By Rob Shaul Background: With this study we’re interested in developing the most efficient method for rapidly egressing from a patrol vehicle to get into a firing/protective position. Think of a patrol officer having to exit his vehicle to return fire and/or give chase. We want to take a deep dive on this – movement […]

Athena Study Final Review: Process, Final Results, and Next Steps by Jordan Smothermon In the previous report three weeks into our study, we outlined the stark risks female adolescent athletes face in suffering knee injuries, causes of these risks, and the methodology and reasoning of our Athena training program. Now, after completing 6 weeks, a […]

Does Pinch Grip Strength Carry Over to Other Types of Grip? by Jordan Smothermon We’ve began investigating the relationship between strength and strength endurance required for different types of holds in climbing. Our questions is simple: does the strength endurance for one type of hold correlate to another type of hold? In our first investigation […]

The Alpinist Fitness Assessment By Rob Shaul Last November I began working with two groups of alpinists on pure climbing events. I designed “event-specific” training plans for each, including initial assessments, and this started me thinking about what a “Alpinist Fitness Assessment” would look like. By “Alpinist” I’m speaking here in terms of an athlete who […]

by Jordan Smothermon and Rob Shaul Lactate Threshold heart rate, commonly known as LT, is the rate at which an athlete’s body switches from mostly relying on their aerobic energy system for fuel, to mostly relying on his/her anaerobic energy system to fuel the effort. This is a high heart rate, around 88% of max […]

 Redefining knee injury prevention Training for Adolescent Female athletes By Jordan Smothermon Female adolescent athletes are three times more likely, on average across all high school sports, than their male counterparts to suffer an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. The severity, cost, length of recovery, and emotional and mental toll ACL tears (and other knee […]