The Netflix docu-series Quarterback showed Patrick Mahomes training with his coach Bobby Stroupe who used a Proteus Motion. As the owner of a Proteus Motion, this really caught my attention. During the series, Coach Stroupe revealed some unique training approaches that he used to train Mahomes. Recently, the Proteus Motion team held a Zoom webinar with Coach Stroupe, where he shared his training philosophies and methods. From the webinar, I gained three key takeaways.
1. MOVEMENT LITERACY
Coach Stroupe emphasized the value of athletes having exceptional movement capabilities. He stressed that this enables individuals to have multiple solutions to a problem. Conversely, if one struggles to move efficiently, they become limited in their choices and the manner in which they can move. With mastery of movement, an individual gains flexibility in their range of motion, speed, and available movement choices. While I previously understood this as kinesthetic awareness, the framing of movement literacy by Coach Stroupe brought attention to the importance of actively training this skill, rather than solely relying on innate abilities.
2. MUSCLES ARE MAINLY FOR STABILITY AND DECELERATION
I’m not sure if I’ve ever unpacked the sole purpose of muscles, but when I heard this it really got me thinking. While training athletes, keeping this on the forefront of your mind might really help to remove any unncessary aspects of training. When I think of stability, I often think of joints being strong at end ranges. If your body can’t stabilize here, protective mechanisms will be called upon to protect you. This can be great to help prevent an injury, but it can really keep you from utilizing your full strength potential. Think of it as driving a car with poor brakes. You know that the faster you go the harder it will be to stop, so you don’t go fast. This is what protective mechamisms do.
Here’s a video training stability at end ranges using the Body Blade as a form of rhythmic stabilization.
3. HAVE CONTINUITY, BUT VARY THE SPEED
Strength is velocity specific, so even if you use the same exercise, if you do it at different speeds, the neurological effects are different. Coach Stroupe talked about a circuit he uses often on the Proteus but he had three different loads and velocities he rotated. A high resistance-high force day, a medium resistance day, and a low resistance-fast speeds day. I’ve adopted this and give Coach Stroupe credit for it by calling it the Stroupe Circuit. With the athletes I’ve been using it on, I really like what I’m seeing.
Here’s a video of an amateur boxer going through the Stroupe Circuit as a means to warm-up and to potentiate the nervous system for the remainder of the training after the circuit.
