SURF FITNESS, training and exercise tips
Surf Fitness March 2019
Clive Rodell
Hi again to all.
I was blessed this past week to have been invited down to the Australian Institute of sport in Canberra. An Invite by The Australian Strength and Conditioning Association to share/trade ideas and knowledge with other Elite Athlete Australian Sports Council Coaches. I love this type of thing, the knowledge in the round table discussions was sensational. Not only a chance to learn from great coaches and an opportunity to share, but also debate and fine tune ideas and science.
I love sharing and am constantly trying to help others and impart some of the information I have gleaned from training since 1970! I’m also happy to share the mistakes I’ve made along the way.
I was Operations Manager at the large training facility inside the Harbord Diggers on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. This sharing and helping was considered mandatory for myself and my staff to assist anyone and everyone with their training goals. I also consider it duty of care, especially if you can alert someone to a potential injury, or even just give them a chance to improve their training outcomes.
Not everyone of course likes to be told there’s a better way, our egos can often get in the way. As we grow older and wiser, hopefully we accept kind advice with humility.
The biggest objection to this sharing and helping comes from other Trainers… I wonder why? ??
To this end I am almost through the Fitness Australia system with my first course. A mammoth weekend course on exercise technique. It should be available within the next 6 weeks. It will attract Education points for Personal Trainers as an upskill. However, it is of value to anyone who currently weight trains. It’s the culmination of 45 years of resistance training experience. Primarily it will be rolled out in and around Sydney. I would be happy to take it to anyone and anywhere around the globe. I’ll keep you posted, feel free to participate.
Let’s look at some of the topics;
It will start with the fundamentals of squatting. If you understand how to squat correctly keeping the vertical line integrity, whilst using the neural input to move the hinges correctly and keeping a neutral spine. This, I believe is the fundamental exercise, the ‘King’ if you like. The tree from which all other fruit will grow. Understanding how to keep the load centre of gravity shifting in the correct direction and understanding how you spine should be during the movement, spills into correct postural fundamentals. From there, we’ll explore the dead lift.
It will allow the participants to understand lower and upper cross(ed) theories (see previous articles on baliwaves.com) Posture is everything, so details on posture and analytical techniques will be highlighted.
I’ll look at grip variations and their value, the correct width for the Lat Pull and other exercises (no two people are the same). I’ll teach correct range of motion for everyone’s anatomy, which is critical. Centre of Gravity Shift training for core (especially helpful in surfing). Knee position theories, exercise variants, subtle angle changes, how incline is really a ‘small angle change’ in Bench Pressing. Ab exercises that don’t look like Ab exercises! Effective Core work, axis of joint rotation for safety, machines v cables v barbells v bars v kettlebells, correct alignment between man and machine. The ‘Carrier Position’ and how it affects exercises.
All the above will minimise the risk of injury in the long-term sense, as well as the immediate. Some injuries can take years to develop, but they often start from a technique glitch. The long-term injuries are extremely hard to pinpoint. Most Physios etc would be seeing the exercise techniques being employed. A lot of course, would not be finely skilled in weight room techniques. So, there can be a disconnect between treatment and an ongoing mini trauma. This is sometimes why we ‘never heal’.
The great surfboard shaper Maurice Cole says it’s the fine tuning of the board down to 1%, even if it’s a machine cut, that can make or break a shape. I totally agree, so a Trainer with long term experience is so important (at least 10 years). The best of the rest might give you 85% on a good day, but it’s the 1-15% that really makes the difference.
As I said it’s a weekend long course, so it will explore a multitude of exercise variations and possibilities, exploding myths and ensuring positive training outcomes whilst minimising injury potential. Technique is everything!
Clive Rodell
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