Category — coaching

Serious athletes train all year round.  Training isn’t just playing sports, either, it’s working out during the off-season to prepare your body for a higher level of performance and less susceptibility to injury.

There are generally three training options for athletes:

1. The first is a comprehensive training program where the athlete works out under a strength and conditioning coach for a full training session with their teammates. This tends to lead to the best results and build a team community that lasts much longer than the competitive season.
2. The second is having an athlete follow a training program on their own and adapting the workout to the equipment available at their home, local sports field, or commercial gym. This type of training style tends to be the most economical but the athlete misses out on the corrective coaching cues that help them become more efficient in their movement patterns. Over and under training issues can arise with this approach as the strength professional does not have the ability to individualize the training volume and change the progression of exercises from a day-to-day and week-to-week standpoint.
3. The third is a hybrid of the two, where an athlete learns a set of 2-4 workouts each month then completes the workouts on their own for 3-6 weeks before receiving a new workout from their strength coach. This hybrid version tends to still be economical and allows the athlete to get some coaching cues each month and improve their technique, but poor habits can be reinforced and no guarantee can be made that over training issues will be avoided.

TRAINING PERIODS dictate the quantity, intensity, and quality of work for differing parts of the year. There are four basic training periods:

1. The 1st  period is during the off-season. This starts 2-4 weeks after the season concludes and goes for 8-12 weeks before their next season begins. Usually an athlete will have 8-24 weeks in the period depending on how many sports they participate in each year. In this period athletes should be building general athletic abilities that include the one listed above.  If an athlete participates in more than one sport, they may not have much time to practice anything more than the actual sport skills.  If they do have time, this should be invested in a well-rounded strength and conditioning that focuses on corrective measures related to movement patterns, general capacities, and injury prevention.
2. The 2nd period is the preseason, which usually consists of 8-12 weeks before the beginning of the season but can be longer if the athlete is competing at a semi-pro or professional level.  The athlete should continue general athletic development progressions but add components to the work out that will specifically enhance the characteristics of the sport they are preparing for.  For example, specific conditioning is implemented (i.e. 1,200 yards/game in football = 1,200 yards of sprints work), and the major movement patterns of the sport are trained with more intensity and volume.
3. The 3rd Period is in-season training. In many ways this can be the most important period for an athlete’s success.  This is also the easiest strength and conditioning training an athlete will do throughout the year but selecting the best exercises, reps and set can be the most difficult. Athletes really do need a personalized training program different sport positions often need different in-season programs to maximize athletic performance. This is where “tapering” principles are used to “peak” an athlete for the most important competition(s).

“Tapering” is when an athlete drastically backs off their training and drastically increases rest and nutritional intake to make their bodies as fresh and strong as possible for the big competitions.

“Peaking” is the result of tapering. This is when an athlete is the freshest and is the strongest in the competition season. The tricky part is to get this in sync with the day and hour(s) of a big game.

1. The 4th is the active rest period. This is usually 2-4 weeks after the last competition and purpose is to let the body recover from a long competitive season both physically and mentally. During this period an athlete should participate in fun recreational activities 2-6 hours a week and devote more time to other aspects of life, such as with their friends and family.

Serious athletes train all year round.  Training isn’t just playing sports, either, it’s working out during the off-season to prepare your body for a higher level of performance and less susceptibility to injury.

There are generally three training options for athletes:

1. The first is a comprehensive training program where the athlete works out under a strength and conditioning coach for a full training session with their teammates. This tends to lead to the best results and build a team community that lasts much longer than the competitive season.

2. The second is having an athlete follow a training program on their own and adapting the workout to the equipment available at their home, local sports field, or commercial gym. This type of training style tends to be the most economical but the athlete misses out on the corrective coaching cues that help them become more efficient in their movement patterns. Over and under training issues can arise with this approach as the strength professional does not have the ability to individualize the training volume and change the progression of exercises from a day-to-day and week-to-week standpoint.

3. The third is a hybrid of the two, where an athlete learns a set of 2-4 workouts each month then completes the workouts on their own for 3-6 weeks before receiving a new workout from their strength coach. This hybrid version tends to still be economical and allows the athlete to get some coaching cues each month and improve their technique, but poor habits can be reinforced and no guarantee can be made that over training issues will be avoided.

TRAINING PERIODS dictate the quantity, intensity, and quality of work for differing parts of the year.

There are four basic training periods:

1. The 1^st period is during the off-season. This starts 2-4 weeks after the season concludes and goes for 8-12 weeks before their next season begins. Usually an athlete will have 8-24 weeks in the period depending on how many sports they participate in each year. In this period athletes should be building general athletic abilities that include the one listed above.  If an athlete participates in more than one sport, they may not have much time to practice anything more than the actual sport skills.  If they do have time, this should be invested in a well-rounded strength and conditioning that focuses on corrective measures related to movement patterns, general capacities, and injury prevention.

2. The 2^nd period is the preseason, which usually consists of 8-12 weeks before the beginning of the season but can be longer if the athlete is competing at a semi-pro or professional level.  The athlete should continue general athletic development progressions but add components to the work out that will specifically enhance the characteristics of the sport they are preparing for.  For example, specific conditioning is implemented (i.e. 1,200 yards/game in football = 1,200 yards of sprints work), and the major movement patterns of the sport are trained with more intensity and volume.

3. The 3^rd Period is in-season training.  In many ways this can be the most important period for an athlete’s success.  This is also the easiest strength and conditioning training an athlete will do throughout the year but selecting the best exercises, reps and set can be the most difficult. Athletes really do need a personalized training program different sport positions often need different in-season programs to maximize athletic performance. This is where “tapering” principles are used to “peak” an athlete for the most important competition(s).

“Tapering” is when an athlete drastically backs off their training and drastically increases rest and nutritional intake to make their bodies as fresh and strong as possible for the big competitions.

“Peaking” is the result of tapering. This is when an athlete is the freshest and is the strongest in the competition season. The tricky part is to get this in sync with the day and hour(s) of a big game.

4. The 4^th is the active rest period. This is usually 2-4 weeks after the last competition and purpose is to let the body recover from a long competitive season both physically and mentally. During this period an athlete should participate in fun recreational activities 2-6 hours a week and devote more time to other aspects of life, such as with their friends and family.

This week we will learn how to do a fairly common exercise:  The Lunge.  The lunge is an exercise that many people use but time and again is done improperly.  When performed correctly it is an exercise that develops the musculature thighs, glutes, calves, and trunk posture.

The lunge can be used in a few different varieties.  The most common one you’ll see is for general conditioning – it is usually part of a circuit during a workout aimed at overall body conditioning.  It can also be utilized as a strength developing exercise when you add dumbbells in the hands or a barbell across the back.  With any variety of the exercise a few key points should be made:

1. Take a step forward.  The step should be far enough to maintain a good relationship between the knee and foot which is indicated by having the shin perpendicular to the ground.  Your weight should be equally distributed between your front and rear foot.  If you find most of your weight is over your front leg you may feel pressure or pain in the front knee.  This is because you are placing a large amount of sheer force on the knee joint and it can lead to joint deterioration.

2.  The thigh should be parallel to the ground when at the end of the step.  Do not use the hands to push off your front leg.

3.  Make sure lateral distance is maintained between your feet so as not to fall off balance.  It is very common to see people perform a lunge with both feet lined up forward and backward.  This creates a narrow base of support and cause balance issues.

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4.  When performing a barbell lunge pay close attention to maintaining neutral spinal alignment; avoid trunk flexion or rotation.

5.  If you step backward instead of forward during the initial movement you should notice it is easier to maintain the correct positions of the lower leg and trunk.  A description on how to do the exercise when stepping forward has been included because it is the most common way most people recognize this exercise.  Keep in mind that just because you see an exercise being done frequently in a particular fashion doesn’t always mean it is the best way.

In the firehouse, how many times have you heard someone say, “I should start working out again?”  It may have come from one, two, or even three people on your crew.  You may in fact be one of those muttering these words.  In any case, this article will give you a few suggestions to get yourself, and your crew out of the lifesuckers and back into the exercise room.

The new K.I.S.S. principle: Keep It Simple & Short…for now.   At the beginning, keep your workouts to a moderate pace and length (30 minutes), and filled with exercises that you already know.  Too much instruction in the beginning can turn away your crew.  Overloading with instructions and intensity will not keep the interest.  As firefighters, our attention span isn’t more than an hour.  Keep exercise instructions brief, positive, and effective.  Demonstrate an exercise as you explain the key points.

Share the responsibility.  If you are leading the pack, just remember that everyone has a stake in the program too.  Take turns letting each crew member lead the warm-up, body, and/or cool down portions of the workout.  During the session, let each member take a turn monitoring the stopwatch while resting (if using timed intervals).  Once your crew nails some of the fundamental exercises, have each member create one workout for each week of the month.  Be creative and have fun with it.

Explain the benefits. A little knowledge can go a long way.  We are an inquisitive people, so play into the fact your crew members want to know,  “What’s in it for them?”  Let them know how each exercise or session will help reduce heart attack risk, improve recovery time between calls or tasks, increase the amount of time it takes before they suck down a bottle, or how this will help them play better in the next department softball tournament.  Make it personal to each member.

Now GO! Avoid spending excessive time on the preliminary stuff.  After you build the excitement (YES! Excitement!), you must start moving.  The workouts don’t have to be perfect, but they should be safe for everyone involved.  Having an idea of how to change the level of difficulty of each exercise will be helpful for all members.  Make sure you perform a good dynamic warm up routine in the beginning and end each session with a cool down.

An example workout for you and your crew using three timed stations could look like the following:

Station 1: PVC cable pulls x 60 seconds

Station 2: Dumbbell stepup-overhead press x 60 seconds

Station 3: Rest (third person using stopwatch) x 60 seconds

If you have additional personnel with you, you can add the appropriate number of stations and exercises so everyone is doing something. If using timed periods, continue with one person using the stopwatch during the rest station.

Another example circuit, using reps or distance per set, could look like this:

Station 1: Highrise squats x 10 reps per side

Station 2: Duck walk x 100 ft.

Station 3: Situps x 20

These are just a few tips you can use to help get yourself and your crew moving.  You can be a leader in your firehouse by eating right and exercising.  Leading the pack and making the workouts fun will help you and your crew stay focused and fit.

This week, we are going to look at a basic but effective exercise – the standing rotational medicine ball throw. As you take a look at the pictures I encourage you to think about some of the more common sport moves you see – swinging a bat, shooting a puck, throwing a football; they all involve similar mechanics.

One thing I see time and again are training programs that lack any form of rotary training. Particularly when we examine strength routines, most programs involve only flexion and extension exercises. Common examples of these exercises include squats, deadlifts, bench presses, barbell/dumbbell curls, tricep extensions, pullups, lat pulldowns, etc. These are all great things to do, but the problem is that they do not challenge your body the same way as swinging a bat or throwing a baseball does.

Many times people say, “I need to build up my core.” Well, what are you doing to accomplish that other than situps, crunches, and back extensions? It makes more sense to include exercises that involve rotation about the spine and other joints of the body, along with side flexion (as in, imagine the motion at the hip of a jumping jack). Most back injuries are due to an imbalance of strength between the legs and back. By using rotational type activities we help to reduce the risk of such accidents.

So onto this week’s exercise – the ROTATIONAL MEDICINE BALL THROW. This exercise can be done with any medicine ball of choice. I recommend beginning with a weight between 4-8lbs. Be careful not to turn this strictly into a strength routine. We are trying to develop the trunk in a rotary fashion without impeding the normal function of the body. If you choose a weight much greater than 8lbs, you may start to compensate for the extra resistance (the medicine ball) by changing your mechanics. This would be counter-productive to training a basic sport move. Follow these guidelines:

1. Begin in a shoulder width stance with the feet in a heel to toe alignment, holding the medicine ball approximately at navel level (right and top left).

2. Rotate the trunk, shoulders, arms and head to one side as far as possible and immediately twist back in the opposite direction to throw the ball. Focus on rotating the feet, hips, and shoulders first, and finishing with the upper body (remaining sequence).

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The important part of this equation is to use the entire body. The common mistake is to throw strictly with the arms. Remember a summation of forces involves using the large, slower muscles of the body first (i.e the legs, trunk, and chest) and follow with the smaller muscles of the appendages (the lower legs, feet, arms, and wrists). Emphasize a high velocity for this movement. Also aim at throwing against a wall so that the ball rebounds back to you – otherwise you’ll be chasing the implement down after every throw and the workout will take forever.

Integrating rotational movements into your everyday program is extremely valuable. I recommend doing some form of rotary movement at least twice a week, and if you only have time for one exercise, make it a rotation. Remember that balanced training of the body provides optimum results. By analyzing what you are doing for training, you will decrease the likelihood of injury and shorten your time to improvement. Ultimately, it is the person who improves the fastest who usually ends up winning.

The goal of this post is to clear up a very common misconception: ”We get fast in the weight room.” This point is only partially true.

Speed is a result of force production and sound mechanics; lifting weights does very little to improve sprint mechanics. Why? Because we’re not sprinting when we are lifting weights! This is common sense! For all the veteran coaches out there – hold on! I’m not to my point yet. Strength training is absolutely necessary for anyone who wants to have success in athletics. However, the issue at hand is too many coaches spend 90% of their time focusing solely on strength training, when they should be spreading their training time out amongst other things, such as coordination, balance, agility, biomechanics, jump training, core development, acceleration, etc.

On this note, let’s remember there is a difference between training and practice. When we TRAIN, we work on general conditioning, strength, flexibility, stamina; physiological variables that are relatively easy to develop if we put in the time and are consistent. When we PRACTICE, we are doing neurological things such as eye-hand coordination, balance, coordination, cognitive response (i.e. how to react to a game situation), etc. PRACTICE is what most coaches are good at as it requires knowledge of their respective sport or game. TRAINING is what most coaches usually are not as well versed in, because it requires knowledge of exercise physiology, kinesiology, bioenergetics, metabolic pathways; the geek stuff you go to school for.

These are two separate knowledge bases; it’s important to recognize the difference! We can all do our taxes if we have to, but it sure is a lot easier to hire a CPA who does it for a profession, knows what to look for, and has a ton more experience then to do it ourselves? So why are some sport coaches still insisting they know so much about quickness and agility?

So back to speed in the weight room. The take home message is that speed is developed by challenging the body in a manner conducive to enhancing sprint mechanics, not bulking up with weights. While it is impossible for an athlete to fully capture their full speed without weights, beware not to overemphasize either component. If we were to take an arbitrary number, I would recommend spending 35% of your time working solely on sprint mechanics, 35% of your time on special strength enhancement (i.e. resisted sprints, sled pulling, acceleration drills), and the remaining 30% in the weight room. And once more, the exercises you choose in the weight room had better do more then just make you look good in a bathing suit.

This weeks article is the last installment of a 3-part series examining the question “What are the commonalities of great coaches?” Our first article examined Administration, our second Technical Instruction, and this one being Motivation.  The idea behind this series of articles is to provide a bit of perspective on how we all fit into either teaching others or individually learning ourselves.

There are three major components to successful coaching; administration, motivation, and technical instruction.

MOTIVATION is something I consider to be somewhat of an innate skill, and perhaps the most difficult of the three to be good at.  All great leaders have charisma to a certain degree.  To me, inspiring a group to follow you has a lot to do with showing your vulnerability.  If you show people your human side, your audience can identify with what you are preaching and develops a connection.  They will be more apt to listen to what you have to say if you bring yourself down to their level, showing empathy toward their plight.

It’s sort of like when you listen to a song and can identify with the lyrics – that musician has told a story that perhaps you can relate to.  It invokes a memory and emotional response that motivates you to listen more.  At this very moment you are reading this article – if you’ve made it this far, I hope you’ve connected with some of the points I’ve made!  Everyone has a different way of doing this.  The one thing I do see as a constant between great coaches is their ability to put themselves into the shoes of those who they serve mentor too.  Simply put, you must be realistic with your perspective on whatever situation you happen to be coaching in, and be able to relate to those who you work with.

Conversely, poor motivators can and will torpedo any program they are involved in.  Without the ability to move people to action, very little is accomplished.  A poor motivator is usually bad at the administrative and technical aspect of their sport too.  The single point that keeps coming back to me is the job of the motivator is to pump energy into their audience and move them to action.  Again – there are many ways of accomplishing this.  Just take a look at the different coaching styles that exist; scientists, yellers, cajolers, disciplinarians, pacifists, to name a few.

The mark of a poor motivator is just the opposite of a good one – they display an inability to connect with their audience, and often lack the perspective to see and say things the way they really are.  They often compensate for this inability by becoming ultra-proficient in the administrative component.  It is their way to exert control over the team or the individual by creating a wall of defense through rules and regulations.  This usually stifles progress and creativity because participants become fearful of the consequences related to breaking these rules.  The adage of “Not seeing the trees for the forest” is usually akin to this scenario.

To me consistent motivation is the mark of an exceptional coach.  As previously stated, every coach has his or her own way of motivating their athletes.   Not all athletes are as motivated as others, but it is the coach who consistently finds a way to discover the majority of their athletes who will be the most successful.

This week’s article is the second of a 3-part series examining the question “What are the commonalities of great coaches?” Our first article examined Administration, our second Technical Instruction, and our third being Motivation.  The idea behind this series of articles is to provide a bit of perspective on how we all fit into either teaching others or individually learning ourselves.

There are three major components to successful coaching; administration, motivation, and technical instruction.
TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION is the academic component that is most lacking in the world of coaching.  My explanation for this is that the responsibility to accrue technical knowledge for any sport usually falls on the shoulders of the coach.  Either the coach does not know where to look, may not have resources readily available, or perhaps just doesn’t understand how much is behind athletic performance.  It requires one to have an open mind to the possibility that there may be things that exist of relevance and importance beyond your own knowledge base.

The very point of the Performance Training Blogis to educate and disseminate quality information.  But in order to learn, one must be ready to admit they do not know everything – for when can anyone really know everything?  I laugh when I hear a person either being described or describing him or herself as an expert.  There is no such thing as experts.  Certainly, it’s fair to say that you may have an area or strength or specialization, but the idea that all knowledge for a particular skill has been assimilated seems unrealistic.  There’s always room to grow.

Technical knowledge of a sport or skill is a combination of the sport sciences; physiology, biomechanics, kinesiology, metabolic load, and psychology to name a few.  Any one of these areas could be studied to the level of a PhD.  But it is the responsibility of the individual coach or athlete to educate him or herself, and to understand that unless they have invested significant and legitimate time in obtaining background in their specific discipline, that they may not have all the answers.

It consistently amazes me how often I see a loving parent or even a veteran coach who cross-coaches an appointed mentor.  From a fundamental standpoint, the lead coach is the one who the athlete works with everyday, at every practice, and depends on in the moment of competition.  Coaches are in charge of assessing their athletes, developing realistic goals based on their assessment, and finally creating a plan of action for training to help their student of sport.

How can a person who has not been through this process from the beginning – someone who does not possess a competent background in their sport through education – adequately work with an athlete.  The simple answer is that they can’t, and won’t be able to until they have a legitimate background.  But remember, even veteran coaches can become complacent.  Experience can turn to poison when not mixed with humility.

A final thought to understanding the technical aspect of sport is to realize that game strategy isn’t always what leads to a successful outcome during competition.  As it was explained within the Administration article segment, technical instruction may not be fully captured if you have an athlete who is not taking their sport seriously, missing practices, becoming a disciplinary distraction, etc.  Technical instruction is the one component of a successful coaching triad which cannot be fully captured without consistent efforts in the administrative and motivational areas.  It can also be the difference between winning and losing in the moment of competition as there is usually only a small degree of difference between victory and defeat.  Next week will feature the third and final installment to this article and is focused on Motivation.

I hope all of you have been eating well and recovering from workouts more quickly as a result of those positive nutrition habits! Staying in line with recovery, this week I felt it would be of interest to talk about soreness; the causes, how to work through it, and understanding why it happens.

For a number of years, I have heard comments made from veteran and new coaches alike: “The day after a tough workout soreness is due to lactic acid in the muscles.”

This is not true. Shocked? If you’re saying yes, it’s OK.

It is important that we identify the difference between soreness and lactic acid pain. When you exercise there are a variety of energy pathways the body calls upon to supply the necessary fuel to complete a workout. One of those pathways, the anaerobic system, breaks down carbohydrates in such a fashion as to supply energy very quickly without the use of a significant amount of oxygen. A metabolic result of the anaerobic system is also a chemical called lactic acid, which lowers the pH of your blood and can cause localized “burning” sensations or pain. As pertaining to soreness, lactic acid is eliminated from the from the body within 1-2 hours after the cessation of a workout. So the idea that lactic acid is “hanging around” for a day or two is not true. As a side caveat, if you have ever accidentally drank sour milk, that wretched flavor you experienced is actually lactic acid you’re tasting!

Think about the last time you lifted weights – you’re pushing out the last few reps of a set, you feel the weight slow down and you really dig down to push through the fatigue. The first example that comes to my mind is doing a leg extension and feeling my quads light up like a bonfire. If we think about this for a second, it really doesn’t involve much of the cardiovascular system, but it sure does seem like fairly higher intensity exercise. Strength training falls under the category of short duration, higher intensity activity which all call upon the anaerobic system. This is one of the reasons why you feel that burning sensation – there is lactic acid forming in the muscle groups being used because you need energy fast.

Why do you feel sore the next day? We are referring to a condition called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS for short. There are various theories explaining why DOMS occurs, but the trigger mechanism is more or less agreed upon: when you do an unfamiliar exercise or increase the volume or amount of training you do, an overload effect is triggered in the muscle and micro damage at the cellular level occurs – which is the main explanation for DOMS.

What happens when you twist your ankle almost immediately? Pain of course, but it is usually followed by swelling. That inflammation is your body’s way of telling you damage has occurred, and your nervous system sends pain signals to your brain saying “leave me alone!” It’s a protection mechanism to help immobilize the joint (who wants to move a muscle or joint that hurts?) and allow the healing process to occur.

The same thing happens at the cellular level when you workout. Visibly you may not see swelling, but in the muscle tissue small amounts of swelling occur. This swelling puts pressure on the nerves and sends out light pain signals we perceive as soreness. Again, lactic acid is not the culprit.

So what else is important? Well, soreness is a good indicator of the vulnerability for injury. That is, a sore muscle does not respond as well to tough training sessions, and does not operate as efficiently either. I usually use a soreness scale of 1-10 with my athletes, asking them, “how sore are you on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the worse?” If I hear anything above 4 or 5, I usually will either back off of the volume of training, lower the intensity, choose a less stressful workout, or do a combination of the three.

DOMS usually comes on within 24-72 hours, with the 2nd or 3rd day usually being the worse. If you do an activity that you are very unfamiliar with, soreness can last as long as 7-10 days. The question most people want an answer to is “How do I get rid of this soreness???” There are a few different recommendations I suggest:

1. Avoid doing nothing. Sitting around is one of the worse things you can do. Engage in light activity for severe soreness such as light walking, jogging, or cycling and invest 10-15 minutes in gentle static stretching (or alternatively a foam roller or stick). This helps to promote blood flow to the damaged tissue and enhance the healing process.

2. Choose bodyweight or medicine ball workouts. These types of training activities involve large amplitude movement patterns but are not abusive on the body. They also lend themselves to higher velocity but not high stress on the body. Simple examples are calisthenics (i.e. jumping jacks, bodyweight squats, push ups, situps) and medicine ball throws (situp throws, long jump throws, shuffling passes). So you end up still being able to train but not perpetuating the length of soreness. This is extremely valuable coaching information.

3. Eat Well. Make sure you have a balance of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, along with vitamins and minerals.

4. Sleep. An active individual needs at least 7-8 hours a night of good quality sleep. The body repairs it self 3-4x faster when you are asleep. Skin cells regenerate 25X faster when you are sleeping. Sorry – have to say this – I think that’s just plain cool.

5. Stay Hydrated. Drink plenty of water and lay off the diuretics (that is, dehydrating substances such as caffeine found in tea, soda, energy drinks). A well hydrated body heals faster and allows normal chemical reactions in the body to function more efficiently.

Soreness is more or less an inevitable part of training, but it shouldn’t be the main goal. I hear people say “I want to feel sore after a workout.” The reality is that soreness actually impedes your ability to train hard because you have to scale back the intensity and volume of work. Over time this slows your rate of progress. The goal of a training session should be to sensibly ramp up the workout to a point just beyond your previous training level. You should feel fatigue and perhaps light soreness, but not a level of DOMS where you are handicapped by it.