Articles
“Coach to the athlete’s solutions; not yours”
This is a saying that I probably repeat weekly in some way or another. It essentially means that each athlete has their own unique way of moving; that our jobs as performance professionals (in this case, coaches, therapists, and sport scientists) is to appreciate and understand athletes’ ‘movement signatures’, and train them in a way that best aligns to this....
Efficient – Correct – Optimal …. who really cares?
Do you think that you can tell how efficient an athlete is by watching them perform? If you ask most people, Paula Radcliffe had a pretty inefficient running style. Yet she has ran the fastest time of any female in history, in one of the most competitive events - the marathon. In each of her 20,000 plus steps, Radcliffe nodded...
The Need for Problem-Driven Solutions
Each of us comes from chaotic environments with different constraints, challenges, and bottlenecks. Even though we all share a similar goal - performance - it is challenging to directly help solve each other’s specific problems. The complex worlds we live in consist of unique interactions between the elements that make up these worlds. Our context is different. Therefore, the most...
Does How You Move Even Really Matter?
ALTIS CEO & Sprint Coach, Stu McMillan writes: Do you think that you can tell how efficient an athlete is by watching them perform?If you ask most people, Paula Radcliffe had a pretty inefficient running style. Yet she has ran the fastest time of any female in history, in one of the most competitive events - the marathon. In each...
Track and Field is Hard
So you’re a college junior, and you are setting PRs every other weekend. This track & field thing is easy! Right? Not so fast. While it may feel like that, a very high percentage of professional track & field athletes set their personal best performances while they are in college. That’s right - most athletes are at...
ALTIS Communication: Social Media, Transparency, and Authenticity
Last week, Ben Bloom of the British newspaper, the Daily Telegraph wrote a short profile piece on ALTIS sprinter Jodie Williams. The story outlined some of the challenges Jodie has faced over the last half dozen years. An elite junior athlete, Jodie once went over 5 years between defeats, winning 151 straight races. Since beginning her senior career, Jodie has...
The Critical Nature of Thinking
This article is written by ALTIS Intern Matt Kline. Before joining ALTIS as an Intern in the Spring of 2019, Matt worked as a Director at Power Train Sports & Fitness in York, Pennsylvania. This role came after completing a B.S. in Health and Exercise Science from Messiah College. In this article, Matt shares with us his thoughts on Critical...
Cynefin, Klay and KD
Over the last few weeks, through my weekly emails to the ALTIS Community, I have been writing about implementing a Performance Therapy methodology into an environment not currently operating in such a way. I spent a few weeks discussing the bigger problem of how to impart greater cultural change, and this week began to narrow into the details somewhat. ...
Athletigen ACP Podcast with Molly Galbraith
The fourth Athletigen ACP Podcast of the 18-19 season is now available, featuring one of our March ACP guest speakers - Molly Galbraith. Molly is co-founder of Girls Gone Strong, a movement started in 2011 by seven women who wanted to change the landscape of nutrition and training information for women. In this podcast we discuss why negative body image is...
Intern Insights – November 2018 ACP
As interns, we were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to attend every Apprentice Coach Program presentation, practical, and discussion throughout the November 2018 edition. With a desire to improve and gain knowledge, this provided us the chance to actively learn, grow, and further shape our individual philosophies. The November ACP was filled with many meaningful topics and included...