About
Henri Hänninen
“How about we move away from tradition-based broscience towards actually sustainable, information-based practice?”
I’m a sport science nerd (M.Sc), a coach, a traceur and an acrobat.
At the moment I’m working mostly as a Strength and Conditioning coach, a consultant, and an educator. Most of my current work revolves around physically demanding skill sports and artistic disciplines. The core of my special expertise lies in deep and detailed analysis of the demands of the sports/arts and the subsequent periodization and programming of physical training to support that sport/art. I’m especially interested in weird combinations of flexibility, power, strength and skill. You tell me what you want to be able to do, and I’ll tell you what kind of physical training guarantees it!
My educational background includes a Masters’ degree in biology of physical activity from the University of Jyväskylä and completed minor studies in cognitive neuroscience, chemistry and molecular biology. Before focusing on S&C coaching and the education of trainers, coaches and teachers, I have taught parkour and several acrobatic disciplines, as well as worked as a performing aerialist and parkour athlete.
I have worked (and am working) with athletes and artists of all levels, from recreational hobbyists to international level athletes and Cirque du Soleil performers. My clients include artists and hobbyists from dozens of different sports and arts, as well as national level athletes from over ten different sports (ranging from figure skating to hammer throw, and from powerlifting to pole dance). Funnily the traditional sports I’m involved in at the highest level include those I’ve never trained myself… Name any sport (or physical artistic discipline), and I’ll tell you what kind of strength, power, endurance, and flexibility training best supports it right now!
Sport in its different forms came to my life relatively late – I was 20 when I found parkour. As a kid I mostly just played video games and as a teenager I played electric guitar, so my background didn’t really support that newfound interest in parkour, which is why I also fixated on finding the best ways to train. Since I didn’t have the head start given by a sporty childhood, I felt like I had to find the most efficient ways of training. In addition to nerding over sport science, this drove me to explore many different sports and movement practices.
My own movement practice expanded quite rapidly. I started accumulating basics from many different sports and artistic disciplines, and by a random stroke of luck I found aerial silks, which ended up being a neat gateway into the circus. In the following years I ended up working as a parkour and circus professional – performing as a parkour athlete and an aerialist, teaching several different acrobatic disciplines, and educating circus teachers on sport science.
While my current work revolves mostly around the analytical, science-based take on training, I still “practice what I preach” by training in a sustainable and versatile way. I aim to always be working on learning something completely new. Most of the time it is something nerdy…
Science has always been a huge interest of mine – the process of producing and updating our current knowledge in the most reliable way while dealing with the inherent uncertainty related to the complex nature of reality and the lack of definite answers. I like the underlying philosophy of the process even more than the results it brings… The deep appreciation of how information is produced and updated combined with a clear understanding of what is currently known with whichever degree of certainty provides a very useful lens to view the world through.
I started my university studies from the department of chemistry, and quickly after realizing I didn’t like to spend that much time in that kind of lab, I switched to physics and took molecular biology as a minor subject. At the time movement in its different forms had started to take over more and more of my life, and I got sidetracked from the “pure” sciences. The passion for movement didn’t diminish my interest in science, and the department of biology of physical activity was the logical next step.
I got my Masters’ degree from the University of Jyväskylä, majoring in the science of sports coaching and fitness testing, with cognitive neuroscience, molecular biology and chemistry as my minor subjects. I’m planning on continuing forward on the path of scientific nerdiness…
Nerd has always been a fitting term; partly because the common connotations accurately describe some of the things I’m interested in, but more importantly because it describes the way I get interested. I have the habit of delving too deep and not accepting simple surface-level answers. This is one of the defining traits that have brought me to the place I’m at right now.
The same attribute that makes me almost stupidly completionist gamer and effective min-maxer (who sometimes spends way too much time in menu screens…) is also responsible for my skillset and knowledge-base in movement, training and coaching.
The willingness to delve deep into the underlying science of whatever I’m doing is a huge gift, but the unwillingness to accept simple answers for complex issues feels more like curse sometimes… Regardless, the desire and curiosity to experience and live the things I’m nerding over makes it all worthwhile.
Check out my Instagram feed to find science-based information and training tips! Training content and random nerdiness can also be expected.