In-Season Training Programs for Fall Sport Student-Athletes: Retain and Rejuvenate
Scientific research and my own personal experiences have proven to me how critical in-season training is to ensure optimal performance, and ultimately realization of off-season training goals. SAPT in-season training programs aim to deliver the following: -While it’s not uncommon for novice and some intermediate trainees to garner strength and power improvements even while in-season, the focus for most should be on strength and power retention. Studies have shown that within just 2-weeks of training stoppage, one will begin experiencing declining strength levels and power output. Considering that the majority of a season’s most important competitions occur well after the 2-week mark, and you can imagine the competitive advantage one will possess if he or she remains consistent with training through the duration of a season.
Closely managed in-season programming will allow one to peak when the stakes are at their highest. Don’t let the 2”+ vertical jump improvement you worked so hard to attain during the spring and summer months dwindle before your most important competitions!
-Maintain the overall physiological health and well being of the organism. Often overlooked is the asymmetrical nature of sport. The countless, often times one-sided, repetitions one takes during a competitive season can snowball into overuse injuries. In-season training programs should include the mobility drills, corrective exercise, stretching, and soft tissue work necessary to limit restrictions and imbalances caused by sport.
-Rejuvenate the mind and body. An appropriately structured in-season maintenance plan considers both the physiological and psychological demands of a competitive season. Balancing school work, practice, travel, and competitions is friggin’ a grind. A focused, concise training session that incorporates some soft tissue work, total body movements, and some good conversation, will go a long way in ensuring both the mental and structural stability of a student-athlete.
To learn more information about our in-season maintenance training programs, CLICK HERE!!!
Chris
Time For Some Basic Body Maintenance
When you were a baby, you were able to stick your foot in your mouth. Think about that. Sticking your foot in your mouth. Try to do that now, and every 49 out of 50 of you will most likely find this to be laughable.
Why does this even matter? Well, an extremely simplified way of putting it is that if you're unable to draw ROM (range of motion) from a joint that is supposed to be able to provide it, then you're going to compensate at a joint that is not supposed to move. A quick example of this is that many people with low back pain tend to have stiff hips (their back is moving to pick up the slack, due to lack of mobility at the hips).
- If you’re a weightlifter, better mobility will improve your positioning during the set-up, thus giving you a greater mechanical advantage. This will allow you to move even heavier weight, and, more importantly, do it safely.
- If you’re an athlete, greater mobility is going to help you produce more force (a quick example being that improved dorsiflexion ROM at the ankle will prevent you from prematurely drifting on to the ball of the foot, thus allowing more force to come from the powerful posterior chain).
- Heck, even if all you care about is tending your garden well into your years, you’re be at reduced risk of back pain due to the fact you can sit into a deep squat without significant rounding of your lumbar spine.
I recently came across an old picture of myself getting ready to face-off, back in my competitive lacrosse days, that brought home the very point I addressed above (I'm in the red/black on the left): As you can see, I'm as low to the ground as possible. When getting into position for a face-off in lacrosse, it's generally accepted that one of the keys to gaining an immediate advantage over your opponent is to be lower than they are.
When looking at this picture, I was promptly struck by the fact that it was much easier for me to get into this position back in high school than it would be for me today. I didn't know it at the time, but I was asking my body to provide quite a bit of ROM at my ankle and hip joints, and also throughout my entire thoracic spine. This, in turn, would put me in better position to utterly destroy him win the face-off.
Anyway, this picture gave me a pretty large "pillow womp" to the face. I realized that, while I do perform about 10 minutes of mobility drills before my lifting sessions, it's not even close to the quantity I need to undue the hours of sitting (in my car, in coffee shops, at my desk, etc.) each week. Gradually, over time, I have lost mobility and created more positional problems for myself. I decided to make a greater effort in prioritizing my movement quality via some quality drills (which I show below).
Given that most of you spend 40+ hours per week (and this is probably giving you more than deserved credit), you'd be wise to listen up. This past Sunday I spent a good deal of time fixing up all the sticky junk restricting my motion. I took some pictures of some of the drills I've found to be the "best" in hopes that you can benefit, too.
Spend two minutes per side for most of these drills. Remember, doing some quick bodyweight squats before your lifting session isn't enough to undue the abuse you give your body from sitting (aka "the slow death position") 160 hours a month.
Before I begin, I can thank Kelly Starrett of the Mobility Project for a few of these drills. He's doing a great thing over there (to put it mildly) by encouraging people to daily work on their grody joint mobility.
For the first three, you can use any table or bench. The last picture shows a variation I'll use in coffee shops (not kidding), as it keeps my foot off the table. Think "chest tall" for all of these. You'll cover hip flexion+external rotation, throracic spine extension, and get in a bit of adductor work, too (in the first photo).
Next, we'll receive a bit of improved dorsiflexion ROM (in the top left photo), as well as some much-needed work on the iliopsoas and rectus femoris (a few of the hip flexors) in the right and bottom photos. You can use any wall or elevated surface for ankle drill, and can use a couch, chair, etc. for the right one. You'll need a sturdy resistance band for the bottom mob shown.
And, lastly, enjoy some extension of the thoracic spine (and perhaps a bit of stretching in the lats), by propping your elbows up on a bench:
For all of these drills, think "contract....then relax." Hold the stretch for about ten seconds, relax, and then repeat for two minutes or so.
You'll feel like a million bucks when you're done, not kidding.
Bird-Dogs, Verticals, etc.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm experiencing some major writer's block this morning, so it's going to be short and sweet today.
1. I thought I'd share an exercise I've been using for some active recovery circuits, and as a filler exercise in some of our overhead athlete's programs. It's a sandbag walkup with a pushup position bird-dog at the top.
While this exercise may seem a bit "frou-frou" at first glance, don't knock it till you try it. In fact, most will need to start by lifting the arm only, as adding the alternate leg lift will cause many people to topple over.
Why I like it
- The hand-walking portion helps to promote scapular stability (via strengthening of the serratus).
- The alternate arm+leg lift gives you some pretty solid benefits in the trunk stability department, as your entire body will have to resist rotation (in the transverse plane) and hyperextension of the low back (in the sagittal plane).
- You can perform it nearly anywhere. Whether you're traveling, at home, in the gym, etc. all you need is something (a phone book, aerobics step, etc.) to elevate your hands on.
How to do it
- Don't fall over.
- The main thing you need to watch out for is hyperextension (excessive arching) of the low back and you lift up the opposite arm and leg.
- Hold each reach for a two-count.
- Perform for 6-10 repetitions.
When it comes to taking an off day, you either have people doing nothing, or you get those that consider 400m repeats and/or long distance running an off day. Both are sub-optimal and will most likely hinder your recovery process.
Toss in this walkup variation along with some mobility drills, crawl variations, bodyweight split squats, KB swings, etc. and you'll have yourself accelerating blood flow to damaged tissue, ungluing sticky joints, charging yourself for the following day's training session, and enjoying the sensation of undoing the musculoskeletal nightmare of sitting at a desk for 8 hours straight.
2. We just re-tested the vertical of Alexis (who plays for one of VA's premiere volleyball teams), after 16-weeks of training with us.
Long story short, her vertical jump improved 9 inches over the last 16-weeks. And yes, we're measuring absolute vertical displacement, not simply how far up she can touch (as she's grown 1/2" over the past four months, which we took into account). A huge congrats to Alexis for all her hard work!
How did we accomplish this? Simple. Lots and lots and lots, and lots, of jumping, "plyometrics," and endless agility drills. The more of these, the better. (Go back those two sentences again again, but with a healthy dose of sarcasm).
The reality is we rarely used more than 15 TOTAL jumps in a given session (and she only trained twice a week).
Increase the horsepower, the brakes, and the accelerator. Therein lies the key. Furthermore, most trainees can benefit tremendously from developing eccentric force absorption and muscle contraction (one example of this would be altitude drops....using the appropriate progressions), which will lay the framework for enhanced concentric strength potential. Then, Voila! We have more reactive and stronger athletes capable of greater force and power output.
W, T, Y, and I your way to a stronger serve, pitch, or bench press…
Initially, the vast majority of our clientele exhibit less than optimal upper-back strength/stability, and a drastic imbalance between the upper traps and mid/low traps (the upper traps proving to be dominant in this relationship). Considering a large portion of our clientele are overhead athletes, the scenario above provides a perfect recipe for shoulder dysfunction. Desk jockeys and bench press “specialists,” keep reading because you can benefit from the information below as well. One of the many drills we incorporate into our clienteles programming to increase strength and reduce asymmetries in the stabilizing muscles surrounding the shoulder blades is W, T, Y, and I. The clip below was taken from our online database of exercises that we use to coach our distance coaching clientele. Without further ado, I give you the W, T, Y, and I drill:
The drill’s benefit lies in the execution of the movement (what else is new, right?). A couple important coaching cues to note are as follows:
-Perform these drills on a flat-solid surface where one is parallel to the ground. This will ensure the delts and upper traps don’t take over the movement. My preferred surfaces are a bench, or treatment table. You’ll see these drills sometimes performed on stability balls or other unstable surfaces. I’d advise not doing them on these surfaces as it’ll detract from force output and subsequently the conditioning of the upper-back musculature.
-Avoid hyperextension of the lumbar spine (lower back) as this will again limit the effectiveness of the drill.
-Be sure to squeeze the middle of the back (lower and mid trap activation!) when performing these movements. If you feel like you’re shrugging to raise the arms, that’s a sign your upper traps are taking over and you’re now just compounding problems…
-If you’re having a difficult time performing them bilaterally (both arms simultaneously), try performing them one arm at a time.
-Try to relax the neck as much as possible; stare at the ground NOT the wall in front of you.
If you’re an overhead athlete it’s imperative that you address your upper-back through drills such as these. Honestly, your pitching career probably depends on it.
For our bench press “specialists” in the crowd, if you think addressing the retractors and depressors is a waste of your time, enjoy benching 185 the rest of your life…if you’re lucky enough to bench the rest of your life.
And for the desk jockey whose neck and shoulders kill him after a day at work, or weekend golf/tennis match, come see SAPT and we’ll get you right.
To improve your fastball, serve, bench press or just quality of life, give me a clicksee right HERE…
A pocket full of M80’s and Roman Candles…who’s coming with me…
Chris AKA Romo AKA "Put your dishes in the dishwasher, please"
4-Weeks to a Stronger Total Body
That’s a short amount of time to make some big gains, I’ll admit. But for much of the population adding a grip strength specialization routine to their regular training program can result in significant gains on all of their lifts. Why is improving grip strength so effective? Basically, grip strength tends to be the “weak link” for recreational lifters and athletes alike and, thus, a lot of extra neural activity is wasted in the direction of controlling the grip musculature that can be more effectively directed towards the large muscle groups (think about the deadlift… what fatigues first? Your legs, your back, or your grip? The last thing you should notice fatiguing is your grip). So, spend a handful of weeks crushing your grip and you should quickly notice the following benefits:
1. For most men, another 3-5 reps squeezed out on pulling movements like body weight pull-ups and for most women, another 1-2 reps. 2. The perception of easier deadlifting and – gasp – even squatting! You heard it hear first, folks, a stronger grip will give you a bigger squat, too! 3. A slight bench press PR… it might show up in the form of a repetition PR or a max PR, I’m not sure. But you’ll get a PR, I promise. Want to test this one out? Set up a bench press with just the bar, for the first 5 repetitions lightly grasp the bar and notice how it feels. Then reset and this time squeeze the bar as if your life depends on it. What do you notice now? Something you already though was easy is now way easier and those nagging issues with shoulders and wrists often clear up like magic.
You’ll even get injury prevention benefits for the elbow and shoulder directly from increased and focused grip training. Plus, if you want to include the numerous injury prevention benefits that will come from increasing load and proficiency on the lifts I noted above, you only have to ask yourself… “How fast can I get some heavy fat bar holds going on?!?”
At SAPT, grip training is a regular portion of our programs and can be found in forms both direct and indirect. Here are a few examples of some of our favorite direct grip exercises:
• Farmer’s Walk variations with a towel hold. • Kettlebell or plate pinch (squeeze as if you’re trying to ring water from the iron). • Sledge Leveraging. • Sledge Finger Walks (not for the faint of heart). • Barbell Holds – one of my personal favorites for the rowing team at Mason – just load up a barbell and hold with perfect posture for time.
Consider spicing up your routine and your fast tracking your strength gains by adding in some direct grip work – and for goodness sake, if you know what “straps” are, throw them away!
Great Warm-up Movement You've Never Tried
MB Push + StartWhat is it? A great warm-up tool for getting the CNS firing and reminding the body how to produce a lot of force against the ground. The movement approximates the start for a sprint event. You can’t get as low as you do in the blocks, but it helps teach and reinforce how to produce great amounts of force as you are falling forward.
Why use it? See above, plus it’s fun!
Who should use it? Any athlete that is concerned about a “quick first step.”
If I were to coach myself based on my demonstration in the video, I clearly need to work on allowing myself to fall a fraction of a second longer and spend another fraction of a second extending through and taking advantage of the triple extension moment.
Overall, not too bad for a woman who had a baby exactly one-year ago tomorrow!
