Gösta Holmér
Encyclopedia
Gustaf Richard Mikael Holmér (September 23, 1891 – April 22, 1983) was a Swedish
decathlete and inventor of the fartlek
interval training
technique.
At the age of 21 he competed in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics
in his home country of Sweden, where he received a bronze medal in the decathlon
. His greatest achievement though was developing the fartlek
training technique in the 1930’s while coach of the downtrodden Swedish cross-country teams. His concept was faster-than-race-pace and concentrated on simultaneous speed
/endurance
training. The technique proved successful and has been adopted by many physiologists since.
Holmér died in 1983 at the age of 92.
Gösta Holmér was the father of Hans Holmér
, who was Chief of the special investigation unit on the assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme
in 1986.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
decathlete and inventor of the fartlek
Fartlek
Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a form of interval training which puts stress on the whole aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies,...
interval training
Interval training
Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work...
technique.
At the age of 21 he competed in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics
1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 5 May and 27 July 1912. Twenty-eight nations and 2,407 competitors, including 48 women, competed in 102 events in 14 sports...
in his home country of Sweden, where he received a bronze medal in the decathlon
Decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...
. His greatest achievement though was developing the fartlek
Fartlek
Fartlek, which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a form of interval training which puts stress on the whole aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of the exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies,...
training technique in the 1930’s while coach of the downtrodden Swedish cross-country teams. His concept was faster-than-race-pace and concentrated on simultaneous speed
Speed
In kinematics, the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity ; it is thus a scalar quantity. The average speed of an object in an interval of time is the distance traveled by the object divided by the duration of the interval; the instantaneous speed is the limit of the average speed as...
/endurance
Endurance
Endurance is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise...
training. The technique proved successful and has been adopted by many physiologists since.
Holmér died in 1983 at the age of 92.
Gösta Holmér was the father of Hans Holmér
Hans Holmér
Hans Holmér, , Chief of the Swedish National Security Service and later Stockholm county administrative chief of police. He became well known during his tenure, spanning barely a year, as Chief of the special investigation unit into the assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme...
, who was Chief of the special investigation unit on the assassination of the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
in 1986.