Omniathlete

p.s. This article has been originally published on the magazine Athletics Weekly (www.athleticsweekly.com) on November 2014 Most training programmes focus on teaching the concentric portion of the jumping movement and fail to work on the eccentric where the majority of injuries usually occur. Jump training was introduced by Professor Verkhoshansky at the end of the 1950s – the exercise of the jump executed by dropping from a height with vertical rebound has been a staple for

by Sports Excellence (Athens, Greece) p.s. This is the english transcript of the interview originally published on n. 6 issue (March 2020) of the e-Mag edited by Sports Excellence ( https://sportsexcellence.gr/wp-content/uploads/fylladia/SE_emag_issue06_MAR_2020.pdf ) Sports Excellence: How important do you consider the monitoring of an athlete to be, through the use of a modern software designed to measure training load and perceived tiredness? Antonio Robustelli: Monitor

Whether you are recovering from an injury or looking to upgrade your athletic performance, one major key to success lies in the nervous system. The nervous system, including the brain, is a major influence on the function of the body. It directly controls cognitive and athletic performance, hormonal releases, energy levels, organ function, and the processes of healing and recovery. One particularly interesting quality of the brain is that it spends a lot of energy limiting us

Life is healthy feet. Anyone who has suffered from a foot injury can attest to how quality of life is ruined by unhealthy feet. The foot is the only part of the body to regularly contact the ground. Comprised of 26 bones, 33 joints, 19 muscles, 107 ligaments, 10 tendons, the foot is arguably the most mechanically complex part of the body - so much so that Leonardo da Vinci called the foot a work of art. Generally, the properly functioning foot needs 30° of inversion, 20° of e

When it comes to low-back strength and posterior chain development in athletic performance, no exercise has the characteristics of the seated good morning. This exercise has been used for several years by Soviet Union weightlifters in the 70's and 80's and it was an integral part of their training regime. Legendary weightlifting coach Alexei Medvedyev, in his book A System of Multi-Year Training in Weightlifting , wrote that "seated good mornings on a bench and on the floor

by Antonio Robustelli, MSc CSCS Since the launch of the NordBord, Vald's first product to enter the professional sport market, the Brisbane-based company has grown exponentially by quickly becoming a leading athlete testing systems provider as well as one of the most innovative sports technology companies in professional and high-level sport today. Even if sports technology is a big opportunity and one of the single most important challenges in sport performance, very few s

Recovery is an essential part of the training program for high-level performance and continued improvement (Dalleck, 2019). Lack of recovery, trauma, overuse or prolonged stress of the tissue structures are all common examples of causes of the occurrence of sport injuries (Bahr et al., 2015). There are several treatments that are usually performed after sports injury aiming to speed up the recovery process. These treatments traditionally include e.g. hot or cold packs, thera

Whenever i talk about foot pressure mapping technology during my courses or keynote lectures at international conferences, i always got surprised by the deficits in knowledge and understanding of the differences between force and pressure measurements. I often receive questions that actually sounds a little bit obvious to me but i will try to clean up the topic in terms of both technology and biomechanics. Force vs Pressure or Force + Pressure? When talking about force and

If you’ve had issues with hydration or cramp in the past and have gone online looking for a solution then the chances are that you’ve seen the term ‘sweat test’ mentioned. In this piece i will explain just what a ‘sweat test’ is, what the options are and how taking one could help you significantly improve your performance. First, Why do Humans Sweat so Much? Here’s a pub-quiz-worthy fact for you, humans sweat considerably more than any other animal on earth. Our sweat rate

A few years ago, during our MSc studies in the Netherlands, we experienced what profound effect the lack of light can have on our bodies, energy levels and mood. After doing extensive research on the topic, we found out that light therapy is a fantastic solution to help us feel more energetic during the dark and gloomy winter days. We experimented with numerous products on the market (light boxes and visors) and realized that there was a need for a light therapy product, whic

For almost 20 years I have been helping people overcome pain with manual therapy and using exercise to help them improve functional capacity. I have found it very easy to perform manipulation, tooling, needling, taping (among other modalities) to help alleviate pain. But as a clinician I have the responsibility to include active therapy (exercise) whenever possible. My belief is manual therapy is the bridge to help people be more active and exercise more. The difficult part f

Once you’ve designed your elite player profile and completed the assessment process with your athletes, it’s time to use the data to drive your decision making. The priority should always be managing injury risk, and this data is extremely valuable to identify your high risk athletes. These are athletes who performed below the minimum standard on a number of assessments, and should be managed differently than your athletes who performed above the minimum standard. I have crea