Simpson and French Present At NSCA Conference

 

by James Skitt - 31.07.09

Strength and Conditioning Coaches from the English Institute of Sport (EIS) were among presenters at the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) 32nd National Conference in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Mark Simpson and Duncan French, who Lead on EIS Strength and Conditioning support to British Cycling and GB Basketball respectively, both gave presentations based on their continued work with the sports.

Simpson, who is the Lead Strength and Conditioning Coach for the British Cycling team, provided an insight into the sophisticated monitoring and evaluation techniques that are used to assess the effectiveness of the strength and power training that he does with the team.

"Monitoring and evaluation is a fundamental concept within the discipline of Strength and Conditioning (S&C) and is something that is currently being targeted within the EIS National S&C strategy" he told eis2win.co.uk.
 
"An effective monitoring and evaluation strategy is necessary to assess and demonstrate the impact of the S&C programme on sport performance. It also helps the coach and athlete to determine exactly how the athlete is responding and adapting to the training.”

“Having the knowledge and understanding of how the individual athlete responds is vital to ensuring the success of any programme. Not only will the coach be able to optimise the S&C training programme, but he/she will also be able to sensitively track markers of physiological and mechanical stress which can help reduce the risk of overtraining, burnout and injury" he added.
 
The presentation received positive feedback from some of the most distinguished practitioners and researchers in the world who were among the 3,000 delegates at the conference.

Dr G. Gregory Haff, Vice-President of the NSCA, commented: “Mark delivered what could be considered one of the highlight presentations of this year’s NSCA conference.”

“His talk embodied the NSCA’s mission of bridging the gap between science and practical application. The central theme of Mark’s presentation was a discussion about how strength and conditioning professionals can utilize scientific assessments to monitor and guide the training practices of athletes. What was most exciting about his talk was that he gave keen insight into how he quantifies resistance training and monitors performance changes with the elite athletes contained in the British Track Cycling Program. This data was then presented in a way which truly showed the relationships between the resistance training program and the actual performance improvements on the track.”

Simpson said, “It was great to get some positive feedback and I felt a great sense of pride and responsibility in representing the EIS and also the UK Strength and Conditioning Association who sponsored me.”

“The scale of the conference really took me back as I had never presented to that many people before but I really enjoyed the experience” he added.

Following Simpson’s presentation, French formed part of a symposium on ‘The importance of the endocrine system before, during and after resistance exercise’. The symposium included world renowned scientist in the field of resistance training and endocrine physiology Dr William J. Kraemer, with French providing a presentation detailing hormonal responses before resistance exercise.

Earlier, French had also presented at a pre-conference symposium on the ‘Principles and Practice of Basketball Strength and Conditioning’.

“The title of my presentation was ‘Big man syndrome; developing multi-directional speed and agility in tall athletes’” he told eis2win.co.uk

“This talk focused on the physical and physiological challenges presented to S&C coaches working with athletes of tall stature. It served to outline the aetiology of a paradigm I have termed ‘big man syndrome’, and gave practical advice on coaching strategies to address this issue” he added.

Much of the content for this presentation was based on French’s personal working experiences as the National Lead for S&C to GB Basketball, where he works with athletes ranging from 6 foot to 7’2”. Other speakers in this symposium included Patrick Dixon, Head Basketball S&C coach at St. Johns University, USA; Charlie Weingroff, former S&C coach to the Philadelphia 76ers; and Carmen Bott, CEO of Human Motion.com.

Dr. Barry Spiering, Assistant Professor of the Department of Kinesiology at California State University said: "I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. French reveal his insights into training GB's national basketball teams. His knowledge and experience led him to believe that, because biomechanical and neuromuscular distinctions exist between shorter athletes and taller athletes, taller athletes must receive unique physical training to maximize performance and minimize the risk of future injury.”

“Dr. French cleverly coined the term ‘Big Man Syndrome’ to describe the phenomenon and supported his claims with data that he had collected/analyzed while training these athletes. His combination of insight, experience and charisma resulted in an enlightening presentation and I certainly look forward to listening to him speak at future meetings."

French added: “The NSCA represents the largest professional strength and conditioning body in the world so it was great to be given the opportunity to speak at such a prolific event.”

“The feedback to my presentations was great and it was fantastic to network and share time with the many coaches and scientists that attended the conference.”