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If you are not from Canada, you are probably asking, “Who the heck is Brent McFarlane?”
Brent McFarlane is an honors graduate in Kinesiology and Science from the University of Waterloo.
As an athlete he competed in sprints and middle distance events. Being a coach and educator is what made his mark on the sport of Athletics around the world.
For three decades he has studied and visited over 50 countries, written extensively and conducted clinics and workshops throughout the world.
Brent was the head coach the U. of Waterloo Warrior Track and Field team from 1988 – 2005. He is a level 4 NCCP coach in Canada for sprints and hurdles, and level 3 coach in middle and long distance.
His international coaching experience includes stints as Olympic hurdle coach for the 1980 Olympic Games (Moscow), 1984 (Los Angeles), 1988 (Seoul, Korea), 1978 and 1986 Commonwealth Games and in 1994 head coach for the Canadian World Junior Team in Portugal.
Brent McFarlane was Canada’s Head Track and Field Coach for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games has served on 33 Canadian National teams himself.
If you are a coach, this is probably one of best books on sprinting and hurdling ever published.
It offers over 300 pages of the latest information and techniques in training for the hurdles (and sprints). Written in a very easy to understand style, it also presents the science behind energy system training for the hurdles (and sprints).
This book provides hundreds of drills, circuits, and training sessions that can be used with your athletes. This book has it all: skill development, starting, the technical model, flexibility development, etc., plus the latest word on energy systems, recovery, strength development, periodization, nutrition, and more!
>> CLICK HERE for The Science of Hurdling & Speed – 4th Edition
Jimson Lee
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The Science of Hurdling and Speed opened my eyes to the fundamentals of speed and hurdling and gave me the most solid background in the physiology of training for sprints and hurdles, sprint and hurdle mechanics, training design and progressions. It is one of the pillars of reference material for all three of the books I have written. I still have the first edition, signed by Brent. You don’t have to be a Canadian to realize the impact he and his book have had on the coaching world.
Interesting that you call out “energy systems” twice and say it’s the “latest word…”. However, Weyand/Bundle published a paper this year saying traditional thinking on sprint energy system is wrong. In fact, I just blogged about their paper last week (http://sprint42.com/2012/09/21/anaerobic-fatigue/).
But, I’m a big fan of McFarlane and should have bought this book a long time ago.