Arno Galmarini of Elite Training joined Martin Bingisser for a very Swiss episode of the HMMR Podcast. Arno and Martin (and Nick) chatted about breaking down the remaining walls between training and testing, the use of technology and building athlete buy-in for sport-specific but still unconventional training methods.

Arno Galmarini is the founder of Elite Training, where he introduces new technology and training methods to many of Switzerland’s top athletes and teams. Here are a few highlights from his appearance on the HMMR Podcast.

Testing and training can no longer be separate

The future is you don’t have to do testing anymore. It’s a normal process, you just monitor athletes all the time and you don’t need to do specific testing days. For example, with the 1080 Quantum it’s a huge help for us. You can test of course but you can train with it very well. With this system where you can measure force, speed and power you have instant feedback and can do daily adjustments. I don’t see the reason to do extra testing days.

Stakeholders need to keep pace with innovation

It’s really hard to talk with organizations about testing protocols or institutions that do old-school or lab-based testing. They always come up with empirical evidence – which I get! – but those are the only reasons to do those tests.

But we are moving so fast forward that, at some point, you have to decide do we want to still do the old ideas? Or do we want to take these old ideas and make it better? It’s a progression.

Combined tech: 1080 Quantum + Moxy Monitor

The most interesting we did was with skiers, what I call specific bioenergetics. We put them on the 1080 Quantum on a platform where they do “squats” that mimic a movement while they are going downhill on skis. We have the 1080 Quantum set up plus the Moxy Monitor, so we have physiological data and also performance data. That gives us a lot of feedback: how long you should do the session, how many repetitions, how long an interval should be, how long a recovery can be. That’s so much information and it’s really easy – it takes a little bit to understand how it works, but after a little while it’s really easy to manage the training.

If you’re on HMMR Media, you’re talking transference

There is a big question mark over how well big lifts transfer to the field. It depends on the sport, of course. That’s why the question is: What do we actually test? For example, on the 1080 Quantum, we test lateral jump for a hockey player because we think a push on the ice, the more power you have the better you push off you have.

Ego is the enemy of outcome

I think the most important thing is to be willing to look for solutions. I think it would be sad just to give up and say “I accept the way it is.” That’s the way it is with a lot of institutions, they stagnate themselves. It’s also ego, because if a doctor did for 20 years a test and then some new research comes and says it’s wrong, that’s a huge ego blow. And you need to be an open-minded person just to accept that it’s not lost, it’s just that I have to transform my experience.

Never let your ego be bigger than your cause or your idea.