe Cup match at the Olympic stadium, were witnessing one of the Wallabies’ worst performances [19]

* The 2017 loss made it 15 years in a row of New Zealand winning the Cup, the longest unbeaten run in the history of the Trans-Tasman competition.

The Wallabies went on to lose the second Bledisloe Cup game in Dunedin the following weekend, although the score was closer at 35-29.

The third game, a dead rubber, was played in Brisbane, with the Wallabies winning the game 23-18. The media and Australian rugby public did their best to see hope in this result.

Twelve months later, how was that fitness focus working? The following is the one of the headlines from the first match, in Sydney on Saturday 18th August 2018.

All Blacks dismantle stunned Wallabies with clinical second-half display[20]

Bledisloe disaster as All Blacks thrash Wallabies 38-13 in Sydney[21]

It was 6-5 to Australia at half-time. The second half score was 7-33 in favor of the All Blacks.  Interesting, especially in relation to the yearlong focus on ‘fitness’.

The second and deciding 2018 Bledisloe Cup game?

Bledisloe Cup: All Blacks thrash Wallabies 40-12 in Auckland[22]

That made it sixteen (16) years since Australia won the Bledisloe Cup.

Keep in mind this was after the June tour series by Ireland in Australia, where the Wallabies lost the series 2-1.

The rhetoric and blame-game hasn’t stopped. Former Wallaby coach Bob Dwyer jumped on the bandwagon in 2018, following yet another year of dismal Bledisloe Cup performances, the fourth year of Cheika being in charge.

‘They’re not fit enough’: Dwyer takes aim at Wallabies players, not Cheika

World Cup-winning Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer has pointed the finger at Australian players and not under-siege coach Michael Cheika, claiming in the wake of another embarrassing defeat to New Zealand that they are not fit enough.

The fallout has continued from Australia’s 40-12 loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park, which completed their 16th consecutive Bledisloe Cup series defeat, and the attention has now been turned onto the players’ condition.

Last year in June, Cheika put his foot down and stated publicly that players’ fitness was not where it needed to be. He put his men through brutal fitness sessions in the lead-up to the Rugby Championship but, like this year, they were unable to knock off the world’s best team.

Even as recently as Sunday, the day after the Wallabies’ sixth loss from seven Tests, Cheika reiterated his view that fitness levels were superior to 2017.

“[Fitness] still can improve but I think it’s better,” he said. “It’s about the key moments and reacting mentally with urgency to shut those situations down.

Dwyer is a former coach of Cheika’s at Randwick and considered a mentor, for him.  Bob knows all about pressure on national coaches. Unlike Bob, Michael doesn’t have the physical preparation program that Bob had between 1988 and end of his (second) tenure as Wallaby head coach.

There is a great saying in the Australian workers vernacular:

A poor tradesman blames his tools.

The solution – transplant New Zealand Coaches in Australian

It would appear from the last two decades the Australian rugby solution for the challenge of beating the All Blacks was to hire New Zealand coaches.

Is this an effective strategy? We don’t have to speculate. We have three former high level New Zealand coaches who have been transplanted into Australia during the last twenty years.

In 2006 Mitchell became the first ever coach to coach an Australian provincial franchise. John Mitchell coached the All Blacks for about two years between 2001 and 2003, with an 82% win loss record. Not bad, but not good enough for the New Zealand expectations, thus his relatively short tenure.

In his five seasons with the Australian provincial team the Western Forces in the southern hemisphere Super Rugby completion his best result was 7th place, and I estimate his win loss ratio at about 20%.

Next came Robbie Deans. Robbie Deans won two Super rugby championships with the Canterbury Crusaders and on that basis became the first non-Australian coach of the Wallabies. In his five or so years as Australia’s national coach, Deans achieved a 59% win-loss ratio.

Next came Dave Rennie. Dave Rennie won two Super rugby championships with the Waikato Chiefs and on that basis became the second non-Australian coach of the Wallabies, only seven years after Deans had departed.  He achieved a 36% win loss record over his three years.

I’d conclude that this solution failed.

Conclusion

Statistically speaking Australian must win a Bledisloe series sooner or later, and every year passing makes this sooner.

Will the so called ‘Golden Era’ of rugby return?

During the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s an Australian player pool was developed that produced what became known as the ‘Golden Era’. It was not the first golden era, but it was the last.

So, what happened that left Australian rugby devoid of golden eras?

When success is created, greed arrives.  I witnessed this firsthand during the mid 1990s when Queensland rugby established itself as the best provincial team in the world.

I witnessed this firsthand in the late 1990s when the Australian national rugby team won its second Rugby World Cup.

Individuals were given or sought to take credit:

Coach Rod Macqueen and Captain John Eales lead Australia through a golden age of Australian Rugby. [23]

“From a sport that was really living on the smell of an oily rag, we became profitable, we held every trophy possible,” O’Neill said.  “It was a remarkable five year period – a purple patch, a golden era that hasn’t been repeated – sadly.”

Let’s be clear – the success of the late 1990s and early 2002s was borne out of period and efforts and systems where neither of those individuals could take any credit for.

The following quote is relevant:

Success has many fathers; failure is an orphan.[24]

Individuals and organizations sought to benefit financially from the success.  Put simply, I believe Australian rugby killed the goose that laid the golden egg.

The 1990s was a Golden Era – not just 1999-2001, where the Australian rugby union team full of players developed in a national talent identification program the likes never seen before in world rugby during the prior decade.

Former Australian National Coaching Director Dick  Marks summed this up very accurately:

“But … the greatest inheritance of all … (was) the 1996 squad of Wallabies, the most talented and best-nurtured ever assembled in this country – and all produced under a pre-O’Neill regime… It is not hard to be seen to be doing a good job when you inherit the best team in history.” [25]

Even an article from published out of Japan more accurately described the build-up that resulted in the peak of 2000 (followed by the immediate decline):

… we take a closer look at the two-time World Champions to give our Japanese fans some insight into the history of Australian rugby, its Golden Generations of the 80s, 90s and early-2000s…[26]

Perhaps if Australian rugby had the character of Canterbury Rugby Union (the Crusaders) there would be more hope to have held on to the greatness that was created in Australian provincial (Queensland Reds followed by the ACT Brumbies) and national (Wallabies) rugby during the 1990s.

But it didn’t.

In my opinion the game was so abused in Australia during the late 1990s/early 2000 period by those who sought to turn its beauty into power that the recovery period has been extensive.

When will Australian rugby experience another ‘golden era’?   Time will tell!

—-

This article is formed with extracts from the book ‘You Can’t Do That! Lessons from a lifetime of helping rugby players, teams & coaches’.

 

References

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union_in_New_Zealand#:~:text=New%20Zealand%2C%20commonly%20referred%20to,Ground%20on%2015%20August%201903.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bledisloe_Cup

[3] History of rugby union matches between Australia and New Zealand, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rugby_union_matches_between_Australia_and_New_Zealand  (with percentage added)

[4] 1980 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and Fiji, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_New_Zealand_rugby_union_tour_of_Australia_and_Fiji

[5] 1982 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_Australia_rugby_union_tour_of_New_Zealand

[6] Bledisloe Cup, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bledisloe_Cup

[7] 1984 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_New_Zealand_rugby_union_tour_of_Australia

[8] 1986 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_Australia_rugby_union_tour_of_New_Zealand

[9] Bledisloe Cup, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bledisloe_Cup

[10] 1988 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_New_Zealand_rugby_union_tour_of_Australia

[11] New Zealand National Rugby Union Team, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_national_rugby_union_team#Overall

[12] History of rugby union matches between Australia and New Zealand, Wikipedia,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rugby_union_matches_between_Australia_and_New_Zealand

[13] Rusty, 2015, Win over All Blacks sparked ’91 campaign,  Qld Reds 30 Oct 2015, http://www.redsrugby.com.au/News/NewsArticles/tabid/581/ArticleID/16873/WIN-OVER-ALL-BLACKS-SPARKED-’91-CAMPAIGN.aspx

[14] Phillip Kearns, Hooker, Wallaby #681 http://www.aru.com.au/wallabies/TheTeam/HistoricalWallabiesPlayerProfile.aspx?pid=763

[15] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiIZ_BZNiUA

[16] Roberts, R., 2010, A RWC Retrospective: 19911 vs. 2011, Green and Gold Rugby, 7 July 2010, http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/a-rwc-wallaby-retrospective-comparing-1991-to-2011/

[17] Wallabies not fit enough for Test rugby, Stephen Moore says, ESPN, 24 June 2017, http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_/id/19724368/wallabies-not-fit-enough-test-rugby-stephen-moore-says

[18] Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies thrashed by All Blacks 54-34 in series opener in Sydney, ,ABC News, 19 Aug 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-19/bledisloe-cup-all-backs-thrash-wallabies/8823162

[19] Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies thrashed by All Blacks 54-34 in series opener in Sydney

,ABC News, 19 Aug 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-19/bledisloe-cup-all-backs-thrash-wallabies/8823162

[20] Morgan, C. 2018, All Blacks dismantle stunned Wallabies, Telegraph, 18 Aug 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/08/18/australia-vs-new-zealand-bledisloe-cup-live-score-updates/

[21] Worthington, S., All Blacks thrash Wallabies, Fox Sports, 19 Aug 2018, https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/bledisloe-cup/follow-all-the-action-as-the-wallabies-v-all-blacks-in-bledisloe-i/news-story/2bd3de728bf9d52916f0660813b8f2b6

[22] Worthington, S., Bledisloe Cup: All Blacks thrash Wallabies 40-12 in Auckland, Fox Sports, 19 Aug 2018, https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/wallabies/bledisloe-cup-live-coverage-of-all-blacks-v-wallabies-test-in-auckland/news-story/77e62317ed71a3dc0e509e5247324d33

[23] https://www.legendsunderglassframing.com/product-page/the-golden-age-of-australian-rugby-ru35

[24] https://www.quora.com/Who-said-Success-has-many-fathers-but-failure-is-an-orphan

[25] https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/marks-questions-oneills-success/news-story/b61ecd2fea9da4788805ca548a78b5ea

[26] http://en.rugby-japan.jp/2021/10/20/green-and-gold-rugby-a-brief-history-of-the-wallabies/

Ian King

The English rose and a coaching challenge

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On the 11th March 2023 in his first year and 4th game as head coach of the English national men’s rugby union team, Stephen Borthwick set a record. But not the kind of record anyone would want or celebrate. At the spiritual home of English rugby, Twickenham, his team was beaten 10 – 53 by France.

·       England 10-53 France: Steve Borthwick’s sorry side concede their most points EVER at Twickenham in Six Nations[1]

·      England suffer historic humiliation after France’s Twickenham tour de force[2]

·      Post-Eddie England humiliated by France in record Six Nations thumping[3]

·      France humiliates England in record 53-10 win in Six Nations[4]

The game result also came with some unenviable records:

  • A record loss for a home game;
  • The third highest loss deficit in English history in any game;[5]
  • The worse deficit for England in Six Nations history.

The 53-10 scoreline in England’s devastating home defeat to France in the Guinness Six Nations has made the record books for all the wrong reasons.[6]

So, Stephen has a challenge.

Let’s go back a bit in time.

In late 2015 the English Rugby Union hired their first foreign coach in Australian Eddie Jones,[7] replacing Stuart Lancaster. Lancaster had achieved a 61% win/loss record in his four-year, one world cup cycle tenure.[8]

Eddie rewarded this decision in 2016 with an unbeaten record and a Six Nations title.  He also became only the second coach to achieve an unbeaten year record. Eddie backed it up with another Six Nations title in 2017. He achieved a third Six Nations title in 2020,[9] and led the team to the finals in the 2019 World Cup where they were defeated by South Africa.

Jones achieved the title of the most successful English coach ever over his seven year stint finishing with a  73%.[10]

So, what’s that got to do with Stephen Borthwick and the latest ‘record’? Everything.

Some infer that the slump is because Eddie has left, such as this heading:

Post-Eddie England humiliated by France in record Six Nations thumping[11]

I suggest there is potentially a different perspective to this story.

At England Eddie Jones joined that small list of ‘first year winners’.  That creates a new challenge. Some say there is only one way to go from there – down. I like to think there are two. Stay winning, or decline.

Eddie took the former path for his second season, and then took the latter path for the following two seasons.  There’s a story behind that (you can read more about that in my upcoming rugby book), but for now I’m going to stay focused on Stephen Borthwick’s predicament.

The following tables depicts England’s annual Six Nation’s results under Eddie Jones.

Table 1 – Eddie Jones’ England’s 7 Year Six Nations Ladder Results

You can see three phases here- the decline from 2016 peak to 2018, and then the recovery from 2019 into a new peak in 2020, followed by a further decline into 2022.

However, the Six Nations tournament is only part of the picture. The annual win-loss results may be more informative.

The following charts shows this pattern.

Figure 1 – Eddie Jones’ 7 Year English RugbyWin-Loss Stats

Stephen has a challenge. He has been left with downward momentum by his former mentor and predecessor. Will he successfully overcome that challenge?

Some doubt it such as this journalist:

Hopeless England suffer their most humiliating day and worse is to come.[12]

What do you think?

~~~~~~~~~

If you’re a rugby fan and interested in my experience with rugby union specifically over the last 40 years, you might be interested in a book I’m currently writing. Send me an email (info@kingsports.net) or post a comment on this blog and I’ll ensure you’re the first to know about the completed book once finished.

 

References

[1] England 10-53 France: Steve Borthwick’s sorry side concede their most points EVER at Twickenham in Six Nations

[2] England suffer historic humiliation after France’s Twickenham tour de force

[3] Post-Eddie England humiliated by France in record Six Nations thumping

[4] https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2023/03/11/france-humiliates-england-in-record-53-10-win-in-six-nations_6018971_9.html

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_England_national_rugby_union_team_records

[6] https://www.rugbypass.com/news/a-list-of-england-rugbys-heaviest-defeats/

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Jones_(rugby_union)#:~:text=Jones%20was%20named%20as%20the,end%20of%202023%20World%20Cup.

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Lancaster_(rugby_union)

[9] https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/history/roll_of_honour/

[10] https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/england-eddie-jones-record-six-nations-b2239811.html

[11] https://www.smh.com.au/sport/post-eddie-england-humiliated-by-france-in-record-six-nations-thumping-20230312-p5crd7.html

[12] https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/england-france-score-result-six-nations-b2298855.html

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

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

Still hamstrung, after all these years

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The story goes that back in about the 1970s two high level bodybuilders agreed to a sprint race, and during that sprint race they both tore hamstrings.

This story entertained many, however I took a more serious lesson from it.

Combined with my observations of the shift in posture from the 1960s to the 1970s bodybuilder and took into account that the clients I served displaced further and faster that the average bodybuilder, alarm bells were ringing.

The development of the Lines of Movement Concept (especially the hip vs quad dominant component was a direct response to my concerns about injury potential from muscle balance.  As was the introduction and innovation of bodyweight and unilateral exercises into strength training in a way that was considered unconventional at the time (however since 2000 have become the backbone of the so-called ‘functional training’ movement). [1]

Or you can learn about it second hand, however I suggest the power of the message may have been diluted in these versions.

That’s just not my biased opinion – that an observation of the direction of injuries globally.

So in the 1980s I  committed to ensuring the muscle imbalances evident from mainstream strength training trends would not be part of the life of athletes I worked with.

Decades later I look back with confirmation that my Zero Tolerance approach to injuries, especially soft tissue injuries, has been successful.

Successful for athletes that I have worked with during the past four decades. However, the message, even with the concept being republished endlessly by others, has not been successful.

It appears humans are still struggling to prevent simple yet debilitating injuries such as hamstring strains.

These soft tissue injuries are predictable, preventable, unnecessary and non-productive.

Recently at an off-road motorcycling competition I observed a rider enter the pits prematurely and heard him declare he has torn his hamstring.  I was more than intrigued, mixed with the usual compassion for the athlete.  He had torn his hamstring on a motorbike?

As a student of injury prevention, not only did I provide care and guidance over the next hour, I tested my hypothesis as I typically do with a series of questions to the rider.

My conclusion – just another victim of mainstream training paradigms. He was buffed. Anyone male would be proud of the physique he had developed. But stretching? No, not much of that. I checked out his all-important quads and they were rocks. They looked great.   A real Men’s Health model candidate. However, the rest of the body was suffering for the training outcome he had produced – especially the hamstrings.

At first he was keen to tell me had been tight all is his life. That was shut down quickly with his – and to his credit – acknowledgement he had not done much to change this.

Then he went down the path of ‘I am a rower and that is why I am tight’. That was shut down quickly when I raised some of the elite rowers I had worked with, and that I had failed to observe tightness as a common theme in rowers.

Once we got through the excuses and the defense mechanisms and got to hear how he trained – there were no surprise. He had absorbed the current paradigms of training and was just another victim of the times.

There is no shortage of statistics on the extent of hamstring injury; Here are a few collated by Eirale C. and Ekstrand (2019)[2]:

  • Epidemiological studies assessing sports constantly rank hamstring injuries as one of the most prevalent factors resulting in missed playing time by athletes.[3] [4] [5]
  • Hamstring ‘strains’ account for a substantial percentage of acute, sports related musculoskeletal injuries with a prevalence of 6 to 25%, depending on the sport. [6]
  • Hamstring strains are far more common in positions in which sprinting is more often required.[7] [8] [9]
  • A survey of the UEFA Champions League showed that muscle injuries make up more than 30% of all player injuries and cause about 1/4 of total time lost due to injury.[10]
  • Over 90% of muscle injuries seen in this study involved four major muscle groups of the lower extremity: hamstrings, adductors, quadriceps and gastrocnemius. [11]
  • Injury to the hamstring muscle group is reported to be the most common injury subtype representing 12% of all injuries and more than 1/3 of all strains.[12]
  • A professional male soccer team with 25 players may expect about five hamstring injuries each season, equivalent to more than 80 lost football days and 14 missed matches.[13]
  • In soccer injury to the hamstring muscle group is reported to be the most common injury subtype representing 12% of all injuries and more than 1/3 of all strains.[14]
  • In a track and field sprinting study the most frequent diagnosis was hamstring strain.[15] For example, thigh strain was the most common diagnosis (16%) in sports injury surveillance studies at the 2007, 2009 and 2011 IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Athletics Championships.[16] [17] [18]
  • In the American football muscle strains account for 46% of practice injuries and 22% of pre-season game injuries, the second most common pre-season injury.[19]
  • More than half (53.1%) of all hamstring injuries in American football occurred in the 7-week pre-season, before the teams had even played their first regular-season game.[20]

And there is also no shortage of claimed causes and preventions. Perhaps the most popular of these is described in the following statement:“The best evidence for injury prevention is available for programmes designed to increase hamstring strength, particularly eccentric hamstrings strength.”[21]

So, what impact have all these theories and research had on hamstring injury incidence?

“Despite a massive amount of recent research and consequent prevention programmes, hamstring injury incidence is not decreasing.” [22]:

I shake my head as to why the sporting world is still plagued by soft tissue injuries. Everyone now wants to be a ‘injury rehab specialist’ – yet no-one wants to be an ‘injury prevention’ advocate.

Perhaps it is understandable, when you search the ‘web you find so many articles, website and experts purporting to have the education to prevent hamstring injuries. I am very uninterested in theories. I want to know of sporting seasons with high volumes of athletes and minimal if any soft tissue injuries. That’s the only evidence that matters.

Soft tissue injuries such as hamstring strains are completely optional and unnecessary. It’s pretty easy to make them extinct or near extinct. Yet they continue.

Two things are apparent to me – the rise in soft tissue injuries, and the concurrent rise in funding and research on how to prevent them has been ineffective.

Yet the ‘search’ continues. The NFL has just allocated $4m USD (yes, 4 million) to:

“…fund a team of medical researchers led by the University of Wisconsin” to “investigate the prevention and treatment of hamstring injuries for elite football players.” [23]

The NFL has had only one century to solve the mystery of hamstrings…[24]

This statement was made in relation to this research:

“The persistent symptoms, slow healing, and a high rate of re-injury make hamstring strains a frustrating and disabling injury for athletes and a challenge for sport medicine clinicians to treat,” said Dr. Bryan Heiderscheit, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.” [25]

I agree it would be frustrating for the athletes – if they were trained in a manner that resulted in hamstring strains. I agree it would be a challenge for sports medicine clinicians to treat – if they didn’t know how to prevent and rehabilitate them on the rare occasions they might occur.

However, I don’t agree with the following suggestion in relation to the recent NFL funding:

“To truly understand and reduce hamstring injury risk requires a study of an unprecedented size and scope.”

And what will it result in? Will it solve the leagues 100 years search for answers to hamstring strains? Let’s review the hamstring strain stats in the NFL in about a decade. That should be enough time.

I have my predictions, and I am sure they differ from those invested in the ‘research’ of hamstring strains. Our profession has been ‘researching’ hamstring strains for decades, and I suggest that it has not resulted in a downturn in hamstring incidence.

But you don’t need my opinion. The statistics tell the story.

It appears the world is still hamstrung, after all these years.

 

References

[1] You can learn more about these concepts in the original writings of How to Write (1998) and How to Teach (2000), the Legacy book (2018) or the KSI Coaching Courses.

[2] Eirale C. and Ekstrand, J.,  2019, Hamstrings are dangerous for sport and sport is dangerous for hamstrings, Aspetar Sports Medicine Journal, Vol. 8, p. 438-444.

[3] Ekstrand J, Healy JC, Walden M, Lee JC, English B, Hagglund M. Hamstring muscle injuries in professional football: the correlation of MRI findings with return to play. Br J Sports Med 2012; 46:112-117.

[4] Orchard JW. Intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for muscle strains in Australian football. Am J Sports Med 2001; 29:300- 303.

[5] Eirale C, Farooq A, Smiley FA, Tol JL, Chalabi H. Epidemiology of football injuries in Asia: a prospective study in Qatar. J Sci Med Sport 2013; 16:113-117.

[6] Heiderscheit BC, Sherry MA, Silder A, Chumanov ES, Thelen DG. Hamstring strain injuries: recommendations for diagnosis, rehabilitation, and injury prevention. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2010; 40:67-81.

[7] Elliott MC, Zarins B, Powell JW, Kenyon CD. Hamstring muscle strains in professional football players: a 10-year review. Am J Sports Med 2011; 39:843-850.

[8] Ekstrand J, Hagglund M, Walden M. Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football (soccer). Am J Sports Med 2011; 39:1226-1232

[9] Orchard JW, Seward H, Orchard JJ. Results of 2 decades of injury surveillance and public release of data in the Australian football league. Am J Sports Med 2013; 41:734-741.

[10] Ekstrand J, Hagglund M, Walden M. In jury incidence and injury patterns in professional football: the UEFA injury study. Br J Sports Med 2011; 45:553-558.

[11] Ekstrand J, Hagglund M, Walden M. Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football (soccer). Am J Sports Med 2011; 39:1226-1232.

[12] Ekstrand J, Hagglund M, Walden M. Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football (soccer). Am J Sports Med 2011; 39:1226-1232.

[13] Ekstrand J, Hagglund M, Walden M. Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football (soccer). Am J Sports Med 2011; 39:1226-1232.

[14] Ekstrand J, Hagglund M, Walden M. Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football (soccer). Am J Sports Med 2011; 39:1226-1232.

[15] Jacobsson J, Timpka T, Kowalski J, Nilsson S, Ekberg J, Renstrom P. Prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries in Swedish elite track and field athletes. Am J Sports Med 2012; 40:163-169.

[16] Alonso JM, Junge A, Renstrom P, Engebretsen L, Mountjoy M, Dvorak J. Sports injuries surveillance during the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Championships. Clin J Sport Med 2009; 19:26-32.

[17] Alonso JM, Tscholl PM, Engebretsen L, Mountjoy M, Dvorak J, Junge A. Occurrence of injuries and illnesses during the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Championships. Br J Sports Med 2010; 44:1100-1105.

[18] Alonso JM, Edouard P, Fischetto G, Adams B, Depiesse F, Mountjoy M. Determination of future prevention strategies in elite track and field: analysis of Daegu 2011 IAAF Championships injuries and illnesses surveillance. Br J Sports Med 2012; 46:505-514.

[19] Feeley BT, Kennelly S, Barnes RP, Muller MS, Kelly BT, Rodeo SA. Epidemiology of National Football League training camp injuries from 1998 to 2007. Am J Sports Med 2008; 36:1597-1603.

[20] Elliott MC, Zarins B, Powell JW, Kenyon CD. Hamstring muscle strains in professional football players: a 10-year review. Am J Sports Med 2011; 39:843-850.

[21] Bahr, R., 2019, Prevention hamstring strains – a current view of literature, Aspetar Sports Medicine Journal, Vol. 8

[22] Eirale C. and Ekstrand, J.,  2019, Hamstrings are dangerous for sport and sport is dangerous for hamstrings, Aspetar Sports Medicine Journal, Vol. 8, p. 438-444.

[23] https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-scientific-advisory-board-awards-4-million-research-funding-hamstring

[24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League

[25] https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-scientific-advisory-board-awards-4-million-research-funding-hamstring

Ian King

Injury reflections for physical preparation coaches

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Sometimes our personal experiences really shape our professional direction. The injuries I suffered in the 1980s gave me a massive kick-start towards solving injuries in athletes, not the least rupturing my ACL when tackled by a motor vehicle at about 20 years of age, before even the advent of arthroscopic surgery for knees in my country.

It was my early rehab of athlete with surgery, specifically shoulder and knee, that gave me more reasons to help athlete avoid surgery.

Then working cases such as a skier that was airlifted off the slopes with a 50% chance of living and working with another who nearly lost the ability to walk (and did lose the ability to be a racer), in part because I remained silent, were further motivators for my strong zero injury policy.

My ‘crusade’ began before anyone in our profession was interested in injury prevention, let alone rehab. The concepts and exercises I published on this subject have since become the domain of many in a way that I question whether it has advanced the profession or retarded it. Like the presenter at a recent convention who flew internationally to share an incredible secret to avoiding shoulder pain from benching – the flutter, an exercise I named and released back in the late 1990s.

The explosion of injury prevention and rehab experts has significantly diluted the original teachings, which means much of the meaning has been lost.

The reality is that the world has gone backwards. Injury and surgery rates have become epidemic. The very country I initially released much of my injury prevention and rehab content in has the highest incidence per capita of ACL surgery in the world. Perhaps in part because Australian’s apparently are ‘all equal’ and only the American’s know what they are talking about. So when my concepts, such as my Lines of Movement, are published unreferenced and slightly ‘tweaked’ to appear original works, the power of the message is lost.

Injury rehab has become a much larger component of my work than it was 20 years ago when I began published decades tested strategies I was convinced would reduce injuries in training and competition globally. For example, in the last 7 days alone, I have worked with:

• A knee replacement
• A case of chronic back pain
• The most extreme case of kyphosis I have worked with (I have seen one worse but he quit before we got started)
• A brain haemorrhage that has been a long term impact on nerve supply to the rest of the body’s musculoskeletal system
• A traumatic lower back injury

Lets go past prevention and rehab. After all, if you surveyed the industry, most would rate themselves fairly highly on these skill sets – which is bullshit and the stats reinforce my cynicism.

Let’s take a look at an area of injuries that no one has in the physical preparation industry has popularized yet and made a ‘new trend’ out of it. I am talking about management of acute injury. And I am not even talking about this work in the heat of battle, during a sporting event. I am talking about a far more garden-variety form that every physical coach (or so called ‘strength & conditioning coach) will face often in their career – managing the acute phase of injuries that occur during training and travel.

Let me give a few examples.

I was supervising the strength training of a North American national ski team doing another coaches program. The program was devoid of pre-training stretching (and this was before the commencement of the stretching inquisition) and warm up sets. Straight into heavy sets of front squats, exacerbated by very questionable technique. No surprise, one of the athletes suffered an acute injury during a work set. As they lay writhing on the floor with a specific condition occurring in the vicinity of their thoracic spine, the team management considered transportation to hospital. I took a different approach, and after many hours of work in situ, the athlete skied the next day, something that would not have happened I suggest had the more conventional approach taken place.

In another case I was moving around the cabin our jumbo jet en route from Australia to South Africa to play the then Southern Hemisphere championship rugby game. This was only the second year South Africa had been allowed back into competition following the apartheid ban and the size and strength of their forward pack was legendary. At the team hotel in Singapore I asked where one of our props was. I was told his neck has gone into spasm and he had been placed in bed rest, immobilized with a brace and sedated. I had just been speaking with him on the plane a few hours ago, and I had a different thought as to how to deal with this. Because the team medics had already been involved, I called a meeting with my suggestions put forward. They were shot down, as expected. I consulted the athlete and acted on their approval. In my opinion, the athlete was at risk of suffering spinal damage and even death had they gone from being immobilized for a few days to then face a forward pack famous for their size, strength and scrimmaging prowess. As it turned out they played the whole game, including winning two scrums against the head (feed) on our 5m line.

I could go on. The bottom line is that as physical coaches we are often the first responders and despite the attempts of division of labour (specialization of profession) we may be the athletes best solution, or at least a strong advocate.

I do have a zero tolerance for injury, but injuries still occur on my watch. So they are going to occur on yours. One difference is my injuries are less often, less severe, and fixed faster. But they occur.

So who is teaching you how to deal with the acute injury?

I would prefer to ask who is teaching you how to prevent the injury, but have accepted that you are all apparently pretty competent, despite the stats suggesting otherwise.

Something to think about. Assuming you really care about the athlete, that is.

Ian King

The best gift a physical preparation coach can give

/by

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