The Jane Project DVD Review
Introduction:
The Jane Project follows a 2 week long training camp featuring Jane, a young 800m runner who is suffering from chronic overtraining. You get to see Charlie perform an assessment of Jane’s condition and then with the help of Dr Mike Prebeg and Podiatrist Dr Mike Forgrave try and correct as much as is possible in the short timeframe.
Content:
The DVD is shot documentary style and the quality is good except for the occasional low sound level when the participants turn their back to the camera.
The DVD begins with Jane arriving at Charlie’s house. Having settled in the film cuts to an interview where Jane discusses her current training and the high mileage. Charlie then talks about the testing he has carried out and what the results show.
The film then switches to the track and the first therapy session with Dr Mike Prebeg. Mike and Charlie discuss Jane’s over-pronation and the need for orthotics. Mike then carries out a full assessment and loosens Jane up with some extensive ART.
After a few hurdle walkovers to assess her ROM improvement from therapy and the film cuts to Mike Forgrave’s office. Mike provides a thorough examination of Jane’s gait and explains what her foot is doing, what it should be doing and how orthotics will help. This section lasts about 13 minutes and is very interesting. It shows you the kind of treatment you should be getting when being fitted for orthotics.
We now see Jane performing a morning workout, warming up in a similar fashion to that described in the GPP DVD. Following is a demonstration of a pool workout with Angela and Jane. For those of you unfamiliar with pool work this shows you what you should be doing and the protocols involved. For those who already know this stuff it’s a nice chance to take a break and enjoy the scenery!
Back on land Charlie puts Jane through a hill session, after a warm up with some PNF stretching. Following this is a section on eating well as Jane joins Angela in the kitchen.
Then it’s back to the track and second therapy session with Mike and we get to see the difference Jane’s new orthotics are making to her gait. Here you get to see some more ART and a quick taste of contemporary medical acupuncture (acupuncture combined with EMS), before Jane completes a track session.
The film resumes back at Charlie’s house and a demonstration and explanation of post workout massage. Angela then puts Jane through some medicine ball work and the sit up circuit shown on the GPP DVD. Here you get some extra information about these drills and some general coaching tips. Next up is a demonstration of pre-workout/competition massage followed by footage of Jane completing a big circuit tempo session on the track and then hurdle walkovers, as Charlie provides feedback.
The film concludes with Charlie explaining his recommendations for Jane’s new programme over the next 4 weeks.
Conclusion:
Until the release of Speed & Strength Fundamentals this was my favourite release from CharlieFrancis.com because it has content and ideas that I would otherwise not have been exposed to. As a coach it was also very interesting to see Charlie working with athletes. For athletes it is also interesting to see exactly what proper training and therapy look like. For me the film redefined what I expected from a top level track coach.
While not quite as specialised as “Solving Problems Part 1”, this DVD is aimed at the more experienced audience who already know the fundamentals and have watched the other CF.com DVDs. If you are a first time buyer this DVD may be of lower priority than GPP Essentials, Vancouver 2003/2004 and Speed and Strength Fundamentals but for those who think they have seen it all you will be in for a real treat.