Author: Vernon Gambetta

We are hindered by reductionist thinking. We need to stop breaking movement and exercise into its smallest parts and the focus on those parts in hopes of producing a moving flowing working whole, it won’t happen. It will only happen if there is a holistic approach, an approach that focuses on the big picture and the connections. In essence learn to connect the dots. In many respects this is where sport science has failed us. In the rush to publish and the desire to show statistical significance we have become so reductionist in our thinking that we now fail to see the forest for the trees. Focusing on Max VO2 or trying to isolate individual muscles, while very neat and clean in the lab just does not transfer well to the performance arena. Is it important to understand scientific concepts? Yes, it is, but we cannot be restrained by them. Coaches and athletes lead innovation in training and technique, not scientists. Most scientific studies are isolated studies out of context of the spectrum of human movement demands. Science needs to measure an isolated component to conduct “valid” scientific experiments. I understand that those are the rules of the game for the scientist, but outside the lab in the real world of performance the rules are different. On the field, track, bike, or in the pool we cannot isolate variables. Does that mean we should reject science and rely solely on practice and experience, absolutely not. Coaches need to travel in both worlds. As a coach, statistical significance does not mean much; I am interested in coaching significance and how it applies to making a particular exercise or training method more effective. The great coaches I know are both artists and scientists. They know what canvas to paint on, what brushes to select, the brush strokes to use and how to blend the colors to achieve the result they desire. We must get all the pieces working in harmony. In performance the essence is linkage and connections, not isolation. Therefore, the training should reflect this and focus on muscle synergies and connections. I am very alarmed with the biased one-sided training regimens that I see being imposed on athletes today. If you are doing a lot of something then you are probably not doing a lot of something else, it is a zero-sum relationship. When you do this, the result is a highly adapted athlete, the athlete adapts to that one component being trained. To thrive in the performance arena demands the opposite, a highly adaptable athlete whose training is not biased, but reflects the demands of the sport and the needs of the individual athlete. Certainly, we are not going where no one else has gone before, these are not uncharted waters, the path is clear, and the destination is obvious. That begs the question then, why with all we know and the supposed progress we have made, why are results so inconsistent. Why are preventable injuries at levels never seen before in sport? We need to take a different approach. We must take a long look at what got us to this point. Look back at what worked in the past. Look at those people who are producing consistent reproducible results today. We need direction, definition and leadership, not more marketing and hype. We need to recognize and acknowledge the problems and address them with practical concrete solutions. To achieve this, we need to shift the focus back on people, not facilities, equipment and training methods. Coaching is a people profession, people working with people to raise performance levels. We must do everything possible to raise the standard of coaching. We can change and we must change, or we will go the way of the dinosaur. I implore you to take another look at what you are doing and go out and work to build highly adaptable athletes that can thrive in the competitive arena.