by Dan Williams | Apr 3, 2016 | Blogs, Exercise, Health, Improving Athletic Performance, Psychology
This blog post marks the first in a series of six posts on enhancing performance through training mental skills. This post will act as an introduction to the key concepts, while subsequent posts will cover arousal regulation, imagery, self-confidence, goal setting and...
by Dan Williams | Apr 3, 2016 | Blogs, Exercise, Improving Athletic Performance, Psychology
This is part of a five part series on Psychological Skills Training, covering the education, acquisition and practice of psychological skills. Other posts in this series include: Arousal Regulation – Psychological Skills Training Self Confidence –...
by Dan Williams | Mar 20, 2016 | Biomechanics, Blogs, CrossFit, Exercise, Health, Improving Athletic Performance, Musculo-skeletal Rehabilitation
Movement provides a window into the body. Assessing movement is like detective work. Observing movement and assessing faults gives us clues to identify underlying dysfunction. There are few better diagnostic tools than the squat. The number of directions in which...
by Dan Williams | Mar 12, 2016 | Blogs, CrossFit, Exercise, Exercise Philosophies, Health, Improving Athletic Performance, Psychology
Let me preface this article. In CrossFit, for everyone but the 99th percentile, health > performance. This is never, and should never be, in doubt (read: How CrossFit Helps Combat the 19 Major Causes of Premature Death and Disability). So as you’re reading...
by Dan Williams | Jan 19, 2016 | Biomechanics, Blogs, CrossFit, Exercise, Improving Athletic Performance, Musculo-skeletal Rehabilitation
As coaches and judges, we’re really good at policing the range of movements. We define a movement by its start and end point. Hip crease below the knee, chin over bar, arms locked overhead. These attributes are important, they allow us to define movement. But...
by Dan Williams | Jan 19, 2016 | Blogs, CrossFit, Exercise, Improving Athletic Performance, Psychology
Life is a series of choices, a series of decisions. I’ve noticed that’s it’s usually the least favourable decision that leads to the most favourable outcome. Decision A is very easy to make. It requires no great work or dedication (usually just a...
by Dan Williams | Jan 19, 2016 | Blogs, Chronic Conditions, Exercise, Health, Weight Loss
In order to understand the reasons for the incidents of cardiovascular disease in contemporary society, we must understand the situations and selective pressures during the late Paleolithic era. So influential was this period in the scheme of human evolution, that it...
by Dan Williams | Jan 19, 2016 | Blogs, CrossFit, Exercise, Flexibility, Improving Athletic Performance, Musculo-skeletal Rehabilitation
The importance of ankle mobility is paramount in the squat – in fact, any closed chain movement where the foot is in contact with the ground. Dorsi-flexion of the ankle (ie: lifting the ball of the foot with the heel in contact with the ground) is perhaps the...
by Dan Williams | Jan 19, 2016 | Blogs, CrossFit, Exercise, Health, Improving Athletic Performance, Musculo-skeletal Rehabilitation, Programming
Competitiive CrossFitters (or at least those who prioritise and commit to training) love to work hard. In the most part, this hard work has a perfect positive correlation with rate of return (increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains). There becomes...
by Dan Williams | Jan 19, 2016 | Blogs, CrossFit, Exercise, Improving Athletic Performance, Nutrition
Daily Training, Movement Preparation, Nutrition and Mental Preparation Guidelines: 6-7 days from competition. 4-5 days from competition. 2-3 days from competition. 1 day from competition + competition day....
