Pacey Performance Podcast

Nick featured on episode #221 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• The importance of having a clear CPD plan

Check out the full episode with Nick here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/pacey-performance-podcast-221-nick-grantham-part-2/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, Matt Buckthorpe, a senior lecturer in strength, conditioning, and physiology, delves into the intricate journey of ACL rehabilitation. Matt's expertise stems from his extensive experience with Isokinetic Medical Group and a profound interest in sports medicine, particularly ACL injuries.

The discussion navigates through the critical phases of ACL recovery, emphasizing the importance of understanding the injury mechanism. Matt highlights the initial approach post-injury, where professional athletes often undergo surgery within the first week.

Matt outlines the rehabilitation stages: early, mid, late, and return-to-sport, each marked by specific recovery objectives and criteria. The early stage focuses on managing pain, swelling, and regaining motion, crucial for normal gait. Here, strategies like neuromuscular electrical stimulation and blood flow restriction training play a vital role due to limitations in conventional strength training post-surgery.

The mid-stage is pivotal for regaining quad strength, a challenging yet crucial component for progressing to late-stage rehab. The late stage prepares the athlete for high-intensity, pre-planned movements, transitioning them from basic running to more sport-specific tasks.

The final phases involve on-field rehab, focusing on sport-specific drills, reactive movements, and technical skills, ensuring athletes are prepared for team training and eventual competitive match play.

Matt advocates for a criterion-based rehab approach, tailoring the process based on individual needs and recovery progress. He underscores the importance of balancing various rehab environments and techniques, acknowledging the psychological aspects and support structures necessary for athletes during this challenging journey.

The conversation provides invaluable insights, emphasizing a holistic, individualized approach to ACL rehabilitation, ensuring athletes return to their sport safely and efficiently.

Main talking points:

• Early stage: manage pain, swelling, regain motion.

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, Senior Adjunct Fellow at University of Technology Sydney, Tania Spiteri discussed the pivotal considerations surrounding agility and change of direction (COD) training and testing. Tania brings forth her extensive experience, ranging from grassroots to elite and Olympic level athletes, to provide listeners with a comprehensive understanding of these crucial athletic components.

Tania delineates the difference between agility and COD, establishing that while both are integral to athletic performance, they are distinctly different in their application and assessment. Agility is defined as the ability to alter velocity or direction in response to a stimulus, thereby incorporating a decision-making element. In contrast, COD pertains to the physical and technical capacity of an athlete to change direction, assessed through pre-planned drills, devoid of a decision-making component.

The discussion further delves into the constraints that influence agility performance, exploring the multifaceted interactions between the athlete, task, and environmental factors. Tania emphasizes the imperative of understanding and quantifying the underlying mechanisms and constraints that facilitate enhanced performance and injury mitigation. She underscores the necessity for training drills to be representative of the sport, ensuring they are progressively overloaded, specific, and varied to optimize development and transfer to competitive settings.

Tania's expertise provides a rich resource for coaches, athletes, and sports scientists seeking to optimize training and testing protocols for agility and COD, ensuring they are both effective and reflective of the dynamic demands of competitive sport.

Main talking points:

• Selecting the most appropriate change of direction test

Warren featured on episode #384 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• The difference between agility and change if direction

Check out the full episode with Warren here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/agility-training-creating-drills-that-transfer-to-on-field-performance/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

In the latest episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, host Rob Pacey welcomes Alberto Filter, a renowned football researcher hailing from Spain. The conversation delves deep into the intricacies of curvilinear sprinting, a critical yet often overlooked aspect of football training. Alberto reveals a compelling statistic: a vast majority, about 85%, of sprints in football are curvilinear rather than straight. This insight underscores the need for training regimens to mirror the actual demands of the sport more closely.

Alberto introduces an innovative training approach using the arc of the penalty box. This method, he explains, provides the optimal angle for curvilinear sprinting, ensuring that players are prepared for real-match scenarios. Moving from the field to the gym, Alberto suggests specific exercises tailored to enhance curvilinear sprinting capabilities. The landmine and wall drills stand out as his top recommendations, designed to target the unique biomechanics of this type of sprinting.

Beyond the technical aspects, Alberto's philosophy emphasizes the importance of context. He passionately advocates for coaches and trainers to regularly watch matches. This practice, he believes, offers invaluable insights into each player's position-specific requirements, allowing for more personalized and effective training programs.

His research-backed insights and innovative training suggestions promise to be invaluable for coaches, trainers, and football enthusiasts. As the world of sports science continues to evolve, voices like Alberto's remind us of the importance of continuous learning and adaptation.

Main talking points:

• Curvilinear sprinting is crucial in football training.

In the latest episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, host Rob Pacey engages in a comprehensive discussion with Jonathan "Jono" Weakley, a leading figure in the realm of Velocity-Based Training (VBT). Jono, with his vast expertise and experience, offers listeners a deep dive into the intricacies and evolution of VBT, elucidating its pivotal role in contemporary athletic training.

Contrary to popular belief, Jono emphasizes that VBT isn't a newfound concept. In fact, coaches and trainers have been tapping into its principles for decades. However, the game-changer has been the integration of modern technology, which has made the application of VBT more precise, efficient, and widely accessible to trainers and athletes alike.

Central to the discussion are the three foundational tenets of VBT. Firstly, there's an inverse relationship between the weight of a barbell and its speed. As the weight increases, the speed of lifting decreases. Secondly, fatigue plays a significant role. As an athlete tires, the velocity of their lifts diminishes. Lastly, Jono touches upon the terminal thresholds for various exercises, indicating the minimum velocities below which exercises can't be performed.

But beyond these technical aspects, the conversation takes a turn towards the transformative power of feedback in training. Jono shares compelling insights, revealing that when athletes are provided with real-time feedback, they can achieve instantaneous performance improvements of up to 8%. This feedback mechanism not only boosts immediate performance but also leads to enhanced long-term physical adaptations.

The overarching theme of the podcast revolves around the importance of individualizing training programs. In a world where athletes' needs and capabilities are diverse, VBT emerges as a tool that ensures each athlete receives a training regimen tailored to their unique requirements, maximizing their potential and performance.

In essence, this episode is a treasure trove of information for anyone keen on understanding how VBT is revolutionizing the landscape of strength and conditioning, making it a must-listen.

Main talking points:

• VBT's role pivotal in modern athletic training.

Matt featured on episode #459 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• What are the benefits of microdosing

Check out the full episode with Matt here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/how-to-implement-micro-dosing-strategies-in-team-sports/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, Head of Sports Science at Everton FC, Jack Nayler. Jack comes on the podcast having spent the last 10 years at Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid, Celtic and Everton. An incredible CV that many in the industry would love to have. So we dive into what he has learnt from working at these huge clubs with the huge players that play for them.

Jack reflects on his experiences working with players, noting that some have an innate understanding of their bodies and their limits. He believes it's essential to recognize and trust those players who have this insight. Jack also underscores the importance of communication, teaching players to understand their bodies better, and always being observant.

He recounts his time with Alvaro Arbeloa at Real Madrid, emphasizing Arbeloa's exceptional drive and commitment to training even when not in the starting lineup. Jack admires such players for their unwavering motivation, even if they don't possess the same natural talent as others.

Moreover, Jack touches upon the psychological aspect, mentioning how players, despite their fame and success, still face significant pressures and stresses. He believes it's crucial to understand and address these stresses to optimize performance. He also discusses the presence of ego in some players, viewing it as a factor that often contributes to their success.

In Jack's perspective, footballers operate on a level of talent and drive far beyond most people's experiences, and to work effectively with them, one has to approach them at their level instead of expecting them to come down.

Main talking points:

• Complex systems when working in football

Nicol featured on episode #388 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• The value of screening athletes to understand injury risk

Check out the full episode with Nicol here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/what-injury-prevention-strategies-work/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

In this episode, we delve into the intricate world of combat sports, specifically boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA), and the critical aspects of training and preparation that underpin these intense disciplines.

Our expert panel includes Duncan French, from the UFC Performance Institute, Danny Wilson, Co-founder of Boxing Science, and Rhys Ingram, formerly of GB Taekwondo and currently with GB Cycling.

They kick off the discussion by emphasizing the importance of multidisciplinary teams in supporting athletes, including strength and conditioning coaches, physiotherapists, and nutritionists. The challenge lies in orchestrating these diverse experts to work cohesively for the benefit of the athlete.

The panel explores various training philosophies, particularly when it comes to building strength and power in combat sports athletes. The focus here is on lower body impulse and trunk muscle mass as significant contributors to punching power. Training strategies include lower force, high-velocity movements, and max strength development.

Assessments play a pivotal role in athlete profiling, with tests like countermovement jumps, drop jumps, isometric mid-thigh pulls, and peak plantar flexion tests providing insights into an athlete's ability to generate force quickly and efficiently.

The conversation also delves into situational training, where athletes are exposed to unorthodox and challenging scenarios to prepare them mentally and physically for fights. This approach helps athletes develop mental toughness and resilience, crucial for success in combat sports.

Finally, the experts address the complex issue of weight cutting and management. They stress the importance of distinguishing between chronic weight descent and acute weight cutting, offering valuable insights into the science and methodology behind effective weight management. The discussion touches on the significance of day-before weigh-ins and the duty of care toward athletes.

This episode provides an in-depth look at the intricate world of combat sports training, profiling, situational training, and weight management, offering valuable insights for athletes, coaches, and enthusiasts alike.

Main talking points:

• Utilising multidisciplinary team support.