About Dr. Mel Siff

Dr. Siff is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he received his PhD in physiology, specializing in biomechanics and his MSc in Applied Mathematics, specializing in brain research. He lectured in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Witwatersrand for many years before moving to the USA. He has presented numerous papers at over 100 conferences in sports science, sports medicine, physiology, physical education, ergonomics, engineering, psychology, chiropractic, communication and linguistics. He has written more than 150 papers and books in these
disciplines. After several working visits to Russia, he wrote the major textbook
'Supertraining' which offers one of the most definitive treatises available on integrated Western-Eastern methods of strength training. He competed in Olympic weightlifting, martial arts and trampolining for many years. Was the Head Coach of the South African weightlifting team and has worked with many athletes in a wide variety of sports.

About the Video

This session will use combined theoretical methods from biomechanics and physics with practical methods from competitive lifting and other sports to identify the causes of sports injuries in contractile and non-contractile soft and hard tissues. It will examine not only how certain patterns of force, power, work, rate of force development and related mechanical factors can play a role in the injury process, but also how these same factors can help one prevent and rehabilitate injuries. It will compare various models used to understand the injury and rehabilitation process, including ones involving levers, couples, moments, machines, tensegrity, catastrophe theory and nonlinear dynamics. Consideration will be given to the stiffness, elasticity, plasticity, viscoelasticity, thixotropy and other important mechanical properties of the tissues. This information will be applied to show how nonlinear events in particular can explain why injuries and spontaneous resolution of injuries can occur suddenly and apparently illogically. Myths of alleged relationships between injury and impaired posture, muscle balance, core stability and muscle tightness will also be examined. This examination will then reveal limitations of isolated muscle testing and popular methods aimed at improving overall balance, muscle balance and functional fitness. The theoretical analysis will be applied throughout in practical demonstrations of how to efficiently and safely execute popular competitive lifting and strength conditioning exercises. These practical demonstrations will include the use of imperfection training to enhance dynamic stability, multidimensional balance and resistance to injury.