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Virtual conference goes on the road to reach CPASS faculty member

COVID-19 has caused an upheaval in higher education. Nearly every aspect of academia has needed to reboot, including learning, teaching and anything related to travel. In planning for their fall conference, the National Strength and Conditioning Association is no exception.   

The 2020 Advanced Periodization Virtual Clinic was initially intended, even prior to the pandemic, to operate on a virtual platform, establishing the event as a unique national conference. Once COVID-19 affected travel, NSCA staff decided that, instead of the speakers flying to NSCA headquarters in Colorado Springs to film their presentations, they would send a representative to each of the speakers at their respective institutions.  

The NSCA invited Guy Hornsby, CPASS coaching and performance science assistant professor and USA Weightlifting National Coach, and one of the top experts in sport science, to participate in the event.   

“This was a great and humbling opportunity to be involved in a conference with such an impressive lineup of speakers. The presentation was incredibly fun as it allowed me to blend experience as an academic and researcher as well as a coach," said Hornsby.   

In planning for Hornsby’s presentation, NSCA sent Robyn Mason, their video production manager, to Morgantown to capture content for the upcoming virtual event. She set up filming at a local hotel, where she prepared the space to meet pandemic safety guidelines. They wore masks until it was time for Hornsby to make his presentation. All the while, they maintained at least six feet in distance, with Mason standing behind the camera and Hornsby in front of a green screen.  

The NSCA has designed the November 13-14 event for strength coaches and sport scientists. Hornsby’s presentation, “Integrating Weightlifting Movements into the Periodized Plan,” highlights the understanding of proper weightlifting technique, demonstrates the ability to teach various weightlifting positions and movements and discusses how to design programs that integrate weightlifting movements into an athlete’s training prescription. The talk is part of the “Applications for Progressing Strength into Power” block of presentations.   

Hornsby is especially qualified in the field of sport science and coach education. At CPASS, Hornsby oversees the college’s strength and conditioning and applied sport science area of emphasis and a graduate assistantship program that provides strength and conditioning to three local area high schools.   

Through his role as coaching science coordinator at WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute Human Performance Innovation Center, Hornsby conducts long term monitoring studies on competitive collegiate athletes and cross-sectional experiments on strength/power athletes.  

He has previously held strength and conditioning positions within both U.S. collegiate sport and the U.S. military and is currently head coach of West Virginia Weightlifting. Hornsby serves as a volunteer throws coach for WVU Track and Field. His primary research centers around optimizing the training process for strength power-based athletes.   

Designed for experienced practitioners, the NSCA virtual clinic targets coaches, explaining how to implement high-level programs with athletes. In addition to Hornsby, program speakers include industry leaders Cal Dietz, Andrea Hudy, Bill Kraemer, Chris Morris, Caitlin Quinn, Mike Stone, Jeremy Weeks and Matt Wenning. Topics will feature the evolution periodization models and velocity-based training, designed to maximize the athlete’s gains safely over the long-term training process. Visit here to learn more about the upcoming clinic and to register.

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