Here We Go Again

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Preseason started again and if I’m honest it is the most excited I have ever been in my career. Much is to do with witnessing the hard work done of the pitch my Director of Rugby Simon Amor-mostly in the way of new signings

When I arrived last season at London Scottish it was very late and there was a lot of work to be done with the players. There was an element of fire fighting and learning about the players and the environment as I went a long. There just wasn’t time to strip the program back and start from fresh I just had to get the players strong and powerful. To be fair to the players they worked very hard but I wasn’t particularly happy with what I was able to give them.

This time around it is very different-I have spent a season with these athletes and over that time I have seen their strengths and weaknesses-whilst observing them work I have been  analyzing and taking in how they move and function in the gym and on the field. At the season  it was time to review and evaluate last seasons work and produce the next stage of London Scottish’s  Strength and Conditioning program. If I’m honest I’d give myself a 6 out of 10 solid job but much to improve on.

SEASON END

The season was long and hard-it was clear the players had given it their all and needed a break-4 week block of complete rest

OFF SEASON

I looked at an NFL type model making sessions available daily but they were voluntary set Corrective Exercise Programs for the players looking at an injury prevention and structural balance strategy.

PRESEASON

The Strength and Conditioning emphasis has been determined by the needs and objectives of the Coaching staff. The clear message was that the squad needed to be fitter for how we are going  to play. So with that clear instruction I have looked at a much more aerobic orientated first phase of training. This has been difficult and taken me out of my comfort zone as traditionally i have used a more power based approach-but having read Bakers paper on the use of Maximum Aerobic Speed to help with developing and improving the VO2 levels of athletes, I am much more comfortable with it – Recent trends in high intensity aerobic training for field sports Dan Baker .Another instruction from the coaching staff was to have a system where they could visually see where each player was at any time without me being there. We came up with a very simple traffic light system using 5 parameters:

• Lactic Tolerance (150M Shuttle Test)
• Aerobic Ability (O’Neill Test-Rower)
• Body Fat (7 Site Skinfolds)
• Strength (100kg Bench Press)
• Power (Counter Movement Jump-CMJ)

Along with these tests we are monitoring weekly load, fatigue (using CMJ) and ratios between front:back squat and external rotation if the shoulder:bench press.

Much thanks to Rob Walsh (Harrow/Middlesex Uni) and Jonathan Griffin (St Mary’s Uni) for sharing ideas over coffee 😉

Keep an eye on the blog – I’ll try to keep you all up to date on the progress of the players and how the new approach and systems are shaping up. Please post any questions/comments you may have.

ELKO

Whats an Easier Job….Preseason or In Season ??

The Preseason is the Strength and Conditioning Coaches busiest time-his bread and butter so to speak – So much planning, testing, retesting and so much to deliver. The Director of Rugby will hand 90% of the sessions to the S&C Coach (at least he should) in order to prepare the players for the tough season ahead and this will last anything from 6-12 weeks-it’s bloody hard work but of course very enjoyable (for the coach!!).

This is a challenge of course but in my opinion the In Season training is an even bigger strain on the S & C Coach. How do you keep getting Fitter, Stronger, Faster????

Honestly….you DON’T because you cant! In our league, The Championship, we have a game every week. Sometimes the games are on a Friday/Saturday-sometimes on a Sunday, so the week make up can mean an 8,7,6 or even 5 day turn around.

So to try and get my athletes any fitter, stronger or faster is pretty much impossible so the key to it is getting the players to recover and maintain what they have achieved in the busy Preseason period.

Its all about getting your players FRESH for the weekly battle.

I’ll Blog about what methods I use to help with recovery and maintain the performance levels of my Athletes as well as how I am preparing London Scottish for the Play Offs in March.

Elko

The Big I….

If you are going to coach your athletes anything coach them the importance of Intensity.  Intensity by definition is; Strength/Amplitude/Level/Magnitude. The gym should be the epicentre for your sporting organisation. In elite sport if you don’t have The ”Big  I”, forget it.

He def had the Big I

For the last 4 weeks I have been in my new role as Head of Strength and Conditioning at London Scottish Rugby Club and when I arrived the biggest thing I noticed was a lack of intensity. Without it nothing really happiness, guys ‘turn up’ for training, they ‘get through’ the sessions but the results are minimal and the culture of the place can be cancerous.

If you compare the first session my guys did  to what they are doing right now it is night and day. I can’t tell you how happy I am with their effort and change in attitude. Guys rush to training, get there early ready to go, they don’t ‘get through’ the session they smash whatever is put in front of them and push every one around them to do the same.

An organisation with intensity is a winning organisation and luckily intensity can be established anywhere by educating your athletes. By explaining what they can achieve, why rest time is as important as what they are lifting and how many times.  By getting them into organizing and planing their workout stations so they have smooth transition and efficiency. And most importantly when they do buy into it and the atmosphere in the gym changes, congratulate and praise them!

Establish intensity and watch your athletes achieve PB after PB.

Elko Signs For London Scottish

This week saw the official announcement by London Scottish of the signing of Strength and Conditioning Coach Simon Elkinson. Simon arrives the short distance from London rivals Esher Rugby Club where he spent 4 successful years as Head of Strength and Conditioning.

Its a great move for me…..although it’s sideways in terms of league position in reality its a major step up into a club with massive heritage, a professional outlook and huge ambition.

London Scottish indeed have great history-they were in the top flight before being absorbed along with neighbors Richmond into London Irish due to a financial situation and some strange decisions at the RFU. The fact that they have battled back up the leagues since being disbanded is a testament to the people behind the club and the supporters.

Elko joins a Coaching staff that is young and ambitious. Simon Amor is Head Coach and knows Elko very well having studied together at St Marys College and played together at London Irish.

Simon and I have been good friends for nearly 15 years. He is possibly the most driven guy I know and he runs a tight ship. With regular 121’s and a clear development plan for me. the players and the club every body knows what they are responsible for and are accountable.

Also on the coaching staff is Alex Codling who joins form Barking. Alex is a great forwards coach, his attention to detail matches his incredible passion for the game. He will have the Scottish forwards operating at a very aggressive and accurate level.

Alex is a great guy, he wears his heart on his sleeve and has one of the best rugby brains i have ever worked with.

One of the first things Elko has done is to offer Keir Wenham-Flatt the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coaching position.

Keir is a young and up and coming practitioner, he works with London Wasps too and is already well respected. I believe the 2 of us will get the best out of each other and push the players to the levels they need. It was massively important to get someone in to compliment an already excellent coaching set up.

What are Elko’s goals for the upcoming season…

Firstly to improve the conditioning of the players, their capacity is not where I want it right now, but if they keep working as hard as they have done for the first 3 weeks then there will be no problems.

Secondly to catch up on some important self development. My time at Esher was very enjoyable, the players were outstanding to work with. But I lost sight of me and my personal goals as I was absorbed in trying to do too much at a club with a smaller set up and narrow chain of command. London Scottish have a clear goal in looking to develop their staff into industry leaders and that is something I am very interested in.

And thirdly…. Top 8 finish!

Simon will look to blog on Scottish matters at least once a month, with an inside look at Strength and Conditioning at a Championship Club.

Preparing for the Pacific Nation Cup

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I was lucky enough to be asked to help out Samoan International scrum half Garrick Cowley last week as he prepares to play in the Pacific Nation Cup. I worked with Gazza at Esher 2 seasons ago, he a top guy and a monster of a 9.

His session consisted of a thorough warm up concentrating on correct execution of primal movement-squat, lunge, push, pull, twist and throw.

We then moved into some power work (clean grip shrug) agility and some rugby specific conditioning.

Check out the videos!!

Prowler Pulls    Box Agility Drills  Scrum Half Conditioning

I’d like to wish Gazza the best of luck in the upcoming Pacific Nations Cup and World Cup.

Thank you to Churchy for letting me use his amazing facility at Locker 

 

 

New Look Storm Begin Superleague Campaign

Surrey Storm Netball at last started their Superleague campaign at a sold out Surrey Sports Park on Saturday. There has been an extra long wait to start this season due to the Commonwealth Games and the Tri Series against the NZ Silverferns so it was a relief to get things under way.

We have a new look squad this season with 7 new signings, 2 from our talent squad which is a great achievement and shows what a healthy NTL program Surrey Storm has. The average age of the squad has fallen dramatically and although we have lost 2 well known names in Sonia Mkoloma and Geva Mentor the squad has a more balance and workman like feel to it.

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The girls have worked extremely hard over the last 10 weeks in preseason, doing a squad conditioning session with me every Monday as well as 2-3 weights sessions and 2 fitness sessions a week. They have had to combine this training with playing for  their Prem sides and full time work, a massive effort by all.

The Superleague is decided by Play-Offs each season, the team that comes 1st in the regular season does not win the league. This is exactly what happened to us last season and unfortunately we didn’t perform in the play-offs and ended up coming 3rd. It was a steep learning curve and this year I have completely changed the approach and goals of the Strength and Conditioning program at Storm. Instead of looking to peak physically for the start of the season like last year we are looking at timing our run for the end of the season and into the play-offs.

I have concentrated on Injury Prevention, Agility, Strength and Power. Leaving the girls to gain ‘fitness’ through netball training and match play. As the season develops I will look to work hard on conditioning in a mini preseason before the ‘business end’ of the season ensuring we are in the best place both physically and psychologically to take on the like of Mavericks and Team Bath, 2 experts in the art of the  play-off.

Saturday was a good fixture to begin with, a much improved Team Northumbria under the coaching of ex England player Tracey Neville,visited the Surrey Sports Park. We were 8-3 down in the 1st quarter at one stage but got it back to trail 9-10 by the end. Storm then pushed on, looking the sharper and fitter of the 2 sides, eventually winning the game 58-32 (match report). For me it was a pleasing day at the office no.1 No Injuries no.2 We were clearly the sharper team.

Lots of work to do going forward, it is important to learn from each game and get stronger. This week sees Storm travel to Manchester to take on the might of Northern Thunder who are always a very difficult team to play against. Unfortunately i cant make that game as I have to work with Esher Rugby against another northern team, Rotherham, thankfully it’s at home in London!!

JC On Road To Recovery

James Campbell is one of the athletes that I work with at Esher Rugby Club-since the end of last season he had been suffering from chronic back pain. The pain effected him in his personal life but in particular his training and rugby suffered. After finally getting in front of a surgeon, JC went under the knife. On the 12th of November he had a discectomy at Parkside Hospital in Wimbledon.

Since the surgery JC has been a different man, the effects were immediate-in fact apart from the scar on his back, JC was completely pain free. Since receiving an amber light to start back on the rehab I have been working with him 3-4 times a week, the aim being getting him back to playing for the play offs (12th March).

The early part of JC’s workout consisted of alot of floor work making sure his spine was strong and mobile and then getting him on his feet to facilitate his postural muscles to fire and support him in functional movement. The next phase has seen JC weight lifting again in the gym-high reps with low load ensuring good strong posture and correct patterns of movement.

In the last week JC’s surgeon has also given him the green light to start contact-this has to be a carefull process with constant monitoring of his reaction to each stimulis to ensure we dont over do it. It’s really a case of suck it and see, pushing the barrier daily untill he can go full contact.

In the video below JC uses a ViPR to do some conditioning before doing some controlled contact against stability balls. The idea behind this was to get him to brace for contact and for him to try and remain on the white line as best he could while being ‘bounced’. It must be noted that the athlete under went a thorough warm up before the session and had progressed up from controlled contact using a much more stable  target in previous sessions.

I’ll keep you up to date on JC’s fight to be fit!!!

Enjoy

Tip#001 Growth Hormone Release

If you are looking to get your athletes bigger through a Hypertrophy phase this will hopefully help you in your planning.



Rowly lifting under the instruction of Elko

Increased lactate concentrations are highly correlated to Growth Hormone (GH) release.  GH  causes hypertrophy.

How to create high lactate concentrations and manipulate the Endocrine System:

• 3 sets of 10 reps @ 10 Rep Max loads with 1 min rest Kraemer et al.
• 10 sets of 10 reps @ 70% of 1 Rep Max Hakkinen and Pakarinen
• 7 sets of 7 reps @ 80% of 1 Rep Max (squat) Vanhelder et al.
• 8-12 reps to failure Linnamo et al.
• Muscle group focus (body part splits) in order to accumulate and maintain localised concentrations of lactate Turner.
• Stay away from programmes that alternate between body parts (chest exercise superseted with a back exercise) as it allows the dissipation of lactate and therefore reduces GH response Turner.
• A slow tempo or slow continuous approach (4 secs concentric-4 sec eccentric) would increase time under tension  helping with the accumulation of lactate Turner

A Storm is Coming….

With the trials out of the way and new players on board, Surrey Storm are set to start their Preseason preparations under the guidance of Strength and Conditioning coach Simon Elkinson next Monday.

”Having finished top of The Superleague but coming up short in the play offs last season there is a massive sense of unfinished business. I am very determined to prepare the squad in the best possible manner to compete and win the Superleague this season. I had a meeting with Mary Beardwood last week and she shares the drive and belief that we can do it this season.”

Storm in their second season as a Superleague franchise will benefit with the return of their England players from winning Commonwealth Bronze in Deli:

” Tamazin Greenway had an incredible games, in my opinion she was the stand out performer in India and she is back to her best after a challenging season last season. Rachel Dunn will be looking to prove the selectors wrong on her return. She is a class act and I was surprised that England did not use her experience and coolness under pressure, especially in the game against Australia! I back her to be back to her best for Storm in the Superleague this year. ”

Monday will see the girls start their first ever Preseaon at the Surrey Sports Park:

”As a Strength and Conditioning I couldn’t ask for a better facility to train in, the Surrey Storm girls are fantastic athletes and deserve a facility like this. It’s perfect as we have access to the Olympic Lifting facility as well as the courts, I am really excited about what can be achieved. It’s a lot easier this year as we have covered most of the injury prevention stuff so can get into the harder stuff earlier. The girls also know me now and have bought into what I do so it is more about directing them rather than pushing them although there will be a bit of that!!”

Highs and Lows and Highs

Saturday, 14th August- Esher 7’s took part in an invitational game against our London rivals, London Welsh, before the Middlesex 7’s final at Twickenham. Jonny Hylton’s men did the club proud smashing the Welsh with a powerful display at Rugby HQ. It was my first time working at Twickenham and what a place to be!

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Sunday, 15th August-Our first preseason friendly game saw us take on a fully loaded Saracens side, with only one change to the side that narrowly lost the Premiership Play Off Final last season. That change saw Scotland’s Kelly Brown start in the back row for them.

It was a heavy loss, 85-10, no complaints, Saracens will be in the Play Offs again this season and it will be a good side that stops them, my guys struggled with the pace and power of the game but at times showed grit and determination. It must be noted that we were over cooked going into the game, still recovering from the huge volume in Italy and the week after, plus a few of the boys would have been tired form the 7’s the day before. I am not saying we would have won by any stretch but we are looking at peaking for Moseley away on the 28th of August and that is  what we will do!!! Its a steep learning curve coming form demolishing all before us in National 1 to playing Saracens but a curve we will to climb together as a squad.

Saturday 21st saw us take in French side Lille in the last of our preseason friendlies.

I was delighted with our fitness and pace over the 80 mins. Some of the tries scored were top drawer. This squad has much more physicality then previous Esher squads, there were massive hits put in by Rowly, JC and Stitcher.  The 45 17 win sees us in a position to build momentum. Today sees the squad lift heavy before unloading for the rest of the week in preperation for Moseley away this Saturday.