Pacey Performance Podcast

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, I have the pleasure in speaking to Head of Strength & Conditioning at Hurricanes Rugby in New Zealand, David Gray. This episode has come around at the perfect time with the British & Irish Lions being on tour in New Zealand and getting a 31-31 draw against David's Hurricanes on Tuesday this week. David is another practitioner in the 'Brit abroad' category having worked in New Zealand for the last few years.

In this episode, you will learn -

• Who is Davie Gray (background, experience, and current role)
  • Working in NZ and differences/similarities with Europe
• Periodisation of different qualities and how it differs pre, in and off season
  • Conditioning
  • Strength & power
  • Speed
• Training load monitoring
  • Use of Kitman Labs
  • Creating a competitive environment to increase training intensity
  • How things change with scheduling issues
• Future direction
  • What could you improve
  • Areas of innovation (power profiling)
• Staff relationship & CPD
  • Advice for young S&C's

David can be found on Twitter @daviegray

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, I have the pleasure in speaking to Senior Lecturer at Queensland University of Technology, Dr. Anthony Shield. Dr. Shield and his colleague Dr. Opar are the brains behind the NordBord, a tool to measure eccentric and isometric hamstring strength which prompted a lot of discussions in this episode. As well as the work he has done himself in this area, Dr. Shield also supervises a number of Ph.D. students who are looking further into the hamstrings and their functions.

In this episode, you will learn - 

• Who is Tony Shields (education, background etc)
• What we know about hamstring injuries
• 'Functional' exercises 
  • Confusion around the term
  • How they relate to hamstring injury
• Nordics
  • Why the debate
  • Why the apparent stigma
  • Alternatives
  • Assessments
• Where the research is heading

Anthony can be found on Twitter @das_shield

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, I am speaking to Director of Coaching and Sports Science at Hintsa Performance, Pete McKnight. Hintsa Performance is a company who provide performance coaches for a number of athletes, the most notable being drivers in Formula 1. Pete leads a number of coaches who work one-on-one with the drivers but he also works on the research and innovation side of things at Hintsa. Pete has also been chairman of the UKSCA for a number of years now and has helped the organisation develop a growing reputation in the UK and abroad.

In this episode, you will learn -

• Who is Pete McKnight (background, education and current role)
• Physiological demands of Formula 1 and what training looks like
• Training for the neck & trunk to cope with high g-forces
• What is available from a physiological point of view from the drivers themselves
• What is the future for drivers in Formula 1? In what areas is there room for improvement?
• With so much media demand for the drivers, how do you/they prepare psychologically for a race?

Pete can be found on Twitter @petemcknight

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, I am DELIGHTED to bring you Dr. Daniel Cohen, co-founder and head of sports science at ForceDecks. Daniel is also a lecturer and researcher at the University of Santander in Colombia. Daniel has become the face of ForceDecks over the last few years with the company becoming a leader in providing force plates and the associated software to some of the best organisations in the world. If you are interested in learning more about jumping and jump data, this podcast is most certainly for you!

In this episode you will learn -

• Who is Dr Daniel Cohen (background, education and current role)
• Force platform use in sports
• Barriers and issues associated with jump testing
• Why CMJ and why dual platforms
• The importance of looking at eccentric forces and landing forces
• The truth about asymmetries

Daniel can be found on Twitter @danielcohen1971

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast I have the pleasure of speaking to Inigo Mujika, Associate Professor at the University of the Basque Country. Inigo has an unbelievable list of publications to his name in the areas of strength training for endurance athletes, tapering and peaking. Inigo even has a book with Yann Le Meur which looks amazing.

In this episode you will learn -

• Who is Inigo Mujika (background, education and current role)
• Strength training for endurance athletes - barriers and benefits
• Periodisation of strength training for the endurance athlete
• The resurgence of 'aerobic training' for team sports - benefits of this type of training for this group
• Key qualities of a sports scientist
• Key qualities of coaches
• Training load quantification -  Do the methods answer the key questions...How hard did the athlete find the session? How hard was the session? How did the athlete recover from the session? How is the athlete coping with the cumulative stress of training?

Inigo can be found on Twitter @inigomujika_en