King Sports International

Beverly International announced as sponsors of the KSI 2008 Athlete Training Camp!

We are proud and excited to announce that Beverly International have supported our upcoming KSI 2008 Athlete Training Camp & Challenge by sponsoring the event!

This is great news for all involved, especially those who will be joining us in this event next month!

We are honored to associated with great people, great companies, and great products - such as Sandy and Roger from Beverly International with their incredible range of protein supplements!

Beverly International
1-800-781-3475
Fax: (859) 781-7590
www.bodybuildingworld.com

In August 2008 in the US we will be running a 3 day athlete training camp and challenge. During these three days successful applicants will be given the opportunity to be trained by KSI coaches, and participate in a challenge to determine the 'KSI Champion Athlete 2008'. This will be determined on a holistic assessment, not simply a physical one.

Who should attend? If you answer YES to all the below questions you will find this experience invaluable!

1. Do you use the KSI way in your training and as result of the great results you have achieved become a strong advocate of our approach?
2. Do you train seriously with a specific training and or competitive goal in mind?
3. Do you see the value of being exposed to the top KSI coaches in the world all together in the one place?

Applications are invited from current KSI clients who train seriously in any physical sport or endeavor. You must have a strong commitment to training and achieving your goals. If you would like to be sent out an application form email us with a request to have one sent out to you via email. In this email please outline your involvement with KSI and how you have been implementing the KSI way in your training. The camp will be held between Mon 25 and Wed 27 August 2008 inclusive.

Look forward to working with some of you at this event!

Ian King

Media - Fundamentals - and Responsibility

by Mike Pimentel, KING Coach

We are in the “information age”. It seems that the media hype has just what the advanced or experienced athlete is missing in their current training. The purveyors of the missing information present these secrets as “new”, “never before seen” and “recent discoveries”.

Such is the marketing industry, that in order to sell and therefore rationalize its existence, the information must be “sexy” and trend setting. Understand that trends follow very simple patterns. To use a popular real estate analogy, each trend carries these general characteristics; introduction, growth, prosperity, recession, depression (and dependent on the perceived value of the trend, the trend can drop from existence entirely).

Therefore, in order to continue the life of the marketing machine a number of scenarios are likely to occur:
1. the quest for “new information” to perpetuate the popularity of the existing trend – AND/OR
2. letting the trend run its life cycle and find/create “new information” to support a new trend

The experienced and committed athlete is in constant search of what it takes to become a champion. Their emotional desire for the edge over competition has them willing to take risks with their bodies and minds that the average individual would not……what better market population for “new information” than a committed and willing market?!!

My question to you is, what is new “cutting edge” information? Is it really the information itself? Allow me to offer this….. What if I told you that new information was actually your responsibility, not the media’s. That by your acceptance of responsibility you could yield an endless stream of information that would serve you 1000 times more effectively than anything offered through the machine. Let me explain.

Have you ever read a book, taken notes in a seminar, or been in a conversation where learning occurred. Then at some point in the future revisited that same information only to find it was as if the message had somehow changed? What really happened? The words on the page did not change, no one slipped in to your library in the middle of the night and rewrote the books or changed your notes. The reality is that YOU changed.

Similar to the cells in your body, your knowledge and experience changes and grows daily. Thus, affecting your perception of anything that touches your world and in this case, your training. This is the responsibility referred to earlier. It is your responsibility to learn, grow, receive and perceive. For the most part you choose what you are exposed to everyday and thereby are choosing what influences your perception. How you perceive information is your responsibility. Now before I go too far down this philosophical path, let’s come back to training.

Many experienced athletes would say they have an excellent grasp of the fundamentals or foundations of training. Some would even assume (also read as lacking the humility to understand differently) that the foundations of training were so ingrained in them, it would be a waste of time to revisit, and it would be “boring” and serve no purpose to view information they “already know”. To the contrary, it is your responsibility to grow and change, through experience and knowledge to achieve new levels of perception and understanding.

Fundamentals may not be sexy or trendy however they are the common denominator that permeates every aspect of the training continuum. When successful results are achieved, especially for long periods of time, it is guaranteed that deep appreciation of the foundations of training were consistently put in to action. Now if something carries with it the potential to affect every aspect of training is its value high enough to warrant revisiting? I would think so!

Now apply your earlier stated responsibility to the fundamentals. Provided you have the courage to apply your experience and knowledge to the fundamentals of training you will constantly yield new levels of fundamental understanding – i.e. new information! And perhaps of greater benefit – the fundamentals as they apply to you!

I am constantly and consistently amazed when I re-introduce fundamentals to experienced athletes. They are amazed by both their new found appreciation of something they thought they already knew and the fantastic results achieved.

Do an assessment of yourself and program by asking these simple questions?

1. What are the foundations of training? For an introduction to this see Ian’s Foundations of Physical Preparation http://www.kingsports.net/productsksi.htm#Foundations_of_Physical_Preparation_book or for a deeper appreciation of this concept applied to a balanced spectrum of life see the KSI CIP Theory Course
2. When was the last time you revisited these fundamentals?
3. Did your perspective of the fundamentals change as a result of your revisiting? Do you have a deeper or newer understanding of their meaning?
4. What was/is the impact of your understanding of fundamentals on your training?

Let us know the outcome!

Observations from Austria

by Andreas Scheicher, KSI CIP Coach, Austria

Since working in a commercial fitness club I have the chance to watch many people training. By doing this I noticed an interesting phenomenon: At a moment in training, a lot of people reach a certain point where the progress stops or even declines and injuries occur. Now, to reach a sticking point and to get injured is not a big surprise when watching them, because it is predictable when you know what to look at. But it's interesting that all this unwanted situations (stop in progress, injuries etc) seem always to occur SIMULTANEOUSLY!

I started working with some of them, analyzed their training and found a concept that I could explain to them in simple words as to what the problem might be. Here I share it with you too:

When building your body, compare it with building a house. The training you do are the bricks and the height of the house is your performance, level of hypertrophy, leanness... (whatever your goal is).

You have two ways of doing it: You either build a house that looks like a pyramid, with a broad base. This takes some time to do, since you put the first bricks side by side to each other and only when one floor is completed start building the next floor.

Or you build all your bricks on top of each other, like a thin, shaky tower. This is what I see most people doing, because it produces visible results faster.

Take as an example the loaded squat: the ‘tower’ would be to start with loaded squatting and instantly increase your load, even if form and squat depth decreases. It's the instant gratification way. Or you use your first bricks to build flexibility, technique and muscle recruitment. You see, there is not even a lot of squatting at this stage. But you build a foundation, and this foundation opens a potential to build a huge pyramid from!

Back to our phenomenon: My theory is that those people build towers. This wobbly building stands as long as everything is normal and as expected. As soon a there is an unforeseen challenging situation in the training career that breaks one brick somewhere, the whole tower comes down at once!

I suggest to build your house on a firm base, and if you already have a not optimal construction go back to rebuild the base NOW, because later might be either too late, or very hard on your ego since the higher you already are, the further you have to go down.

How long should you stay on each floor? I wouldn't orientate on time, but results. If you use the brick’ ’technique’ from the squatting example you work on that until you have it perfected. If you improve fast and/or have high quality coaching this might happen fast. But if you need more time then take your time. Staying healthy will still be less work than getting healthy!

Andreas will be travelling to the US in August 2008 to complete his KSI CIP coach education program.

Recovery in Perspective - How well you pull up or how well you perform?

by Mitchell Kochonda

The concept of recovery is widely known to athletes in all sports. As Ian wrote in Get buffed 1 (1999) “training plus recovery equals the training effect”.

Recovery methods come in many forms including, but not limited to, rest days and weeks, time, massage, stretching, heat, cold, water, salt water, electronic modalities, food, supplementation, escapism, the natural environment, recreation, etc to expedite the various systems in our bodies, including, but not limited to, nervous, metabolic, immune, hormonal, etc and all are of great value to the athlete.

But let’s put this in perspective, as there is no point recovering exceptionally well to an average or poor starting point! Let me explain…

Last week during a tele-conference seminar the question was asked in relation to supplements enhancing recovery. I replied the said supplements would have a very positive effect on recovery from training. But I asked the group the question “what’s more important, supplements after training to replace what’s been used or nutritional supplements consistently everyday to have the body in a permanently higher starting point – from a nervous, metabolic, immune and hormonal perspective - at all times?”

To put it another way, if you eat six times a day (one of these meals being a post training/competition meal) is there more value for your performance in an optimal recovery meal (16.6% of daily eating) okay nutrition the remainder of the day, or optimal daily nutrition for five meals a day (83.3% of daily eating)? I don’t care what you’re consuming post training/competition (high GI, low GI, protein, no protein, whatever) until we address the bigger picture! The Pareto principle at work again!

You can ask yourself the same question in all area’s of training. Let’s look at flexibility. “Is it better to train and compete with optimal tissue length everyday, or only train and compete with less than optimal tissue length - thus missing the injury prevention and performance enhancement benefits! - but spending time after training/competition to get back to an average state after the event?”

The trend of enhanced focus on post training/competition recovery (both physical, manual and nutritional) over the past decade is definitely a trend to support, but the value in heightening the bodies starting point in many areas is poorly exploited and misunderstood, and therefore is a huge opportunity for the committed athlete to take their training and performance to another level with the right guidance!

Mitchell Kochonda
KING Coach

What qualities comprise an athlete?

by Mike Pimentel

Another season comes to a close and you already begin to look forward to next season. Applying the lessons learned from the previous season, you vow next year that you will be even better. Its time to hit the weight room to begin your quest for next year’s championship.

Each year I’m introduced to young athletes with steeled determination to better themselves. They are enthusiastic, goal oriented and willing to do what it takes to achieve. In their minds they see images of themselves pushing their bodies to the limits in exhaustive workouts. The weights are banging, music blaring, sweat dripping, muscles burning, legs and arms shaking. Yeah, the kind of drama movies are made of.

I offer a perspective that enables the athlete to harness their emotion, its power, and focus it through the lens of common sense, intuition and logic. First by stepping back, looking at the larger picture of athletic development, and asking the question, “ What qualities comprise an athlete?”

We can divide the qualities in to four areas; technical, tactical, psychological and physical. Technical is their particular skill set in their given sport and position. In basketball an example would be dribbling, in hockey it may be skating. Tactical is their ability to make decisions in game play in addition to knowing specific preset “plays”. Psychological, as an example, may be their mental toughness. Their ability to maintain focus and discipline throughout the competition and season. Finally there is the physical quality which can be subdivided in to four sub-qualities - flexibility, strength, speed and endurance.

The reality is that these four athletic qualities exist with an interdependence on one another. In other words – each of qualities is affected by the growth or lack of growth in another quality. Some directly some indirectly but all are affected.

Now lets discuss how this concept may relate to the emotionally driven athlete. Lets do some simple math. For sake of argument, let’s say each of the four athletic qualities contributes equally to the athlete – 25% technical, 25% tactical, 25% psychological and 25% physical. There are many athletes who dedicate their entire off-season to the development of their physical qualities. But what about the other qualities?

Here is another question…. What if the physical quality is the area in least need of enhancement? What may be the actual contribution of a physical sub-quality? If each of the athletic qualities contributes equally (25% each) and the physical quality is comprised of four sub-qualities (flex, strength, speed, endurance) – the math shows us that the contribution of each physical sub-quality is only .0625%! (i.e. 25% / 4)

When you, the athlete, understand the above concept and the interaction between the qualities, it will enable you to give a new dimension and focus to your training that will have a massive effect on your result.

So how do you determine where to take your training? Start by having an honest discussion and evaluation of your athletic qualities. Reflect on each of the athletic qualities as they relate to you. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being very challenged and 10 being at your fullest potential). Your intuition will kick in as you arrive at a number. Recall specific instances in competition and/or practices to support your rating.

After completing all four qualities – interpret the data you have just created. This level of objectivity is an often overlooked component to training. What you find will help you determine where the area of greatest effect is for your training.

Whilst the drama of your physical training may be what you have expected for your off season perhaps the above concepts will take you in to areas you have not yet explored. Apply the tenacity, discipline and emotion you have as an athlete along with the objectivity and logic of these concepts to achieve the enhancements in your play for the next season.

Mike Pimentel
KING Coach, KSI Director of Education

The Training Triangle - a big picture for optimal results

by Miguel Charles

While some athletes focus soley or predominantly on training, great results actually require a careful balance of eating, sleeping and training. In order to achieve this, one must first assess, set goals, and allow for modification along the way. Any additional activity outside of this triangle; eating, sleeping and training- could potentially take away from your results.

Eating

As the old saying goes, you are what you eat. When considering how to maximize your eating, it is important to first understand what your options are. The basic building blocks of food include macro and micro-nutrients. Macro nutrients include; protein, carbohydrates and fat. While micro-nutrients are less thought of such as vitamins. Macro-nutrients are usually recommended to be consumed per unit of body weight or as a percentage of total calorie intake. By carefully monitoring the effect the portions have on your body you will be able to chose the best option for you. Lastly, vitamins are just as important, but are regularly forgotten. They are essential for injury prevention and the basic functions of the body.

Sleeping

Eating and sleeping work together to build our bodies back beyond its deprivation levels. Combined in the right ways you should feel stronger and more effective once you re-enter your workout this is referred to as providing your body with super-compensation because you are now able to outperform your previous self. When examining your sleeping you should look at the optimum amount to help you meet and exceed tour goals. Sleep is made up of both the quantity and quality of your sleep. The quantity of sleep required when in full training is 9-10 hours. The quality of sleep examines your sleep environment inclusive of noise, temperature, light, sleeping surface, pillows and even your bed partners. Ask yourself- did you go to sleep easily? did you sleep well? how did you feel when you woke up?

Inadequate sleeping and eating can fail to bring our bodies up beyond prior levels commencing a down-ward spiral characterized by feeling weaker, smaller and becoming more likely to incur illness and injuries.
Other recovery methods and some of my favorite include stretching, massaging, and meditating.

Training

The basic principles of training include active and conscientious participation in the training process. Most athletes are not involved in the decision making process let alone are allowed to help set their workouts. However, if you are not actively participating with your coach valuable insights could be lost. Each workout is specific to you and you only. By communicating with your coach you are allowing for the coach to develop a better understanding of your progress and needs as well as learning for yourself along the way.

The triangle is always a careful balance that requires constant monitoring. By recognizing that training is not the only activity that affects your performance you will be better prepared to enter the gym to achieve you best.

Miguel Charles
KING Coach

Physical Preparation for the Health & Wellness Professional

by Ashleigh Gass

Physical preparation coaches and clients work with a range of “Health and Wellness” professionals such as Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Massage Therapists, Physicians, and others who actively strive to improve the health and well-being of their clients and patients.

The aim of this article is to give health and wellness professionals an insight into physical preparation the KSI way.

Physical preparation may be a term that is unfamiliar to you. Phrases and titles such as “strength training, cardio, sprints, strength coach”, etc may immediately come to mind when you think of physical preparation. Typically one thinks of physical preparation as one-dimensional, ie, ‘physically preparing an athlete to be stronger’. While this is a component of physical preparation, the KSI approach offers you a more holistic view.

Let’s start with understanding what the components are in physical preparation. We’ll call these The Physical Qualities.

1. Flexibility
2. Speed
3. Strength
4. Endurance

(Foundations of Physical Preparation, Ian King, 2000)

Of these 4 components, we’re willing to bet you are most familiar with #3 and #4. No surprise here, since you and your clients live on these islands 90% of your training life.

Now that you have a better understanding of the Physical Qualities, let’s review The Athletic Qualities.

1. Physical
2. Psychological
3. Technical
4. Tactical

(Foundations of Physical Preparation, Ian King, 2000)

#2, #3 and #4 may have raised a few eyebrows. Often times these qualities are thought to be outside the realm of the Physical Preparation coach.

Thus, physical preparation is defined as the integration of Physical and Athletic Qualities in a manner meant to reduce injury potential and maximize performance in athletes (and all people interested in active lives).

So, we’ve discussed the components of Physical Preparation, and clarified what the term means. Next time you hear the phrase “Physical Preparation Coach” you may have more clarity and appreciation for what this truly involves.

At this point, you may be thinking “Well, that’s nice, but how would this information add value to my clients/patients?” Read on!

This is how: I'm willing to bet that many of your clients are repeat customers. Ok, of course your clients love you and couldn’t imagine life in your absence, but we’ll postulate that the main reason for repeat visits is because their injuries never quite, well, resolve.

If you are humble enough to admit that there may be some truth to this – read on. If you’re in the middle of throwing a fit and writing a nasty email in response, well, this newsletter may not be for you!

You’re still reading – fantastic learning opportunities await!

Typically when you treat clients, you are using a symptom-based approach. Client comes in with pain, you treat pain, pain goes away for a couple days, pain comes back, client comes back. Cycle continues until you and your client get fed up, and they go somewhere else – only to receive the same course of action!!

What can you do to stand out from the rest, and empower yourself to heal clients once and for all?

Gain a greater appreciation of the relationship between the Physical Qualities (remember those?)

1. Flexibility
2. Speed
3. Strength
4. Endurance

Learn to understand the balance (or, more appropriately lack thereof) of these qualities in your client’s training program (you know, all the stuff they do when they aren’t in your office). Take the time to study information that will guarantee long-term results with your clients (and will add to the prosperity of your business like you’ve never seen before)

There are a couple of resources that will be key components to your journey:

DVD: Flexibility Specialization Series

Think your knowledge of Yoga and Pilates is enough? Think again……..

DVD: Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Series

Convinced that a little bit of rubber tubing will solve all shoulder problems? Not quite…..

I commend those of you who are willing to go the extra mile in your practice. This information will add value to your clients/patients for years to come.

Ashleigh Gass
KSI CMP Coach

Athletic Golfers?

by Jason Pobega

The game of golf was revolutionized in 1996 when a certain golfer came on the scene. Forever changing the way golfers, and the game itself was viewed, Tiger Woods not only gave a new look, but a new philosophy to the sport that many called a ‘pastime.’

But it wasn’t the lucrative endorsements or countless titles and trophies won by Tiger that made the most impact. Those were just examples of the fuel that stoked the fire. Sure Tiger was scoring better than the average Joe at the age of 3, but is it only talent that created this epiphany?

Never before had anyone treated golf as a sport, or a golfer as an athlete. Today, if you aren’t an athlete in golf, you’re not even a blip on the leaderboard. Competitors flocked to find the trainer, the perfect way to get into ‘Tiger Shape.’ But it wasn’t just the competitive golfer that saw this attention to physical preparation as an asset.

The average Joe saw an opportunity to improve their game as well. And so the commercial boom of Yoga for golf, Golf-Fit classes, and specialized DVD’s made their way into the world. But like a lot of things in the physical preparation world, dollars came before sense.

One of the negative sides to a unilateral sport is the imbalance it creates in the body. The force generated in a golf swing is incredible when you figure that the average speed of a swing is in the vicinity of 105mph! Like tennis or racquet sports, a lot of emphasis was put on strengthening the muscles used to create more force-but at the expense of rest of the body parts that were compensating for the tremendous movement that is the golf swing. In this, the expense turned into repetitive injury, which turned into surgery, which turned into therapy, which was unilateral in nature, which leads to….well you get the picture.

So I ask the question, if athletes are treating golf as a sport and taking the dedicated time and cost in preparing themselves in a way that sets them up for success, why would they want to subject themselves to a less than optimal program or system?

The answer is simple: education or lack there of. Many athletes, not only in golf, but other weekend warrior scenarios search for the quick fix to the symptom.

Example: A golfer has a wicked slice that keeps going right.

Solution: Let just compensate to the left so that it evens out at the end!

Now let’s say that by looking at the way the golfer’s body stood still, walked, and then swung the club, could we find any imbalances that may be causing the slice rather than just hiding the symptom just like in the Injury Prevention and Rehab series http://kingsports.net/products-ksi-dvd-injpre.htm. What if this analysis in the long run created a better and healthier set of habits that then created the golf swing the athlete had been searching for? Oh, and what if from that analysis the athlete, stood, walked and did anything in their everyday physical life that had an impact on their life in general?

Which route would you choose? If you are receiving this newsletter, I’d wager that you’d pick the latter.

By visually assessing an athlete that plays a unilateral sport, you would find imbalances in both joint and muscle. Eversion or inversion of the feet, knees locked, hips posteriorally rotated, and shoulders rolled forward, etc, etc. Addressing these imbalances is crucial to building an optimal foundation on which an athlete can build a blueprint of success.

Techniques used in Injury Prevention and Rehab, Flexibility Training http://kingsports.net/products-ksi-dvd-fletra.htm, and How to Write http://kingsports.net/products-ksi-book-htw.htm offer incredible insight into not only addressing the challenges that may be evident, but to also plan, and create a program best suited to getting your game on track and down the fairway.

Jason Pobega
KSI CMP Coach

Of course it works - science says so....

During a recent World Cup in a certain sport I listened as the commentator, a recently retired player, was asked by another commentator if hyperbaric chambers work. This topic came up in a spare moment, and as the former player had battled a chronic injury it was expected or known he had used the hyperbaric chamber in his quest to overcome hin injury.

I listend to his response with great interest. Hyperbaric chambers are true boast material as they are large, expensive an high-tech rehab tools.

The athlete hesistated, and said words to the effect:

"I don't know - I guess you are willing to try anything."

This was a polite way of saying perhaps 'I am not convinced.'

Reflecting on his words, a moment later the former athlete added:

"There are a lot of studies showing its benefts, so I guess, yeah, it does work."

That politically correct addendum didn't salvage his position, unless of course the listener was one of the many who, like the athlete, felt the need to bow down to 'science'.

Well, of course it works - science says so (and that must be more powerful than my own conclusions...).

The only thing I am interested is what you, in an objective state of mind, in the absence of any compulsion to conform with what you think you are meant to beleive - believe in. And why. Because science says so doesn't cut it on my list of supportive conclusions.

Over promising and under-delivering

In business there is a common mantra that is is better to under-promise and over-deliver than to over-promise and under-deliver.

A vaild business cue, considering the socialogical persepctive on a revolt is that they occur when the expectation and reality become too far apart.

Talking it up by sports teams pre-season is not uncommon. There's not much to write about in what is called 'the silly season', so I can understand the media are hungry for stories.

Off-season is also filled with false hopes and a bit of bravado. I have a saying that reality sets in with the first referees whistle of the season.

Over my decades of observing and studying success in sport I have noticed that teams that talk up how 'fit' they are in the pre-season almost always under-deliver. Two reasons for this:

1. Firstly, there is limited if any correlation between generic measurements of 'fitness' (e.g. aerobic tests, skin folds tests etc) and the scoreboard in each game or the win-loss record at the end of the season.

2. Secondly those who lean on these non-specific measurements usually train long and hard for them. As a result they:

i. develop non-specific adaptations that need to be re-adapted to the game

ii. fade later in the season because they have used up the human reserves in tranining for and adapting to irrelevant physical qualities.

iii. they experience a higher injury toll as a result of too much training, of irreleveant types, over too long a period. (the body can only maintain high level training for a limited period of time - when this is exceeded performance declines and injury rate increasese).

My advice is to do your talking on the scoreboard. Don't get sucked in by:

a. those in the coaching program who seek to  justify their position (e.g. physical preparation coaches) by saying 'See, look how fit and or strong the players are!"

b. those in the coaching program who seek to place too much focus on physical training (e.g. coaches), which means it also provides an excuse if the team loses

c. those in the coaching program who seek to sub-consciously seek to create injuries to provide an excuse for failure in advance

d. the media who want to hear about how 'tough' training is and how much players vomit

e. the general public who slave away at their jobs 40-80hrs a week and through envy want the players to suffer the same or more pain in return for recieving mutliple times more money than they do

Here is a great example of over-promising with the risk of under-delivering. It's not necessary. Take the ego out of it and have the courage to face the scoreboard instead!

Fitter and Faster - Tough training regime gives Titals edge

Damning statistics over the Bulldogs's fitness levels have given a buff Gold Coast squad reasons for cheer ahead of tomorrow's acid test at Telstra Stadium.

The Titals, already reaping the rewards from a torturous off-season spent with hard nosed trainer....are running out games hard - scoring 40 second half points in their past three outings, including their final trial game.

The NRL newcomer's returns are in stark contrast to an ailing Bulldogs side that leaded 74 points, and scored just six, in its past three second-half efforts.

The arthimetic is a timely boost for a Titans outfit bracking for battle with the Dogs, still without a win. "I reckone we're one of the fittest teams in the comp and it shows at the back end of every half", centre Jake Webster said.

"In games we've played, we've usually come back."

Seasond forward Mark Minichiello said "We'd be one of the fittest teams in the comp. We've done all the training asked of us and ....'s been very happy. I haven't had a harder off-season."

Gold Coast has wasted no time showing off its first-rate condition, reeling in a 14-point deficit against the Dragons only to fall just short, while overpowering the Sharks after trailing 16-6.

"We're holding in," hooker Clint Attos said.

"That comes down to fitness, it comes down to mental hardness and we thank .... for that."

The NRL's lightest starting prop, Kris Kahler, also praised his squad's fitness. "You can definitely see tha at the end of halves - and at the end of games - we come home pretty strongly," the 97 kg enforcer said. "We're definitely not as heavy as other sides. That shows in how we play."

In contrast, the Bulldogs have become second-half whipping boys in a trend dating back to September's preliminary final loss to eventual premiers Brisbane....

Drained skin folds have been the major factor in the Titans upping their pain trheshold as ....'s clipboard illustrates.

"A lot of our blokes look at themselves in the mirro and think they're skinny, but they haven't lost weight. There's just no as much fat," .... said.

"Scott Prince arrived here 80kg, he's still 80kg, but he got here with 70ml of body fat, now hes at 57mm. It's all about lean body mass."

"Luke Swain has lost two kilos but he's lost 11ml of fat."

Titan's coach John Cartwright makes no secret of his fitness-focused directive.

"The game is only going to get quicker," Cartwright said. "You need mobile blokes."

(Marshall, M. and Mascord, S., 2007, Fitter and Faster - Tough training regime gives Titals edge, The Courier Mail, March 31 2007, p. 117.)

Now the season is not over, so it's too early to draw cause-effect correlations in relation to position in the final results, but the injury incidence has a message all of it's own...note these articles are only 3-4 months after the one above.

Injury blow as Raiders belt Titans, Luke Turgeon, 16Jul07 Gold Coast Bulletin

TITANS skipper Scott Prince will be sidelined for the next three weeks while star winger Matt Petersen's season could be over, adding injury to insult after the Gold Coast was yesterday thrashed by Canberra 56-10.

It was the Titans' biggest defeat in their short history in the NRL.

Playmaker Prince was forced from the field in the 47th minute, re-injuring his collarbone after landing awkwardly in a tackle.

Prince, who first damaged the sternoclavicular joint against the Broncos last round, was confident he would miss only the match against the Bulldogs at Carrara on Friday.

But Titans team doctor Paul Ohmsen said Prince would now have to rest for three weeks in order to give the injury sufficient time to heal.

"He has just got to be resigned to the fact that he has got an injury and he has to treat it," said Ohmsen. "He has been treating it and he was fine before the game, he was 100 per cent.

"But when he fell over on the sideline (in the tackle) he re-injured it."

Petersen, the Titans leading try scorer, will go for scans on his right knee on the Gold Coast today.

Early indications are that Petersen will miss six weeks with a posterior cruciate tear but there are also fears for his anterior cruciate ligament, which if damaged would mean the end of his season.

Adding to the Titans' already huge injury toll, centre Luke O'Dwyer will miss at least one week with a shoulder injury.

The fresh injury concerns capped a nightmare trip to the nation's capital which ended in humiliation for the Titans.

Their previous worst loss was 28-10 against the Dragons in round 10.

The loss of Prince for nearly a month throws the Titans' season into uncharted territory, with the halfback having played in every game so far this year for the NRL new boys.

If Newcastle beat the Storm tonight the Titans, who just a few weeks ago were sitting fourth on the NRL ladder, will slide to 11th. The Titans need to win at least four of their remaining seven games to take control of their own destiny and be considered a genuine threat to make the playoffs.

"We are going to have to win most of them (remaining games) to get a crack at the semi-finals," said Prince.

"We are just going to have to lick our wounds and prepare for the Bulldogs on Friday night.

"It is disappointing. But take nothing away from the Raiders, they play good footy at home."

Petersen was trying to remain positive and not think about the worst-case scenario with his knee.

The latest bout of injuries will also be a big test for the Titans depth, which was already considered stretched to its limit following injuries to Michael Henderson (broken leg), Brad Meyers (knee), Richie Mathers (knee), Michael Hodgson (knee), Mat Rogers (knee), Anthony Laffranchi (knee), James Stosic (knee), Chris Walker (knee) and Clint Amos (concussion).

Cartwright could be forced to blood one of the exciting youngsters in his ranks, like Australian schoolboys Shannon Walker or Will Matthews.

Preston Campbell will probably move into the halves and Smith Samau to fullback. Jake Webster or Josh Graham will take O'Dwyer's centre spot.

Titans co-captain Luke Bailey said his troops need to get back on track mentally or face annihilation by the Bulldogs.


Titans to kick on despite standing room only in medical rooms, Luke Turgeon, 17Jul 07 Gold Coast Bulletin

THE Gold Coast Titans yesterday put on a united front in the wake of their heaviest defeat, defiantly declaring 'we are not dead yet' despite a horror injury toll and the loss of skipper Scott Prince.

Almost half of the Titans top squad are sidelined through injury, with 12 of their 29 recognised first graders making up the almost overflowing casualty ward.

Co-captain Prince will miss three weeks after aggravating his collarbone injury during the record 56-10 loss in Canberra on Sunday.

Star winger Matt Petersen received some positive news, with his knee injury not as bad as first thought. But he will still face two to three weeks out alongside centre Luke O'Dwyer (shoulder).

The Titans felt the full fall-out from the Raiders bashing at yesterday's recovery session at Miami pool.

They will look to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the Bulldogs at Carrara on Friday night, and salvage their season with the finals fast approaching.

"As a club we were embarrassed by the (56-10) score line but we will be treating it like a one off," said Titans coach John Cartwright.

"The players want to get back on the paddock, they would have played today if they could. We are in the hunt for a semi-finals spot and no one is losing sight of that.

"There are seven rounds to go and that is a long time in this competition."

Prince said he had never seen anything like the Titans devastating injury list during his 10 seasons in the NRL.

The club's depth is being stretched to its limits, with a few more injuries meaning they would have to draw players from feeder clubs Tweed, Burleigh and Ipswich in the Queensland Cup.

"The massive challenge was going to be the injury factor, and at the moment it is the worst I have ever seen it with so many injuries in the one club," said Prince.

"It is a challenging time for us and hopefully we can come out the other side a better team and a better club for it.

"All the boys, we seem to be losing them ... they are dropping like flies."

The loss of Prince for three matches is a savage blow to the Titans in the run towards the play-offs, but the inspirational playmaker backed his teammates to continue the charge.

Five-eighth Josh Lewis will shift to halfback, with Preston Campbell or Matt Hilder moving to the No.6 jumper.

Prince has not missed an NRL match since round one in 2004, playing 90 straight.

"We worked so hard to turn up on the day (against Canberra) and to get punished is demoralising," said Prince.

"But the beauty about rugby league is there is always next week and we have to turn it around.

"There is still a lot of football to be played yet.

"I have all the faith in the world in the guys that are going to come into the squad.

"(Josh Lewis) has played halfback before and I think he will do the job really well.

"He knows how to play, he doesn't need me in his ear every five minutes.

"Now it is up to Bails (Luke Bailey) and Preston (Campbell) and the other senior blokes to raise the bar and work hard. It is a team of 17 so they will all have to put their hands up and be counted."

ps. In the second article above you’ll see it says “12 of the 29 recognised first grade players making up the almost overflowing casualty ward”. The media forgot to mention that a further 2 players who did their ACL’s during the titan’s pre-season and another snapped his patella tendon approx 1 month ago who also trained with the titan’s since Nov 2006