All races will have biases towards different components. For example, a race may have a Cardio Bias and involve a lot of running, a strength bias and consist of a lot of heavy lifting, or a Novelty Bias with the main aim being fun and enjoyment.

Certain distances are particularly horrific when it comes to running, and that is because they are not short enough to be over quickly (there’s plenty of time to suffer), yet they are not long enough to warrant slowing down and pacing yourself.

The term "energy system" describes the body's energy production processes, which vary in speed and duration, allowing targeted training. Although specific systems can be emphasized, they develop collaboratively. For example, anaerobic sprints also enhance aerobic fitness for recovery. Different sports prioritize different systems; track events focus on speed, while boxing and football require a combination. Emphasis may shift depending on the sport.

Aerobic power enables working at high intensities primarily using the aerobic system. Exceeding the anaerobic threshold can lead to burnout. Good anaerobic fitness and discomfort tolerance are essential. Muscular endurance helps maintain performance after intense exercise. Athletes need speed for the 400m and muscular strength to handle weights in labor stations. Insufficient strength can lead to significant fatigue during deadlifts, squats, and push presses.

I discovered my preferred fitness style: "conventional" fitness racing (CFT). While I respect CrossFit and its athletes, I’m not into combining Olympic Weightlifting with gymnastic movements; it’s just not my style. I refer to CrossFit as "Specialist" fitness racing, similar to Obstacle Course Racing, which has high technical demands. In contrast, conventional fitness racing emphasizes core performance qualities like strength, speed, and endurance.

Strength and conditioning, or S&C for short, refers to the physical development of competitive athletes at all levels, including elite-level sport, grassroots players, and hobbyists who want to succeed in sporting or fitness events.

In essence, a strength and conditioning coach prescribes exercises to improve athletes' movement and performance qualities.

Olympic Weightlifting, or just weightlifting, consists of two lifts: the Snatch, a one-phase lift, and the Clean & Jerk, a two-phase lift.

Olympic lifts require great strength, speed (strength-speed), mobility, balance, and coordination. Therefore, they are beneficial to athletic performance.

Perception is the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through our senses. It's the neurophysiological processes, including memory, by which we become aware of and interpret external stimuli and in turn, do something about it.

My favourite example is a boxer not reacting to a single punch but countless stimuli, such as the opponent's previous shots (what they did during previous rounds), their foot position, shoulder position, line of sight, etc, etc, etc.

This is a tough question to answer as there are so many factors. Therefore, we need to establish what we class as physically demanding.

We need to consider the different components of fitness, such as muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardio-respiratory endurance, and speed. Of course, when it comes to the term "physically demanding", we tend to think of components that apply huge metabolic stress, such as muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance, rather than coordination, balance, and reaction time - is maximal endurance more demanding than maximal strength?

Fast reactions are clearly an integral part of athleticism. However, when it comes to the trainability of reaction time, things are questionable, to say the least.

Ultimately, we need to define exactly what we mean by reaction time and also what physical attributes we are specifically targeting.

Reaction Time is defined as the amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus - we could describe it as "Quickness”. However, it is not just our ability to react to a stimulus. It is also the ability to change the position of the body in accordance with the stimulus. Therefore, qualities such as coordination, balance, and mobility are important factors."

Movement screens are a great way to understand a client's or athlete's movement capabilities and limitations. However, I think it is key that people understand that a poor result on a specific movement assessment should NOT be seen as a sure sign of injury risk but as indicators of where improvements in overall performance can be made—making an athlete more robust!

I have just published a Youth Strength and Conditioning Book/Paperback Program on Amazon - the book works as both a program with detailed instructions and program cards for each training session and a logbook with log pages to track your progress.

The program is designed to develop the Strength and Conditioning of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16-years-old.

Although there can be disparity between the physical development and maturity of adolescents between the age range of 12-16, this program has been tried and tested across the different age and ability levels and consistently produces brilliant results – the program has been used with complete novices and world-class youth athletes.

Fitness tests set benchmarks, inform our programming, and allow us to see whether we have improved. Therefore, fitness tests are a necessary part of optimal program design - programming just isn't programming if it doesn't include some form of fitness testing!

Some tests are far more likely to result in clear, measurable changes, such as long-duration endurance tests. However, when it comes to short change of direction (COD) speed tests, for example, what is the Smallest Worthwhile Change?

The term "Plyometrics" was coined by an Olympic long-distance runner from the USA named Fred Wilt. After watching Russian athletes using various jumps in their warm-ups before track and field events, he came up with the term.

Plyometrics is essentially "Jump Training." However, we can also describe upper body exercises that emphasize using the stretch-shortening cycle (stretch reflex) to produce an explosive movement as plyometrics. For example, plyo push-ups.

Yuri Verkoshansky (a Russian sports scientist) is often considered the godfather of plyometrics and is infamous for his "Shock Method" of plyometrics.

First things first, always see a medical professional if you are in pain or worried about a specific injury or ailment (injuries are complex). This article is designed to get you thinking about what measures you can take to reduce the risk of training injuries.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that we will eradicate injuries, especially when aiming for the highest level of performance. However, there is a lot we can do to reduce the risk of injuries drastically.

The Infamous Russian Sports Scientists Vladimir Zatsiorsky classified max strength training (the maximum effort method) as working above 90% of your 1 rep max (1RM) - I personally classify max strength as anything above 85%, but maybe I am not as hardcore as the Russian lifters!

It is well established that lifting maximal loads elicits the greatest strength increases. However, there is, of course, a risk of overtraining and injury when pushing things to the limit regularly.

I know many lifters that work above 85% multiple times a week, every week, and others that incorporate max effort lifts every 3rd week followed by a week-long deload.