shovelling - a very functional movement.

I've just been reading a book by Vern Gambetta:



It is a fantastic resource covering all you'd want to know about setting up a training programme for an athlete. He has some very interesting principles:

Dynamic Postural alignment and balance are the foundation for all training.
Train movements not muscles.
Train fundamental movement skills before sport specific skills.
Train core strength before extremity strength.
Train with body weight before external resistance.
Train joint integrity before joint mobility.
Train synergistic muscles before prime movers.
Train strength before strength endurance.
Train speed before speed endurance.

The whole concept of functional training is so simple, elegant and intuitively correct. One of the things he talks about are the planes of motion and how we need to train in multi-plane movements. SO often we lock out selves into a single "dimension" in training - up and down, or forward and back. But life is not like that and sports movements are not like that. We move in 3 dimensions and should train in 3 dimensions too.

Which is where shovelling comes in. The shovelglove site is an excellent example of a guy solving a problem and creating a simple and useful solution. You need to read the site to get the full explanation - and I personally find it is too much training without sufficient randomness or rest - but the idea is superb.

One of the original moves he came up with is shovelling - as per the video below. When I do this by the way I think I get in more rotation - I just thought about how 3 dimensional this move is. You have up down, in and out and side to side. There is the really important transverse plane - the rotational stuff - vital for a strong and useful core.

So check out the video, check out shovel glove.....and check out sem of Vern Gabetta's free resources and programmes at his website.