Today’s podcast features Derek Hansen. Derek is a renowned International Sport Performance Consultant with over 35 years of experience working with athletes across all levels and disciplines in speed, strength, and power sports. Derek started in Track and Field and continued in sports performance to work with numerous athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLS, and NHL, along with Olympic medalists. As the former Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Simon Fraser University—NCAA’s first non-U.S. member—Derek now specializes in speed development, performance planning, and return-to-competition protocols.
If we zoom out and scan decades of fitness and human performance, we see methods go in, and out of style. In our current realm of athletics, we have put speed and power outputs heavily under the microscope, while energy system development and aerobic training have been played down (along with general physical education and physical competencies in young athletes). In looking at injury rates and longevity of athletes, it’s important to take a look at where we may be pushing too far, and where gaps need to be filled.
On today’s episode, Derek covers the pendulum swing, and the importance of aerobic development, even in speed and power-seeking athletes. He also gets into the modern direction of acceleration training, as team sport training has moved into heavier resisted training protocols, relative to the past. Derek also touches on the artful side of training and coaching, mindfulness, overspeed sprint training, simplicity of programming application, and much more.
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Main Points
7:56– Value of Basic Circulatory Warm-up Routines
10:24– Benefits of Incorporating Aerobic Running in Training
22:24– Jerry Rice’s Holistic Endurance Training Approach
26:42– Enhancing Performance Through Mindful Nature Training
34:38– Traditional vs Digital Learning: Note-taking Strategies
44:06– Optimizing Acceleration Training with Sled Work
50:30– Sprint Mechanics for Injury Prevention and Performance
55:00– Optimizing Training Loads for Enhanced Performance
58:38– Enhancing Acceleration: Sleds and Hill Sprints
1:01:37– Optimal Hill Gradient for Athletic Conditioning
1:09:46– Optimal Resistance Levels in Sprint Training
1:15:06– Optimizing Running Speed with Relaxation Techniques
1:23:36– Achilles Injury Rates and Considerations in Modern Sport
1:28:20– Muscle Oxygenation Training for Enhanced Recovery
Quotes
(4:40) “I always try to simplify things. So one of the simplest things when I was working with Charlie Francis was he would have very complicated, complex explanations for things, but sometimes he would say, like, you know, oh, what’s this person’s problem? Well, they’re just tight. You just need to loosen them up. That would be the end of the conversation”
(9:51) “It’s kind of like the bro science has kind of taken over basic physiology and I think it’s, it’s kind of hurt us.”
(16:00) “We’re pushing speed and specificity but, but at the same time, you know, having a well-rounded, balanced program is really important, particularly for the injury prevention side”
(21:00) “I think of people like Jerry Rice and, you know, was he the fastest guy? No, but he did do a lot of longer runs and runs in the hills and stuff like that”
(32:00) “I have vinyl records because listening to a vinyl record takes more time and patience. To put the needle on the groove and all that. And then I found every time I was writing something, I would just type it into the computer. Now I bought a whole bunch of pads, lined paper pads, and I’ll try to write stuff out more and little things like that. I’ll be very deliberate about kind of going full old school on things”
(41:40) “For a lot of people, acceleration work has to have a resistance component. And you’ll see. And I try to come up with numbers. Like, maybe when I do acceleration work, 20% of all the work is resisted, but what I’m seeing is like 80% or more is resisted”
(42:58) “For certain athletes (heavier resisted sprinting) works really well. But we both agreed that it’s more of, like a postural coordination or maybe there’s a security with having the resistance on because you can get into positions that feel more comfortable, like more balanced.”
(46:10) “I think maybe that that art of understanding how to train acceleration has been lost with all of this resisted work. Right. And it’s a different feel”
(55:40) “There’s a significant point of diminishing returns there. So is a 400-pound squat enough or is a 120 kilo power clean enough? And sometimes it is, right? Sometimes like 300-pound squat, 350, and some guys running nine-point, whatever, 9.7. So I think, you know, everybody should think about that point of diminishing returns for everything they do”
About Derek Hansen
Derek is an International Sport Performance Consultant who has been working with athletes of all ages and abilities in speed, strength, and power sports since 1988. His coaching career started in Track and Field, providing instruction to sprinters of all ages eventually working with collegiate sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers. His career evolved rapidly working closely with some of the top performers in the world as a coach and a consultant – including Olympic medalists, world record holders, Canadian National team athletes, and professional athletes from numerous sports.
Derek worked as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Simon Fraser University for 14 years, the first non-US member of the NCAA. He also serves as a performance consultant to numerous professional teams in the NFL, NBA, MLS, and NHL, as well as major NCAA Division 1 programs throughout North America, specializing in speed development, strategic performance planning, return-to-competition protocols, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation programming. Derek is asked to speak on speed development and high-performance training regularly for major events around the world and has also authored several books, chapters, and journal articles on these subjects.
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