Stronger Athletes

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Dear Stronger Athletes: Should Training Intensity Change Or Be Cycled To Assure Peak Performance At The Most Important Competitions?

November 24 "The time we live in requires a new way of thinking." -Albert Einstein

We would like to discuss three issues in this post... A question, and two announcements. First a recent question from a reader asks, "Should training intensity change or be cycled to assure peak performance at the most important track meets? Do you strength train first then practice your sport right after? For example......when doing speed work, I thought you would do sprint workout first followed by strength training. I`m confused!!!!"

We are not big advocates of periodization. That being said though we do believe that around 2-3 weeks before the meet you are preparing for, such as districts, sectionals or state, you need to back off to one training session per week. Keep in mind we still believe that workout should be an all-out intense training session, not a raising or lowing of the set/rep scheme as you normally would in a periodization program.

One session per week through the conference meet and districts would be sufficient. It is a myth that athletes will lose strength after 4 days of a layoff, (assuming you are working with high levels of intensity). If someone tells you this, ignore them. Then 2 weeks before state, which is one week before sectionals, (here in Missouri anyway), stop training all together to ensure that your athletes are recovered.

In regards to the order of your workout. We feel you should always do your skill training first and weight training after. During the season, I suggest that you train 2 times per week depending on the athlete's level.

Next, We would like to fill you in on our plans for the 2003 StrongerAthletes.com Strength & Conditioning Clinic. We have tentatively set a spring date on May 5th. However, we are also looking in to hosting a 2003 football rules interpretations meeting that will coincide with our clinic in order to encourage the attendance of more area football coaches. Should we secure the rules interpretations meeting along with our clinic, the date would be moved back to late July. We should know more concerning the actual date of the clinic within a few weeks.

We have set the structure of the clinic to be jam-packed with solid, strength training fundamentals while at the same time being brief. We think this fits in well with being Productive and Efficient!

Tentatively, Coach Mike Lawrence, Head Strength Coach at Missouri Southern University, and Jonathan Gray, Assistant Strength Coach at Missouri Southern, have agreed to speak at the event. We are excited to have them and are sure those in attendance will learn a great deal. If you are near the Kansas City area we encourage you to plan on attending.

We hope you have a great holiday and have much to be thankful for. -StrongerAthletes.com