Name: Alex Bugg
Job Title: Graduate Strength & Conditioning Coach
What sports do you currently work with?
I am currently working with Women's
Volleyball, Women's Lacrosse, Badminton, Korfball, Cycling and Squash.
What is your philosophy for S&C
training?
Keep it simple. Don't do too much or
overthink things; just what is needed to get the desired results. I'm also a
firm believer in making athlete's think about what they do in their sport and
in training, and helping them understand the importance of certain elements of
training.
Who are some of the main practitioners you
recommend reading?
Henk Kraaijenhof's
book "what we need is speed"
Eric Cressey has lots of useful information
around shoulder health and injury prevention/rehab.
Keir Wenham-Flatt puts good articles and
podcasts out there about the demands of working in a professional sport
setting, as well as how to progress in the S&C industry.
Brett Bartholomew has lots of good
information relating to the softer aspects of coaching, how to work WITH
people, and have a positive influence.
If you want to delve deeply into the
scientific rationale behind S&C methods and programming/periodization then
I'd say Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Dan Baker and Tim Gabbet are all essential
authors.
What are your main areas of interest in
S&C?
Improving sprint speed and acceleration,
making athlete's self-sufficient/independent, injury prevention and fatigue
monitoring.
What are your favourite sports?
Rugby union, Golf, Mountain Biking,
Cricket, Combat Sports
What is your sporting background?
I grew up playing football from the age of
7. I also did kickboxing for around 5 years. I played cricket for a few years
from 14-18 and then started playing rugby. I also enjoy golf and mountain
biking. I like to consider myself average at most sports and good at none.
What is your academic background?
I qualified as a level 3 personal trainer
before coming to university. From then on, I've acquired a BSc in Sport Science
for Performance Coaching, and if everything goes to plan, this summer I will
have an MSc in Applied Sport and Exercise Science. I have also completed the
introductory MINT course on Motivational Interviewing, and hope to complete the
intermediate and advanced courses.
How did you get into S&C?
When I realised I wasn’t good enough to
play any sport professionally, I thought the next best thing would be helping
people reach their maximum potential in their chosen sport. I started off
working with the general population and getting coaching experience.
I then was fortunate enough to get a place
on the internship scheme with Team Hallam. I spent my first year observing and
shadowing, and helping out here and there. Towards the end of the year I was
fortunate enough to be offered the chance to work with the Hallam Cycling club.
The year after that I was invited back to the programme as a lead junior intern
and given the chance to train the Women's Hockey 2nd team. I learnt
lots about programming and progressing and regressing athletes, as well as
forming and managing relationships with teams. This year I was fortunate enough
to be appointed as a paid Graduate intern.
I've also worked within the universities
Centre for Sport and Exercise science (CSES) providing S&C to small
training groups. I've also had experience working with professional Rugby Union
and national standard youth netball.
What advice would you give up and coming
practitioners who would like to be in your position?
Get as much experience as possible, and
always be humble and willing to learn. Sometimes just turning up to a meeting
or non-mandatory training session can get you a lot of opportunities. A great
way to develop is to immerse yourself in unknown sports or environments and
learn as much as you can about how different people approach coaching and what
methods they find to be successful.
Everyone you meet has something they can
teach you so always have an open mind.
What is your favourite aspect of working in
Team Hallam?
The sheer volume of athletes, and the range
of different sports and abilities in the university. It is equally rewarding
helping someone jump higher or lift a little bit more weight, as it is helping
someone learn how to squat properly, or recover from an injury and be able to
compete again.
Hundreds of athletes come through the doors
every week so new challenges and opportunities present themselves every week.
Where would you like to be in 5 years?
I change my mind about this every day.
Ultimately I would like to be self-employed, and have the opportunity to
surround myself with positive people with a similar approach to life and
coaching. However, there are so many opportunities all over the place, so
anything within my reach or anything that is offered my way could always change
my path.
As long as I'm having fun and feel I'm
making some sort of difference I'll be happy.
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