M. Johan Lahti

I have taught Science and practice of strength & conditioning. This includes understanding the theoretical side of increasing performance in athletes and how it is conducted in practice. My main teaching focus has been on how to increase speed and speed endurance via different programming and training options. This also includes taking into consideration different sport demands and common injuries experienced within a specific sport. Furthermore, coach – athlete interactions are briefly discussed from a psychological perspective. This includes discussions of what coaching actually means and how we can potentially get more out of each athlete by using different motivational tools.

The overall aim of this project is to focus on reducing hamstring injuries in professional football. Hamstring strain injury is the most typical injury within professional football and happens typically during sprinting, although overstretching actions are also important to consider. The target is to do this by both using both prospective non-experimental and experimental research.
The first stage is focusing on whether a novel multifactorial hamstring screening protocol can imrpove detection of athletes at higher risk of hamstring injuries. This includes four main categories of interest ; range of motion, posterior chain strength, lumbo-pelvic control, and sprint mechanical output. Range of motion testing focuses on the athletes active flexbility in the hamstrings and the potential relationship between hamstring and hip flexor flexibility. Posterior chain strength focuses on testing knee flexor and hip extensor strength using hand-held dynamometry. Lumbo-pelvic control focuses on direct and indirect measurements of dynamic pelvic motion in different tasks, including walking and sprinting. Sprint mechanical output focuses on the athletes maximal theorectical horizontal force capacity during sprinting.
The second focus on the thesis is whether a program focusing on improving scores within these tests can reduce the incidence of hamstring injuries in a professional setting. This will be done by comparing two different seasons to each other ; one control season and one intervention season.

Education

• 2017- Present – University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. PhD candidate.

Currently completing the fourth year of my Ph.D. project “Hamstring injuries: multifactorial and individualized injury risk reduction & performance in professional football” at the Faculty of Sports Sciences in Nice under the supervision of Professor J-B Morin and Dr. Pascal Edouard.
Publication plan: four studies as first author (two papers published, see below).

• 2020 - Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach (CSCS). National Strength & Conditioning Association.

2014-2017 - University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Master’s degree in Biology of Physical Activity
Majoring in Science of Sport Coaching and Fitness Testing.

• 2009-2013 – Arcada – University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland. BSc. Sport & Health promotion.

Study focused on athletic therapy, physiology and biomechanics.

Work experience

• S&C lecturer, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France. Autumn 2018 & Autumn 2019

Theory and practice for 1st year master’s students within Strength & Conditioning, course title: “Training for increased force at different velocities in sport” (25 hours).

• S&C Coach at R5 Athletics & Health. January 2012 – Present

A holistic gym and training facility in Helsinki (www.r5.fi) where I’m a co-owner. I returned part-time in January 2020 after taking temporary leave since September 2017 due to my Ph.D. project.

• S&C Coach at HJK Football. Stared November 2019

For the male HJK football club youth Academy (ages 14 – 16).

• Senior S&C coach at the Athlete Factory in Calgary, Canada. 2014 August – 2015 July

Mentored under Paul Balsom and Ken Kotyk (Former Olympian). The sports facility specializes in acceleration and change of direction performance and injury risk reduction. I coached athletes within the following sports (ages 9-18): Basketball, Football, Lacrosse, Tennis, Rugby, Ice-Hockey, Swimming, MMA and Muay Thai.

• S&C Coach at “Eraviikingit” junior floorball teams. Summer 2016 - Autumn 2017

This includes training and programming for 28 players in one of the top-ranking clubs in the junior league (ages 15-17).

• S&C Coaching for small groups and individual sessions. 2012 - 2014, 2015 - 2017

For the following sports: Football, Basketball, 10-k, Marathon, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay-Thai & Ice-hockey.

• Coaching at Hardknocks Helsinki. Winter 2015 - Autumn 2017

Professional Mixed Martial Art (MMA) team. This includes training and programming for 4 professional MMA athletes and 1 amateur athlete.

Other related S&C skills:

• V02max, and power/speed tests
• Consultation work (sports science presentations to different teams)
• Teaching and education
• Running technique schools