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Coaches Blog

Team MPI Coaches Retreat Recap

Updated: Jun 5, 2022


January 26-27, 2019 -- Chicago, Illinois

Saturday Sessions (Team MPI Coaches + Outside Coaches)

“Key Workout Progressions for Different Endurance Goals” - Coach Chris Palmquist

Successful training progressions are those that allow the athlete to perform at his or her peak potential on race day. Corresponding objectives include avoiding injury, burn-out and limiting imbalances with family, work and life. Therefore, it is important to understand and apply the correct dose of effective workouts to fit each athlete. This presentation will use case studies representing a variety of race types and athlete abilities to introduce key workouts, effective training progressions and the timing/volume in which they should be prescribed.

“Cultivating Happiness in the Multisport Lifestyle”- Coach Amanda Leibovitz

The last decade has yielded an increase in research focusing on happiness, productivity, and success in life, business, and sport, offering a wealth of insight for multisport coaches to apply to their work with athletes. The first part of this interactive workshop presents an overview of recent findings through the lens of endurance sport so that coaches can better understand the various tools at their disposal to promote satisfaction and longevity in the sport. The second part of the workshop provides real-world, practical examples of employing various happiness principles into one’s approach to coaching. The final part of the workshop allows participants to present case studies from their own experiences and gain insight from a larger group discussion. Participating coaches will leave this workshop with a deeper understanding of the relationship between happiness and success, as well as a refreshed approach to facilitating goal setting and achievement with athletes.

"Coaching the First-Time IRONMAN" - Coach Laura Henry

They took the plunge and signed up for their first IRONMAN. Now, the reality that they have to cover 140.6 miles in one day to become an IRONMAN sets in, and they don’t know where to start. Enter you - the endurance coach. What considerations need to be taken when coaching a first-time IRONMAN athlete? What obstacles can you anticipate that they will encounter along the way, and how can you help them to successfully navigate them? During this session, we will be sharing best practices for coaching first-time IRONMAN athletes and how to get them to the finish line with a smile on their faces.

“Ethics in Coaching: Do The Right Thing” - Coach Mark Sortino

As a professional and business owner, what are our responsibilities to both the athlete and to the coaching profession when faced with tough decisions on doing the right thing? In this collaborative, scenario driven presentation, we look at what we admire in Great Coaches and what we admire in Great Companies. Are they similar?

“Directing Multisport Clinics and Camps – Whys and Hows” - Coach Mark Turner

Deciding to organize, advertise, conduct, and lead a multisport camp or clinic relies heavily on that blend of both art, in terms of creativity, and science in terms of covering the basics of the sport in a safe and productive manner. During this collaborative session we will discuss how to determine your metrics for evaluating a camp or clinic as successful, how to set your price, how to organize a schedule (and most importantly stick to it), and how to lead/coach the camp or clinic. In addition, we will cover building your team of coaches for the camp and best practices for sanctioning your event.

“Muscular Activation For Endurance Sports Through Differential Modalities” - Coach Adam Sczech

Endurance sports (swim, bike, run) incorporate a relatively small range of motion compared to power or agility sports. This session will discuss alternative methods for activation and conditioning of the primary musculature responsible for movement in endurance sports. We will examine the use of alternate energy systems, Time-Under-Tension, and power/agility movements to improve endurance performance.

“Coaching the XTERRA athlete on the BIKE" - Coach Mark Sortino

What are the similarities and what are the differences in training and racing an on-road triathlon and an off-road triathlon like XTERRA? In this presentation we’ll look at what the differences are in the bikes, the terrain, the energy systems and the skills and show examples on how to train an XTERRA athlete on the bike

 

Sunday Sessions (Team MPI Coaches)

“How Can We Serve Women in Sport Better?” - Coach Chris Palmquist and Coach Amanda Leibovitz

“Your Brand and its Social Media Presence"- Jennifer Hazard

“Understanding Rules of Triathlon: A Philosophical Approach - Coach Mark Turner

Confusion abounds around the Competitive Rules. This is due mostly to a lack of understanding around the central philosophical underpinning of the rules and non-draft legal triathlon as an individual sport. In this session we will cover key elements of of the rules and the why's of those rules. There will be an emphasis on better understanding of the Position Rules and the Rules prohibiting Unauthorized/Outside Assistance. In addition, we will cover some of the differences between the IRONMAN Competitive Rules and the USAT Competitive Rules.

“Coaching Youth in Multisport in the Modern Day” - Coach Mandi Kowal

 

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