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The echo chamber of social media has created a hyper-sensitive environment in the world of athletics. More than ever, it is important to have every “t” crossed and every “i” dotted. It will only take one major incident to test your strength and conditioning program. Are you prepared for an investigation? A lawsuit? To be completely honest, I was not.

After an Incident – Are You Protected?

Many years ago, a spring conditioning session with a volleyball team provided me with a scary situation that is now always in the back of my mind when I condition teams. We were in the middle of the off-season, doing some on-court shuttles that the head coach had requested. They were not unreasonably hard, but they were indeed challenging. We had been doing them for several weeks, progressing volume slowly. Everybody was making the requisite times without incident.

On this day, after the second rep, one of the athletes dropped straight to the ground. She was breathing, but unconscious. She was one of the better-conditioned athletes and had never had a problem in the past. I knew immediately that I had to make the call that no coach ever wants to make: 9-1-1. She was unconscious for what seemed like an hour; in reality, it was closer to 3–4 minutes. The EMTs brought her immediately to the ER. After an overnight stay in the local hospital, the incident was blamed on a combination of low blood pressure, menstruation, and a less-than-adequate diet. Fortunately, the athlete quickly made a full recovery.

That incident sticks out in my mind. For the most part, there wasn’t much that we could have done to prevent it. We followed the emergency action plan successfully, and the student-athlete was ultimately fine. But what if she hadn’t been?

There are many variables in the lives of our athletes that are completely out of our control. If they don’t manage these variables—such as hydration, sleep, diet, medications, etc.—correctly, we could potentially create a harmful, and even dangerous, stimulus for the athlete. I don’t intend to have any more ambulance visits as part of our workouts, but we all need to be prepared in case it happens. My workout written on an Excel sheet was the only documentation I had.

In July 2019, the NCAA Sport Science Institute released a document outlining recommended policies and procedures. On page 8 of that document, it states: “All training and conditioning sessions should be documented. In addition, all training and conditioning sessions should…be reproducible upon request and be shared with the primary athletics health care providers (team physician and athletic trainer) before the session in which they are to be used.” I realized very quickly that I needed a system to not only document our training sessions, but also easily communicate with coaches, athletic training staff, and administrators.

I realized very quickly that I needed a system to not only document our training sessions, but also easily communicate with coaches, athletic training staff, and administrators. Share on X

Working at a low-resource university, we have a small staff with very limited time. I knew that there had to be a better way than using Excel. Sure, saving PDFs or paper copies of our training sessions was an option, but I needed to step outside my comfort zone. It’s a challenge to reproduce old workouts on Excel if you are constantly changing a floating 1RM or theoretical max. My old method of sharing workouts with a cloud drive was never as simple and easy as I would have hoped.

Upgrading from Excel to Athlete Management Software

I selected CoachMePlus for many different reasons. I liked the ability to create, share, and archive workouts, gather information with the athlete questionnaires, and integrate with the Bluetooth scale and hydration information (our school is in the desert).

I decided to start small, using the software with a small portion of our teams first. I have been a lifelong Excel user, and this first step was quite a big one. Entering the athletes into the system was quite easy and, after the video tutorials, very intuitive. There is a period of setup, but I found it was similar to using Excel at the beginning of every year. I started with the basic setup with each athlete. I really like that the software includes plenty of options for customization.

When I entered our athletes into the system, I also entered our athletic trainers and administrators so they would have access to each of our athlete’s workouts. This allows them to review the workout prior to training. This transparency is becoming more and more important in today’s athletic environment. Provided you give them plenty of time, this puts the responsibility in the hands of the administrators and trainers to voice any disapproval ahead of time. Since many of our medical examinations happen just prior to training sessions, the more information each party has ahead of time, the more it helps us make rational and logical decisions regarding training session modifications.

The more information each party has ahead of time, the more it helps us make rational and logical decisions regarding training session modifications. Share on X

The builder section of the software allows you to create exercises, circuits, and programs. My first step was to establish my own personal exercise library. When I had looked at first generations of strength and conditioning software, this was a rigid process consisting of a few dozen generic exercises. Each coach has their own nuanced set of exercises and terminology. The builder allowed me to include my own terminology with my own loading parameters. I used my own exercises with my own progressions and the ability to add notes.

For technology to work at the university level, it needs to be flexible and user-friendly. I was pleased to find that CoachMePlus was both. It was not only easy to program lifts in the weight room, but also sprint drills, plyometrics, and conditioning sessions. Parameters such as % of 1RM, load in pounds or kilograms, distance, time, etc. are variables that users can select when creating a new exercise. This flexibility is extremely important to me as a strength coach. The ability to attach your own videos to the exercises is especially useful for incoming athlete workouts and break workouts.

Putting the workout together was very straightforward and quite easy. Even better was the fact that it was simple to customize. Whether due to an injury or an athlete with a different training timeline, changing the exercise, sets, or reps was super easy. It is a quick modification for these changes.

If you have an athlete coming off a period of inactivity, such as with a major injury, you can easily customize remedial programs. Excel was woefully inefficient for this task. In the past, I made modifications on the fly or scratched them on the workout cards themselves. Again, in today’s athletic environment, this will put the coach and the athletic department at risk. Having this information available to your medical staff can further open communication silos.

The software lets you easily customize remedial programs for athletes coming off a period of inactivity, such as with a major injury. Excel is woefully inefficient for this. Share on X

Time is very limited in our environment. The ability to create and save warm-ups, recovery workouts, and conditioning sessions can be a real time-saver. You can tailor copy-and-paste workouts by day and by athlete if needed.

Documentation Adds a Layer of Protection

At CSU Bakersfield, we have basketball players coming from a variety of places. Many come from junior colleges, but others are four-year transfers or fresh out of high school. As a result, the incoming players arrive on our campus at different points of the year. I am a big believer in progression. You don’t teach a toddler to read by throwing a Tolstoy novel on their lap, and you don’t get a 7-foot basketball player to clean from the ground by trying it on day 1.

In the past, I had to write and keep up multiple, different Excel sheets until the new athletes were able to perform the returner’s workout. I will not progress an athlete who has not demonstrated a level of proficiency on an exercise. At one point several years ago, I had to keep four different Excel sheets for basketball alone. With 16 sports, you can imagine the amount of time I spent at the computer! My Excel workbooks were a mess, and I never really archived them properly.

This summer, I was able to take our new athletes through progressions without having to write entirely new workouts. For example, I had my returners do power snatches from block above knee (five sets of three reps), while several of my new athletes did muscle snatches from the power position (three sets of five reps). I was easily able to customize the program without starting from scratch. This saves time and documents the progression, just in case an issue comes up. The ability to program and document small nuances, such as player A pulling off a 4-inch block while player B pulls off an 8-inch block, becomes quite manageable. Our athletes start at different places and progress at different rates.

The workouts are then documented and archived, which is extremely important if you are ever going to survive an investigation. Every coach has the potential to be put under the microscope. This is one of the best ways to document your work and protect yourself and your athletic department. The best part is there are no file boxes of used paper workouts or endless PDFs saved through scans. Although I still print all our workout cards, at the end of the week they go into the recycle bin.

Your athletic training staff probably uses an electronic medical records system that documents much of their work. S&C coaches should adopt a software system that allows them to do the same. Share on X

Your athletic training staff probably uses an electronic medical records system that documents and catalogs much of their work. Strength and conditioning coaches should really think about adopting a software system that allows them to document and archive. There is no reason that you need to spend tons of man-hours keeping track of documentation. With all the advances in technology today, you owe it to yourself to streamline the process.

Tailored Questionnaires Lead to Better Communication

The daily wellness questionnaire provides yet another layer of protection through communication. Athletes can communicate RPE, sleep quality, soreness, and pain. This can help coaches and athletic training staff red-flag certain athletes. If you see high RPEs and high soreness levels for consecutive days, you may have to make an adjustment in your programming.

This is especially useful when working with new athletes. Many of our new athletes are being asked to work harder than they ever have, in combination with the fact that they are adjusting to life in a new location and on their own for the first time. I saw much higher soreness and RPE values for our new athletes even though their initial intensities were quite low.

If you have specific questions that are unique to your setting, you can include them on your questionnaire. The athletes access this questionnaire by app on their phone or tablet.

I am fortunate to have a good medical staff around me. We work well together: We have well-defined roles and communicate well with one another. That being said, we really could have used this app several years ago.

Back then, we had a basketball player who struggled with toe pain. It developed right before his final year of eligibility. Turns out one of the sesamoid bones of his big toe had turned necrotic. It was basically dead. The options were for him to have surgery to remove the bone and miss his final year or to try to play through it. He was a tough kid and opted for the second choice. We had to carefully manage his workload to keep the bone from breaking apart. Our staff did a great job of managing the load and, ultimately, he had a successful senior year.

A piece of technology such as this could be a great asset in monitoring soreness and pain. Not only to avoid further damage to the toe, but to avoid secondary injury as a result of a compensation. Athletes often don’t really start developing pain and soreness until several hours after a competition or practice. So, just because athletes leave your facility without significant pain and soreness, it doesn’t mean that it won’t develop later that day. Having the ability to communicate and document is a great asset in these situations.

A Multitude of Game-Changing Capabilities

The capabilities of the CoachMePlus software are vast. I have only begun to scratch the surface of how it can improve a program, but I think its greatest contribution is its ability to communicate and document our programming.

University administrators aren’t always well-equipped to evaluate a strength and conditioning coach. I once sat down with an administrator who admitted she was not quite sure how to evaluate my position. Ultimately, she decided to reach out to all my head coaches for feedback. I think this was a good move. We are support staff, and it’s important that the head coach feels good about their strength coach.

The ability of a coach to coach, communicate, and organize is fairly straightforward; however, these are all subjective measures. It would be nice if part of the evaluation process included performance metrics. CoachMePlus offers an easy snapshot of the improvement of key longitudinal measurements. The ability of a strength coach to visually demonstrate the value they create in their position is a game changer.

CoachMePlus allows a strength coach to visually demonstrate the value they create in their position. This is a game changer. Share on X

Don’t wait until the next big catastrophe in athletics. Protect yourself, your staff, and your athletes. We all know how important documentation is, but we struggle to keep up with our busy schedules at times. CoachMePlus offers your program a solution for what is sure to be an ongoing issue in the world of athletics.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

By Mark Hoover

“The gods love to toy with people who use absolutes.”—Josephine Angelini

This quote sums up exactly my sentiment about most things in life, but particularly about the field of sports performance and especially when it comes to working at the high school level. I write a lot about the “growth mindset” and how important I believe it is to attack life from an “I don’t know what I don’t know” perspective. If you believe in that concept, especially as strongly as I do, it becomes unthinkable to place much of what we do in the category of absolute.

One buzzword phrase that has caught my attention recently is game-day lifting. While it’s obviously not a very scientific way of polling, according to what I’ve been reading in the “Twitter-verse,” most coaches are on board with at least some form of weight training on competition days. A smaller but often vocal group seem to be dyed in the wool anti-game-day lifting proponents. They are absolutely sure it’s detrimental to performance later in the day. While I could dive into a rant about how this is a set mindset and is much more detrimental to the athletes those particular coaches work with, I won’t because I’ve already done my rant article for the year.

I could also write a comprehensive article about the pros and cons, but Coach Bob Alejo wrote a fabulous one, which I used as a reference when programming what we do on game days. Instead, I’ll focus on the anti-absolutes that influence how we plan and implement our game-day lifting at York Comprehensive High School (YCHS). I’ll discuss what variables go into our decision-making process and how combinations of these are reflected in our approach. I will also outline our general programming and review why we do what we do and when. Although I focus on football, the concepts hold true for all our school sports.

Using an Evidence-Based Approach

At YCHS, part of the mission statement for our sports performance program is “use an evidence-based approach.” Webster defines evidence as “an outward sign” or “one who bears witness.” It doesn’t say anything about “must come from extensive research and written in a journal.” So while I am not anti-research, we are not tied to that as the only way to use an evidence-based approach.

One of my favorite parts of the book The System is the author’s discussion about why American strength coaches initially found it so hard to communicate with the Eastern Block coaches. Paraphrasing, the author said the Eastern coaches used the term coach’s eye repeatedly. When asked a question by the American coaches, instead of quoting research, they replied “use your coach’s eye.” In the East, sports scientists and coaches worked as a symbiotic unit. Unlike in the West where those relationships were often at odds. So the Eastern Block coaches used research as a base to jump from, but ultimately the evidential proof came from actual real-time outcomes as judged by seasoned professionals.

That struck me as a very growth-minded approach. Because of that, I rely much more on our data collection and outcomes from the athletes I have in front of me than the ones the sports scientist or doctoral students studied and eventually wrote about. Coaching and the coach’s eye is a large part of our evidence.

Recently, I posted a 24-second video on Twitter of one of our football game-day lifts. I was shocked at the response. At the time of this writing, it’s been 36 hours, and I’m at over 600 likes. I also had one coach who replied that by doing what I was doing, our players would be fatigued and give our opponents an advantage. When I scoffed at the idea, this person replied “show me how I am wrong.” He pointed out that he had read over 40 articles to come up with his point of view. My direct answer to that challenge was simple, “I watched our players PLAY tonight with the same energy level they trained with this morning. They were not fatigued and played very fast.”

What drives change in our program? Data collected from our athletes & what my coach’s eye tells me is effective, says @YorkStrength17. #GameDayLifting Share on X

Now, many variables that led me to this conclusion (which I will discuss), but in the most simplistic terms possible: my coach’s eye told me we had done the right thing that day. It won’t be a research article or an opinion of a person with more letters behind their name than mine that will induce most changes to our program. It will be the data I collect from our athletes and what my coach’s eye tells me is effective. The minute I see that our athletes are sluggish or sore and it causes a drop in their ability to perform, we’ll adjust to make it the best it can be.

Variable One: Program Needs vs. Brain Candy

Two of the very first—and most macro—variables that go into our decisions about game-day programming are: What are the needs of the program and the wants of the head coach? Our job as high school strength coaches is not to set the culture for each sport. Our job is to support the culture of the overall athletic program and the individual teams within it. Clearly we must own our universe inside our facility, but ultimately the sport coach sets the tone for program culture.

I’m now in my second football season at YCHS (although I’ve had three off-seasons here), and the two years have been vastly different from the standpoints of culture, wants, and needs. In 2018, our head coach did not emphasize game-day lifts. Our football class was during the last block of the day, primarily so film and practice time could be earlier in the day. I was given Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday for 30-35 minutes with our players. Friday, I had basically zero contact until our pre-game activation stretch and movement period following the pre-game meal.

This season we have a new head coach. One of his only requests for me was that we lift hard on Friday. He has an amazing win-loss record with multiple state championship game appearances with this philosophy. His goal was to establish a culture of no excuses for not working hard. He also had our class moved to the start of the day. I was given 45-50 minutes (if needed) 3-4 days a week with Thursday being the only day I’m not with the players. Our culture changed, and it is now my job to support that change. Coach wants us working hard on game day? It’s time to make the plan.

Coach wants us working hard on game day? It's my job to support the culture change and make the plan, says @YorkStrength17. #GameDayLifting Share on X

A second major difference from a program-needs perspective is the training age of our athletes. In 2018, the vast majority of our varsity contributors were juniors and seniors who had reached at least Block 3 in our layering program. By the time an athlete graduates to Block 3, their strength levels are approaching levels that we’re comfortable with. They’ve also become very proficient in technique and bar speed. By the time they graduate to Block 4, most of our athletes are no longer working off a 1RM but instead are using lower intensities with velocity based training.

Most of our guys were strong enough. This allowed me to get what we needed to be done in the weight room by training twice a week and using the third day as our mobility and recovery day. From a programming standpoint, our volume was kept very low, but we pushed intensity in those two days. By the time the bye week before the first round of the playoffs rolled around, we were hitting a couple warm-up sets and then a single at our pre-season 1RM in both trap bar deadlift and flat bench press and 91% on back squats.

Jump ahead to this season. We have a total of nine seniors on our roster. Most of our contributors are underclassmen. Well, once again, there are no absolutes. While most of our juniors last year had graduated to Block 3, this year was different. Our JV players were not in the class last season. They were scheduled to lift after school. The week before Labor Day was the last time they lifted as a team (football decision). I didn’t see them in mass until January when our second semester began!

So now most of our varsity roster is a full five months behind the previous year. Using the same training methods would not be the best practice for this particular group. Our team is in the development phase. In Coach Alejo’s game day article, he pointed out:

“With younger, typically less experienced lifters, there’s a greater margin for error when attempting this type of training. In other words, less can go wrong; they are more resilient to volume-based error and injury. So much so that you can program the intent of the game-day lift to add to the development. Perhaps, for example, small gains in hypertrophy and, of course, strength and power, which would not be your typical in-season program goal. Fatigue is unlikely given a common sense approach to the training.”

We needed to get three good lifts in with these guys. Friday would be our day. Our program needs analysis told me that our game-day programming needed to reflect this.

Variable Two: Year-Round Programming and Development

One huge advantage we have at YCHS is that we have a football class for our players both semesters. Essentially, I can be with them 180 times during the school year for 90 minutes per day. We also train six and a half of the eight weeks during the summer before the first official day of practice (three more days a week of lifting plus a fourth dedicated to speed and quickness), which brings me up to 206 days with them. Add in the three weeks between the start of camp and the first day of school, and I have access to our football athletes 224 days a year.

This allows me to program a true year-round calendar not just for lifting volume and intensity but also periodization of our conditioning, speed, quickness, and jumping. We wave our volume and use a monthly count of reps for our six major movements to increase volume by no more than 10% per four-week cycle.

As we get into spring, practice volume drops and then picks back up until we begin a decline at the end of July, which continues through the end of the season. Then after a 3-4 week work capacity cycle that runs us through the holidays, our athletes graduate a level (most of the time) and begin the process over with a little bit higher volume total goal as they age. This continues until they graduate.

By the time our athletes are lifting on game day, they've moved well past the point of anatomical adaptation, says @YorkStrength17. #GameDayLifting Share on X

By the time we’re asking our athletes to lift on game day (when they reach the varsity level in football; we do things slightly different with other sports), they’ve moved well past the point of anatomical adaptation. They’re used to a higher level of volume and working hard and fast-paced. This is imperative in this process; our whole goal is to improve long-term performance.

However, we don’t want to put a younger athlete in a situation where they may get sore or stiff from a lift. Once again, this is where experience and the coach’s eye come in. If I’ve not seen our volleyball players for two weeks and we have a game, we adjust our programming to compensate. Once they are in the flow, we begin to adjust again. When programming for multiple sports as we do, we need to be very flexible and understand the culture and fluidity of every individual situation.

Variable Three: Timing Nutrition and Reality

Another advantage was our switch from classes at the end of the day to the start of the day. I have our football guys from about 8:50 am to 10 am on game day. That’s almost 10 hours before game time. This gives me lots of time to not only lift but also get our mobility and recovery work done.

On Friday, our football players warm up and then get a 25- to 30-minute lift in. We spend the last 15 minutes of class doing meditation and recovery breathing. For many, this turns into a nice catnap. Following this, our players receive a bagged lunch and milk to eat before they change and go off to class. This is an enormous positive variable and one big reason we feel comfortable doing what we do with them in the weight room. Counting lunch and the pre-game meal, our kids have three full meals between lifting and competition. We also give them a second meditation and recovery breathing session for 30-35 minutes after the pre-game meal and before we do any warm-up or activations pre-game.

Our players are fully recovered and not fatigued when we step on the field at 7:30 pm, says @YorkStrength17. #GameDayLifting Share on X

Although I started this post preaching no absolutes, I can say with certainty that our players are fully recovered and not fatigued when we step on the field at 7:30 pm (despite the claims of my Twitter adversary and his absolute doctrines). Our non-football athletes don’t have the same timing and often don’t have the same nutritional advantages. They also don’t have as much time for recovery protocols on game days. That’s the variable for them that causes a variation in programming for me as the strength coach. Each team is programmed differently based on these variables. Once again, no absolutes.

Variable Four: Coach’s Eye and Athlete Feedback

This is possibly the most vital and also the most difficult. Not only do I watch how our athletes move, but I also talk to them. My athletes have no problem letting me know how they feel. We’ve built trust, and they know I will adjust for them individually as needed. There are no absolutes while lifting on game day. I may have 90% of the team lifting while the other 10% do a modified program or even recovery and mobility, depending on the needs of each player.

#GameDayLifting has no absolutes. 90% of the team may lift while the other 10% do a modified program or recovery & mobility, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

I also have them fill out monitoring forms where they color in the areas of the body that are sore or fatigued. They can write any issue on the sheet, and we also use it to monitor sleep. When we tumble and warm up, I watch bar speed and how they move. If they seem fatigued, we have a conversation.

On Friday nights, I’m with them from 6:40 pm to the end of the game. During the game, I don’t have any real duties, so I’m able to watch our guys play. It’s my time to view them as a team and informally assess how they look. I’ve not seen anything yet that indicates we need to make any adjustments. The second I do, we’ll figure out what tweaks we need and will make them.

To go back to my Twitter debate with the other coach, he said his study proved that fatigue was a near-absolute. My study of our team proved there were no absolutes. I watched our players, I stretched our players, and I talked to our players, and they presented no residual fatigue. That’s not to say that another coach may find a different result. I can only speak for my “study,” which is very fluid and adjustable.

Showcasing Programming

I won’t spend much time on this topic. The in-season program we use this year will likely become an article of its own. Our general game-day program, though, looks like this:

8:50-9:00 Mobility and Athletic Development Warm-up

9:00-9:40 Lifting

• 1A Elevated Trap Bar Power Shrugs (timed 1 second per rep)
• 1B Jammers (using gymnastic rings and bars as homemade jammers)
• 2A Bench Press
• 2B Unilateral Bent Over Rows
• 2C Scap Retractions
• 3A Neck
• 3B Band Pull Aparts

9:40-9:55 Recovery Breathing (no lights, laying down, meditation music)

9:55-10:14 Get food, shower, and change

Intensity for Tier 1 is pretty simple. I preload the bars for the team, and we group by trap bar deadlift max: groups with guys over 450 use 140 pounds, 350 use 120 pounds, and under 350 use 100 pounds. We time them with the goal of one second per rep. Every time we drop volume, we add 5 pounds per group.

For the bench press, we work up to 70% for 6 reps, 80% for 5 reps, 85% for 4 reps, 88% for the rest with a bar speed focus. We program our pulls to be +2 above the volume of the bench press for the day. As you can see, the volume starts moderately low and moves to very low by the post-season; it has an inverse relationship with intensity moving through the season.

No Absolutes: Just Play the Cards that Are Dealt

The theme of this article is that there are few absolutes in our profession. There are only variables that need to be adjusted to produce the desired adaptations. Again, I focused on football, but the ideas apply to all our sports at YCHS. I have been and will continue to plug these variables for each program to help keep our athletes strong and healthy.

Game-day lifting could absolutely become detrimental to performance if we do not stay focused. A cookie-cutter program in which one size fits all is just a bad idea. The variables I presented here are not only not the only ones I see (just the ones I had room to write about) but also will not be the same as you may have. Would we do something different if we had them on Saturday? Very likely we would. How about only after school? Yes, there is no way we would do the same if we trained four hours or less before the game. Must you train on game day? Nope, not at all. Why? Because maybe your situation prevents you from doing so.

Bottom line is you do you. Just make sure it’s the most efficient and effective process you can do for your kids. Last but not least, please do not listen or put stock in people preaching that the way they believe is right is the only right. It’s probably pretty absolute that’s not the case. Have a growth mindset. Chase knowledge but always see it through the perspective of the variables of your situation and strive to present your athletes with whatever practices get the closest to meeting them where they are at, not where your opinion says they should be.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Strength and conditioning coaches at every level face challenges. While many of these challenges are similar across the board, from the professional ranks all the way down to high school and middle school, there are also challenges many of us do not share. Collective bargaining agreements in pro sports and strict “hours” rules in the NCAA can limit a strength coach’s contact time with athletes, while a high school strength coach may have 30–40 beginner level athletes training at one time, year-round.

Every strength and conditioning coach has a different reality that shapes their views on training and organization. I believe we can all agree that small group training and working one-on-one with athletes is a different animal than working with 30+ athletes in a strictly limited amount of time and space. The latter requires a strict adherence to basic training exercises and progressions. I get it. Basics can be boring. Repeated efforts at low-level progressions on the basics is boring. But, I ask, what is the goal?

This article will highlight many of the real day-to-day challenges faced in a high school weight room. As previously stated, everyone’s reality is different, and some of these challenges may resonate while others may not.

Are You Not Entertained?

Teenagers need to be engaged. One of the biggest challenges in the high school setting is keeping kids engaged in the training program. Creating “buy-in” takes many shapes. Take the baseball-only kid who has been told by everyone that bench pressing is bad. I could bore him with all my fancy information on how that is misguided and how there is no scientific proof that bench pressing will destroy his shoulder. Or I can create buy-in and let him do push-up variations and dumbbell bench presses. The kid instantly feels comfortable and is more likely to listen going forward.

In many sports where weight training has not been traditionally accepted, you run into kids who are only in the weight room because someone told them to be there. There is no intent on their part to physically improve, and they are merely following the herd. The sports where this is prevalent are also the sports where the head coach is usually out of sight, and where strength training is more of a suggestion than a requirement. These are the teams that cause the most frustration, so they usually get pushed down the scheduling pecking order. Athletes in these sports attend inconsistently at best. Because of that, their training program is very vanilla and has to remain basic.

While carnival tricks and unrealistic exercise variations are becoming popular, strength training should never be about entertainment, says @built_by_craig. Share on X

Carnival tricks and unrealistic exercise variations are becoming popular and seem to draw a lot of attention. I suppose those would easily create more buy-in for me. But strength training should never be about entertainment. Time is limited, and high school athletes don’t train six days per week. If coaches run out of things to do, then it’s necessary for them to reexamine their training process. It is universally accepted that athletes need to sprint, jump, throw, push, pull, squat, and hinge. Basic training options are endless if you focus on those areas.

Exercise Performance Over Sport Performance

You can make an argument that strength training at the high school level is less about performance and transfer to sport and more about doing exercises correctly. Required physical education at the grade school level is dying out. Free play is becoming a thing of the past. Consequently, movement efficiency suffers, postural imbalances manifest, and overall general athleticism diminishes.

It is imperative to have a qualified strength and conditioning coach in the school teaching correct movement. Look at a child’s posture while they sit for 45 minutes at a time in class for 7+ hours per day. It’s a recipe for dysfunction. Add in the proliferation of the year-round club and travel ball scene, and you have little time for organized strength training.

We have many three-sport athletes in our school. Kids are perpetually “in season” year-round. A cross country runner who also plays basketball is at a disadvantage if weight training ceases the last three weeks of the cross country season. Use it or lose it—that athlete falls way down the physical capacity spectrum and actually begins to lose strength. Then they are asked to go from zero to 100 once basketball starts. Is it really a surprise that kids in that scenario pull up lame the first week of practice?

Bouncing from season to season requires a unified strength program across every sport in your school. Our training programs are nearly identical across all sports. This allows a smooth transition from one in-season plan to the next.

Social media is ripe with some neat exercise variations that make for a great selfie opportunity. I always ask, “How did you get to that (progression)?” and “How do you do that with 40 kids (practicality)?” Rarely, if ever, do we see actual athletes performing these variations in training. We talk about low force outputs when training in unstable positions or on unstable surfaces. If you are training to improve stability, then that’s great. But when strength is the goal, I prefer to pick exercises that allow the most weight to be lifted safely.

While variation may be a strategy to keep kids engaged, it can get out of hand. We are not trying to win the exercise variety Olympics. We may never progress past basic exercises like a front squat. If you have an athlete-centered program, then I believe your program allows enough flexibility to accommodate all stages of advancement.

While variation may be a strategy to keep kids engaged, it can get out of hand. We are not trying to win the exercise variety Olympics, says @built_by_craig. Share on X

Some of my kids will train in an eight-week concentrated in-season block and then disappear for the rest of the year. Then—surprise!—they show up again for that eight-week in-season block. Their program remains the most basic of basics. That is a problem that needs to be fixed, but it happens quite often.

Be Like Dave Ramsey

When programming, I prefer to think like Dave Ramsey. His concept of the debt snowball—pouring resources into your smallest debt first—is to me an ideal way to approach training high school kids. After you pay off the smallest debt, you move your resources to the next debt and then the next, until you’re debt-free. This snowball effect allows you to increase variability in your training program because you knocked out your low-level debts first.

Pick your most basic debts (exercises) first, pour your resources (coaching/teaching) into mastering them, and then move your resources (progressions) to the next. Bodyweight Squat–>Goblet Squat–>Front Squat. Seems simple. Mastering an exercise like the bodyweight squat increases momentum into your next progression, and these can begin to stack upon each other.

Every Day Is an Evaluation

Screening every athlete in our program is not feasible. We discover orthopedic issues and real medical conditions through an athlete pre-participation physical. Bona fide movement screens, however, are not currently part of our program. Because of this, we have to make assumptions. These are not “grab-bag” assumptions. They are educated assumptions based on years of working with young athletes.

Need a quick “movement screen” that you can do in 20 seconds? Have your kids jog to one end of the gym and back. Be observant. What is the worst thing that can happen if you wrongly assume a kid should goblet squat instead of back squat first? This is a serious question.

Most, if not all, of the following should come as no surprise to most practitioners in the field. In general terms, most of the athletes I encounter possess the following:

• Low relative strength.
• Low work capacity.
• Pronounced knee valgus.
• Limited thoracic spine mobility.
• Limited low back/hamstring flexibility.
• Increased ankle eversion.
• Overloaded sport-specific skills.
• Anxiety about training.
• Poor communication skills.
• Poor nutrition and sleep habits.

Recognizing that these are common issues regardless of sport helps lay the foundation for all of our training programs. It is critical with the high school-age demographic that you place emphasis on improving exercise form. What is more important for a 14-year-old female soccer player who falls into all or most of the above? If athletes can improve in all of these areas, there is a good probability that sporting performance will improve as well.

A quick word on testing. Strength exercises are the easiest and most feasible testing means for me to employ. I can have coaches in the room to help. It’s simple. You either pressed the weight or you did not. I do not have a laser timing system and I have ONE Vertec. Accuracy with hand-timed sprints varies wildly when you have a number of coaches trying to help, so currently I do not test speed and agility. I would like to, but validity and reliability would come into question.

Our strength testing battery varies from sport to sport. Our teams and athletes who train the most consistently are able to have more testing opportunities versus teams that only train in small concentrated blocks throughout the school year. Kids struggling with push-ups and chin-ups are not a high strength testing priority.

Linear Periodization Is Not Dead

Progressive overload works. Athletes need hundreds of repetitions, quite possibly more, to become competent enough to be trusted. For many, attendance is intermittent, which requires a very vanilla loading approach. The truth of the matter is that most high school athletes will not reach elite status in the weight room or in their chosen sport.

Of course, there are a handful every year across all of our sports who move on and play at a higher level. It just so happens that those are also the kids who have devoted ample time to physical improvement, in conjunction with their technical and tactical training, through organized weight training and conditioning. Consistently increasing (and decreasing) training load week to week, month to month, and year to year will yield the highest results. Think of it as a slow cook.

Too many people think we have to fit four years of training into the first six weeks of freshman year, says @built_by_craig. Share on X

I like to use percentages as a guide for our older kids who actually have established a 1RM. All first-year athletes are in our development program for months before we approach an appreciable load on our main movements. It’s a guessing game initially with those kids, but who cares? Show me proficiency with a 15-pound training bar. Then 20 pounds. Then 25 pounds, and so on. Too many people think we have to fit four years of training into the first six weeks of freshman year because “I play baseball” or “my club coach needs me ready for spring.” No offense, but I do not work for your club team.

Logistics Can Hurt

Facility limitations are a factor when designing programs and selecting exercise progressions. We are the only Catholic high school in our county. Our school day is 7:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. We have kids who commute 30–40 minutes one way to get to our building every day. We currently do not offer a weight training or strength and conditioning class as part of our curriculum. That leaves for a tight window after school to get all of our first-year developmental kids, in-season sports, and off-season sports through their training programs.

After-school training sessions can be quite crowded because, if we ask a kid to wait two hours before they start training, there is a good chance that kid will just leave and go home. As a consequence, I have to try and get as many kids in at one time or risk losing them to go off and train elsewhere, usually unsupervised. Mom’s Orange Theory class does not count as training.

Safe and effective programming is critical, and it trumps anything that may be intrinsically rewarding to an athlete, says @built_by_craig. Share on X

Safe and effective programming is critical and trumps anything that may be intrinsically rewarding to an athlete. Before school is an option, but it is usually only reserved for teams with a strong attendance record and, quite frankly, a strong culture and commitment to the weight room. I am an advocate for sleep and recovery, but the reality of our situation requires some teams to have early morning training sessions. I have nothing but anecdotal evidence to support this, but thus far we have not created any Walking Dead zombies or witnessed a decrease in academic performance because of once-a-week early morning lifts.

We offer 16 sports and within many of those sports are separate freshman, junior varsity (JV), and varsity rosters. Of those 16, only five practice on our campus, so getting kids back and forth from practices to the building for training becomes a challenge. Some practices are a 20- to 30-minute drive from the main building. Asking parents to get their kid back to lifting at 6:30 p.m. for 30–45 minutes and then to commute 40 minutes home is a tough order.

I have had parents tell me point-blank that if their kid does not train right after school, then they won’t bring them back later. It’s a difficult situation with not many realistic solutions. Some coaches make it optional for the kid to return and lift after practice. Some kids do and some do not. Each sport is different. It’s not ideal, but it’s real.

We are fortunate to have two full-sized practice basketball/volleyball courts in addition to our main competition floor. This facility is great for large group warm-ups and speed and agility sessions. We can transition easily into the weight room from there. However, when lightning strikes, literally, the football team is moved inside to the practice gym and our warm-up and speed space is gone. The speed program takes a hit that day because of space.

On a one-off basis, you can live with it. You adapt. But there are too many reasons to list in this article why, on short notice, the training space can be eliminated, and we’re left with figuring out how to get 30 kids in and out before the next group. At times, the program becomes disjointed.

Compressed game schedules make in-season training very difficult. Our volleyball programs play 16 regular season games over the course of five weeks. Training time is reduced to once a week. The decision then has to be made to continue progressive weight training or focus on recovery.

Combine poor sleep and nutrition habits, and I am not sure that “recovery” sessions implemented by the strength coach are all that effective, especially when there is a practice immediately afterward. The argument can be made that the strength training will not be all that effective either. At least with the strength training, there is a stimulus present that can help drive some form of adaptation, even if it is not the most optimal.

Working with Coaches and Parents

While working at the college level, my interaction with parents was usually limited to recruiting visits, an occasional home game, and prolonged road trips when we were in the same place for a number of days for a game or tournament. We were dealing with young adults and, for the most part, parents did not try to speak and/or answer for their kids.

High school is different. At every school function there is interaction with parents. Our school hosts many fundraisers and social gatherings throughout the school year, and parents cannot wait to speak to me about their child, both good and bad. It is a delicate balancing act of being honest about kids with their parents without being disrespectful. I try to avoid most conversations about kids at these types of events to save myself the trouble of upsetting someone.

At this age, kids barely learn how to effectively communicate on their own behalf. Seriously, you just found out today that you are leaving after school for a 10-day family vacation? Some parents are great about advocating for their child to open the lines of communication, while other parents would rather handle it all themselves. As coaches, we also have to work with kids to develop their verbal communication skills. It goes beyond asking “how do you feel today?” I often tactfully answer parents’ emails and explain to them that their child needs to communicate directly with me.

The real challenge is helping parents to understand where their child is “right now” on the physical capacity spectrum. Unfortunately, that is a reality that is difficult for parents to grasp. If they have their minds already made up, no amount of information or advice you give them will sway their opinion. Tell a parent why their kid should take the club season off. The reaction will probably not be a positive one.

The “more is better” mindset is prevalent, and you end up with kids who show little to no improvement. The truth of the matter is that kids and parents will choose a club/travel team over a high school team nearly 100% of the time. We have kids miss varsity games to attend club team games, tournaments, and practices. It’s delicate, and since these are teenagers, their parents, rightfully, have the final say.

The truth of the matter is that kids and parents will choose a club/travel team over a high school team nearly 100% of the time, says @built_by_craig. Share on X

My experience working with high school sport coaches has been tremendous. They are glad to not have to worry about designing their own lifting and conditioning programs. A full-time strength coach is a luxury for any coach, as it takes an item off their plate that, truthfully, many of them are not comfortable with to start.

Education is a big piece of this, and it is definitely a challenge. In terms of training, coaches are like many consumers who read the latest fitness trends and equate that as being the same as an organized strength program. Old dogmas are prevalent and the “we did this when I played” mantra is alive and well. Apparently, all of our 500-pound squatters graduated before I got here.

Increased 1RMs are the easiest way for coaches to see improvement, so the difficulty is in showing how chasing numbers in the weight room does not necessarily transfer to sporting performance on the field. Sure, strength matters and we always want to improve it. It looks great during the lift-a-thon at the end of the summer. But improvements in range of motion and sprint ability are not sexy.

At the college level, it was pretty much “keep your coaches happy” or you’d either be reassigned or lose your job. It is not like that here. Our coaches are not coaching as their primary source of income, and there is definitely an increased level of respect for what I do from the coaches I work with. I work hard to keep them happy, and they are respectful of the job I do. I consider myself a resource for them and dialogue is easy.

A big difference is that, as the strength coach, I have to work with the good and the bad. A sport coach can take a bad player and set them on the bench or put them at the back of a drill and forget about them. In the weight room, I cannot hide players like that, and they deserve the same level of coaching I would give to an all-star.

Having administrative support is also critical to the success of the strength and conditioning program. Being a full-time strength coach at a school our size shows that our school administration and coaches are committed to kids first. My vision for the strength program aligns with our school mission. When in doubt, I can always go back to what our mission is as a school to re-center myself.

Don’t Worry – The Kids Are Alright

Working with teens is rewarding, fulfilling, and downright fun. It is also frustrating. All at the same time. Kids will skip. Kids will make poor decisions. Kids will lie. They will miss lifting for the most mundane of reasons. It has taken me a while to realize that doctor’s appointments, apparently, can only be made during one of the two scheduled training times kids have for the week. Oh, and that it is impossible to change the appointment time.

The reality of a quick four years of high school means that they do need some constants. Strength coaches can be a steady, constant presence in an otherwise chaotic and socially distorted world for teenagers. They need structure. They need steady. Kids need mentors. Kids are very malleable at this age, and we have to nurture the good and the bad. We all want to win. But what is winning if your kids have no respect for themselves or for others?

High school strength coaches can be a steady, constant presence in an otherwise chaotic and socially distorted world for teenagers, says @built_by_craig. Share on X

I believe our job is to provide an environment where they are set up to succeed and fail. A place for leadership development. A place for accountability. Without failure there is no growth.

The strength program should be no different than any other learning environment. We cannot complain about lack of leadership if we don’t do anything to teach kids how to lead. You would have to look far and wide to find a high school freshman who naturally displays what you want in leadership. We cannot complain about the lack of accountability if we don’t teach kids what that actually looks like. Working with young people is a huge responsibility, and it is on us to provide the tools and structure to help them succeed and surpass anything we could have imagined.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

As the winter season approaches, so does the emergence of various illnesses (i.e., upper and lower respiratory infections) that are associated with gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. When faced with this type of disorder, athletes usually seek care from their family or team physicians, who often prescribe an antibiotic for the treatment of these bacterial-related infections. A familiar prescribed medication is the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics, which includes medicines such as Ciprofloxacin and Levaquin. When there is a preference for the prescribed fluoroquinolones, it appears that it stems from their excellent gastrointestinal absorption, superior tissue penetration, and broad-spectrum activity.

At the time of the athlete’s pre-season team physical or when presenting with illness, a medical evaluation is essential, including the athlete’s prescribed medication history from present and past illnesses, injuries, surgeries, pathologies, etc. The athlete’s prescribed medication history is an integral part of their medical profile and should be discussed during the time of any medical assessment. This is especially true of the athlete who has been prescribed a medication from the fluoroquinolone classification of antibiotics.

An athlete’s prescribed medication history is an integral part of their medical profile and should be discussed during the time of any medical assessment. Share on X

The athletic team rehabilitation staff, strength and conditioning (S&C) professionals, and sport coaches should all be made aware of the potential risks of prescribed fluoroquinolones such as Cipro and Levaquin with respect to both cause and potentiation of tendinopathy, which is described as the presentation of pain when associated with tendon loading¹. In recent years, medical professionals have a much-improved awareness and appreciation of the concerning association between fluoroquinolones and tendinopathy. However, I’ve noticed that our physical therapy facilities continue to receive referrals with active patients and athletes taking this classification of medication for their illness. This is also true of some of the recreational and competitive athletes who we train at our athletic performance training center.

The Achilles Tendon

The gastrocnemius and soleus (calf) muscles converge to form one strong band of fibrous tissue that emanates as the Achilles tendon at the distal aspect of the calf. The tendon then inserts distally into the posterior aspect of the calcaneus (image 2). The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in the body. Its anatomical integrity is essential for not only activities of daily living (ADLs), but for ideal athletic performance as well. This tendon plays a critical role in the athlete’s elastic abilities, resulting in maximal propulsion (i.e., linear velocity, jump height, etc.), reactive competences, deceleration, and change of direction.

Twenty-five percent of all athletic injures, irrespective of the specific sport of participation or level of play, involve the foot and ankle.² Although ankle sprains are the most common foot and ankle classification injury, Achilles tendon ruptures represent a subset of athletic foot and ankle injuries that have potentially serious future implications with regard to the athlete’s future ability to return to play. It is important to note that an Achilles tendon rupture is a devastating injury (image 3), and it may often be career-ending.

It is important to note that an Achilles tendon rupture is a devastating injury, and it may often be career-ending. Share on X

For example, from 2009 to 2014, there were 80 reported Achilles tendon tears in National Football League (NFL) players with an overall return to play rate of 61.3%.³ It has also been reported that 79.4% of all NFL athletes return to play after an orthopedic surgical procedure; however, 72.5% return to play after an Achilles tendon repair, with an average recovery time of 375 + 130 days⁴. Those NFL athletes who returned to play had significant decreases in performance postoperative season 1 when compared with preinjury values.^3,4 This is not to insinuate that these Achilles tendon injuries were due to prescribed fluoroquinolones, but to express the significance of this type of injury.

Regardless of the sport of participation, the concern persists that Achilles tendon injuries may result in not only diminished athletic performance, but potential tragedy for an athlete’s career.

The past few decades have witnessed an increase in the number of Achilles tendon ruptures, which, unlike other tendon ruptures, are commonly associated with sports participation.^5–7 This increase in Achilles tendon injury has been attributed to an escalation in recreational sports participation by an increasingly sedentary population.⁵ However, elite athletes are also at increased risk of tendon rupture and tend to rupture their Achilles tendon earlier in life compared to non-elite athlete controls, due to the increased demand put on their tendons.⁶

Fluoroquinolones and the Achilles Tendon

Fluoroquinolones are an effective antibiotic that are well absorbed when taken orally and have an extended half-life; thus, dosing once or twice daily can be very effective.⁸ Fluoroquinolones display a high affinity for connective tissue, particularly in cartilage and bone. The first fluoroquinolone-associated tendinopathy was reported in 1983⁹, with many additional subsequent scientific studies demonstrating the concern for Achilles tendon pain and, at times, rupture. The most common presenting symptom of fluoroquinolone-associated tendinopathy is pain. This tendinopathy pain is usually of sudden onset and may be accompanied by acute signs of inflammation and swelling.¹⁰ Achilles tendon ruptures may be preceded by pain, but half of tendon ruptures have occurred without warning.¹¹

Scientific publications have also demonstrated the Achilles tendon is the principle tendon affected in 89.8% and 95% of cases of fluoroquinolone-related tendinopathy and rupture, respectively.^11,12 The high stress applied to this tendon due to its weight-bearing role is thought to be the foundation for the high prevalence of injury to this anatomical structure. Compared with the use of other prescribed antibiotics, the use of fluoroquinolones carries a 3.8-fold increased risk of Achilles tendinopathy.¹³ These related tendinopathy symptoms can be present within hours of the initiation of treatment and last up to six months after the cessation of treatment. Withdrawal from fluoroquinolones after the initial onset of tendon pain and inflammation does not immediately restore tendon integrity, as the affected tendon(s) can become symptomatic and still possibly rupture many months after the completion of treatment.

Compared with the use of other prescribed antibiotics, the use of fluoroquinolones carries a 3.8-fold increased risk of Achilles tendinopathy. Share on X

Over time, sustained scientific evidence continued to elevate the concern of the commonly administrated medications of the fluoroquinolone synthetic antibiotic drug class for increased risk of tendinopathy and possible tendon rupture, resulting in the eventual placement of a stated medication warning on the label itself (image 4).

Adverse Fluoroquinolone Consequences Are Not Limited to the Achilles Tendon

Although I have placed the emphasis of this discussion on the Achilles tendon, the adverse effects of fluoroquinolones have been reported in other tendons of the body as well. These include, but are not limited to:

• Peroneus brevis
• Patella tendon
• Adductor longus
• Rectus femoris
• Triceps brachii
• Finger and thumb flexor tendons
• Supraspinatus and subscapularis tendons of the rotator cuff
• Tendons of the hip

Recently, a published study investigated the effect of the use of fluoroquinolones in patients following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair of the shoulder.¹⁴ A total of 1,292 patients were prescribed fluoroquinolones within six months postoperative arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, and they were compared to 5,225 matched negative controls and 1,597 matched positive controls. The fluoroquinolones were prescribed to the 1,292 patients as follows:

• 442 patients within 2 months post-surgery.
• 433 patients within 2–4 months post-surgery.
• 417 patients within 4–6 months post-surgery.

The subsequent revision rate of rotator cuff surgery was found to be significantly higher in the patients prescribed fluoroquinolones within two months of surgery (6.1%) when compared to matched negative (2.2%) and positive controls (2.4%) (figure 1). There were no significant differences in the rate of revision arthroscopic rotator cuff repair when fluoroquinolones were prescribed to the patient at greater than two months post-surgery. The authors concluded that, “Early use of fluoroquinolones following rotator cuff repair was independently associated with significant increased rates of failure requiring revision rotator cuff repair.” 

Precautions in the Performance Enhancement Training and Rehabilitation of the Athlete Presenting with Illness

If the athlete has been prescribed a fluoroquinolone class of antibiotic for their present or past illness while participating in a performance enhancement training program for their sport of participation or during rehabilitation for a particular injury or pathology, there are apparent concerns that arise under these circumstances.

During the performance enhancement training of athletes, high levels of exercise intensity are to be avoided during weight room activity, plyometric training, and sprinting velocities. High-intensity and high-impact exercise performance correlates to high levels of tendon stress. Exercise execution also results in a tendon response, as the loading of tendons during vigorous athletic enhancement training and sport participation has been cited as the principal pathologic stimulus for tendinopathy¹. Special precautions are to be taken under these specific fluoroquinolone medication conditions to avoid the possible inducement of tendinopathy and perhaps even tendon rupture.

My anecdotal experiences have demonstrated that it doesn’t require relatively high levels of stress to induce a tendon injury when prescribed fluoroquinolones. Share on X

My anecdotal experiences have demonstrated that it does not require relatively high levels of stress to induce a tendon injury when prescribed fluoroquinolones. For example, one of my professional peers had completed a prescribed dosage of ciprofloxacin for an upper respiratory infection. Shortly after completing his medication, he was in the weight room performing the bench press exercise and, unfortunately, ruptured his pectoralis major tendon with a barbell weight of 185 pounds. He certainly didn’t perceive this barbell weight as high intensity, because the weight was programmed as a “warm-up” set intensity. However, this applied stress was undoubtedly ample enough to result in a tendon rupture.

Over the years, I have also rehabilitated recreational and competitive athletes diagnosed with fluoroquinolone-induced tendinopathy who, although they were cautioned to avoid aggressive exercise and/or physical activities, did so on their own accord and eventually experienced an Achilles tendon rupture.

Physical Rehabilitation for Tendinopathy

At the time of the acknowledgement (diagnosis) of the athlete’s tendinopathy, it is likely that physical rehabilitation will be recommended. There are rehabilitation professionals who approach the treatment of tendinopathy with an emphasis on eccentric exercise application. These rehabilitation treatment regimes in which the tendon is subjected to sustained physiologic load are popular in addressing tendinopathy¹⁵, as eccentric exercise performance has been reported to be 90% successful in active individuals or sport participation athletes with tendinopathy¹⁶, as well as the documented successful management of tendinopathy with the application of heavy loads¹⁷. Loading a tendon with eccentric exercise and/or heavy load may be appropriate for the treatment of tendinopathy, but it is not likely suitable for the care of those individuals with the distinct condition of fluoroquinolone-induced tendinopathy.

Loading a tendon with eccentric exercise and/or heavy load is likely not suitable for the care of athletes with the distinct condition of fluoroquinolone-induced tendinopathy. Share on X

Take Precautions When Prescribed Fluoroquinolones

The performance enhancement training of athletes, as well as the rehabilitation of various pathologies, often requires the appropriate application of aggressive high-intensity exercise execution. These applied intensities will not only stress a tendon, but they require a significant tendon response that is often reactive in nature upon the ground surface area. Athletes who present with illness or a history of illness should be medically assessed, including a review of all prescribed medications. The prescribing of fluoroquinolones may present the athlete with the risk of tendinopathy, as well as possible tendon rupture.

Special consideration and precautions should be taken during the application of the performance enhancement training and rehabilitation program design at the time of the prescribed fluoroquinolones and up to six months from the time of the athlete’s completion of the medication. When an athlete presents with winter illness, a discussion about possible alternative antibiotics excluded from the fluoroquinolone classification of medications is recommended.

References

1. Manfulli, N., Sharma, P., and Luscombe, K.L. “Achilles tendinopathy: aetiology and management.” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2004; 97(10):472–476.

2. Garrick, J.G. and Requa, R.K. “The epidemiology of foot and ankle injuries in sport.” Clinical Sports Medicine. 1988; 7(1):29–36.

3. Yang, J., Hodax, J.D., Machan, J.T., et al. “Factors Affecting Return to Play After Primary Achilles Tendon Tear: A Cohort of NFL Players.” Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2019; 7(3):1–8.

4. Mai, H.T., Alvarez, A.P., Freshman, R.D., et al. “The NFL Orthopaedic Surgery Outcomes Database (NO-SOD): The Effect of Common Orthopaedic Procedures on Football Careers.” American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2016; 44(9):2255–2262.

5. Möller, A., Astron, M., and Westlin, N. “Increasing incidence of Achilles tendon rupture.” Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica. 1996; 67(5):479–481.

6. Schepsis, A.A., Jones, H., and Haas, A.L. “Achilles tendon disorders in athletes.” American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2002; 30(2):287–305.

7. Kujala, U.M., Sarna, S., and Kaprio, J. “Cumulative incidence of Achilles tendon rupture and tendinopathy in male former elite athletes.” Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine. 2005; 15(3):133–135.

8. Oliphant, C.M. and Green, G.M. “Quinolones: a comprehensive review.” American Family Physician. 2002; 65(3):455–464.

9. Bailey, R.R., Kirk, J.A., and Peddie, B.A. “Norfloxacin-induced rheumatoid disease.” The New Zealand Medical Journal. 1983; 96(736):590.

10. Lewis, T.G. “A rare case of ciprofloxacin-induced bilateral rupture of the Achilles tendon.” BMJ Case Reports. 2009;2009 doi:10.1136/bcr.08.2008.0697.

11. Khaliq, Y. and Zhanel, G.G. “Fluoroquinolone-associated tendinopathy: a critical review of the literature.” Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2003; 36(11):1404–1410.

12. Akali, A.U. and Niranjan, N.S. “Management of bilateral Achilles tendon rupture associated with ciprofloxacin: a review and case presentation.” Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery. 2008; 61(7):830–834.

13. Chajed, P.N., Plit, M.L., Hopkins, P.M., Malouf, M.A., and Glanville, A.R. “Achilles tendon disease in lung transplant recipients: association with ciprofloxacin.” European Respiratory Journal. 2002; 19(3):469–471.

14. Cancienne, J.M., Brockmeier, S.F., Rodeo, S.A., Young, C., and Werner, B.C. “Early postoperative fluoroquinolone use is associated with an increased revision rate after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.” Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, 2017; 25(7): 2189–2195.

15. Khan, K.M. and Cook, J.L. “Overuse Tendon Injuries: Where Does the Pain Come From?” Sports Medicine and Arthroscopic Review. 2000; 8(1):17–31.

16. Fahstrom, M., Jonsson, P., Lorentzon, R., and Alfredson, H. “Chronic Achilles tendon pain treated with eccentric calf-muscle training.” Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. 2003; 11(5):327–333.

17. Beyer, R., Kongsgaard, M., Hougs Kjær, B., et al. “Heavy Slow Resistance Versus Eccentric Training as Treatment for Achilles Tendinopathy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” American Journal of Sports Medicine.2015; 43(7):1704–1711.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

There’s nothing like a well-oiled machine. When things run smoothly and the bumps are low, it seems like a more successful day. When you deal with clients, especially in a group setting, you’ll find that there are a number of questions that get asked repeatedly. After you answer the same question for the fifth time in 20 minutes, the light bulb should go off and the solution to that problem should be the next thing on your agenda. Imagine saving 10 minutes a day for the next 20 years because you solved that one little hiccup.

There are plenty of ways coaches try to save time and get more work done, but I’m not sure all of them make sense. Yes, of course you could pair your bench press with three other movements and save a few minutes, but what are you sacrificing by doing that? I can assure you that pairing a squat or deadlift with chin-ups and core drills will definitely save you some time, but it will also save you the hassle of becoming stronger. You can’t expect a great effort on a compound lift like a squat if you spend your rest period fatiguing the back and core muscles that will keep you rigid and locked in during the next squat set.

Instead of the conveyer belt quad sets that don’t help anyone, spend some time creating more efficient processes and use some life hacks to help you and your clients shave off a few minutes of nonsense every time they are in the gym. In this article, I will outline a few ways we at Exceed Sports Performance & Fitness try to combat the monotony of repetitive “hiccups.” Many of the concepts might not apply to you directly, but I would imagine the solutions could give you some ideas on how to disrupt your own problems in a similar way.

Save Yourself Hours with a Strip of Colored Tape

We have over 20 different types of bars in our facility, and, of course, they all have different weights. With bars ranging from 5 kilograms all the way to 82 pounds, I can fully understand why athletes get confused. Not only do they have trouble remembering how much a particular bar weighs, they often need confirmation on what bar is best suited for each movement.

A few years back, I decided it was time to solve this issue and create a better system. If you have experience with weight lifting, you know that each weight has a color associated with it. I piggybacked on that concept and created a bar tape system that instantly identifies a bar for its weight and function.

Use different colors of electrical tape to create a bar tape system that instantly identifies a bar for its weight and function, advises @ExceedSPF. Share on X

We bought a cheap pack of assorted electrical tape and added a small strip of colored tape to each barbell. Along with this, we created a small chart that we posted where the barbells are kept at different points across the gym that identifies the weight in kilograms and pounds and also gives the primary and secondary function of the bar. “Blue tape,” for example, lets the athlete know that the bar weighs 20 kilograms (44 pounds) and is primarily used for Olympic-style weightlifting and platform movements.

It’s not an easy task to describe or explain the different bars to people during a busy time of the day, but telling a client to “grab a blue-taped bar” is quick and rarely gets screwed up. If you have bars or other types of equipment with similar functions and appearance, do yourself a favor and make some identifying marks to save yourself a lot of time. This also makes it easier for the athletes or clients to navigate the facility.

Use Standard and Simple ‘Prep Series’

We have used the same general warm-up and field-work prep series for years now, and it has saved us countless amounts of time on a daily basis. Not only does this expedite the warm-up process, but it gives the athletes some skill sets to “own.” When we do our large group warm-ups, we have a specific movement list and order so that no one waits around between drills.

The athletes who have been around long enough could do this process in their sleep and that helps in a number of ways. First, it allows the coaches to talk with parents or prospective athletes who are just looking to see the process. Second, it holds the athletes accountable for the simple things and provides them with a system they can use off-site, at practice, at camps, or when they go off to college or pro teams. Having these systems down gives them confidence that they know how to get themselves prepared for lifts or field training. Lastly, it provides a set standard for movements that allow the athletes to improve and perfect their own patterns.

After our general prep, we use a consistent—though slightly varied at times—set of prep series to begin any field work. For deceleration day, we go through the same few drills before getting to the more advanced movements. Our main objective changes fairly regularly, but the prep drills do not. Doing the remedial work first allows athletes to “get their bearings” and reminds the body where and how to put that foot on the ground so when we start cranking it up, they have a good chance for success.

Similarly, in the weight room, for example, we try to work with the athletes to find an individualized but consistent “warm-up” protocol for their main lifts. Bench press, squat, or clean warm-up sets should be the same each lift for a number of reasons. It helps eliminate the “what do I do next” time lags, and, more importantly, it gives them a comparable “feel it out” to each lift. After enough time under the bar, they’ll use their warm-up sets to gauge where they’re at for the day. That biofeedback disappears when they have a different warm-up every time they’re in the gym.

If every time you train you have different flows, different movements, and complicated drills, you’ll waste time trying to explain everything and do a disservice to the athlete’s adaption. Share on X

If every time you train you have different flows, different movements, and complicated drills, you will not only waste a lot of time trying to explain everything, but you’ll be providing a disservice to the athlete’s adaption. It’s hard to improve without consistent practice and repetition.

Do the Math for Them

Unfortunately, the Imperial system of units makes understanding kilograms impossible for some clients. It just doesn’t click. We use pounds for everything except our weightlifting platforms, so that can be confusing as well. Although converting kilograms to pounds is a waste of time if you will be using kilograms the following week, and in the programs to come, it is still a priority for a large majority of athletes to convert the numbers. If you’ve used kilograms enough, you start to understand the conversion. Even memorizing your main weights can be helpful, but we wanted to make it a little easier for everyone.

I created a kilogram conversion chart equipped with color-coded diagrams. If you have “a red and a blue plate” (110 kg) on a men’s bar, you can simply find that picture on the poster and it will tell you the weight in both kilograms and pounds. We have a women’s side and a men’s side (color-coded yellow and blue, respectively) to take it one step further, and I recently added a section that labels the “change plates” as well.

Posters and wall graphics can be incredible teaching tools and time savers. Some clients don’t care about learning a thing; they just want mindless training. However, the vast majority like to see the why and how of what goes on, and something as simple as a 16” x 20” poster full of colored boxes can really make a difference for both the coach and client.

Keep Athletes Honest and Free Yourself Up with Interval Clocks

We use two clocks that run constantly. One runs concurrent with the actual time so that kids can use it to keep themselves on pace to finish their programs if they have to catch a ride home. It doesn’t feature an hour mark, just the minutes and seconds. This makes it perfect for rest periods, as well as timing certain drills like long isometric work, tendon training, or maybe their energy system work to finish.

The second clock we have been using more recently is a programmable interval clock by Swimnerd. It has a few features that make it a perfect addition to many school/team programs or facilities like ours. Of course, the most important part of an interval clock is the ability to program work and rest periods. It runs on a mobile app and can be set up to “practice” in a variety of different ways.

Something we use a lot of are 10-second/20-second intervals for many of our athletes in early phases of their program. The clock makes it easy to implement these, and the coach can focus on the movement or coaching rather than staring at the clock. The numbers are big and bright green and loud enough for everyone to see and hear from a good distance. Most athletes are good about putting in the effort to finish each rep on time, but the audible beep is an added incentive as well as a real indicator of pass or fail performances.

Besides its mobile app, the Swimnerd clock has a unique waterproof feature that allows you to bring it outside even in poor weather, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

Besides the functionality of the mobile app, what sets the clock apart from most of Swimnerd’s competitors are the unique “swim features” it brings to the table. The fact that it was intended for swimming pools means it has a unique waterproof feature that allows you to bring it outside even in poor weather, which we get a lot of in the Northeast. You can literally hose this thing down and it’ll run without an issue.

On top of that, an electrical cord laid across a pool deck would cause some concern, as you might imagine. The Swimnerd clock can run on a rechargeable battery so that you can take it outside or far from any outlets. We have an exterior turf at our facility, and, in certain months, the athletes do much of their interval and conditioning work outside. This clock is a game changer and saves us the hassle of making the kids grab their phones or stopwatches.

Replace the Belt for Group Sprint Training

We have experimented with countless tools and equipment types in regard to resisted running. For more advanced clients and some of our higher-level athletes, we are fortunate enough to have a Vertimax Raptor on the wall, but for the majority of high school and college athletes, we use chains attached to belts by a long strap. It has always been a tricky thing to choose the right belt. The type and function of the belt are hard enough to get right, but it can be a nightmare to share belts between large groups of athletes, logistically speaking. Different sized athletes have trouble sharing the belts, and if you’ve ever tried to run with a loose belt, you know how annoying it can be. We usually have 3–5 different belts of varying sizes set up, but they don’t always match up to our clientele.

Every problem needs a solution, so we recently began experimenting with some alternative methods and ditched the belt. We began replacing the belt with the strap looped through itself to create a noose-like knot that can tighten and loosen quickly, and it fits everyone. Now when athlete 1 finishes their sprint, they can just open the loop and drop the belt, and athlete 2 can simply step in, cinch it up around their waist, and go. It has not only saved time messing with buckles and sizing complications, it also seems to be a more comfortable and “tight” feeling fit for many of the athletes. You luck out when your time-saving solutions double as better options.

Choose and Implement Your Technology Astutely

Using technology can be a blessing and a curse. If you’re lucky enough to have any, it can really make a world of difference in your programming and testing processes. We have three “tech-based” jump tools that have been invaluable to our facility. However, it’s not always easy to implement these tools in larger group settings. The Hawkin Dynamics force plates and Ergotest contact grid are two amazing pieces of equipment, and we’d have trouble replacing either at this point. We use our force plates with dozens of athletes per day, and the contact grid is a staple in all of our rehab and elite training protocols.

But during our larger high school groups, we have to rely on our Just Jump mats to handle a lot of the volume. The mats have a few settings we use regularly. However, different athletes are on different programs and use different settings all day long. One way to combat the issue is to buy multiple mats and keep each one for a different setting. Having two or three jump mats will allow droves of athletes to roll through their programs without having to waste time switching back and forth between “jump one time” and “jump four times” over and over.

If possible, I’d recommend having duplicates of all of your important tools that get used frequently, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

If you’re lucky enough to have three jump mats or multiple tools in your arsenal, a simple and effective way of providing efficiency is designating each piece for a certain role. This concept applies to most equipment throughout the gym. When at all possible, I’d recommend having duplicates of all your important tools that get used frequently or you’d like to program across a broader spectrum of clientele.

Use Those Walls Wisely

I’ve already listed a couple posters (bar tape and weightlifting conversion charts) that have helped us save some time and answer repetitive questions, but we have taken our poster game to new heights in the past year. We created a massive template to help fill in some gaps, educate some interested clients, and give a clear direction to some of our progressions and systems. I’d imagine that our system won’t work for everyone, but you could create your own template to allow people a little autonomy and freedom to make some “informed” decisions when appropriate.

We have a template with specific programs based on the focus of the day or phase (speed/power, hypertrophy, so on), as well as exercise “plug and play” lists with some progressions and alternatives for problematic or provocative movements for certain people. Another poster has a number of complexes and medleys that are used by our adults or for GPP phases or extra work. We have an energy system poster that breaks down different protocols that focus on more specific energy systems and gives athletes ranges for their work and rest periods, as well as suggestions on how many reps/sets to do. We have a few other posters, such as a specific progression of “shuttles” we created a few years back. Lastly, we have a poster with warm-ups, prep series, mobility/flexibility drills, and core patterns that people can use to fill in the blanks. For more intermediate or advanced clients, I can write “push-up pattern” on the program, and they will be able to select an option from that section of the poster.

One of the times these posters are most useful is when off-site college or pro athlete clients come back for break—maybe only for a day or two—and need something to do. We don’t have time to write out an entire program, but we do have a poster with 40 “workout” options that can be modified to fit the needs of the athlete in seconds. “Do ‘Strength/Power #4’ and do 6×3 for your main lift” is an example of how quick and painless that logjam can be fixed.

Not only does this system help the clients, but it also allows the coaches to spend time creating and fine-tuning their systems. As you write and create, you’ll recognize things that work well or don’t work well, and it can be a good learning experience. It will also provide your assistants or interns with a deeper look into how you program and how you categorize and prioritize movements. Last, but not least, it can spark your memory and remind you of the forgotten drills of yesteryear.

Reward Your Clients with Responsibility

Right from the start, I set up a promotion system with T-shirts (colors) signifying levels of achievement or recognition. It is something I adopted from another gym at which I previously worked, but I changed the criteria to promote effort and achievement rather than how many times an athlete shows up and goes through the motions. It usually takes more than a year or two to reach the second level, Orange (and many more years to get to the third and fourth levels), but in this time the athlete will have had to earn their stripes and prove that they have an understanding of the system and have gained some independence. They’ll need to show proficiency in the basics and intermediate movements, as well as the capability of leading some warm-ups or helping younger and newer clients on occasion.

Not a day goes by where someone doesn’t ask, “When will I get my orange shirt?” or, even more absurd, “When will I get my black shirt?” We have four total levels, with black being the pinnacle, and we do not give any of our shirts out easily—just ask our clients. With this system, we have many athletes buying in and pursuing something other than just a few pounds on a lift or any other arbitrary milestone. It helps us create an environment where people want to show that they take their training seriously.

In terms of creating a “life hack,” it also denotes a hierarchy that allows us to rely on our promoted athletes to handle some of the remedial tasks, like answering a question about a particular movement or explaining how to turn on the jump mats or how much a bar weighs. (Although the answer to that question, as we all know now, should be, “refer to the poster please.”) These tasks are clearly easy enough for anyone who has spent more than a year in the gym consistently, and when I need to, I ask them to take on those small jobs.

Make It Work for You

Whether or not you use kilogram plates or have enough bars to create an issue of figuring out which one to use, there are many ways you can “hack” your facility to save everybody time and effort. Take a stroll through your facility and carry around a notepad for a day, jotting down the bottlenecks and logjams that pop up. That, to me, is all the incentive you’d need to try and create a solution to the problem.

Take a stroll through your facility and jot down the bottlenecks and logjams that pop up. This is all the incentive you should need to try to find a solution to the problem, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

Hopefully, you can pull something useful out of these eight solutions we have found invaluable to our daily life in the trenches. I’m always looking for a better process or solution to even the most menial tasks. This list will evolve and grow larger over time. Feel free to help me out and send over your best life hacks that I may have missed.

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By Bob Alejo and Dr. Jordan Moon

I’m surprised, but not that much, that there is seldom any rhetoric or higher level of discussion about body composition. Granted, it’s all about sports performance results. But what about BETTER sports performance results? We can gain some insights on this by learning about norms. There’s a good amount of research on athletes that includes at least body weight, regardless of the purpose of the study. For some studies, body weight is crucial when scaling for strength and power. And, as we read more about running speed, we realize that mass is important to speed. Certainly, the engine producing that speed is important as well.

There are plenty of online photos showing “before” and “after” for athletes, as freshmen and then later, yet almost nothing showing “before” and “after” for lean mass, fat mass, and body composition changes. There is no argument that those physical changes could result in more lean tissue loss than necessary, which would certainly affect the efficacy of strength and power acquisition. Not taking body composition measurements during these transformations means that it is an all-out guess for caloric addition/restriction or protein intake. In addition to how much an athlete can squat, it would be great for practitioners to show body-weight-to-strength ratios, along with body composition information. Now that would be comprehensive! I know other coaches would love to see that.

Don’t kid yourself: Body weight and body composition matter! Here, as a follow-up to my last conversation on testing methods with body composition expert Dr. Jordan Moon, I ask him more questions about body composition for athletes.

Bob Alejo: What’s the general relationship between body composition and performance?

Does it even matter? Some would argue that it’s all about results, but that’s certainly a myopic view. How you obtain the information is probably more important than the results, of course. I’ve heard BOD POD testing horror stories: not testing for hydration, taking the test at different times of the day over a period, taking the test less than 24 hours after a hard workout. Sure, that’s no fault of the BOD POD—it just gives you a number—but, under those circumstances, you’d be better off getting your body composition guessed at the State Fair booth!

How often do you test? Both the method used and tracking over time can mean the difference between accurate and not accurate, within reasonable limitations. Most methods already have a standard of error, so there’s no use making it worse or making it so taking some tests overall is a waste of time. And remember, body comp is not just about performance, it’s about health!

Dr. Jordan Moon: In general, the simple answer is that “body composition is an apparent function of the physical task,” and the closer an athlete’s body composition is to the ideal body composition for their sport, the better their performance will be.¹

In general, the closer an athlete’s body composition is to the ideal body composition for their sport, the better their performance will be, says @DrJordanMoon. Share on X

Specifically, by looking at body composition differences between types of elite athletes, we can get an idea of optimal fat, lean, and total mass values for a sport and position. With more athletes now being measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), we can build a bigger database for professional, collegiate, and even youth athletes for all types of sports. Another advantage of looking at DXA data for optimal body composition comparisons is that you can look at lean and fat mass values of the arms, legs, and trunk, in addition to whole body. This allows for some unique comparisons between athletes. However, DXA manufacturers have not integrated athlete data or the capacity to compare measurements to other athletes into their software or reports. This limits the ability of athletes, coaches, trainers, nutritionists, physicians, etc., to make actionable decisions that help improve performance.

Fortunately, there are some new software programs/apps gaining traction that allow for the comparison of DXA data to other athletes. One such program is FitTrace, which allows you to:

• Track and report body composition over time.
• Provide access to results for nutritionists, trainers, coaches, etc.
• Compare with professional athletes by sport and position.

However, not all athletes or programs may have access to a DXA machine, which makes detailed and accurate comparisons to elite or pro athletes more complicated. There are some books and published articles that have data from elite athletes using other techniques such as underwater weighing, anthropometrics/skinfolds, and the BOD POD. However, the use of data from one method, such as underwater weighing, compared to another method, such as skinfolds, adds additional errors when comparing athlete data, and it may not allow you to make actionable decisions with confidence.

Another focus of body composition and performance should be on tracking changes over time. This concept is more accessible, as the only requirement is a reliable and valid measurement tool. In theory, as long as your method gives you correct measurements, you can use that data to determine potential improvements or decrements in performance. More importantly, tracking changes in fat, lean, and body mass allows for a quantifiable assessment of the success of a training and/or nutritional intervention. For example, if an athlete needs to lose body fat while preserving as much lean mass as possible, and they are following a strict off-season training and nutritional program, having accurate fat and lean mass measurements before and after the off-season is fundamental when assessing the athlete’s adherence to the program and/or the quality of the program.

Tracking changes in fat, lean, and body mass allows for a quantifiable assessment of the success of a training and/or nutritional intervention, says @DrJordanMoon. Share on X

Researchers and sports scientists are now focusing on identifying other relationships between performance and body composition. Some areas of current research on athletes and performance are directed toward body composition and injury risk, lean and body mass imbalances, lean/muscle mass loss after an injury, return to play after an injury, and optimal strength-to-lean-mass ratios for specific muscles and sports movements (bat swing, jumping, sprinting, etc.). The next several years are going to be very exciting. We will start to get a better picture of the direct relationship body composition has to overall performance and health in athletes.

Beyond the general idea of body composition being a function of a physical task, we are also becoming more aware of how specific body composition values, such as fat and lean mass, play a role in both performance and health. It’s intuitive that an offensive lineman requires a greater amount of body fat compared to other positions, because their task is to block heavy defensive linemen. The heavier they are, the easier it is to stop a defender, but there is also a need for speed and strength. Knowing the correct fat-to-lean ratio for optimal performance and strength is valuable here and also somewhat intuitive, but do you know the ideal ratios? You know you want a heavy, fast, and powerful lineman, but did you know offensive linemen in the NFL have 2.5 times more lean mass than fat mass? Compare this to wide receivers or defensive backs, who have a ratio of around seven.

Another well-documented finding is that the performance of speed and jumping athletes is directly related to their power-to-mass ratio. Those who can generate the most muscle power at the lightest body weight can run faster and jump higher, but this is also relatively intuitive. If two athletes have the same muscle power and one is slightly lighter, then that athlete can jump higher and run faster because they are moving less total body mass. The impact of body composition here is not only optimizing fat content to be low, but also optimizing muscle mass to be powerful without being too large, which can be altered by specific training and nutrition programs.

For distance runners, research has found that skinfold (fat) thicknesses in the lower body can predict 1,500-meter, 10,000-meter, and marathon times. Those with more lower body fat don’t run as fast and finish slower. Like sprinting and jumping athletes, distance runners can benefit from having optimal body-fat-to-lean-mass ratios (% fat). Also, when comparing the most elite sprinters and distance runners, there doesn’t appear to be any difference between fat values, which indicates that, at the elite level, all athletes for particular sports have almost identical body composition values.

What about body composition and injuries? Having the lowest possible body fat/weight for athletes who sprint, jump, or run moderate-to-long distances does appear to enhance performance, but there may also be a risk for more injuries and overall health concerns. Researchers have found that distance runners who have more muscle mass tend to have fewer stress fractures. Distances runners who have more muscle and less fat have better performances and are less likely to have fractures compared to similar runners with the same or lower body weight, but with less muscle and more fat. So, just having low body fat and a low body weight is not enough for runners to reduce injuries and perform at their best. Understanding the optimal lean mass and fat mass for the upper and lower body, as well as total body mass, is fundamental for the success of any training and nutritional programs for not only runners, but all athletes.

Understanding the optimal lean and fat mass for the upper and lower body, as well as total body mass, is vital for the success of any training & nutritional programs, says @DrJordanMoon. Share on X

Finally, there are several health-related and performance concerns for having too little body fat. This is a highly complicated area with several factors all impacting each other. In summary, lower-than-optimal body fat values can have just some of the following effects on an athlete:

• Unhealthy eating habits and malnutrition.
• Loss of energy and focus.
• Increased stress and impaired immune system.
• Abnormal hormone levels.
• Reproduction system problems (females).
• Reduced bone health and increased fracture risk (lower bone mass/density).

All of the above can significantly impact both performance and health, and they are specifically a concern for weight-sensitive athletes in sports such as:

• Gravitational: running, jumping, skiing, cycling, climbing, etc.
• Weight Class: wrestling, judo, boxing, martial arts, powerlifting, jockey, etc.
• Aesthetically Judged: bodybuilding, figure skating, diving, cheerleading, etc.

Body composition variables, such as lean and fat mass, and their relationship to athletic performance is highly dependent on the specific athlete, sport, and position, but also the athlete’s competition level/ability (recreational, collegiate, professional, etc.).

Bob Alejo: Should performance focus on body weight, fat loss, lean tissue gain, or body composition?

Dr. Jordan Moon: This is where research and application separate, and this is currently the largest gap in the field of body composition and performance. There are hundreds of great research papers and a recently published body composition book focusing on health and performance in exercise and sport. However, this information is not easily accessible for most athletes, coaches, trainers, sports scientists, nutritionists, physicians, etc.

Practitioners often look at body composition as something easy to do and utilize because of the simplicity and accessibility of measurements. However, over the last 15+ years, I have observed a significant lack of understanding and confidence from most practitioners when it comes to interpreting body composition data and using it in programming. What I see most often are practitioners simply looking at two variables, % fat and fat-free mass, and tracking changes to see if an athlete is losing fat, gaining muscle, losing muscle, or gaining fat.

Even with this basic approach, there are many practitioners who are still not sure what to do. However, this isn’t really their fault, as practitioners in the field don’t have the time or training to read hundreds of body composition research papers or interpret graduate-school-level textbooks to find actionable information that they can use for their athletes. So, what are their options, other than contacting researchers who work in this area?

As of now, the answer is to learn more about body composition, read the research and the books, and find the content you need to make informed decisions about your data and athletes. It’s a double-edged sword type of situation. There are very few expert practitioners who work with athletes and have a great handle on body composition and application. Most experts are researchers. There will be a good deal of work initially to understand everything, but if someone can solidify themselves as a true expert in the field by using scientifically supported interpretations of accurate data with developed protocols for training and nutritional interventions for athletes, they will be the leading edge of the sword, while carving a unique and needed position for themselves and others who follow.

Track body composition data often and with intention. Don’t just measure body composition because you can. Do it with purpose, says @DrJordanMoon. Share on X

As I stated earlier, there are some programs and apps that attempt to bridge this gap, but the actual creation and implementation of a program requires knowledge of body composition, as well as exercise training and/or nutrition. My simplest suggestion of what to focus on for performance and body composition includes the areas discussed earlier:

• • Compare your athletes to other athletes using published data and the same method used in the publication (article or book).1.
    • Create a training/nutritional program that will support a change in body composition to more closely match others in their sport or those who are the next level up (college, pro, etc.).

    2.

    Use caution when working with children and adolescents—that’s another discussion completely.

3. Utilize as much information as possible to compare. If you can get a DXA measurement, you can look at segmented (arms, legs, upper body, lower body) ratios of lean, fat, bone, and total mass, as well as utilize software/apps for easy comparisons, creating reports and graphs, and data management and sharing.

• • — Anthropometric measurements (skinfolds and circumferences) are also highly available for athlete comparison and you can take them from multiple locations around the body.

 

• — Limited data is available for athletes to compare themselves to other athletes using bioimpedance data, as well as having a wide range of machines and equations, making athlete comparisons questionable at best.

• • Track body composition data often and with intention. Don’t just measure body composition because you can. Do it with a purpose.1.
    • Sport-/athlete-specific transitional periods (pre-season, in-season, postseason, etc.).
      • — For example: Right before a season, mid-season, and right after a season.
        • • This can help identify any loss of lean or fat mass, typically observed due to highly competitive and energy-demanding activity. You can implement appropriate training and nutritional interventions to offset losses in lean and fat mass that may hinder performance.

     

2. You should measure at-risk athletes for low body fat often and interpret and share their results with caution.

• • — This is a highly sensitive subject for many athletes and using the wrong language and/or telling someone their results can increase their chances of developing an eating disorder and/or body image issue.

 

• — The lower limits for % fat depend on the methods used (DXA, skinfold, etc.), but the general acceptable lower limits are:
  • • Men: 1–9% fat
    • Women: 10–18% fatA.
      This is highly dependent on multiple factors and specific to each individual. You may have one athlete on the same team at the lower end and have no issues, while another athlete is closer to the higher end with multiple symptoms.

Bob Alejo: Can skinfolds be an accurate measure of fat loss or lean tissue gain? Personally, based on convenience and the error of measurements with poor protocols with other methods, I prefer skinfolds. At the least, I support performing skinfolds and perhaps one other test for sure. Changes in millimeters of thickness (mm) from test to test say something. Of course, good protocol makes it easier to discern what you are seeing.

Dr. Jordan Moon: The answer is yes and no. It all depends on the person conducting the measurements, the equipment, and the preparation of the athlete. Below are some guidelines when performing skinfold measurements:

• Use a quality caliper that is valid and reliable (calibrated and checked for calibration regularly).
• Use the same calipers every time for the same athlete.
• Measure the correct and exact same locations each time with the same approved technique.
  — This requires a trained technician (more on this later).

• Measure the athlete at the same time of day in the same conditions (before training, preferably).
  — If using body weight for any calculations (like fat-free mass), perform measurements with the athlete fasted in the morning and normally hydrated.

The biggest factor when it comes to getting accurate measurements for skinfolds is the training and quality of the person taking the measurements. The most comprehensive skinfold training is through The International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry. However, the training is expensive, with limited availability. ISAK has a great training program if you are looking to compare your athletes to other athletes around the world and/or want to learn how to take circumferences and other anthropometric measurements in addition to skinfold measurements. However, you may not need it if you simply want to track changes in fat and lean mass. Using the ACSM standards is also sufficient.

The other issue when using skinfolds for tracking lean and fat changes is the equation used to convert skinfold thicknesses to fat and lean tissues. I like using raw skinfold data when tracking changes because the units are raw measurements in millimeters. There are athlete-specific equations if you are looking to compare your athletes to others, but you would need to find the paper or book with the normative data and see what equation you should use to compare athletes.

However, when it comes to tracking changes, I always recommend the Jackson and Pollock three- or seven-site equations^2,3 because they don’t use anything other than age and skinfold thickness to calculate % fat, so changes in body weight due to hydration do not impact the % fat values, but they will alter fat-free and fat mass values. Thus, if you are interested in fat mass and fat-free/lean mass, you need to understand body weight variability and try to control for normal hydration.

I recommend this link, which calculates the data for you using the Jackson and Pollock equations. However, you will need to follow the ACSM guidelines and know what sites to measure if you only measure three. I always recommend measuring all seven because you can look at regional changes in fat thickness while having more comprehensive calculations of % fat and other variables. Seven sites may represent a more accurate overall change in fat compared to just three.

Body water, which is the largest and most variable component in your body, often causes changes in body mass and lean mass throughout the day and from day to day, says @DrJordanMoon. Share on X

Finally, skinfold measurements only represent subcutaneous fat, which is the fat under your skin that accounts for most of your total body fat. Lean tissue changes are not directly measured; instead, they are indirectly measured by subtracting your fat mass from your body weight. Therefore, detecting changes in fat may be more accurate than changes in lean mass. Lean mass also includes body water, which is the largest and most variable component in your body and often causes changes in body mass and lean mass throughout the day and from day to day.

Bob Alejo: Is there any value in using the body mass index (BMI) for athletes? Look, sometimes folks don’t fit in the BOD POD, and they can’t be skinfold tested. So, BMI might be your next choice. Keep in mind that you should most likely evaluate other measures (speed, strength, power, team/position athletic measure comparisons) because, as you will see, BMI is not what it’s cracked up to be for athletes.

Dr. Jordan Moon: Since BMI is just the mathematical expression of the proportions of height and weight, it doesn’t tell us anything about actual body composition, such as fat or lean tissue masses. It is IMPOSSIBLE for you to estimate fat or muscle mass accurately using only height and weight. The problem is that BMI is used to classify “normal” people as being underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. This is an issue for many athletes because they typically have larger lean mass values, which increases their total mass and, consequently, their BMI.

BMI is just the mathematical expression of the proportions of height and weight—it doesn’t tell us anything about actual body composition, such as fat or lean tissue masses, says @DrJordanMoon. Share on X

For example, all pro bodybuilders are considered obese, or even morbidly obese, due to their increased muscle mass, even though they have around 5% body fat when competing. Nearly all strength and power athletes have elevated BMIs that classify them as being overweight or obese because they have more lean mass than the “normal” population. Therefore, you should never use BMI to classify men or women who have greater than average muscle mass as being “overweight” or “obese” in terms of excessive body fat. In other words, if someone has ever regularly strength-trained, the BMI classification as the World Health Organization (WHO) defines it (below) is no longer applicable.

In agreement with this concept, the WHO states: “BMI values are age-independent and the same for both sexes. However, BMI may not correspond to the same degree of fatness in different populations due, in part, to different body proportions.”

Theoretically, BMI should represent body fatness, but only in nonathletes. Numerous research studies have proven this point by showing that BMI is a poor predictor of actual fat in athletes. So, is there any use for BMI then?

The WHO claims that: “The health risks associated with increasing BMI are continuous, and the interpretation of the BMI grading in relation to risk may differ for different populations.” Meaning, we still don’t know how BMI relates to health, but a higher BMI could increase health risks. Are athletes with higher BMI due to more lean mass (not fat) at a greater risk for poor health and disease? Is it not just about too much fat, but too much total mass, regardless of the tissue?

Research actually shows that the lowest (all-cause) risk of mortality (death) rate is in people with a BMI between 25 and 30, who are considered “overweight.” Research also indicates that cardiovascular disease risks are lower in those with a BMI between 25 and 30.

Research has even shown that a little extra fat is helpful. A case in point: During a fall, extra fat offers more protection for your bones. Additionally, research has found that individuals with a little more fat may heal faster after surgery and are less likely to get infections. An article in 2010 found that when controlling for health behaviors and sociodemographic factors, both overweight and Class I obesity reduced the relative risks (RRs) of death compared to a BMI of 18.5–24.9. There are many more articles that support these findings, but also studies that suggest an increase in mortality in people with a BMI under 20 and over 24.9.

So, what does this mean for athletes? For those with BMIs 20–29.9, we can’t really make a definitive conclusion about health and mortality since the data is not in agreement even in a “normal” population (nonathletes). So, it’s safe to say that athletes who have slightly more lean mass than normal people with BMIs in the “overweight” range shouldn’t worry about increased health risks, including cardiovascular disease. Still, research suggests that health risks associated with BMIs are nonlinear, meaning that deaths occur much more rapidly at both lower and higher BMIs (under 20 and over 30), implying a relationship between health and mortality and being obese and underweight. As stated earlier, many strength and power athletes have a BMI over 30.

However, there isn’t enough evidence or data using accurate body fat measurements along with mortality and health data in a normal or athlete population to determine if a BMI over 25, or over 30, increases someone’s health risk, regardless of their BMI being high due to either muscle or fat. Simply put, too much fat or too much muscle could lead to a greater health risk, but we really don’t know for sure because we don’t have accurate body fat and lean mass data along with health and mortality data in any population. With that said, there are known risks of being large, regardless of the mass being fat or muscle.

Sleep apnea, specifically “obstructive sleep apnea,” is a potentially fatal condition that can be caused by too much upper body mass (fat or lean). The larger mass in the neck and trunk puts more pressure on the airway and lungs, and it can prevent big athletes from getting a good night’s sleep and the oxygen their body needs to recover. Other symptoms can include fatigue, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular issues, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, medication and surgery complications, etc. Fortunately, larger athletes can reduce sleep apnea (and related symptoms) by using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.

Several, if not all, elite strongman athletes use CPAP machines. These athletes typically weigh well over 300 pounds, with many weighing in at 400 pounds or more. Even at a height of 6’9”, someone weighing 400 pounds will have a BMI of 43, which is Class III obesity, regardless of their body fat. BMI alone, in this case, could be useful for identifying athletes who may benefit from using a CPAP at night. I suggest using a BMI of >30 as a good starting point to begin watching for sleep apnea. For athletes with BMIs over 35, I would consider consulting with their doctors and having them use a CPAP at night, and both their health and performance could improve.

The use of BMI alone for athletes with low amounts of lean mass and body fat could serve as an easier way to track changes because you only need to measure height once and body weight. Share on X

Another suggested application for BMI in athletes would be for those who have lower amounts of lean mass and are at risk for low body fat, such as endurance athletes. As stated earlier, because there are greater health risks in these athletes, it is important to monitor their body composition. The use of BMI alone could serve as an easier way to track changes in these athletes because you only need to measure height once (if fully grown) and body weight.

Using BMI here could be valuable, but you are only looking at changes in body mass, so is there really an added benefit in calculating BMI? I would say yes, as several research studies looking at endurance athletes, from recreational to elite, have reported average BMI values no less than 19 for men or women. Therefore, I suggest for those at-risk athletes, as mentioned earlier, calculating BMI and using a low cutoff of 19 could serve as a simple and early detector for possible low body fat or lean mass.

If you need one, I recommend this online BMI calculator.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Moon, J.R., Tobkin, S.E., Costa, P.B., et al. “Validity of the BOD POD for assessing body composition in athletic high school boys.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2008; 22(1): 263–268.

2. Jackson, A.S. and Pollock, M.L. “Generalized equations for predicting body density of men.” British Journal of Nutrition. 1978; 40: 497–504.

3. Jackson, A.S., Pollock, M.L., and Ward, A. “Generalized equations for predicting body density of women.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 1980; 12: 175–182.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Dr. Moon is an experienced researcher and advisor in the field of human body composition analysis and sports supplements. He has presented over 50 lectures at multiple scientific conferences and events both nationally and internationally, and has published more than 140 research articles and abstracts in dozens of journals. Additionally, Dr. Moon has written a book chapter and published a book in the areas of sports nutrition, supplements, exercise science, body composition, body water, and changes specific to age, fitness level, and type of athlete. Dr. Moon is also a co-founder and the Chief Science Officer at FitTrace.com, a body composition management and analysis app. He currently holds faculty positions at Concordia University Chicago and the United States Sports Academy.

In our current era of year-round sports, strength coaches are often asked about sport-specific training, and young athletes are inundated with the concept of sport specificity at an early age. Therefore, here is the question that we ask sport coaches who are curious about sport specificity: If the athletes play that sport year-round, why would we train those exact same repeated movement patterns? Inevitably, athletes will break down from continued overuse. Sport-specific training contributes to that overuse—so why do it?

Upon returning to the high school weight room almost seven years ago, I was somewhat uneducated about the state of year-round play. I knew year-round play existed, and I was aware of the nature of injuries associated with sport—particularly ACL injuries and shoulder injuries that plagued incoming freshmen at the collegiate level. I was also aware of athletes’ various training backgrounds, which range from no training to overtraining and everything in between.

When I was hired at Dorman High School, I had an idea of how I wanted to train my athletes—I wanted to follow the Keep It Simple and Safe (KISS) principle. I am a firm believer that the more we can develop our athletes with less complex methods, the greater the opportunity for adaptation and development down the road (with less likelihood of injury). We continually strive to develop a foundation of strength and power following the KISS method. There are multiple proven ways to train athletes, and I personally do not believe one way works better than others. For every program that does it one way and has success, there are other programs that do it completely the opposite way and have comparable success.

The more we can develop our athletes with less complex methods, the greater the opportunity for adaptation and development down the road (with less likelihood of injury). Share on X

With that said, we do not implement velocity-based training (VBT), accommodating resistance, or Olympic lifts outside of the power clean/hang clean and its variations. We also do not progress our athletes past what we term “Block 2.” In figure 1 below, you can see a guideline for how we progress through our quadrennial plan for our athletes. The table illustrates that football players are on a faster timeline compared to other athletes—this is only due to the commitment to training at an earlier age. Our goal is to have a commitment from all sports and athletes at an earlier age, and we believe we will accomplish that goal in time.

I want to be clear that just because programs utilize certain training modalities or progress their athletes differently, it does not mean they are wrong. Training programs that work are programs that the strength coach believes in and can create buy-in for from their athletes. How can a coach create buy-in if they have nothing vested in their own training philosophy?

Joe Kenn’s Tier System: Key Components and Functions

My programming philosophy is rooted in Joe Kenn’s Tier System—Athletic-Based Strength Training. Oftentimes, discussions about sport specificity lead to our philosophy here at Dorman—we program “athlete” specific. This simply means that we program to train athletes, not the sport. We train our athletes in a uniform manner through the Tier System.

Coach Kenn defines five key components of athletic-based strength training within the Tier System:¹

• Training movements rather than body parts
• Whole-body training sessions versus split training sessions
• Explosive versus nonexplosive movements
• Variety
• Tempo

While all five components are essential in the process of designing a tier program, when considering uniformed training for athletes, coaches must remember to train movements and implement whole-body training sessions.

The majority of sports are ground-based, meaning sport is played with feet on the ground. The Tier System is designed with ground-based sport in mind. The majority of exercises programmed should be ground-based, where athletes stand on their feet¹. Ground-based exercises are typically multi-joint movements, as are most athletic movements. Sport in general is considered to utilize the entire body. The Tier System structure is centered on whole-body training sessions while emphasizing multi-joint movements. Movements are divided into three separate categories: total body movements, lower body movements, and upper body movements.

Without going into great detail, the Tier System has four main functions:¹

1. Rotate the order of exercise based on movement.
2. Implement a variety of movements to train in numerous planes within a microcycle.
3. Prioritize movements based on big movements and functional movements.
4. Control volume by exercise order and emphasis on specific strength developed.

Below, you can see the general layout of a 3×5 tier system—3×5 meaning three days per week with five tiers. The table shows that each training session is a whole-body training session. The Tier System, at its core, represents uniformity in training. Every group or athlete that trains in the weight room follows a Tier System program—typically the same Tier System program. However, the uniqueness of the Tier System allows for exercise variations in each tier while continuing to train multiple athletes in a uniform manner.

Variations could be needed due to regressions, injuries, or sport seasons. Take, for example, if we are on Session T, Tier 1 (typically a power clean), and an athlete has a breakdown in technique on the first pull. Within the same group of athletes, we can regress the individual athlete to a total body variation (trap bar, shrug pull, etc.) without altering the Tier 1 rotation. Most importantly, we still train a total body movement.

Creating an exercise pool is an important aspect of the Tier System that allows the strength coach to substitute or vary exercises in each tier. An exercise pool places exercises into each category of total, lower, or upper exercise and allows for variety in programming.

Where to Begin?

With most things, a coach has to decide where to start. My introduction to the Tier System began in the fall of 2007, when I visited Coach Kenn at Arizona State. Initially, I planned to absorb as much as possible about the Tier System (which I did), but I was also introduced to Block Zero. The concepts of Block Zero made sense to me and I have been using it since 2007.

The high school setting presents a perfect opportunity to impact the development of young athletes. We believe that development starts with Block Zero, says @DormanStrength. Share on X

The high school setting presents a perfect opportunity to impact the development of young athletes. It’s our belief that development starts with Block Zero. Therefore, we expose all of our athletes who train under the supervision of the strength staff at Dorman to Block Zero. What is Block Zero? It is an introductory strength training program designed to lay the foundation for an athlete’s future training. Block Zero assumes that the athlete has a training age of ZERO in YOUR program.

As presented by Coach Kenn, the Block Zero daily setup follows a four-part design targeting athletic position, jumping mechanics, stabilization, and relative strength:²

1. Athletic position – the foundation for a large portion of future movements: jumping, landing, squatting, any type of hip hinge.
2. Jumping mechanics – emphasized early to promote mastery of the power position and landing position prior to plyometric training. We have found that the mastery of jumping and landing mechanics has resoundingly positive effects on the early stages of teaching the power clean.
3. Stabilization – built through the programming of isometric holds.
4. Relative strength – developed through the use of bodyweight exercises and isometric holds.

Some key points of emphasis are athletic position and the development of relative strength. As previously stated, athletic position serves as the foundation of Block Zero. It is our belief that, through athletic position, athletes will master hip hinge, learn to apply and absorb force, connect the dots between body position and injury prevention, and draw awareness to the posterior chain. When it comes to young athletes, it is our contention that an athlete who cannot master the athletic position cannot safely land a jump. Through the implementation of Block Zero with previously untrained female athletes, we found great success in the improvement of relative strength and dynamic knee valgus³.

Athletic position serves as the foundation of Block Zero. Through athletic position, athletes master hip hinge, learn to apply and absorb force, and more, says @DormanStrength. Share on X

We typically begin each Block Zero introduction to our athletes discussing injuries and gymnastics. Our goal is to have our athletes understand the importance of relative strength through comparison to some of the pound-for-pound strongest athletes in the world! The use of isometric holds to develop strength is supported by the use of the isometric flex arm hang and chin-up as measures of relative upper body strength by the FitnessGram and the United States Military.⁴ Isometric core holds have been used as a measure of core strength and isometric contractions have been used to measure hip adduction and abduction strength.⁵

Where Does Uniformity Come In with Block Zero?

The design of Block Zero displays uniformity—what young athlete does not need relative strength, jumping mechanics, stabilization, and development of the posterior chain? So, we implement Block Zero with ALL newcomers to our program.

At Dorman, we have found that in middle school, athletes still often play multiple sports; they haven’t chosen one specific sport yet. We start our eighth-grade football players in the spring semester before their ninth-grade year, but this covers a large number of our male athlete population. Our eighth-grade volleyball girls start in May before their ninth-grade year. During the summer, our numbers continue to increase with a female-only Block Zero group that consists of volleyball, basketball, and softball.

After two months of Block Zero with our eighth-grade boys’ groups, we progress them through the summer into our Block Zero intensification phase. Our girls’ groups continue to push through Block Zero for the summer, largely due to the amount of playing that our volleyball girls and basketball girls do during the summer months. We also introduce our boys’ baseball athletes to Block Zero during the summer months. As we progress into the school year, a large number of our freshman athletes are enrolled into our Freshman PE-S (PE Sport) classes, which they either take in the fall or spring semesters.

Freshman PE-S Classes (But Not Freshman Football)

We offer three Freshman PE-S classes that shuttle to our main campus weight room every day. Each semester, the new crop of freshman athletes begins with six weeks of Block Zero training. I am a staunch believer in the “slow cooker” approach when it comes to training young athletes. Some of our ninth-gradestudents in the fall semesters go through Block Zero during the summer months; however, following the slow cooker approach, they remediate for six weeks with the remainder of the class for six weeks.

As the numbers in our Freshman PE-S classes have continued to grow over the last six-plus years, more and more athletes are exposed to Block Zero. Various sports are represented in our Freshman PE-S classes—wrestling, boys and girls golf, boys and girls soccer, cheerleading, baseball, softball, volleyball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls swim, boys and girls basketball. The number of athletes in our classes is one reason we train in a uniform manner.

We also progress our athletes out of Block Zero together. After our initial Block Zero cycle, we progress into our Block Zero Intensification phase, where we begin to implement external loads on the athletes. We also continue to implement Block Zero concepts for reinforcement as we progress to more advanced movements.

During the Block Zero Intensification phase, we introduce the Tier System to our freshman athletes in a uniform manner—all athletes do the same exercises. Progressing from Block Zero, we want to build on the concepts of applying/absorbing force and developing the posterior chain. Therefore, our programming should reflect these concepts. As you can see below, we follow a true Tier System setup for our Block Zero Intensification phase with our Freshman PE-S classes: Day 1 is Session T, Day 2 is Session L, and Day 3 is Session U.

We follow a four-week cycle before we introduce the barbell to our athletes. The goal each semester is to complete a 5RM of a front squat, trap bar deadlift, and overhead press during the last week of the semester. Throughout each cycle, we continue to implement Block Zero concepts—stabilization, jumping mechanics, and relative strength.

The beauty of the Tier System is it allows us to use regressions with athletes who may need more work with certain movements, says @DormanStrength. Share on X

The beauty of the Tier System is it allows us to use regressions with athletes who may need more work with certain movements. For example, in a group of three: Athlete #1 will do a goblet squat, Athlete #2 will do a front plank, and Athlete #3 will do band abduction. If Athlete #3 rotates to goblet squat but has a drop in technique, we can simply do a banded bodyweight squat to a box and still fall into the Tier System rotation.

High School PE-S Classes

Our high school PE-S classes are set up a couple of different ways. First, any coach who is a PE teacher has the opportunity to have their sport in the PE-S class. For sports that do not have a coach as a PE teacher, the athletes are placed into PE-S classes with various athletes. In our non-football/basketball PE-S classes, we have 60+ athletes with baseball, softball, swimming, cheerleading, lacrosse, soccer, golf, wrestling, volleyball, and cross country represented. The football/basketball PE-S class is set up separately, due to the volume of athletes, with 100+ total. We also have a freshman and junior varsity football PE-S class—as previously stated, I will discuss how we set up our non-football/basketball PE-S classes with the Tier System.

We have a few multisport athletes, but at Dorman, the multisport athlete is almost nonexistent. For this reason, we use a uniform modified Tier System design in our PE-S classes. We lift four days a week—Monday (Session T), Tuesday (auxiliary day), Wednesday (Session L), and Thursday (Session U). We also incorporate two days of speed development and two days of conditioning. We develop speed on Session T and Session L days prior to training. We do conditioning on auxiliary and Session U days. Fridays are a free play day for our athletes.

This design is a classic example of doing what works. The Tier System is designed for a three-day setup, but a three-day setup will not work in our current class structure. With 90-minute classes (about 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes of training time), 90 days a semester, and no sport coach, training can become long and monotonous. We also modify from a 3×5 tier system setup to a 3×4 system where we treat the fourth tier as a giant set with extra posterior chain work.

After School/Before School Training

For teams/athletes that are not in our PE-S classes, we offer training two days per week before or after school. Our before/after school training follows a 3×2 tier system design. We incorporate speed development for off-season teams prior to training. Due to the nature of sport being ground-based, we eliminate Session U and utilize Session T and Session L for our 3×2 setup.

Continuous Training for Success

We firmly believe that we should not rush the development of a high school athlete. That does not mean that we hold athletes back at the high school level with uniform training, less complex methods, or non-sport-specific training. Rather, the opposite is true—athletes continue to train through pushing, pulling, squatting, jumping, pressing, sprinting, and agility, which sets them up for success on the field or court.

We firmly believe that we shouldn’t rush the development of a high school athlete. That doesn’t mean that we hold athletes back with uniform training, says @DormanStrength. Share on X

Reinforcing Block Zero concepts throughout an athlete’s high school training career helps them continue to develop relative strength, stabilization, and posterior chain strength. If we hold true to this type of programming, ALL of our athletes will be prepared for the physical demands of ANY sport.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Kenn, J. (2003). The Coach’s Strength Training Playbook. Monterey, CA: Coaches Choice.

2. Kenn, J. (2016). “Block Zero Concept: How to Develop Young Athletes.” Elite Athletic Development Seminar. United States: Robertson Training Systems.

3. Cash, E. (2018). The Effect of an Introductory Strength Training Program on ACL Injury Risk Factors. University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Greensboro, NC.

4. Clemons, J.M., Duncan, C.A., Blanchard, O.E., Gatch, W.H., Hollander, D.B., and Doucet, J.L. (2004). “Relationships between the flexed-arm hang and select measures of muscular fitness.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 18(3), 630–6.

5. Earle, J. and Hoch, A. (2011). “A proximal strengthening program improves pain, function, and biomechanics in women with patellofemoral pain syndrome.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 39(1), 154–163.

It’s a simple truth—injury is the nemesis of any elite athlete and training can cause injury. The coach’s dilemma is finding ways to train that improve game day performance while making sure game day actually happens.

Nowhere is this truer than in boxing. You may get one shot to put your career on a new level by fighting someone who far outranks you. You must endure rounds and rounds of sparring… with each sparring partner thinking it’s them who should be getting the big break. One cut, one concussion, one sprained hand or wrist, and it’s over.

The coach’s dilemma is finding ways to train that improve game day performance while making sure game day actually happens. Consider mittwork. Share on X

For team sports, there’s a depth chart for a reason—if your thumb needs healing, your teammates have you covered. Ask Drew Brees. But in individual sports like boxing, tennis, and golf, it’s just you. And in all the other individual sports, your training partners are not actively trying to put you on the injured reserve list. So, boxing trainers had to come up with a way to train and keep boxers sharp while at the same time minimizing injury risk.

Enter mittwork.

Simply put, mittwork is the presentation of punching targets and threats to a trainee in a given order, at a given speed, for a given duration of time. The word “given” here is important. The trainer controls all the variables: which combination of targets and threats, at what speed, and for what duration. And further, there is a divide in mittwork styles—either choreographed or what I call “fight style” mitts.

Choreographed mittwork is a scripted interaction. The trainer and the fighter agree in advance what will happen. The instruction is, “You are going to slip an oncoming right and counter with left hook, then throw a right cross, then roll out right and finish with a double jab to cover your tracks,” all starting on “Go!” Those choreographed combinations progress in complexity and duration as athletes get better and better at the boxing movements. You can start with an A-block of 2–4 punch/defensive combos, then add another block B, then C, then put them all together—ABC, BCA, AAC—until you fill an entire three-minute round with choreographed movement. There are literally thousands of combinations, blocks, and workouts that trainers can construct, limited only by their imagination and the gas in the athlete’s tank.

The other side of the mittwork spectrum is the “fight style” mitts. With this style, the fighter more or less treats you like an opponent. The bell rings, and you square off like opponents. The fighter does not know what the sequence will be: They have to react to what you present as you present it. The trainer presents the mitt in a certain way that means “throw a right uppercut” or a jab, or hook—they call for each punch either verbally (at the beginning) or by a unique position of the mitt, like a special sign language. The fighter/trainee has to use their eyes and ears to react and hit the targets as they are sequenced in front of them.

It’s the same with defensive moves. The trainer can force defensive moves by “throwing” punches, too, with the pad. Forcing defensive moves is the reason mittwork is a significant training upgrade over just hitting a heavy bag or a speed bag. A trainer with mitts fights back!

The choreographed mittwork is very suitable for beginners, elite athlete or not. The choreographed work is critical to establishing good boxing technique. With choreographed mittwork, you can slow down the speed to make sure feet, legs, core, and shoulders coordinate to deliver the most punch power with the minimum counterpunch exposure. Step by step, you can increase the speed of combinations as the trainee better understands the moves. I literally say, “Okay, we’re doing this one at 30% speed, then 60%, then 100%,” and see if the wheels fall off once we get to fight speed. If they do, we go back down the speed scale to try building up again.

Pro trainers who work with their pro fighters, especially for a long time, know the routines. They make choreographed work look exactly like fight-style because there’s no difference in speed or smoothness. But it takes years of practice to get that smooth, and it’s something to aspire to. Just google “mittwork” and “Canelo” to see some of the best mittwork there is to see.

Low Injury Risk – High-Intensity Cardio

So why should you train your elite athlete using mittwork? When is it a good idea?

At its core, mittwork is a full-body workout that is easy on the joints. Its intensity is up to the athlete and the trainer pushing. Typical fitness punching on a heavy bag burns 350–500 calories an hour. Sparring, on the other hand, can burn 800 calories an hour. Intensive mittwork that mimics sparring can get you closer to that 800/hour rate and certainly north of 500/hour.

At its core, mittwork is a full-body workout that’s easy on the joints. It can get you close to the calorie burn of sparring without the injury risk. Share on X

But what about injury risk? Certainly, you don’t want your elite athlete sparring, but mittwork can get you close to the calorie burn without that injury risk. Mittwork requires lots of movement with feet and hands, but the movements are quick and small relative to jumping 40” to dunk, running up the field, or making a diving catch. These smaller movements put emphasis on the muscular system to break and turn and drive, as opposed to the longer range of motion developed in other training regimens that puts more stress on joints and skeletal systems. Think of something like CrossFit with plyo box jump squats. We get wounded refugees from CrossFit programs in our gym often. They want all the cardio, but their joints are damaged, so mittwork is a great option.

Mittwork is especially helpful with larger, elite athletes whose bouncing body mass puts extraordinary stress on joints. How exactly do you build the cardio capacity of a 290-pound lineman without running him and tearing up his knees? You can put him on the elliptical, in the pool, on a bike, in a Pilates class…. There are low-impact options, but my argument is there are none as fun and engaging as mittwork.

It’s never the same thing over and over again (if the trainer does their job). And something different happens when intense cardio is the by-product of mittwork instead of the sole objective of these other types of workouts. People do more of it because the brain focuses on getting the combinations right and not on the pain from lactic acid build-up or burning lungs screaming for more oxygen. Everyone is surprised how fast the hour goes, even if they are completely gassed out.

One key element for ensuring that the intensity level improves is tracking punch count. Most punch counters are simple accelerometers strapped into the fighter’s gloves. This method only counts punches, and if you let this metric drive your workouts, defense goes out the window. I take it a step further and use a different metric of boxer work rate (BWR), which is a kind of punch count plus defensive blocks. Defensive moves can take as much energy as punches. I prefer the punch counter on the mitts the trainer uses, which then picks up the punches, the blocks, and parries, or the mitt “punches” that get through. As long as the mitt has an abrupt stop (quickly decelerates), that accelerometer reading peaks and a “punch” is counted.

A beginning boxer work rate is around 100 for a three-minute round, 200 counts is intermediate, and 300 and above is really moving. If you can string together five three-minute rounds with a work rate over 300, those lungs will scream for oxygen (for the trainer too!).

Improving Visual Reaction Time (VRT)

Did you ever wonder why, according to a CNN.com article, 85% of NBA players are gamers? Sure, it helps them relax after basketball games, but it also helps to keep them sharp. Video game play, especially fast-moving action games like Halo and Call of Duty, has been shown to improve cognitive function, including increasing visual processing speed and visual reaction times and sifting through task-irrelevant distractors. These improvements have been observed in non-game players who have undergone as little as 10 hours of training!^1,2

Think about what mittwork is. It’s a video game with consequences. In boxing, it takes .06 of a second to get hit in the face, at least by pro Chad Dawson. Mittwork coming from trainers may not have that top-end hand speed, but even at half that speed and in rapid succession, the athlete must decide what the threat is, react defensively, and then strike a target while it’s available before the next threat comes. Training an athlete to avoid that oncoming threat in such a way as to be able to respond with a counterpunch will tax and improve the motor skills of even the best athlete.

Here’s a case in point. A few years ago, a Maserati pulled up to the gym and out came a small but fit man inquiring about mittwork drills. I said, “Get dressed,” and in five minutes, this gentleman came back, clearly ripped. We slowly worked on the basics over the next hour. I knew the hand speed was there, but I had to get him to relax to find it. We finished that first day and I asked him his name. “Brandin, Brandin Cooks.” He explained he was a wide receiver, and he wanted boxing mittwork to help him parry the cornerback’s hand-checking that slows his release, and to gain more yards after the catch.

We worked for about a month before his training camp started. By the time he left, his boxing hand speed and visual reaction time were blistering. I don’t have a study to show what impact the mittwork had on his football skills, but he’s the starting deep-threat receiver for the Super Bowl-bound LA Rams and currently ranks #22 in total yards in the 2019–20 season.

Improved Agility

The #1 reason other coaches refer athletes to boxing coaches is to improve footwork. Footwork is everything in boxing. You may have the hardest punch or the fastest punch, but if you can’t get within range and position to throw those punches and then get back out, all your power and hand speed doesn’t matter. Furthermore, you won’t have the power or the hand speed in the first place unless your feet and body balance are correct and underneath you at all times. So, what does footwork have to do with mittwork? You guessed it. Everything.

You remember the scene from Rocky where the trainer put him in with a chicken and told him to catch it? Chasing a moving, random target is an excellent method for teaching agility. After your athlete has basic competency with punches, combos, and defensive maneuvers, add footwork. The trainer essentially becomes the chicken, with one addition—this chicken has teeth! In an instant, the hunter can become the hunted. The trainer can move in any direction to force the athlete to mirror those footwork moves, all the while keeping those jabs pumping and hands high, reacting to targets and threats. If the athlete is flat-footed with weight distributed to the heels, they’ll get caught by the trainer.

After your athlete has basic competency with punches, combos, and defensive maneuvers, add footwork for agility. Share on X

What does “caught” mean? The trainer will be able to get inside and land reminding taps to the body, and the athlete will try to respond to hit targets. However, because they are jammed up, their feet will fail to react quickly enough, and the punches will be off-balance with little power, speed, or effectiveness. All bad. The athlete will know they have been had, and they will work on better distribution of weight to the balls of the feet, better situational awareness, and better anticipation for quicker first-step movements.

Footwork then becomes progressively more complex. We have a sign in our gym that states, NO CAMPING! That means you don’t get to sit in front of your opponent and just swing away—MOVE.  The trainer trains the athlete to sit in the pocket for no more than 2–3 counts while unloading a combo. Once you deliver the payload, get out—step around, step back, come in and clinch, pivot and roll, slip and pivot, etc. These are all techniques your feet must drill and deliver on to open up the next scoring opportunities and/or defensive position.

There’s general agreement on what agility is: “a rapid whole-body movement and change of velocity or direction in response to stimulus.”³ There is, however, debate over the types of agility drills that have real value for improving game-time performance. In fact, there’s little to no evidence that common agility drills involving a closed course and pre-planned movements improve actual game-time agility.⁴ The reason is that game time agility is more complex than change of direction speed—it involves the cognitive ability to assess and react to unpredictable events. That’s why, according to sports performance director Nick DiMarco, “…agility has to involve the perceptual action component of it. OODA loop—observe, orient, decide, act. If it doesn’t involve that, it’s not actually an agility drill.”⁵ True agility drills need an opponent. DiMarco recommends a balance of “mirror/dodge” or “chase” drills to improve game-time agility performance.

True agility drills need an opponent and good mittwork fits this perfect. The trainer moves themselves in an unpredictable manner and trains the athlete to respond. Share on X

Good mittwork fits this perfectly. The trainer moves themselves in an unpredictable manner and trains the athlete to respond. In fight-style mittwork, the athlete is continually forced to react to unknown stimulus and respond by managing distance, position, and angles to create offensive opportunities and defensive safety. Again, with real mittwork, there is no setting up camp and swinging away at targets like a heavy bag in a boxing class. With true mittwork, you push your fighter to move. If they do not react to you stepping inside by stepping back out or throwing an inside punch, then you can “encourage” them to move by gently throwing a body shot as a reminder of what could have been. If that doesn’t work, I always use push-ups or squats!

The point is that mittwork is a natural game of cat and mouse, with the slight complication that the species are swapped quite often. Think of the flow of a football game where a referee blows a whistle and the defense comes on the field. Pretty slow transition, right? Or basketball, where there’s a transition from offense to defense, faster, but still slow. In boxing, there’s a millisecond between being on offense and defense and back on offense again, and each of those actions requires the right foot movement and change of direction. You, as the trainer doing mittwork, can bring pressure at any time or back it off at any time and train your athlete to respond with the right footwork. They have to observe, orient, decide, and act—the perfect agility drill.

The More Subtle Benefits of Boxing Mittwork for Elite Athletes

Apart from the primary benefits of mittwork for conditioning without injury, improving visual reaction time, and increasing agility, there are more subtle benefits. If you’ve been playing football, basketball, and/or soccer your whole life, it’s likely you’ve seen every kind of drill and exercise to get you to become a better player. Sometimes burnout can occur doing the same thing over and over, season after season, or, more often, with the emotional pressure to excel.⁶ Sometimes elite athletes need to just go out and play and enjoy themselves, which may be hard to do in their primary sport. Trying something new that represents a challenge but with no external pressure to succeed can lift the fog of burnout. Just as I tell my boxers to go out and play soccer, pick up a mountain bike, or try surfing, these keep the athlete (and anyone, actually), much more engaged when they come back to their primary sport.

Elite athletes have likely seen every kind of drill and exercise to get them to become a better player. Mittwork is something new that they can enjoy, and it can help lift the fog of burnout. Share on X

Breathing is key to any physical activity. I see breathing issues a lot in competitive athletes who might be young and have not quite reached elite level yet. In particular, many competitive athletes hold their breath doing mittwork. With the exception of powerlifters doing the Valsalva maneuver, holding your breath during any training or performance is not good. Holding your breath can impede the return of blood to the heart and deprive you the oxygen you need to get the job done.

Watching the breathing patterns of your athletes while mitt training will alert you to whether they hold their breath under stress. If they do, you can work on breathing exercises and slowing things down so that continuous breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth becomes second nature. After five minutes of mittwork with one college lacrosse player, I told him, “You know you hold your breath when you feel under pressure.” He replied, “Yeah, my coaches have been telling me that for years.”

Just when his brain needed the oxygen to make good decisions, none was coming. It was something we worked on by slowing the mittwork down until his breathing was smooth and continuous, and then increasing the speed of mittwork each week. In a month, he was able to breathe smoothly through high-intensity workouts.

Related to breathing is energy management. No professional boxer goes 100% for 15 rounds. Learning how to find those moments of rest in a high-intensity training interval may sound like cheating, but in reality, these micro-rests can help you explode when the situation calls for it.

Finally, boxing mittwork can help you find your fight again. There’s a trainer challenging you to keep up with them and to not let your guard down as you make balanced, solid contact with every target presented. You are a warrior, and this is the training of warriors. It’s a rewarding feeling that if those were actual threats, you would have an excellent shot at coming out the victor.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Bavelier, D., Green, C.S., Pouget, A., and Schrater, P. “Brain Plasticity Through the Life Span: Learning to Learn and Action Video Games.” Annual Review of Neuroscience. 2012; 35:391–416.

2. Spence, I. and Feng, J. “Video Games and Spatial Cognition.” Review of General Psychology. 2010; 14(2):92­–104.

3. Sheppard, J.M. and Young, W.B. “Agility Literature Review: Classifications, Training and Testing.” Journal of Sports Sciences. 2006; 24:919–932.

4. Young, W.B, Dawson B., and Henry, G. “Agility and Change-of-Direction Speed are Independent Skills: Implications for Agility in Invasion Sports.” International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. 2015; 10:160–170.

5. Nick DiMarco on Integration of Perception-Reaction Agility Training in Sports Performance: Just Fly Performance Podcast #152, 2019.

6. Gustafsson, H. “Burnout in Competitive and Elite Athletes.” 2007, Orebro Studies in Sport Sciences I. Universitetsbiblioteket.

Sports science often gets bad press, with many experienced coaches criticizing certain aspects of the discipline regularly. It’s certainly fair to say that there are many issues within sports science, but the same is true for almost every science. There are many problems within medicine, for example, and yet almost all of us still visit the doctor when there is something wrong.

I was invited recently to give a presentation at Southern Cross University in Coffs Harbour (Australia): “An Olympian’s Perspective on the Role of Sport Science and Psychology in Athlete Performance.” While preparing the presentation, I was forced to reflect both on how I used sports science during my career as well as how I now use sports science regularly in my current role.

Given the present discord with sports science in general, I thought it useful to write about these experiences and provide information on three specific areas in which sports science can be applied to help athletes reach an elite level—biomechanics, physiology, and psychology.

What Is Sports Science?

Trying to pin down the meaning of sports science is surprisingly difficult, as there is no set definition. For me, it’s the application of scientific principles to sport. Sports science is a relatively new discipline built on a foundation of other sciences, including biology (understanding how the human body works), physics and math (with equations relating to biomechanics), chemistry (recognizing a multitude of biochemical reactions), and psychology, along with small parts of other scientific fields, including sociology.

Sports science itself is a relatively fluid subject, and it’s continually evolving. We saw this perhaps five years ago with a strong shift in interest to skill acquisition research. And we’re seeing it now with an increased interest in data collection and analysis, meaning that more and more data scientists are transitioning to sport (and many sports scientists are working on upskilling in these areas).

The discipline’s on-going development can become increasingly complex with tools such as network analysis and other advanced modeling agents playing a role in our understanding of sport. These have trickle-down effects on how sports scientists work with coaches to improve performance.

This fluidity and ambiguity are demonstrated in the variety of job titles within the sports science sphere, including exercise physiologists, biomechanists, sports scientists, performance lifestyle advisors, strength and conditioning coaches, performance analysts, and sports medicine professionals. While there are people with the general job title of sports scientist, even their roles often focus on a specialty. Finally, it’s important to understand that sports science isn’t necessarily constrained to sport, with spillover into general exercise along with health and wellbeing.

#SportScience lets us understand what elite athletes do, how a developing athlete compares to them, & ways to bridge the gaps, says @craig100m. Share on X

Now that we have a working concept of what sports science is, the next step is to understand how it might help athletes achieve their potential. In discussing this, I will draw heavily from my career and experiences. My general process in using sports science to guide training is to understand what the best in the world do and where they are, where I am compared to them, and what I need to do to bridge the gaps.

Biomechanics

The first of the “big three” sports science disciplines that can help us is biomechanics, which I loosely define as the science of describing and explaining movement. Biomechanics allows us to delve deeper into what a world-class 100m performance looks like; the IAAF has released several studies that give us an idea of the kinetics and kinematics of elite sprinting, as have other researchers.

The table below includes some of the performance data from the 2009 World Championships, taken from the official IAAF report. It shows what a World Record 100m performance looks like in terms of split data and roughly what is required for a sub-10 performance. Perhaps the most useful data is the 0-30m split and the 30-60m split—which we can use as a proxy for a flying 30m run. Looking at athletes of different standards, we can get a reasonable idea of what it takes to perform at a given level.

As an athlete who was active in 2009, I could compare my performances directly to these benchmarks. At that time, we used an electronic block timing system that gave us 10m- and 30m-split data, in which my best was 3.98s. I also regularly collected flying 30m data, tested with a 30m roll-in. It was directly representative of the 30-60m split from the IAAF data, where my best time was 2.70s.

The data showed that I had a big gap in the 0-30m split. Allowing about 0.1s for competition, I was performing at the standard of a 10.20s runner, around 0.05s from a sub-10 runner, and about 0.1s from the WR performance.

Extrapolating my 2.70s training performance to 2.65s in competition, I was at the level of a sub-10 100m runner (even though my personal best was only 10.14s)—suggesting I should prioritize working on my first 30m. Other useful data is the 80-100m split, which offers insight into speed maintenance and endurance. Although I didn’t collect this data in training, I could have done so easily to see how my performances compared.

Building on our knowledge of what elite performance looks like in terms of split data—and how we might use this knowledge to compare our own performances—the next step is to understand the constituents of elite performance and how we compare.

Sprinting is primarily composed of step length and step frequency. We know from both the IAAF data and data reported elsewhere (including Ralph Mann’s excellent The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling) that elite 100m runners have a typical step length of around 2.5 meters at maximum velocity, with a step frequency of around 4.5 Hz (i.e., they take around 4.5 steps per second).

As athletes, we can see how we compare to these values. During my career, we did this through a combination of in-competition biomechanical analysis and training analysis. The training analysis was typically done using OptoJump, a system of plastic blocks that join together and span either side of the lane in which you run. The OptoJump system sends out lasers across the track surface that are broken by your steps, giving you data on step length, step frequency, and ground contact time. The data allows you to see where you are in terms of performance in these variables and identifies areas for improvement.

Data from the 2008 British Olympic Trials 100m final, for example, showed that my step length in that race was 2.36m. I came third in that race, running 10.19s. The first two athletes ran 10.00s and 10.03s, respectively, with step lengths of 2.52m. Their step lengths were more indicative of world-class than mine, suggesting another potential area for improvement.

The next question, then, is how you might improve your step length? Once again, biomechanical analysis of the world’s best allows us to understand the components that feed into this. The best sprinters tend to achieve a greater thigh flexion angle, which means they’re better at getting their knee forward and through in front of the body. This action necessitates limiting the action of the leg behind the body, driving a focus on front side—as opposed to rear side—mechanics.

The increased thigh flexion angle increases the range of motion through which sprinters accelerate the foot toward the ground, increasing the speed and force at ground contact. These actions reduce ground contact time (which in world-class 100m runners is typically around 0.09s) and increase vertical force production—again, something that we know elite sprinters are very good at due to force plate analysis.

#Biomechanics helps us describe, explain, and achieve elite sprint performance, says @craig100m. #SportScience Share on X

As you can see, the sports science discipline of biomechanics is very useful in describing and explaining elite sprint performance, since we can:

• Use this information to compare ourselves to elite performance
• Identify specific areas for improvement
• Identify what an “optimal” technique looks like based on key performance factors

During my career, I also found biomechanists useful on a more day-to-day basis. For example, here is a video of me training in 2010:

Video 1. A clip of me training in 2010, allowing for biomechanical analysis.

The context behind this video is that I had changed coaches in September 2010, and my new coach had a different technical model. Because the model was primarily built around front side mechanics, the main technical changes were actively pulling my foot in off the ground to maintain my sprinting action in front of my body and focusing on achieving a 90-degree thigh flexion angle (for reasons explained above).

While these technical changes may sound simple, altering an ingrained running technique—one that I had developed over 23 years—was very difficult. One of my main challenges was building up the kinesthetic feel of the movement. What would it feel like when I was running properly by achieving the right positions versus running incorrectly? Developing this internal feel was important because it would enable me to self-maintain my new technique. Regular use of high-speed video, like the one above, was hugely useful. I could do a run, remember how it felt, and then check the video to see whether the running action was right or wrong.

High-speed video also helped me spot technique issues that might limit my performance. By slowing down a movement and providing more frames (i.e., images) per second than can be detected by the naked human eye, video lets us see our performance better—and does so from multiple angles.

We can also use high-speed video to check technique by exploring joint angles. For example, in the below photo, our biomechanist determined the joint angles at my front and rear knees in the set position. This is useful in many ways. Again, it allows me to compare myself to the optimum position and to see how stable my movement is.

If I do ten block starts, how often do I achieve these positions—am I consistent or highly variable? This is important because a more stable movement resists change when we’re stressed, fatigued, or nervous. If I always achieve these block angles in training, I know there’s a pretty good chance I’ll do it consistently in competition, too.

 

Physiology

Using physiology, we apply our knowledge of the human body to drive specific adaptations that can enhance performance. Within sprinting, we use this knowledge to optimize loading during resistance training, improving our capacity to produce the force required to sprint faster. We can also use physiology to develop our robustness and reduce the chances of injury.

#Physiology helps us optimize resistance training load so we can produce more force to sprint faster, says @craig100m. #SportScience Share on X

Hamstring Injuries

As a specific example, hamstring injuries are exceptionally common in all sports that require running, typically making up 25% of all non-contact injuries. We want to reduce the occurrence of hamstring injuries in athletes, especially when we know that missing training due to injury makes it much less likely to achieve your training goal.

Fortunately, a team of researchers from Australia has done some pioneering work in this area. We now know many of the risk factors associated with hamstring injuries, including reduced eccentric hamstring strength, shorter hamstring muscle fascicles, and previous hamstring injury. Based on this research, we also know that increasing eccentric hamstring muscle strength and muscle fascicle length can help reduce the risk and prevalence of hamstring injuries.

This has been well explored experimentally for exercises such as the Nordic hamstring exercise and the Yo-Yo hamstring curl. Both exercises have a large eccentric component and are effective at reducing the prevalence of hamstring injuries in athletes, likely by increasing eccentric strength and hamstring muscle fascicle length. With these results confirmed at the meta-analysis level (the highest possible level of scientific evidence), we know to include some form of eccentric hamstring exercise in our sprint training program.

Speaking from experience, I dealt with several hamstring injuries in my junior career, suffering from four separate hamstring injuries in my two years in the under-17 age group. Once I added the Romanian deadlift and Nordic hamstring exercises—both of which have a large eccentric component—my hamstring issues largely cleared up. As I progressed and grew more confident, these exercises gradually fell out of my program until 2008 when I suffered a very bad hamstring tear. At that point, I re-introduced them and no longer had any hamstring issues.

There are, however, potential issues with eccentric loading exercises in sport. Eccentric exercises cause a lot of soreness, especially when athletes first start doing them. While this soreness response is reduced and essentially disappears with repeated exposures (called the repeated bout effect), in many sports, athletes don’t like using eccentric loading exercises. And some researchers—although it’s important to mention not many—don’t necessarily believe that the hamstring muscles act eccentrically (or don’t primarily act eccentrically) during sprint running and instead act isometrically. This is quite hard to test experimentally.

We know many risk factors for hamstring injuries & how to reduce them with eccentric & isometric exercises because of #SportScience, says @craig100m. Share on X

Interestingly, isometric hamstring exercises also appear to reduce the risk of hamstring injuries in sport. More athletes may adhere to these exercises because post-exercise soreness will be lower, although the level of evidence is not as strong as for the Nordic hamstring and other eccentric exercises. And while they’re not “better” for improving eccentric muscle strength and muscle fascicle length, the isometric exercises might be more effective because they can be carried out more frequently and more widely.

This is a great example of two of my favorite things about sports science: the importance of context and the influence of nuance. While we might understand the biological mechanisms and other aspects of a certain intervention, we don’t know the true effects until it’s used in the real world. That’s when we get a better idea of its long-term implications and how athletes interact with the intervention—with aspects such as athlete belief impacting the effectiveness of any changes we might make.

Ice Baths

Other examples include the use of ice baths following exercise. The evidence now is pretty solid that post-exercise cold water immersion can enhance recovery, or at least reduce feelings of perceived soreness and fatigue. However, ice baths may be so good at improving recovery that they reduce the adaptations we get from exercise. This is because the improvements we see from exercise are partially driven by aspects such as muscle damage, oxidative stress, and inflammation—all things that cold water immersion may reduce.

As such, most sports scientists now recommend a time and a place for ice baths. When recovery is important—such as during the competitive season—perhaps we should use ice baths, especially if the athlete believes in them. However, when training adaptation is the main goal—primarily during the off-season—we should likely minimize ice bath use.

Antioxidant Supplements

Similar results are reported for antioxidant supplements. While antioxidants are a good thing in general, taking high-dose antioxidant supplements around training can blunt training adaptations. It’s a great example of how more of something that is good for you is not always better.

Psychology

I have a confession to make: I used to think that sports psychology was largely fluff, and at university, it was the sub-discipline I found least interesting. It was all very theoretical, as opposed to black and white, with right and wrong answers. However, I’ve experienced a complete 180-degree shift—I now find that sports psychology may make the biggest difference between athletes who win medals and those who don’t.

Sport psychology may make the biggest difference between athletes who win medals and those who don’t, says @craig100m. #SportPsychology Share on X

My journey toward better appreciating the true value of sports psychology started at the 2003 World Under-18 Championships, where I was selected in the 100m. This was my first true global competition, and I went in with reasonably low expectations, hoping to sneak into the final. From the heats, however, I was the fastest qualifier. And having run a personal best, I became a realistic medal prospect.

This caused a significant shift in my expectations, and as a result, I became much more anxious about my performance. In the semi-finals, this anxiety significantly hampered my performance, and I qualified for the finals in the last available “fastest loser” spot. Fortunately, one of the team coaches managed to turn me around, and in the final I ran much better, placing third.

Following these championships, I reflected on my performance and decided I’d better do something about my pre-race anxiety. As a result, I decided to work with a sports psychologist. In our first session, we talked about my pre-race nerves, and I discussed how negative they were and that being nervous pre-race was a bad thing.

The sports psychologist, however, had a different perspective. Feeling nervous was good, she said, because it meant that the race mattered, and the physiological effects of being anxious meant that my performance would improve. As stupid as this may sound, this piece of advice flicked a switch in my brain. By framing my pre-race anxiety as good rather than bad, I began to embrace the feeling—so much so that, as my career progressed, I needed to feel nervous and anxious to perform at my best.

At the World Under-18 Championships, I also learned the importance of representative practice—ensuring that your training accurately mimics the conditions in which you’ll compete. The World Under-18s were held in Sherbrooke, Canada, in July—typically a hot month. When we arrived, it was very warm, but on the day of my competition, I awoke to heavy rain showers and cold.

The weather was exactly what the long winters were like in the UK, so I was used to training in conditions like this. As a result, I performed very well. However, other athletes struggled with the conditions. The world number one that year was from Nigeria, and he was eliminated in the semi-finals. After that race, he told me he had never been as cold as he was during that race in his life. I’ve written more widely about representative practice in an earlier post, and it’s worth keeping in mind when designing your training sessions.

Other important psychological lessons I learned were the importance of not having it too easy. As a developing athlete, I was surrounded by other very successful athletes. And while I was consistently ranked very high on the all-time list as I progressed through the age groups, I often lost races. This meant that I was exposed to disappointment and failure, learned how to deal with both, and used them to spur me on to future success.

However, we often see talented youngsters who win easily and, as a result, they don’t learn how to deal with loss and disappointment. As they progress into the senior ranks—where losses are much more common—they haven’t developed the skills to deal with this.

Making things too easy for an athlete limits their development, yet many athlete development programs do just this, says @craig100m. #SportPsychology Share on X

It’s quite similar to the “rocky road” model of talent development, where talent often responds well to trauma. The key to athlete development programs, therefore, is to provide structured trauma in a way that encourages an athlete to grow and develop. Making things too easy for the athlete limits their development, and yet many athlete development programs are guilty of just this.

Final Suggestions

Hopefully, I’ve shown that sports science has the potential to impact an athlete’s performance significantly. As someone who competed to a high level, I found the application of sports science detailed here to be invaluable in assisting my performance development.

Alongside the big three disciplines of biomechanics, physiology, and psychology, other sub-disciplines, such as nutrition and skill acquisition, are emerging. Each has the potential to enhance athletic preparation further.

While much maligned, sports science can help athletes of all levels reach their potential when it’s used properly—with a full understanding of the individual nuances and contexts. I’m a strong believer in the power of sports science, and I’m excited to see how the field develops.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF