It’s easy for coaches without a background in strength and conditioning to overlook the importance of in-season strength training. Practice time with their athletes is limited and prioritizing technical and tactical work over strength training is quite tempting. However, it’s important for coaches to remember that physical qualities such as maximal strength, underpin performance of …
One of the most frustrating things an athlete can experience is injury. Not being able to train or compete with their teammates can be devastating The physical and psychological impact hurts both the injured athlete and the team. There’s also strong evidence to show that teams are less successful when they experience more injuries. Therefore, …
Predicting sprinting speed in a mixed group of athletes is fairly easy to do. For example, in a group of athletes who differ substantially by body mass (i.e., American football players), typically the lighter athletes will run the fastest. When physical characteristics are relatively similar among athletes however (such as among soccer players), it becomes …
One of the best predictors of injury risk among athletes are abrupt increases in training load. These are typically observed during periods of concentrated loading such as preseason training camps where practices are often held twice daily. Other times where this may occur are following breaks or unloading weeks where the coaches crank up training …
Both strength work and plyometrics are typical training modalities that coaches use to enhance performance in field and court sports like soccer, basketball and football. Traditionally, plyometric training is performed early in the workout, following the warmup, but before resistance training. However, some have sequenced training in the reverse order and perform strength work before …
We’ve all had a bad day in the gym or out on the field. Sometimes we can explain why, sometimes we can’t. Fatigue from lack of sleep for example, is a known contributor to increased reaction time. Additionally, soreness and residual fatigue from training can also compromise performance. This demonstrates the importance of attaining sufficient …
The vast majority of sports teams will do some type of performance testing, even if only once or twice per year. This can serve to evaluate training status and the effectiveness of the previous training program. However, very few teams monitor injury rates throughout the season. Tracking injury rates provides invaluable information that can validate …
Soccer requires a variety of physical qualities that athletes must develop in order to be competitive and successful at the highest levels. These qualities include but are not limited to: strength, power, acceleration, reactive ability, agility, and endurance. Short sprints over 20 meters are often made to contend for a free ball, to intercept a …
Monitoring fatigue in athletes enables coaches to make appropriate alterations in training load prescription to facilitate sufficient recovery between training sessions. This is especially important during the in-season when full recovery is desired leading up to competitions. Recovered athletes will better be able to express their fitness and perform skills during matches in addition to …
One of the most difficult challenges that team-sport coaches are faced with is developing an effective training program that maximizes conditioning and strength/power development in their athletes. Further, getting both fitness and neuromuscular qualities to peak congruently for competition is extremely hard to do. The reason why this is such a challenging task is because …