Today’s episode features biomechanist and inventor David Weck. David has devoted thousands of hours to the intensive study of human movement and locomotion, and training implications. His inventions focus on building the rotational, pulsing and coiling abilities of the body, as well as the feet, in a manner that fits with natural locomotive abilities. As a coach looking to integrate the field of sports performance as closely as possible with natural human function (and not creating programs fully centered around qualities needed to perform a bilateral barbell lift), this is a great addition to the Just Fly podcast lineup.
David Weck is the creator of WeckMethod and the CEO and Founder of BOSU Fitness. He is the inventor of the BOSU Balance Trainer, the new WeckMethod BOSU Elite, the RMT Club, and other products. He has worked in fitness for more than 22 years and has helped people of all fitness levels including elite athletes from multiple sports. He is a consummate student of movement who believes physical education is the foundation for a happy and healthier world.
For today’s episode, we go into one of the biggest “hot-buttons” in the industry which is the action of the trunk and “core” in sport movement and related training implications. Many coaches will put a heavy program emphasis on the ability to brace and resist (in order to transmit force) through using the core, but the reality is that actual observed sport movement, as well as a study of human evolution (Piscean locomotion theory) shows a different strategy in training integration. This episode is fully loaded, and goes into this performance aspect in detail, in addition to many other aspects of athletic movement, including the action of the arms that carries an instant transfer to improving speed.
Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.
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Key Points:
- David’s background and how he has been able to spend over a decade in intensive study and experimentation in speed and movement
- Aspects of the bracing core versus the coiling core
- Fundamentals of how the sagittal, frontal and transverse planes work in respect to rotation and bracing
- How David formulated the “Royal Coil” exercise
- Application of coil mechanics to basic exercises such as the lunge
- Arm mechanics in running
Quotes:
“If you are sprinting fast past the age of 25 you either love it so much or you get paid a lot to do it”
“If you’ve never played the guitar, it’s hard to teach guitar lessons”
“Locomotion is the most important thing you can do functionally feeling… upright bipedal locomotion is contingent upon one’s ability to throw stones and swing sticks”
“There are two fundamental ways to brace the core. One to brace and don’t breathe, to pick up heavy things, and other is brace and breath to create the diaphragmatic differentiation so you can breathe under stress”.
“You under no circumstance want to brace your core in neutral under a transverse only force”
“When you side bend in the frontal plane, the biomechanical reality is that you create an axial rotation, counter rotation of the shoulders and the hips”
“In locomotion the shoulders do an underhand figure 8 and the hips do an overhand figure 8. If you are crawling or doing the reptilian it is the opposite”
“It’s the lats that lead the locomotion…. everything about them is there for you to optimize the spinal engine”
“Nobody who is fast braces their core to run or jump”
“The most accurate science is the results”
“Pressure is how we create strength, you have to pressurize and brace. That’s why a bodybuilder who is 4% body-fat isn’t as strong as in the off season as when they are 12%. You need something to resist against”
“Supinating is coiling to that (supination) side, pronating is coiling to that (pronation) side”
“The biomechanical cascade starts with side-bending”
“The guy who is hellbent on the sagittal plane is strong enough to do it poorly”
“You want to incorporate as much connective tissue (into movement) as you can”
Show Notes:
Royal coil demonstration
About David Weck
David Weck is the creator of WeckMethod and the CEO and Founder of BOSU Fitness. He is the inventor of the BOSU Balance Trainer, the new WeckMethod BOSU Elite, the RMT Club, and other products. He has worked in fitness for more than 22 years and has helped people of all fitness levels including elite athletes from multiple sports. He is a consummate student of movement who believes physical education is the foundation for a happy and healthier world.
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