| Michael Yessis | |
| Birth Date: | June 16, 1932 |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Death Place: | Escondido, California |
| Occupation: | Professor Emeritus, author, sports performance trainer, training and technique consultant, technique analysis specialist and athletic coach |
| Spouse: | Edith R. Evans-Yessis |
| Children: | Marissa Yessis Prough |
| Notable Works: | Explosive Running, Explosive Plyometrics, Kinesology of Exercise |
| Website: | http://www.doctoryessis.com/ |
Michael Yessis (June 16, 1932- September 15, 2023) was an American sports performance trainer who translated and adapted sports training methodology from the former Soviet Union.[1]
Michael Yessis earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. In 1975 he and athlete Fred Wilt coined the term plyometrics while observing Soviet athletes warming up.[2] In 1982 Yessis traveled to the Soviet Union to work with Yuri Verkhoshansky, a leading biomechanist and sports trainer at a time when Soviet sports dominated the world.
Yessis' teaching career focused on a performance-based version of sports conditioning and training.[3] As a biomechanist, he emphasizes technique analysis and movement pattern training in conjunction with strength building based on the specific physical requirements of each sport. Yessis has authored 16 books, over 2,000 articles in various publications, and has appeared often on television, radio, and the internet as an expert guest or commentator. Yessis was selected as a member of The Society for Unconventional Physical Education.
As a researcher and translator, Yessis made available for an English-speaking audience an array of significant Soviet books and journals created by Soviet sports-scientists beginning in 1961, including Yuri Verkhoshansky,[4] creator[5] of the 'shock method' of training, later to be called "plyometrics", Anatoliy Bondarchuk's signature work, Transfer of Training, and the signature work of Vladimir Issurin, Block Periodization Training. Yessis was a leader of a group of athletes, sports coaches, and strength coaches to the Soviet Union sent to study at the Moscow State Institute of Physical Culture. He established contacts for the exchange of information and the development of greater exchanges between the countries. His work was responsible for making this body of Soviet science-based sports research available in the United States. Yessis' translations include Transfer of Training Volume I, Transfer of Training Volume II, Block Periodization Training, Special Strength Training: A Practical Manual for Coaches, Running and Hurdling, and numerous Soviet journals.
Yessis was chief editor for two well-established academic journals and senior editor for a Weider Publication. Yessis was the editor-in-chief for The Fitness and Sports Review International, a quarterly publication from 1966 to 1994. He also held the editor-in-chief position for Soviet Sports Review,[6] a collection of translated journals from Soviet coaches and original articles from contributing writers, from 1968–1972. In addition, Yessis provided translation and original writing contributions to Soviet Sports Review. Yessis served as senior editor for Sports Fitness[7] (a Weider Publication known today as Men's Fitness).
Yessis served as training and technique consultant to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL, trained former All-American and Oakland Raider Marv Marinovich and his son, Todd[8] Marinovich,[9] helping Todd to become a first-round draft[10] choice. Yessis served as a training and technique consultant to Evander Holyfield, professional beach volleyball player Dianne DeNecochea, and the U.S. Men's Olympic Volleyball Team. He has trained Olympians including Jose Luiz Barbosa, an 800m and 1500m runner, four-time Olympian and gold, silver, and bronze medalist in six world championships, Edgar Oliveira, an Olympian who participated in Barcelona and Atlanta in the 1500m, Joao N'tyamba, who participated in three Olympic games in the 800m and 1500m, and Wander Moura, who holds the South American record in the 3000m Steeplechase, participated in the Olympics and World Championships, and was victorious in the Pan American games in the late 1990s.
Yessis has written 16 books in the sports and fitness field. His column was published in Muscle & Fitness magazine for 25 consecutive years.