Supertraining

I was asked to assist in the training and rehabilitation of Tyler  
Helmig, a chuckwagon racer, during his return from the sport after a  
catastrophic accident (see 
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=ece40a30-637a-469c-91b2-64603bb8538a&k=83401
 
  ) had injured him severely. Tyler had been working with a local  
physiotherapist, but was unhappy with the suggested program of  
training. He had met me one time and we had hit it off pretty well  
and, anyhow I got the call.

In this case there is a notable difference in that Tyler was dealing  
with a broken leg and pelvis and also had numerous other injuries,  
most pronounced being his shoulder.

Anyhow - chuckwagon racing was entirely new to me. Like you, i looked  
through the video. As always, I was concerned with specificity of  
training. I had used the Supertraining book of our late esteemed  
colleague, Dr. Siff and his movement matrix and triangle of speed,  
strength and endurance in other sport training and it served me well  
here.

So what I did was identify what motor patterns or body movement are  
associated with the sport. In this case kinetic chains were also  
important - how the movement was anchored and transmitted. So I had a  
series of motor patterns identified and then I identified what the  
requirements were for speed, strength and endurance in the movements.

I then set up a series of tests (note that the tests were different  
than the training movements I used) so we could establish a baseline  
and monitor progress. These tests included ROM, strength, speed/ 
strength and endurance using fairly standard tests and resistance  
equipment. However, our program of training avoided the barbell/ 
dumbbell/gym type of training - we only used that for testing.

Mainly because Tyler was a bull-strong, bull-headed cowboy who had  
very little use for being what he called 'gym strong' as opposed to  
'real world strong'. I could relate as I had trained many wrestlers  
and I knew what he was getting at. Plus Tyler lived on a ranch which  
is a trainers dream!

So I had Tyler doing things like box squats (with logs), caber tosses,  
swings, tire flips and more dragging or pulling exercises with logs,  
ropes and chains than you could imagine. For example a very specific  
drill for the 'half mile of hell' was pulling a log across the yard by  
facing it, anchoring your feet and pulling a rope hand over hand. Plus  
it fit Tyler's personality.

I think you are facing a similar challenge, plus you have the  
situation where your rider is anchored by both feet and hands and  
really has to have a lot of control of moving and positioning his body  
in space. I suspect a lot of your training may look like a gymnasts  
training because body control is going to be so crucial. You may also  
find cross-training the endurance component using something like a  
mountain bike may be useful.

Take home message. Analyze the requirements, develop rational tests,  
develop training based on the individual, monitor progress and make  
adjustments based on progress (or lack of it).

Keith Hobman
Saskatoon, Canada



On 23-Jun-09, at 12:31 PM, Mark Helme wrote:

>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I have a request for information and guidance.
>
> Starting in September, I will be working with a student athlete  
> quadbiker. As you can imagine with such a new sport there is little  
> out there that I can find immediately. My questions is firstly can  
> any of you offer any imperical evidence or reflective experience  
> that might be useful, I would be eternally grateful.
>
> Secondly, I would like to start a discussion around how different  
> coaches approach working with these athletes, where do we all start.
>
> to kick things of, I have asked the athlete to provide me with a  
> copy of the rules, video footage of the event, I have spoken to him  
> to get his perspective on his goals, and I will discuss possible  
> objectives of the coach.
>
> Does anyone else use a different approach, if so I would like to  
> hear your views.
>
> Mark Helme
> Wakefield, UK
>
> 



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