Folks,

We are told to keep the end in mind. After all, reverse engineering from the place you want to go to makes sense. So, do you focus on having fewer injuries or do you focus on being robust?

What difference does it make? Turns out quite a bit. Because the lens you look through decides what you pay attention to.

Focus on injury prevention, and the chances are you will focus on things that predict and prevent injury. And that's reasonable because after all, that's the thing you want to reduce, injuries. Everything you do after that pushes you further down the road.

Focus on robustness, and you build systems that can tolerate load; in other words, you don't focus on any one thing, you focus on redundancy and reserves. Rather than trying to optimise for any one marker of performance, in this case, injury reduction.

Right now, for example, there is an obsession with hamstring injuries.

The ability to withstand or overcome adverse conditions is robustness. The thing that arrives, that you just didn't see coming, that arrives and kicks you in the arse. Being robust is not to predict or to know, it's to respond to the challenge and somehow overcome it.

Nothing wrong with data, it helps make smart decisions, only those smart decisions need to be based on knowing the question you are trying to answer.

What does that mean for us?

We know what it takes to build up reserves in strength.

We also know that the more we move, jump, and sprint, the better we get.

What we don't know for sure is if Nordics will prevent you from pulling your hamstring.

But, without doubt, if you move well and often, you are more robust than the person sitting on the couch.

Simon

P.S. This Saturday, I'm hosting a coach development with Coach Kelvin Giles. You can join here: The Can, Can, Can't, Can Framework

I hope you can join us.

P.S.S. If you've read my book, reply with a photo of you with it - I'd love to include you in a future photo collage and review shout-outs.