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Throughout my followings of internet gurus, I have met, tried, experimented, visited, believed and argued many different points at different times. Louie Simmons was my first. I subscribed to Powerlifting USA to read his column, bought chains, bands, glute ham machines, reverse hypers and a Westside Barbell T-shirt which he gave me (the dog on the shirt was actually his dog). I spent multiple days at the old pizza shop in a strip mall on Demorest Ave in Columbus. Louie is a great coach, incredibly knowledgeable and a great person. In fact, he is such a great person that he said to me it was time to move on and learn from others because what he does, powerlifting, could only get me to a certain point. I needed new concepts that would get me closer to my goal of developing sprinters. He introduced me to John Davies, and I learned a lot. But I still needed more. I saw Bompa, Verkhoshanky, Siff, Weyand, Schroeder, Poliquin, Pfaff, Seagrave, and others speak on multiple occasions. I was one of the first in the US to have a Nemes vibrating plate sold by the Kraaijenhofs and delved into the Bosco stuff. My success was good but not where I wanted to be. Dan Fichter of wannagetfast, got us connected to DB Hammer who was selling limited consultations; we paid to have questions answered and teach us how to build programs that got great results for high school athletes. DB taught me the importance of the Bulgarian split squat and isometric strength. Thus, my love affair began.

Split Squat Technique Generates Biggest Gains

Test an athlete on a movement that matters—40 yard dash, vertical jump, etc.—create a workout, stay with something for three weeks and remeasure. Repeat with others and see what works.

Along this journey, I have kept data on my athletes. I am a track coach who has access to many athletes with a variety of capabilities, and I have a gym and train athletes in a one on one/small group setting. And with these groups, I have always tried to keep notes, film and results on my athletes because my quest is to find exercises that improve athletic development and more importantly sprinting speed. Test an athlete on a movement that matters—40 yard dash, vertical jump, etc.—create a workout, stay with something for three weeks and remeasure. Repeat with others and see what works. For me, the isometric split squat has been a staple that generates powerful athletes. My fastest guys, 10.5-10.8/100m range have always had the strongest “holds” – that is what we call them – and they all jump between 35 to 40 inch vertical jump.

 

The evolution of the exercise for me has been an interesting journey. Holding heavy weight in that position can be difficult, even with the safety squat bar. So, while assembling my gym, I came across a yellow Hammer Strength Deadlift machine on eBay for $200 in Seattle. I won it and paid $400 for shipping, and it changed my gym. It came with a bar installed to put your back foot on, and all we had to do was grab and hold for the allotted 30 sec. The problem was that grip strength became the limiting factor. We added straps, but that didn’t work. We tried a variety of belts, OK for some people. But thanks to iron mind straps and Spud belt-squat belts, we put together a system that is very effective because the weight goes to the lower body and is not limited to upper body strength.

 

The position of the athlete may vary. But, basically, one foot goes forward, and one goes back. The weight should hang along the side of the hip, so the weight doesn’t pull the athlete forward. When the athlete squats into position, the knee moves forward over the second toe, and the hips sink back into a squat position. My cue for the athlete is to think that a rope is pulling your knee forward, and a rope is pulling your hips back to stretch the hamstring. It should look like a chair tipped forward. The athlete should feel the pressure in the glute and hamstring of the forward leg and a stretch in the hip flexors in the rear leg. If an athlete feels it in the lower back or quad, their form is off, or the weight is too much. Some athletes get a more intense contraction going down deeper while others get a better contraction not going down as far or even slightly leaned forward. I think the ankle rocker (knee going forward) is key. Once the ankle breaks 90 degrees, the athlete will get a good glute contraction. Another cue is that the shin should be parallel to the spine. That is the perfect position to get a good hip drive in my opinion. We start with a hold in that position for 30 seconds and continually add weight as we progress. You will be shocked to see how fast people increase weight. After a couple of weeks of the 30 second holds, we progress to the Cal Dietz Triphasic holds, where the athlete drops down fast holds for a three count and powers up. A coach can always change the workout with supersets and giant sets by adding single leg jumps or drops from a box.

 

What I have found is that the stronger athletes get at this exercise, the faster they run and the higher they jump. I have had athletes who could squat the house but couldn’t run or even hold their body weight in the position. But, once their body learned the position and strengthened this aspect of their movement, they ran faster and jumped higher. Athletes that start with me who can already run may not be great at some of the traditional lifts but always seemed to do very well in the isometric exercises.

Why do I think this is the case? Isometric strength is responsible for stopping the momentum from an action. So, going down in a vertical jump, there needs to be a strength type to stop the movement going down. Most people are slow to reverse this momentum and lose energy in the concentric portion of the jump. Another way to look at it is that it creates a platform to push from. A rubber ball works great on concrete but not so great on sand.

 

My latest excursion takes this concept one step further, inertial training. Or in my case, an Exxentric kBox from SimpliFaster. It is a flywheel concept where one pulls on a cable that is connected to a flywheel. As they pull, the wheel spins. At the end of the strap, the flywheel reverses directions and pulls the strap back to the origin. The key is that the athlete stops the spin and reverses the wheel. By the way, the wheel pulls back harder than the concentric pull. Some people call this eccentric training and it is. But, as I sit and spot on my kBox, I have noted that the more explosive people are the ones who can stop that wheel more quickly than others. Again, they are stopping a momentum, in this case a fast moving cable trying to suck them through a small hole in a 25 pound machine. Even more interesting is that fact that as some of the athletes who are less explosive got stronger in their isometric squats, the better they reversed the wheel and the higher they jumped and the faster they ran. So the combination of these tools has been very effective in training athletes to be more explosive.

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

 

If you are a performance or sports medicine professional with an internet connection, you may have noticed that the practice of prescribing drills is somewhat under attack. The underlying suggestion during these drill critiques is effectively that movement skill cannot be cultivated by practicing the components of a complex task. Coaches who employ “drills” are sometimes derided as simpletons in various social media echo chambers.

This practice speaks to the increasingly pervasive tactic whereby we characterize those with whom we disagree ideologically as extremists. Coaches who see value in drills must only do drills, while coaches who utilize something like small-sided games just let athletes play to the exclusion of everything else. The “drills” conversation is really a proxy for larger discussions about things like part/whole training, generalism/specialization, and reductionism/complexity. As with most trendy topics, the actual conversation isn’t really novel.

Systems and Interventions

In a complex system, the whole is not the sum of its parts. The interactions between the components of a system produce meaningful effects that can’t always be objectively quantified or measured. The relationship between generalism and specialization also helps to inform complex systems. The closer or more specifically training mimics the competitive environment, the greater the degree to which the whole is reflected relative to a component part.

Regardless, most coaches would concede that some degree of general ability is necessary to actualize specific performance. Sometimes, however, specific words evoke emotional responses that stifle productive discussion. “Drills” might be one of those words. If we replaced “drills” with something like “general abilities,” perhaps the idea of doing drills wouldn’t be so contentious.

If we say ‘general abilities’ instead of ‘drills,’ maybe the idea of #drills won’t be so contentious, says @greenfeetPT. Share on X

General training is not a substitute for specific training but a supportive element that raises the specific or “whole” ceiling. The whole is not the sum of the parts but working on the parts can improve the whole. Training provides both local and systemic inputs to a system. Some local inputs influence systemic behavior or output more profoundly than others, but no intervention (like a drill) is ever purely local in nature. In other words, looking at a few trees can inform us about the forest’s overall beauty. We just don’t want to stare at the same trees for too long.

The question is not whether we should do part or whole training (e.g., drill or not drill), but how we can seamlessly integrate the two. This interplay is the essence of coaching.

The question isn’t whether to do part or whole training, but how to seamlessly integrate the two, says @greenfeetPT. Share on X

In any complex system, extremes are maladaptive. Asystole (absence of electrical activity) and ventricular fibrillation (completely disorganized electrical activity) are both lethal heart rhythms. The extreme political left and right can’t operate outside their respective ideological fortresses. Doing only drills is tantamount to rigidity, while only scrimmaging or formally competing is closer to chaos.

While reductionism cannot explain the behavior of a complex system, neither does proceeding as if the system operates with no boundaries. In any conversation (training, political, ethical), determining what constitutes reasonable boundaries is the difficult—and interesting—part. Unfortunately, social media doesn’t incentivize the nuance required to continually refine these boundaries.

From this point on, I’ll cease to use track and field or sport-specific analogies because the audience here might already have preconceived notions or prejudices about the utility of drills as they pertain to something like running. Again, drilling in the context of track and field or sport preparation is not a unique phenomenon. Regardless of the subject, it’s difficult to have a conversation without defining what it is that we’re discussing. For purposes here, a drill is “an intervention that minimizes the degrees of freedom to bias a specific behavioral output.”

“Drills” are sometimes necessary to reduce the potential of being overwhelmed by all the variables that influence behavior. A drill constrains the parameters affecting the behavior of the system to minimize potential influences. To be clear, even actual sport games have constraints or rules governing behavior, but a drill, by definition, is always more restrictive than the actual game or competitive environment.

By definition, a drill is always more restrictive than the actual game or competitive environment, says @greenfeetPT. Share on X

Designers of randomized controlled trials utilize a similar rationale. These trials are “controlled” because they systematically mitigate the potential for confounding variables to influence outcomes, albeit imperfectly. Hence, the reason an experimental and control group should be as identical as possible, except for the variable or intervention under investigation. Again, drilling is just a proxy for the timeless conversation about the balance between chaos and rigidity.

Of course, drilling alone does not simulate competitive environments, but how many coaches do drills at the exclusion of everything else? The drilling/no drilling dichotomy we see on social media platforms is straw man fodder. The “debates” that occur on social media often poorly reflect reality. Coaches in both internet camps likely do similar things from a programming standpoint, even if their emotional allegiances suggest otherwise.

The Military as a Model

Military training may provide insight into the relationship between part and whole training or between reductionism and complexity. Video 1 below depicts highlights of an Air Force Pararescue team conducting a training mission or “scrimmage.” The team reaches the objective area via fixed wing freefall parachute insertion, patrols to the survivor under night vision goggles, and medically stabilizes and packages the survivor prior to exfiltrating him via rotary wing hoist.

Video 1. Military training may provide insight into the relationship between part and whole training or between reductionism and complexity. Even in training, a mission can take anywhere from 10-36 hours to plan, rehearse, and execute—the closest thing the military has to a scrimmage.

Even in training, this type of scenario may take anywhere from 10-36 hours to plan, rehearse, and execute. These types of full mission profiles, or FMPs, are the closest things the military has to a full dress rehearsal. FMPs are to the military what scrimmaging or special physical preparation is to sport.

In the weeks preceding a deployment—effectively the military’s “preseason”—they conduct a series of FMPs covering a variety of contingencies in an effort to “peak” for the real thing. The concept of periodization or planning is not unique to sport. FMPs are highly time- and resource-intensive, however. Moreover, FMPs are a reflection of requisite skills and disciplines (parachuting, medicine, shooting, small unit tactics, etc.), but they don’t necessarily develop them.

That’s where part training or drills come in. During an FMP, a Pararescueman might not fire his weapon or treat a single patient even when one of his teammates does. The scenarios aren’t so contrived/constrained that they ensure each participating member will encounter identical opportunities to perform various tasks. Instead, they are designed to be realistic.

FMPs aren’t conducive to skill development because there is insufficient repetition of the constituent performance elements. Hence the popularity in sport preparation of concepts like block training. Militaries have recognized the utility of block training for thousands of years. Block training deliberately targets specific qualities at the expense of others because the adaptive process is finite.

The military prioritizes different qualities or skills throughout various developmental cycles. Prioritization exists on a continuum. Seldom does a military training block, of which drills are a component, address a single quality and nothing else. The devil, however, is in the details.

Similarly, most sport coaches are not so extreme that they adhere to a pure block periodization type of model. The most effective training models are usually hybrid solutions because extremes are maladaptive. Sometimes, drills are necessary to further hone in on specific skills and to provide a frame of reference from which greater complexity can be derived at a future time.

The most effective training models are usually hybrid solutions because extremes are maladaptive, says @greenfeetPT. Share on X

Drilling is a means of providing variability to a system. Variability allows a system to better self-organize under stress. Without variability, behavior emerges out of necessity, not out of “choice.” Video 2 is an example of a drill or part training that a Pararescue team might utilize to prepare for the dynamic environment in which they typically operate.

Video 2. Freefall simulation is an example of a drill or part training that a Pararescue team uses to prepare for the dynamic environment in which they typically operate. Sometimes, drills are necessary to further hone in on specific skills and to provide a frame of reference from which greater complexity can be derived at a future time.

Finding the Right Balance

As frustrating as it may be, there is likely no ideal ratio of part to whole training or between drills and more complex movements. It is probably safe to say, however, that embracing specificity or whole training to the extreme is akin to preparing for a mixed martial arts fight solely via sparring. Thankfully, high-level MMA fighters do more than spar, otherwise during title fights on pay-per-view, we’d watch what amounts to bar fights minus the beer bottles and chairs. Actually, watching bar fighting in a ring minus the improvised weaponry might be fun, but the skill level wouldn’t be very high. Similarly, hitting pads or a heavy bag does not constitute adequate preparation for a competitive fight in itself.

Embracing specificity to the extreme is like preparing for an #MMA fight solely by sparring, says @greenfeetPT. Share on X

Be wary of studies or people who misinterpret studies that “prove” drills are not effective at improving performance or skill acquisition. Drills work much differently in practice than they do in research protocols. During the latter, everybody performs the exact same protocol regardless of his/her technique and/or performance limitations. During the former, a coach identifies something that warrants an intervention, prescribes a specific “drill” to address this limitation, and alternates between drilling and the complete movement until the athlete achieves the desired performance or aesthetic outcome.

Research protocols are necessarily rigid and unyielding. However, coaching is the continual act of tinkering and trial and error. It’s about embracing and managing uncertainty until you get it “right,” despite not always knowing what “right” really is.

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

 

You breathe about 20,000 times per day, so imagine the impact that breathing can have on daily living—your habitual posture, your repetive movements, everything that influences your body’s ability to move and perform.

How much time do you or your athletes typically spend on warming up and mobility and flexibility routines? Going through post-session cooldown routines full of static stretching? Pre- and post-session foam rolling or myofascial release?

No doubt all this stretching, rolling, and (to use Kelly Starrett’s parlance) smashing your soft tissue accounts for a considerable amount of training time. Much of this is time well-spent in improving the ability to make the shapes required for effective performance.

How many of you, though, go through 10-20 minute warmup routines, mobility work between sets, 10-15+ minutes of cooldown, maybe even separate and specific mobility and flexibility sessions, yet fail to see significant improvement in these areas?

“Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take.” – The Police

If we’re completely honest, mobility and flexibility work is not the most exciting part of training. While it’s necessary and essential, it often seems tedious and repetitive. Unlike other aspects of strength and conditioning, it is often difficult to see the kind of consistent progress that you can with times, loads, and numbers. As a result, many athletes lack the discipline to perform sessions in which the rewards are not immediately apparent.

The longer these types of sessions last, the more likely that athletes will rush through them or skip individual aspects. That’s just human nature. Of course many educated and dedicated athletes understand the benefits and will follow the program to the letter and “get it done.” This doesn’t change the fact you will encounter many athletes who do not have this attitude. For them, you need to implement training strategies that bring real and obvious benefits.

Chris: The Problem

I have to hold my hand up and admit to being the kind of person who needs a quick remedy with a real and obvious effect. When you feel something is clearly working, it is easier to maintain that discipline.

I have struggled for a long time with mobility restrictions, and tightness in different areas, primarily in my anterior hip, calves, and ankles, particularly down my right side. I have at different times tried a consistent application of various techniques to remedy this condition. Static stretching of key muscle groups—hip flexors, hamstrings, adductors, and lower back. Dynamic flexibility warmup protocols. Foam rolling and other self-myofascial release techniques. I have watched many mobility WOD videos and incorporated band distraction into stretching routines.

Some of these techniques have given me short-term relief or benefits. Others have had little impact. I have been the recipient of high-level therapeutic intervention on more than one occasion and with more than one experienced practitioner. Having a skilled physiotherapist or manual therapist put their hands on you, massage and manipulate your joints and soft tissue, is of course far more effective than self-remedies. The effects are much greater and usually last a bit longer. But having not played sport at a high enough level to receive daily intervention, I find that by the time of my next weekly appointment I am back to square one.

A combination of therapeutic intervention and self-corrective techniques have been enough to stop my lack of mobility and flexibility from worsening, or at least slowed the decay. It has not, however, led to obvious enduring improvement.

One intervention, though, did lead to a bit of a “Eureka!” moment. I had previously read articles on the effects of proper diaphragmatic breathing on posture and movement quality. In particular, some postings of Ryan Brown (of Dark Side Strength and Conditioning) on the Juggernaut Training Systems website were enlightening.

The concept of breathing improving posture and movement quality was interesting to me. Improving physical performance without increasing the workload and training strain for me or my athletes sounded too good to pass up. But daily life got in the way. With restricted training time I barely had time to fit in the big-ticket items like squats and power cleans and so—stupidly, I think—I didn’t implement the breathing drills.

Until recently, that is. As Dr. Tom Nelson mentioned in this article, something as simple as breathing is too often and too easily dismissed. Becoming increasingly frustrated with my jammed-up hip, I decided to give it a try.

Lying flat on my back on the gym floor, I spent several minutes trying to relax, breathing as deeply as possible, then deeply exhaling. As I was lying there contemplating how ridiculous I probably looked, I felt a rather bizarre sensation. My psoas—previously strung as tight as a piano wire—suddenly and completely released. There was real and obvious relief.

When I stood up and walked around, pulled my knee high into my chest, and performed a few squats, the increased mobility and freeness with which I could move my hip was hard to believe. Even just walking around, my hips felt more aligned, like my right femur was sitting more properly in the socket, and I wasn’t being pulled and rotated out of position.

I probably should not be surprised by such emphatic results. The summary of Dr. Eric Janota’s lecture in the same article as Dr. Nelson mentioned that the “psoas is intimately attached to the diaphragm.” Therefore, anything that encourages proper movement and alignment of the diaphragm can reasonably be expected to have a beneficial influence on the psoas.

Steph: Anatomy and the Solution

At this point we will discuss some basic human anatomy and physiology. Breathing is an active process, with the primary muscles of respiration being the intercostal muscles (located between the ribs) and the diaphragm. During inspiration these muscles contract. The intercostals contract to elevate the ribs and sternum, increasing the front-to-back dimension of the thoracic cavity. Contraction of the diaphragm moves it downward and increases the vertical dimension of the thoracic cavity. This lowers air pressure in the lungs, with air flowing in.

During exhalation, these muscles relax. The diaphragm, ribs, and sternum return to their resting position and the thoracic cavity returns to its pre-inspiratory volume, increasing pressure and resulting in air being exhaled.

Incomplete or faulty breathing patterns lead to problems that affect the habitual positions of these structures and ultimately the posture. There are three main types of breathing: clavicular breathing from high up in the shoulders and collarbones, chest breathing from the center of the chest, and abdominal breathing. It is the latter that engages the diaphragm the most and activates the vagus nerve, triggering the body’s relaxation response that is necessary for renewal, healing, and repair.

One explanation for the relief Chris and others have felt through incorporating proper diaphragmatic breathing into their daily routine could have to do with regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). There are two components to the ANS: sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PNS). The PNS down-regulates the nervous system, calming the body, promoting relaxation, rest, and sleep, and slowing down the heart rate and breathing.

The vagus nerve controls the PNS. By being aware of the anatomy of breathing, you understand the mechanism of a sudden release of chronic tension in the psoas. Deep diaphragmatic breathing activates the vagus nerve, stimulating the PNS to calm and relax the body’s muscles.

There is a more substantial relationship between the diaphragm and psoas. Anatomically, both structures have origins in the lumbar spine. If you are looking for a greater connection between the deep breathing muscles and the psoas, I recommend educating yourself in anatomy trains and the myofascial meridians. Chris’s chronic problem areas with large amounts of tension follow precisely along a myofascial line, with the greatest tension in the right ankle and hip. This line connects the breathing muscles and the anterior musculature such as the psoas.

Myofascia surrounds the muscles, making an interconnected web throughout the entire body that allows transmission and dissipation of tension and compression across the body. This myofascial system also allows for the transmission of muscle movement. According to Dr. Thomas Myers, there are 12 myofascial meridians or lines in the human body. A breakdown at one point along these lines can be realized as a symptom anywhere throughout that line. Relating this to Chris and his issues, his problematic right side follows a certain pattern that corresponds exactly to the deep front line myofascial meridian.

 

This deep front line is like the myofascial core running from the bottom of the foot, passing up behind the bones of the lower leg and knee, and continuing up inside the thigh. Here it divides into a line passing in front of the hip, pelvis, and lumbar spine, while another track goes up the back of the thigh. At the psoas-diaphragm interface, the deep front line goes up through the rib cage along numerous paths and finishes on the underside of the neurocranium and viscerocranium.

Chris has suffered from plantar fasciitis on his right side and has tight medial soleus, hip adductors, medial hamstrings, and right psoas. Continuing up, he struggles with flail chest and a tight shoulder complex closely related to this frontal line.

If Chris had a problem or knot along the line near the psoas, the deep breathing might have been beneficial for several reasons. In addition to activating the vagus nerve and stimulating the PNS to relax his body, it also may have helped to soften the myofascial knot through active muscle contraction to release his psoas. It is incredibly hard to manipulate the diaphragm manually. Therefore, the deep breathing could have helped to unwind whatever tension had built up over years of training, habitual poor posture, and inadequate breathing patterns.

Summing up

Bad habits and lazy, incomplete breathing can lead to poor posture and misalignment of the rib cage, diaphragm, and pelvis. Regular correct diaphragmatic breathing can help you and your athletes stimulate the PNS to relax the body and musculature to release tension developed and stored by these faulty breathing mechanics and associated postures.

Practicing deep breathing and relaxation on a daily basis can help restore posture, mobility, and lower back health, and correct movement patterns. Something as simple as correct breathing patterns can improve pelvic alignment, removing anterior tilt and generating immediate improvements in sprinting postures and performance. Correct and efficient posture is essential in assuming the right positions to generate force in big-ticket exercises such as the squat, in which poor breathing patterns and postures can lead to inferior performance and a reduced ability to produce force.

Spend time with your athletes cueing correct pelvic alignment. Start them on the floor as if they were about to perform a basic crunch. Ensure that their backs follow a normal neutral curve and have them breathe deep into their back, using their abs as a brace to maintain abdominal tension and draw air up into their lungs. If they have difficulty breathing correctly in this position, you can regress the drill by having them place their feet up against a wall with knees tracking over toes and hip and knees at 90 degrees to give additional stability to the hips. Athletes with greater body awareness, can be progressed to lying with their legs out straight and even incorporating breathing drills into standing and other exercises.

 

Proper diaphragmatic breathing is an active process, but your athletes should also try and relax as much as possible while trying to maintain the right positions. Ask them to practice five minutes of full inhalation and exhalation and see how this benefits their habitual posture, mobility, force-generating capabilities, and performance.

We hope you find the information in this article useful and would love to hear your experiences. If you are interested in learning even more about these ideas, research more from the likes of Ryan Brown.

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

 

*Note: Quotations from Kiely refer to John Kiely, not the author of this article.

We’ve all heard lots about periodization. Heck, I bet we’ve all read countless books, listened to many podcasts, and even attended a few seminars and conferences dedicated to the planning of training. But what exactly is periodization? Gamble (2006) said: “[P]eriodization offers a framework for planned and systematic variation of training parameters, in a way that directs physiological adaptations to the training goals required of the sport.”

Training is periodized to optimize performance outcomes in competition. Each sport will have its own constraints based on: the training and match schedule; the pre-season and in-season length; the coaches’ access to athletes; and the training time at various stages of the season—not to mention the training culture of the sport, head coach, and even country in question. Due to these reasons, a variety of periodization schemes have been developed over the years. The majority of these were traditionally modelled on Olympic sports like track and field and weightlifting.

Typical periodization models seen in these Olympic sports that have been adapted for teams include, but are not limited to, nonlinear, block, fractal, and conjugate sequences (Kiely 2012). More recently, team sports have worked to break this mold and more advanced tactical or agile periodization methodologies have been formed to meet the ever-changing demands of the games to which they’re applied (Kiely 2012).

The Shortfalls of Traditional Periodization for LTAD in Team Sport

“Teach these kids to do the basics savagely well and all else will follow suit.”

Team sports in a development setting are a combination of the chaos we expect in open age groups, in addition to all the issues associated with working with kids. A development setting is often characterized by athletes with poor motor skills, faulty biomechanics, mixed messages from coaches and parents, low training age, fundamental misunderstandings of the process of training, the emotional stress and process of personal discovery, and development of a sense of self associated with being an adolescent, as well as mixed stages of development within the one cohort.

For team sport athletes in an #LTAD setting, periodization is less important than consistency, says @nathankiely1992. Share on X

With so many interrelated factors to consider, the strength and conditioning coach has a challenging job. For this reason, periodization throughout training when working with team sport athletes in an LTAD setting is less important. What matters is consistency and habit creation. Athletes should be able to turn up to strength and conditioning sessions and know what to expect and how to prepare.

“The human body is either in a state of optimisation or adaptation—never both simultaneously.”

This “steady as she goes system” can be interjected with periods of variety and high-intensity training modalities in short, sharp blocks. Progress can be fast and meeting the athletes where they’re at is essential. Build a wide and stable base over time, then test the athletes with a challenging week (volume load equated to avoid acute spikes) to stimulate sudden performance improvement. Teach these kids to “do the basics savagely well” and all else will follow suit.

Transmutation blocks followed by speed-power training using velocity-based training or advanced tapering models are not only out of place, but are redundant when working with 16-year-olds. The problem with these models is they focus mainly on rigid preparation for performance outcomes, rather than steady progression and agile training themes with an eye on long-term adaptation. Dr. Andy Galpin reminds us that the human body is either in a state of optimization or adaptation—never both simultaneously. So, to maximize development, performance optimization must suffer. And this is for the long-term good. Think big picture.

“Be there to facilitate—not dictate—when they ask for your help.”

The emphasis for developing athletes should always be on both creating a learning environment characterized by technique and fostering competition in training to keep things fun. This is where the competitive juices can flow and a love for the sport itself will be nurtured within the context of learning new skills. Remember, if they fall in love with the game, they’ll intrinsically want to do the hard work required to excel. Be there to facilitate—not dictate—when they ask for your help.

The Simple Way: Accumulate-Intensify-Repeat

For the various reasons stated above, I have developed a system built on the backbone of the KISS principle. The KISS principle is a straightforward concept: “Keep it simple, stupid.” I have cut out the rough edges and built my model around two training blocks with concise goals.

One of the basic tenets of Siff’s strength training bible Supertraining (2003) is that all training plans should invariably resemble the sequence of periods characterized by the application of extensive training methods—known as an accumulation phase—and subsequent stages of intensive training—the intensification phase. These two phases complement one another, as one develops movement skills (motor learning), conditions connective tissues, fosters hypertrophy of muscle structure, and builds work capacity; while the other subsequently emphasizes the development of neurological adaptations (intra and intermuscular coordination), speed and power of movement, and competitive application of sport-specific skills.

I propose the ideal model of periodization for LTAD in team sport athletes is the cyclical application of longer accumulation (four to six weeks) and short, sharp intensification (two to four weeks) phases in a repeated fashion. These should remain concurrent in nature with all physical abilities/capacities equally distributed throughout all programs.

In the weight room, these two phases could resemble what Bompa & Buzzichelli (2015) would classify as general anatomical adaptation and maximal strength phases. Coaches can utilize training blocks during which they expose their athletes to larger volumes of training across many different movements in order to build work capacity and physical literacy, while simultaneously strengthening connective tissue. Subsequently, the coach can then interject high intensity methods—with a noticeable decrease in volume—to maximize functional adaptations.

“Interjecting training novelty into habituated patterns may lead to sudden performance improvements… Regular variation and/or periods of high-intensity training are not unique to any particular periodization philosophy and appear to be a hallmark of elite programs regardless of the stated methodology employed.” – Kiely (2012)

Evidence suggests that habitualized training, interspersed with periods of novel or high-intensity training, is critical for physical development and high performance (Kiely 2012). Coaches should view accumulation phases as a time for training to remain consistent with steady progression and intensification blocks as a chance to introduce novelty and competition or to focus intently on a specific adaptive response based upon the areas that need the most attention. Being an agile and flexible coach is critical in this phase, as firmly holding onto the plan presumes you know precisely how every single individual will adapt to every session—a rather naive assertion.

The strength and conditioning coach should identify all the physical abilities they believe to be important for their sport, and devise and categorize two separate conditions under which to train them. A progression model from movement simplicity to complexity also needs development to ensure variation occurs in a safe manner. These conditions should be extensive measures (to be trained in accumulation phase) and intensive measures (to be trained in intensification phase).

Develop skills, an aerobic base, and hypertrophy (structural/capacity development) in extensive training and then intensify all training modalities to maximize functional/power qualities. At the completion of the two training blocks, reset and repeat with the subsequent accumulation phase starting at a higher absolute intensity, which is now relatively extensive in nature for the athletes.

What Not to Do

Often, knowing what is not best can be the most useful in directing us on the path to what is. Here are some key shortfalls to avoid when planning training for LTAD in team settings:

1. Don’t use stringent block periodization of general anatomical adaptation, hypertrophy, max strength, transmutation, power/speed, etc. These need to be sprinkled throughout the whole program, all the time.
2. Don’t place a heavy emphasis on special strength training exercises or advanced exercise variations. Instead, polarize between general preparatory exercises and the competition exercise in athletes with low training age (<3 years) and focus more on special preparatory and special developmental as training age increases (Bondarchuk’s model of exercise classification).
3. Don’t limit exposure to only a few different lifts. It’s all about exposure, exposure, exposure. Build a wide variety of movement skills and a robust, versatile physical literacy. Jump and land; fall and tumble; throw, catch, clean and jerk; snatch; squat; hinge; lunge; brace and rotate; push and pull; and, mostly importantly, sprint. Have a solid and concise progression model in place to make these various movement qualities logical and digestible for your athletes—ensure the process makes sense to them.
4. Don’t ignore external stressors. Rather, try to align intensification blocks with down time in study commitments and social stressors. Reduce intensity to align with exams, etc.
5. Don’t focus on outputs. Rather than focusing on the weight on the bar, the split time in the sprint, or the height on the jump, create a technically focused model whereby the athletes’ input into the exercise is the focus. Technique should always trump load.
6. Don’t try to build an elite athlete right now. Arm your athletes with the skills to fit seamlessly into any subsequent program they may be a part of. Your athlete’s gym skills reflect on you as a coach and subsequent coaches will judge you based upon this. I want the 19-year-old with great weightlifting skills and clean running mechanics joining me straight out of school—not the guy or girl who has the 2x bodyweight squat, yet rounds their back and has a bung hip from grinding through messy reps.

Build a Broad Movement Vocabulary

When we have many abilities to train, no perfect model for the distribution of these across training time exists. Mladen Janovic proposes we utilize the “1/N heuristic,” whereby we simply divide training time equally among all options. This is particularly applicable in the LTAD setting, where building a broad movement vocabulary is essential.

Here are some practical examples of movements for both accumulation and intensification training blocks:

Accumulation block (extensive training measures): Mobility, weightlifting technique (barbell complexes), landing and deceleration progression, tempo-controlled hypertrophy training, extensive low-level plyometrics and medicine ball throw variations, running skills (posture, range, and alignment), MAS running 70-100%, long high-speed running efforts (up to 60m), linear/multidirectional tempo, and technical/tactical sport skills.

Intensification block (apply variability wherever possible): Load weightlifting variations, intensified core strength lifts to develop neurological/functional adaptations, ballistic resistance training, intensive plyometrics and medicine ball throw variations, resisted sprints, short/intense sprints (less than 30m) and live reactive agility, HIIT >120%MAS, and opposed/competitive sport skill sessions.

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

Bompa, T. and Buzzichelli, C. 2015. Periodization Training for Sports, 3E. Human Kinetics.

Gamble, P. 2006. “Periodization of training for team sports athletes.” Strength and Conditioning Journal, 28(5), p. 56.

Kiely, J. 2012. “Periodization paradigms in the 21st century: evidence-led or tradition-driven?” International journal of sports physiology and performance, 7(3), pp. 242-250.

Siff, M.C. 2003. Supertraining. Supertraining Institute.

Gluten-free diets are becoming increasingly popular, with sales of gluten-free foods reaching over $4 billion and growing in the United States alone. Many people attribute various symptoms to gluten including fatigue, bloating, and a general lack of energy. As always, athletes are quick to jump on any new trend, and gluten-free diets are no different.

Perhaps most famous among these athletes is Novak Djokovic, who quite often attributes his mid-career resurgence to avoiding gluten (and, of course, has a gluten-free book available). In fact, a 2015 questionnaire-based study shows that more than 40% of high-level athletes follow a gluten-free diet more than half the time. If so many athletes follow a gluten-free diet, should you? And, if you do, will it improve your performance?

Gluten and Celiac Disease

First let’s understand a little bit about the purported villain. Gluten is a protein found in wheat products and gives dough its chewy texture. Gluten is well-established as a trigger for celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder that affects the small intestine.

When people with celiac disease consume gluten, they have an abnormal immune response that causes an inflammatory reaction. Repeated exposures can lead to a wasting of the microvilli–small, finger-like structures in the small intestine that serves to increase its surface area, making absorption easier. When the immune response is triggered, people with celiac disease can experience such symptoms as diarrhea and bloating as well as malabsorption of nutrients. None of these are ideal for athletes.

While these symptoms sound scary, we’ve all likely suffered them in the past. Fortunately, celiac disease is somewhat rare. The vast majority of people with the disease have a genetic predisposition to it, specifically around a set of HLA genes. These genes play a role in immune function by enabling the body to distinguish self from non-self cells. Having these genes doesn’t mean you will get celiac disease. Indeed, the vast majority of people with the risk genetic variants never develop celiac disease. In total, about 1% of people develop celiac disease, although that differs across countries and ethnic groups.

The only treatment for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet, and those who suffer from it do need to avoid gluten. There’s another condition known as non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), which isn’t celiac disease but is a sensitivity to gluten. Approximately 10% of people have NCGS, although it’s quite a new diagnosis and is somewhat less well understood.

Gluten and High-Level Athletes

If 10% of people have celiac disease or NCGS, why do more than 40% of high-level athletes follow a gluten-free diet most of the time? According to the 2015 questionnaire-based study, those who reported following a predominately gluten-free diet did so based on a self-diagnosed gluten sensitivity (which is worrying) or no symptoms at all.

Ten percent of the athletes did have a clinically diagnosed gluten sensitivity, which is well within the normal range for a population. Almost as many had coaches, trainers, or a naturopathic doctor who recommended the gluten-free diet. Only 0.5%, or two people in the entire 910 subject sample, had a gluten-free diet prescribed by a nutritionist or dietician.

The sources of information about gluten and gluten-free diets is also concerning.

• Of the gluten-free athletes, 29% said their main source of information was the internet, closely followed by their coach (26%) and other athletes (17%).
• Only 15% of the gluten-free athletes said that their main source of information was either a dietician or a medical professional, the most appropriate professionals to make recommendations regarding a gluten-free diet.

Gluten and Athletic Performance

Because of how trendy and popular this diet has become, many athletes avoid gluten even though they don’t have any symptoms because they believe it will improve performance.

But will it? That’s what a study published in 2015 attempted to explore. Researchers put 13 endurance cyclists with no clinical history of celiac disease through a blind trial where the athletes consumed a diet either with or without gluten for seven days. They didn’t know which diet they were on because the gluten was included in a bar that had a gluten-free counterpart. After following each diet for seven days, the cyclists underwent a time-trial cycle test.

There was no difference in performance among the athletes consuming the gluten-free and gluten-containing diets. There was also no difference in their subjective feelings of well-being or on markers of inflammation. Simply put, for athletes who do not have gluten sensitivity, a gluten-free diet has no impact on performance.

For athletes who do not have #gluten sensitivity, a gluten-free diet has no impact on performance, says @craig100m. Share on X

How Does a Gluten-Free Diet Affect Athlete Nutrition

Gluten likely doesn’t have a positive effect on exercise performance, meaning we don’t need it to perform at our best. But because gluten is prevalent in foods, researchers are concerned that following a gluten-free diet may lead to nutritional inadequacy; it requires eliminating foods that contain nutrients that athletes need.

An obvious example is carbohydrates, many of which (bread, pasta, etc.) contain gluten. Athletes typically need more carbohydrates to support their training, and following a gluten-free diet may prevent them from meeting this requirement. Gluten-free diets can also be expensive, with some estimates putting the increased cost at 2.5 times that of a balanced diet containing gluten.

This isn’t to say that a gluten-free diet is always bad. Returning to the questionnaire study, 80% of the athletes who followed a gluten-free diet reported improved gastrointestinal symptoms, indicating they experienced some positive effects from eating non-gluten foods.

Of course, the true effects of gluten are hard to tease out. Only 10% of people should show sensitivity to gluten, and far more athletes self-report symptoms of gluten sensitivity that are resolved when following a gluten-free diet.

Prolonged #endurance exercise causes gastrointestinal distress in up to 90% of athletes, says @craig100m. Share on X

It’s important to point out that a large number of the gluten-free athletes (70%) in this study participated in endurance sports. Prolonged endurance exercise causes gastrointestinal distress, affecting up to 90% of athletes. Of course, a combination of factors can cause this gastrointestinal distress, including a reduction in blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract and consumption of very high carbohydrate sports drinks.

From a dietary perspective, FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) are linked to gastrointestinal distress, and reducing these foods can reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Indeed, endurance athletes suffer far fewer symptoms of gastrointestinal distress on a low FODMAP diet when compared to a high FODMAP one, as shown by more recent research by Dana Lis, author of many of the papers explored in this article.

A targeted reduction in FODMAPs, as opposed to gluten, may be a better approach for athletes who self-diagnose gluten sensitivity. They should still work with a doctor and a dietician to explore all the potential causes, just in case they do have celiac disease.

Reducing #FODMAPS rather than #gluten may help athletes who self-diagnose gluten sensitivity, says @craig100m. Share on X

Of course, like a gluten-free diet, a low FODMAP diet also has the potential to be nutritionally inadequate, which is why it should be undertaken under supervision by a dietician or nutritionist. Fortunately people can reintroduce many FODMAP foods until they identify the ones causing the most distress. Athletes also have the option to periodize the low FODMAP diet around races or more intense training sessions, where they reduce FODMAP intake to minimize their symptoms and follow a more standard diet outside this time.

How to Decide If a Gluten-Free Diet is Appropriate

So where does this leave athletes considering a gluten-free diet? If they’re considering the diet because they’ve heard that it enhances performance, the research suggests it does not. If they’re considering the diet because they have gastrointestinal symptoms, it’s worth exploring under medical supervision where they can be screened for celiac disease.

If gluten sensitivity is ruled out, other foods components may be causing the gastrointestinal distress. The most common culprits are FODMAPs. Again, exploring this should take place under the supervision of a dietician. Finally, an athlete may consume low FODMAP foods around competitions and important training sessions, where gastrointestinal distress is more likely, and then follow a more standardized diet at other times.

If an athlete has no symptoms of gluten sensitivity, like most people, there’s no reason to follow a gluten-free diet. As Dana Lis’ research shows, too many athletes and coaches are self-diagnosing gluten sensitivities. This may lead to inadequate nutrition or might hide the symptoms of other gastrointestinal issues that should be addressed.

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

Yoga continues to grow in popularity in Western culture and with soccer players, and you do not have to go far to find a yoga studio offering a range of classes that will benefit you no matter where you are within your training regimen. Many top professionals advocate for yoga, saying it improves the longevity of an athlete’s playing career.

Ryan Giggs seems to be the individual speaking the loudest and he probably means the most to the community, as he tallied an astonishing 963 appearances with Manchester United of the Premier League. Riddled with injury early in his career. Giggs often refers to yoga as his “Fountain of Youth” and a huge reason behind his ability to play into his 40s. Beyond that, I can speak personally to the amazing benefits of yoga, as an extremely unrecognized name in the lower divisions of professional soccer.

Giggs refers to yoga as his “Fountain of Youth” and the reason he’s able to play into his 40s. Share on X

So, this begs the question: Should every soccer player “do” yoga? If yoga really is the answer to solving all physical problems, then why isn’t every single Premier League Club investing all of their money and time into this amazing practice? If it were only that simple…

“It tests parts of your body that you just don’t use in football [soccer]. The first time I did it, about five years ago, I was completely knackered. I went home from the training ground and slept for three hours in the afternoon. I actually dreaded yoga for the first year because it made muscles I didn’t know I had ache, although I know some of the lads think it’s really a bit soft.” –Ryan Giggs

This quote from Giggs points to the obvious growing pains to practicing yoga that take time to work past. On top of that, there are also many other priorities when it comes to the physical preparation of a soccer player. Since time and energy are limited, other players may need to focus on other specific areas of preparation, involving resistance exercise, conditioning, speed work, etc.

Although yoga has been in existence for thousands of years, it is still fitting that elite-level athletes have begun looking deeper into the reasons that this ancient practice has stood the test of time. You don’t have to look far within professional sports to see yoga’s widespread popularity.

To speak in clearer terms directly related to physical preparation, this article talks about six critical components of training, and how yoga integrates into each of them. These six essential areas are strength, speed/power, flexibility/mobility, cardiovascular fitness/energy systems development, recovery, and mental/emotional well-being.

Strength

If strength is the maximal amount of force that you can apply against a load, then yoga is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind to train strength. Strength coaches often use external load in the form of barbells and dumbbells, along with additional equipment to assist in a progressive resistance program. However, a missing link that yoga may provide is in the context of core strength, posture, and positioning.

Yoga properly instructs the holding of poses and “bracing” of the core. On top of that, most strength coaches agree that proper core bracing will help transfer loads better from prime movers to carry over to major compound lifts such as a squat or a deadlift. Yoga may not be the fastest way to get strong, but it can add value to a strength program.

Here are a few poses that will apply to strength building in isometric fashion:

Forearm Plank

This isometric anti-extension core position is essential for low back health, core strength, and spinal stability. According to Stuart McGill, Ph.D., a professor of spine biomechanics, repeated 10-second holds help create residual stiffness of the core. This stiffness of the core will help the more global muscles of the arms and legs transfer forces, leading to greater athletic performance.

Form:

• Maintain a neutral spine.
• Keep chin packed.
• Tighten your abdominals.
• Activate your glutes to keep a neutral pelvis

Forearm Side Plank

Another isometric core exercise, the Forearm Side Plank is essential in building stability and rigidness. Another key muscle engaged in the Side Plank is the quadratus lumborum, which plays a major role in alleviating back pain.

Form:

• Maintain a neutral spine.
• Keep chin packed.
• Engage your core and raise your hips to form a straight line from the feet to the head.

Crescent Lunge

This posture is accessible to most soccer players, and helps strengthen the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. When held, it also helps lengthen the hip flexor on the back leg. When an athlete holds this posture, it helps to encourage a more aligned lunge position like the one used in sprinting.

Form:

• Step one of your feet back about 3-4 feet, staying on the ball of your back foot and keeping your back fully extended.
• Bend your top knee, flexed to stack directly over your ankle and try to keep your thigh close to parallel with the ground.
• Extend arms overhead and slightly engage your core while maintaining a neutral spine.
• Hold the posture for 3-5 breath counts, or around 30-45 seconds.

Warrior Two

Another beginner-level pose, Warrior Two helps open up the muscles involved in frontal plane movements like the abductor and adductor muscles. You also engage the glute muscles, quads, and hamstrings in both legs.

Form:

• Set up in a wide stance.
• Keep your front toes pointed forward, while the back toes are at a roughly 90-degree angle.
• The front knee is directly over the ankle, and in line with the second and third metatarsal bones.
• Your shoulders remain over the hips.
• Hold the posture for 3-5 breath counts or around 30-45 seconds.

Warrior Three

Warrior Three uses strength across the whole posterior chain, including the hamstrings, calves, ankles, and back. Single leg balance is increased along with posture and full body coordination.

Form:

• Pressing your weight through one foot, start to lift the opposite leg back, drawing your full body parallel to the ground.
• Keep your top leg fully engaged with a slight bend in your knee and your shin remaining vertical.
• Hold the posture for 3-5 breath counts or around 30-45 seconds.

Chair Pose

The Chair Pose helps strengthen the muscles in the hips, knees, and ankles. You are able to properly settle in on contracting the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves when holding this position.

Form:

• Your feet are hip-width apart to ankles touching.
• Elevate your arms in the overhead position.
• Shift your hips back first, before bending the knees to lower your body.
• Posture muscles on the back keep the torso lifted as the lower body sinks down.
• Hold for 3-5 breaths or 30-45 seconds.

Speed/Power

Power is essential to soccer players and athletes in all sports. The variable of speed added with force applied to a load is often what separates great athletes from just good athletes. Training power is no one-size-fits-all mold in itself; however, most training programs work along the force/velocity (F/V) curve to train power.

Yoga can ultimately use body resistance to train on the lower ends of force and velocity shown in Figure 1 below (because of the slow speed and isometric holds.) Slower speeds and isometric holds allow for the time and conscious control needed to properly recruit groups of muscles instead of relying on our primary/global muscles, which tend to take over.

Speed is perhaps the most talked about training principle in all of sports. Once again, speed is improved through a holistic approach, working on a number of aspects together that make an athlete fast. Yoga is by no means going to make you a track star overnight; nevertheless, you can argue that proper body positioning plays a part in speed.

Flexibility/Mobility

Flexibility and mobility are two components that can be constantly worked on and that will pay massive dividends. If you have ever trained with soccer players, you know how important it is to be mobile in all directions. On top of that, the rate of soft tissue injuries originating at the hip (hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, and adductors) is extremely high. Flexibility and mobility are not going to prevent all injuries in these areas; however, we have enough science to say that normal hip mobility, in conjunction with healthy flexibility, can help soccer players move more efficiently through a full range of motion. When turning to yoga for inspiration, there are poses that you can easily “steal” to add to your warmups and cool-downs for opening up the hips.

Some yoga poses to add mobility specific to soccer in warm-ups and cooldowns are:

Low Lunge

The Low Lunge is a great way to focus on the hip flexor group, including psoas and iliacus muscles. This area receives a lot of attention due to its importance in hip flexion and proper hip extension.

Form:

• Keep a neutral spine.
• Put your back knee down and behind your hip.
• Maintain a slight posterior pelvic tilt.
• Actively draw the back hip forward.

Lizard Lunge

The major benefit of this pose is the ability to mobilize the hip flexor group and the inner and outer hips.

Form:

• From push-up position, place a foot outside your hands.
• Keep your spine neutral with your hips square with the ground.
• Stay on the ball of your back foot, engaging quad and glute muscles and lengthening the hip flexors.
• Variations can include lowering on your forearms or drawing your top knee away from your body to stretch the outer hip. 

Pigeon Pose

Another hip opener, the Pigeon Pose helps increase external rotation of the hip on the front leg and lengthens the hip flexors on the back leg.

Form:

• Place your front shin down and close to parallel with the front of the mat.
• Make sure your spine stays neutral and lifted.
• Keep your hips squared off with your top shin.
• Your back thigh will point towards the floor and extend back.

Figure Four

Similar to the Pigeon, the Figure Four position helps lengthen the external rotators and abductors of the hip. This variation allows your spine to be neutral by remaining on the floor and places less stress on the knee than the Pigeon Pose.

Form:

• In a lying position, place one lateral ankle directly on the opposite knee.
• Hug behind the hamstring on the extended leg to bring the shin being stretched closer to your body.

Downward Dog

While activating your upper body, you also lengthen the whole backside of the body from the hips down, including hamstrings, calves, Achilles, and ankles.

Form:

• From a position on your hands and knees, start to lift your hips to the sky.
• Press firmly into your hands, drawing your head and chest through (and between) your arms.
• Allow your heels to draw down and back to help lengthen the hamstrings and calves.

Cardiovascular Fitness/Energy Systems Development

Soccer is all about variety when it comes to energy systems. A soccer match requires sprinting, jumping, and rapid change of direction(ATP-PC), and longer striding (glycolytic), with 90 minutes of constant moving and low-level activity (aerobic). Furthermore, soccer can have a pretty high demand on the cardiovascular system. With each training session and game requiring high bouts of intensity for up to two hours, stressing the higher energy systems outside of soccer is not always the best bang for your buck in season. In season, a foundational yoga practice can work as a low-level aerobic session without stressing the same joints and soft tissue as a light jog. In the offseason, you can utilize more of a cross-training effect by doing a faster-moving yoga practice, often dubbed “power yoga.” During a season or even on a heavier training day, you can still get an aerobic benefit from a foundational yoga class.

Here are three example metrics for recent heart rates during a foundational yoga practice (Figure 2), a powerful practice (Figure 3), and a soccer match (Figure 4).

This is a sample of a 38-minute yoga session with the participant wearing a heart rate monitor. With the heart rate peaking at 140 beats per minute and averaging just under 100 beats per minute, the cardiovascular system is working enough to elevate cardiac output without placing excessive stress on the system.

Right away, you can notice the difference in stress on the cardiovascular system with a different style of yoga practice. Power yoga requires more movement in harder poses that can elevate the heart rate. In terms of energy systems worked, most of the class targets the aerobic zone, with a few bouts that reach low-level anaerobic zones. Although the primary intentions of this class were not to specifically target the cardiovascular system, power yoga is a great way to experience the benefits of aerobic training without stressing any of the joints like you might with running. This is useful during a block of cross-training where you are trying to receive cardiovascular benefits while staying away from the soccer field.

This sample metric is a 90-minute soccer game, including half time. It shows an example of what your cardiovascular system goes through during a normal match. Your highest energy systems (ATP-PC/anaerobic) are being stressed constantly, which brings the highest amount of intensity to both your physical body and central nervous system. Because you are constantly exposed to this type of stressor, engaging in a more passive mode of exercise, like yoga, can really help complement the demands of a soccer match.

Recovery

There are more competitions, more travel, less time between competitions, and higher demands than ever in the sport of soccer. Recovery is a massive variable in both an individual’s and a team’s success. When battling fatigue and still trying to maintain fitness, everyone looks for new ways to recover.

Using examples from the world’s elite organizations, it is clear that the day after heavy competition is used as a recovery-focused day. On this day, players usually do some sort of “aerobic flush,” followed by a number of modalities to help recover the muscles, tendons, and joints. Beyond utilizing yoga as an aerobic flush on a recovery day, you can also utilize yoga-like movements in your immediate recovery after training sessions and/or competition.

Recovery Yoga Session

Sessions can include the use of yoga techniques that include breathing, calming music, and mental imagery, along with tailored postures and positions to assist players with recovery.

Mental/Emotional Well-Being

Perhaps one of the most neglected areas in sports is the psychosocial aspect within all teams. With all the sorts of daily stressors, meditation and relaxing techniques seem to be talked about with more regularity. Yoga’s attention to breathing techniques and bringing people to the present moment are some highly underestimated benefits for team sports. With mindset truly making or breaking top athletes, it is necessary that we begin to look at ways of improving this area.

Beyond the physical realm of yoga, some often-overlooked benefits can include:

• Increased focus
• Increased mental clarity
• Learning to detach from negative feelings/emotions
• Bringing intention, purpose, and motivation

Yoga: Simple, Timeless, and Easy to Implement

Enough information is available to show the benefits that yoga brings to the sport of soccer. Beyond that, players can take what they learn about yoga to develop a personal practice that may include breathing techniques on top of the physical poses that complement them best. Whether players are stiff, beaten up, or inflexible, they can take up yoga.

Yoga is simple and timeless, and makes a great complement to any training drills and exercises. Share on X

Ultimately, you will benefit by including yoga as a part of your program if you utilize it correctly. As the next off-season begins, you can certainly find ways to add in yoga to your program and shock your athletes’ systems. Like almost everything, starting something new can be difficult. However, with consistency, you will see results and decide for yourself as to yoga’s place within your training program. Depending on players’ time and energy, you may practice yoga two to three times weekly or just include 15 minutes’ worth of postures in your warm-up and/or cooldown. Different variations of the practice of yoga will only be a benefit.

Our world is full of technology, with all types of gadgets, gizmos, and “groundbreaking” training methods. Yoga is simple and timeless: It’s one of the oldest practices known to mankind and makes a great complement to your team sport or life. Not only will you see and/or feel the immediate benefit from a single session, you will also realize the lasting benefits that go along with a consistent yoga practice.

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