Functional Path Training

2011 Books

These are my favorites of the 107 books that read in 2011. The first three are my top picks.

Great By Choice:  Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite them All By Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen

Challenging Beliefs: Memoirs of a Career By Tim Noakes

That Used To Be Us _ How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented and How We Can Come Back By Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum

Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights by Alex Hutchinson

Sway – The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Rom Braufman

The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling by Ralph Mann

The Extra 2% - How Wall Street Strategies Took A Major League Baseball Team From Worst To First by Jonah Keri

The Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History  By S.C. Gwynne

I’M Here to Win: A World Champion’s Advice For Peak Performance by Chris McCormack

I Was A Horse in Bryansk by George V. Gemer

The Wave – In Pursuit of The Rouges, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey

Authentic Happiness By Martin E.P. Seligman

Heroes, Villains and Velodromes – Chris Hoy and The British Cycling Revolution By Richard Moore

Winning Matters by Frank Dick

Bossypants By Tina Fey

Los Angeles Stories by Ry Cooder (Fiction)

The Drop by Michael Connelly (Fiction)

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly (Fiction)

Cutting For Stone By Abraham Verghese (Fiction)

My New Book

My new book “Following The Functional Path – Building and Rebuilding the Athlete” is now available on my website http://bit.ly/rfB1bJ. The price is $24.95. This book is an edited compilation of five years of my daily blog where I share my thoughts on coaching and training. The posts reflect my years of coaching experience and my continuing learning journey. You will gain insight into my philosophy and the impact that others have had in its development. It will challenge you to think and question. My hope is that this book will help you on your own functional path to more effective development of your athletes.

Back in the Saddle

It good to be back posting, I think that is the longest period I have gone without posting since I started writing the blog in August of 2005. I had hoped to use the time the time to recharge my mental physical and batteries but that was not meant to be. There was an unexpected trip thrown in and the usual fires that needed to be put out when you run your own business. I did find time to more reading, write a bit and listen to some good music. I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas again. It seems that the daily routine of getting up in the morning and writing a blog is a great way to organize my thoughts for the day and get me going.

In my travels I picked up two CD’s at Starbucks I highly recommend. I am a big fan of these compilations CD’s that Starbucks music puts out. In fact as someone who travels a lot I am a big fan of Starbucks, mind you it is not about the coffee (not a big coffee drinker – take ice tea myself) but as the owner of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, so eloquently  states it is about the experience. No mater where in the world when you go into Starbucks the service and experience are exemplary and above all consistent. If you want to read an inspiring book about leadership under adverse conditions I recommend Howard Schultz’s new book “Onward – How Starbucks Fought for its life without Losing Its Soul.” Schultz is on my list of people I would love to meet and talk to.

My New Book

Following the Functional Path - Building and Rebuilding the Athlete is out now and available for purchase from Momentum Media at http://bit.ly/im1OnS It is an edited compilation of the first five years of this blog. At the risk of sounding like a  shameless self-promoter I know it is good because I got a two thumbs up from my toughest critic, my wife Melissa. When she finished the final edit her exact words were: “I learned so much reading this, it was really interesting, I liked the stories.” Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as she did. I do hope you will be challenged by the ideas. It is my ninth book, a fact that has my ninth grade English teacher turning over in his grave. How can someone who got a solid D- in ninth grade English possibly write one book much less nine? Honestly my mother inspired me to not get discouraged, to never give up and to persevere. Had I listened to that teacher I would have quit school and gotten a job bagging groceries or driving a truck. There is a lesson here, a lesson I remind myself of everyday. Don’t listen to the naysayers. Pursue your dreams, find a way and make it happen. Be gritty and remember the story of the Little Engine That Could that my mom used to read to read to me when I was a little kid – “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” I am gathering material now for my tenth book. Thanks Mom for never letting me quit and believing in me. Sure wish you were here to read the book.

Some Current Reading

These are some of the books I have read over the last several months. As I put this list together I realized how wide and varied the subject matter is. I guess this represents how I think. I tend to follow my interests and them let them take me where they may. I love learning and connecting seemingly unconnected things. Not much that is directly on coaching and training, I have reading more research and going back through my library on that stuff.

Winning Matters by Frank Dick A must for every coaches library. Words of wisdom and advice from Frank Dick, former Chief coach of British Athletics and a mentor and friend. Reading this was like sitting down with Frank at my house and talking.

Outstanding – 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional by John G Miller. Simple concepts and ideas.

The Dragonfly Effect by Andy Smith and Jennifer Aaker. Many good ideas here.

Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson. Outstanding, a very good read.

Proofiness – The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception by Charles Seife

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Very good, will make read headlines about the lastest and greatest medical studies with a different perspective.

The Shallows – What the Internet is doing to our brains by Nicholas Carr. Will make you want to turn off you computer and get off the grid.

Play – How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul by Stuart Born, MD. Good read.

Unfolding the Napkin by Dan Roan. Good ideas on organized and visually presneting yopur thoughts.

Complexity – The Emerging Science At The Edge of Order And Chaos by M. Mitchell Waldrop. Good overview of complexity science and it's history.

Fire In The Mind – Science, Faith, and The Search For Order by George Johnson.  More on complexity science.

Strange Beauty  - Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in Twentieth Century Physics by George Johnson. A biography of a brilliant man.

Monsoon – The Indian Ocean And The Future of American Power by Robert D. Kaplan. Big fan of Kaplan's writing and perspective. This one focuses on the history and geopolitics of the nations surrounding the Indian ocean. A must read to undersatnd the background behind todays headlines.

Washington Rules by Andrew Bacevich. Also a big fan of Bacevich. He is a voice crying in the dark about our role on the world. Our leaders need to listen to this man. Also read one of his other books Limits of Power. He will make you think.

In the Company of Soldiers by Rick Atkinson. About being embedded with 101st airborne and David Pataeus command staff at the invasion of Iraq. Really makes you wonder why were are there. Striking similarities to his WWII book Army At Dawn, about how unprepared we were.

Yalta – The Price of Peace by S.M. Plokhy. Good read.

Wolf – The Lives of Jack London by James L. Haley. Good read.

Outside Looking In by Gary Wills. Good read, got me intetrested in reading more of Wills writing.

The Gun by CJ Shivers. History of AK 47, good read.

Looking For A Ship by John McPhee. Just reread this, big fan of John McPhee, actually going back and rereading all his books.

The Sugar Necklace – My Adventures In Caribbean Cooking, Eating, And Island Life by Ann Vanderhoof. Looks at the Caribbean through the food. Intresting.

The Sugar King of Havana by John Paul Rathbone. Good read, some insights into Cuba and Castro,

The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke. Outsatnding detective novel from one of my favorite writters.

The Reversal by Michael Connelly. Another great one if you like detective fiction.

Strength and Conditioning – Biological Principles and Practical Applications

I am about one third through this book and I have found it rich in content. I have already picked up some useful ideas. It is a must read for anyone in the athletic development field. The editors have done a great job of bringing together some of the best applied sport scientists in the world to provide the current science behind what we do day to day as coaches. My only criticism is the title; I wished they had not used strength & conditioning in the title. I am very biased toward athletic development because it more completely describes the evolution of the field. (That’s my hang up and bias). Without a doubt, this is a great addition to my library.

Foreword (Sir Clive Woodward).

Preface.

1.1 Skeletal Muscle Physiology (Valmor Tricoli).

1.2 Neuromuscular Physiology (Alberto Rainoldi and Marco Gazzoni).

1.3 Bone Physiology (Jörn Rittweger).

1.4 Tendon Physiology (Nicola Maffulli, Umile Giuseppe Longo, Filippo Spiezia and Vincenzo Denaro).

1.5 Bioenergetics of Exercise (R.J. Maughan).

1.6 Respiratory and Cardiovascular Physiology (Jeremiah J. Peiffer and Chris R. Abbiss).

1.7 Genetic and Signal Transduction Aspects of Strength Training (Henning Wackerhage, Arimantas Lionikas, Stuart Gray and Aivaras Ratkevicius).

1.8 Strength and Conditioning Biomechanics (Robert U. Newton).

2.1 Neural Adaptations to Resistance Exercise (Per Aagaard).

2.2 Structural and Molecular Adaptations to Training (Jesper L. Andersen).

2.3 Adaptive Processes in Human Bone and Tendon (Constantinos N. Maganaris, Jörn Rittweger and Marco V. Narici).

2.4 Biomechanical Markers and Resistance Training (Christian Cook and Blair Crewther).

2.5 Cardiovascular Adaptations to Strength and Conditioning (Andy Jones and Fred DiMenna).

2.6 Exercise-induced Muscle Damage and Delayed-onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) (Kazunori Nosaka).

2.7 Alternative Modalities of Strength and Conditioning: Electrical Stimulation and Vibration (Nicola A. Maffiuletti and Marco Cardinale).

2.8 The Stretch–Shortening Cycle (SSC) (Anthony Blazevich).

2.9 Repeated-sprint Ability (RSA) (David Bishop and Olivier Girard).

2.10 The Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) (Romain Meeusen and Kevin De Pauw).

3.1 Principles of Athlete Testing (Robert U. Newton and Marco Cardinale).

3.2 Speed and Agility Assessment (Warren Young and Jeremy Sheppard).

3.3 Testing Anaerobic Capacity and Repeated-sprint Ability (David Bishop and Matt Spencer).

3.4 Cardiovascular Assessment and Aerobic Training Prescription (Andy Jones and Fred DiMenna).

3.5 Biochemical Monitoring in Strength and Conditioning (Michael R. McGuigan and Stuart J. Cormack).

3.6 Body Composition: Laboratory and Field Methods of Assessment (Arthur Stewart and Tim Ackland).

3.7 Total Athlete Management (TAM) and Performance Diagnosis (Robert U. Newton and Marco Cardinale).

4.1 Resistance Training Modes: A Practical Perspective (Michael H. Stone and Margaret E. Stone).

4.2 Training Agility and Change-of-direction Speed (CODS) (Jeremy Sheppard and Warren Young).

4.3 Nutrition for Strength Training (Christopher S. Shaw and Kevin D. Tipton).

4.4 Flexibility (William A. Sands).

4.5 Sensorimotor Training (Urs Granacher, Thomas Muehlbauer, Wolfgang Taube, Albert Gollhofer and Markus Gruber).

5.1 Strength and Conditioning as a Rehabilitation Tool (Andreas Schlumberger).

5.2 Strength Training for Children and Adolescents (Avery D. Faigenbaum).

5.3 Strength and Conditioning Considerations for the Paralympic Athlete (Mark Jarvis, Matthew Cook and Paul Davies).

George Packer

Last night I attended an outstanding presentation by George Packer, staff writer for the New Yorker. The topic was: Is America In Decline? It was quite a wide-ranging discussion in a Q&A format. I went for two reasons 1) The topic appealed to me 2) I wanted to see George after 36 years. I knew George when he was 14 years old. Kenny Kring, a decathlete I had coached and trained with at Stanford lived with the Packer family. The summer after I got my masters George used to come out to the track with us when we trained. We taught him to hurdle. At the same time I was working on my first book (Actually a booklet) Hurdling and Steeplechasing for Runners World. I needed a young athlete to demo the “sticks and bricks” teaching progression so George was the model. It sure was great to see him. I am a big fan of his writing. After all he has accomplished it was neat that he remembered that summer when I went up to him after the presentation. If you get a chance check out his writing, it is thought provoking and informative.

The Triple Jump Encyclopedia

This is truly an encyclopedia of knowledge about one of the most physically and technically demanding events in track & field. The spectrum of requirements including speed, rhythm, explosive power, maximum strength and finely tuned technique are presented here along with much more. I have had this book since it was first published in 1977. My original is worn and dog-eared from constant use. For me it was a resource beyond the triple jump. It was really a handbook of all I needed for power, speed, and technical development for all the events in track & field.

The authors Larry Knuth, a fellow Fresno State Bulldog and Ernie Bullard, formerly head coach at San Jose Sate (Where he succeeded the great Bud Winter) and USC are both great coaches who share the thoroughness of their overall approach and practical orientation in this book. Everything is covered, nothing is left out: history & background of the event, how to coach in general and the triple specifically, obviously a thorough mechanical analysis of the event, how to start a beginner, technical fouls and their correction, how to improve strength, speed, skill and flexibility, the various schools of triple jumping. There is some really neat material from training expert John Jesse and a good review of Bud Winters sprint drills. There is also an amazing center foldout sequence of Victor Saneyev – poetry in motion. A bonus available now with the book, certainly not available in 1977, is a CDROM with the some of the greatest triple jumpers of all time.

 

In August I had lunch with Larry Knuth when I was in California. He told me there was 150 copies left of the last printing still available. I feel this book is as valuable and some areas more available than when it was first published. It is a window into another era, an era that offers us as much knowledge today and a valuable historical context. To purchase the book go to: www.gocollegetrack.com  It is $25.00 not including postage and handling. It also comes with a 17 min. DVD of TJ greats including Edwards, Butts, Wellman, Oliveria, Perez, Saneyev, etc.

 

For you track coaches, Larry Knuth just completed, in spring 2010 a monumental work called California Community College Track & Filed Hall of Champions. Available at www.gocollegetrack.com  It is a history of California junior college track & field. He honors the state champions, notable performers and Olympians who competed for California junior colleges. It also honors the great coaches who coached there. Reading it brought back a flood of memories. If you love track and field you will love this book. Thanks Larry for all the work you put into this and your contributions to the sport of track & field.

 

Two Good Reads

Just finished these two real informative and enjoyable books. The Eastern  Stars is about a town in the Dominican Republics, San Pedro de Macoris, which has produced a disproportionate number of professional baseball players based on its size. It is so much more than a book on baseball. It is a look at the history and culture of the Dominican Republics using their passion for baseball as a portal. It is a great read. I really like Kurlansky’s writing style and thoroughness.

 

The other is a book about how great teachers teach – what the best college teachers do, by Ken Bain. It is a worthwhile handbook for anyone who teaches or coaches. Author does a good job of weaving research on latest theories of learning with example s of how professors apply the theories. I wish this book would have been available when I started teaching and coaching.

What I am Reading Now