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The Titan Sports System defines GPS load as “a scoring value accounting for the intensity and duration of effort based on GPS readings. The score is weighted with an exponentially increasing coefficient.” In the simplest terms, this differentiates the level of intensity of each yard by assigning greater weight to those yards at higher speeds. Those yards are then examined within the time they took place, giving us a look at the actual density of the yardage. For instance, 3,000 yards with 2,500 less than 6 m/s and 500 greater than 6 m/s will score lower than 3,000 yards with 1,500 below 6 m/s and 1,500 above.

This metric digs deeper than simple volume into what is happening with our high school football athletes. For reference, you will generally see a much greater GPS load from a receiver or defensive back than any other position. This is due in large part to the percentage of yards they cover at high velocity and the distance they cover at those speeds being higher than others because of the tactical and technical roles they play within the sport.

Initially, I tracked both total and high-speed (80%+) volume—this is an effective and valuable way to prepare. GPS load brings total intensity over time into one data point. Volume is still something to pay attention to, as we have had athletes accumulate as much as 14 miles of volume in a summer passing competition over the span of 5–6 hours. That type of number, even at walking speed, can still be a factor. Load gives us a more accurate picture of the athletes’ actual activity levels.

GPS load brings total intensity over time into one data point…Load gives us a more accurate picture of the athletes’ actual activity levels, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

Here, in part 2 of my article series on using GPS to prepare high school football players, I’ll look to expand on some of the basic procedures we use with GPS. In the first installment, I discussed the dilemma facing coaches in accounting for the highly variable training gap of the athletes once the voluntary off-season ends and mandatory practices begin. How can we use GPS as a guide to ensure our athletes have prepared for the workloads they face while not pushing them past the point of meeting those demands?

In part 1, I focused on using individual and positional volume as a place to begin ensuring optimal work capacity preparations. Now, I will dive into using GPS load to increase programming precision by bringing intensity and time into the equation. Using this metric has allowed us to become even more precise in preparing our athletes for the demands of not just playing but preparing for sport.

GPS Player Load

The charts below give a snapshot of how total volume and GPS load do not always correlate directly based on the athlete. The chart on the left shows the total practice volume over 2.0 m/s in a session. The chart on the right represents the GPS load with athletes in the same order. This is particularly helpful for athletes who play on both sides of the ball. One hundred yards walking on the sideline for a one-way player is different from that yardage for a player who plays both sides.

Another factor is how much a player on the sideline may cover in yardage doing things like walking to get water while a two-way player is on the field. The volume may be similar, or even more, but the intensity is much different. In both of the charts above, the top athlete is a two-way player. The player with the second-highest load (83.4 to 84.3) is, in fact, the seventh player in total volume. The load information adds depth to the process of using the data to guide us. It shows how much work an athlete has done in a session and allows us to compare that to the work levels of previous sessions.

We use GPS load not just to help guide our day-to-day sessions but also to ensure our loads do not have a great variance week to week. If they do? We need to account for that outside of sport. Our weekly pattern that has developed over the past four years for each day’s average player load is below.

The trick for me, as a non-sport coach, is that I don’t have a direct influence on actual practice intensity. This is not a designated high-low plan. Our data is organically developed based on the coaching staff’s typical practice plan.

It is my task to use the data to educate our coaches on the impacts of day-to-day intensity on our team’s recovery and ability to produce maximum outputs of speed, acceleration, and deceleration on game night. The goal is consistent workloads avoiding peaks and valleys that have been recognized to increase injury potential. This is why GPS is so important! If I assumed (guess) that the above schedule is how our team intensity is, I’d be wrong many times. Instead, I look at the data and am able to adjust our non-practice workloads.

For the skeptics who believe GPS will always slant toward ‘less work,’ that’s definitely not the case. Less or more isn’t the goal; focusing on optimal loads is, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

For the skeptics that believe GPS will always slant toward “less work,” I want to add that is definitely not the case. This process allows me to suggest adjustments to our staff for the next practice to fill the need or offset higher-than-expected load levels. Less or more isn’t the goal; focusing on optimal loads is. My suggestions have ranged from four to six 20-yard sprints (acceleration), to asking the defensive staff to add a 5-yard burst followed by a full-speed 180-degree wide base crossover (high-speed deceleration), to running fewer deep routes in drills and pass skell. Once you have your process, the adjustments become clear.

Above is an example of practice in camp with a GPS load much higher than a typical mid-week session for most players (below).

We use the data we collect not only to guide this acute weekly schedule but to ensure the chronic loads do not drop or increase significantly from week to week. For example, we want the upcoming Monday not to be a significant drop-off from the previous Monday; if it is, then we need to take a deeper dive into the high-speed distance, accelerations, and decelerations to determine precisely what buckets were shorted. We then can use time outside of sport to fill those needs.

Each day of the week varies due to the tactical and technical aspects of the practice schedule. As strength and conditioning coaches, this is where we must lean on data collection from previous seasons to help guide our process. This is also where trust and a relationship with your football staff play a vital role. I never suggest wholesale changes to practice—that is unrealistic and unsustainable, as the sport coach needs to be the driver of that process. Our role is to look at past data, get a picture of the demands, and use this to make subtle suggestions that can be easily instituted.

What I found in the three-year historical averages for our situation was:

Looking at actual game demands, we see our peaks being in the low 200s and our average being in the 150 range. Since the evidence-based Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio suggests that the further past 1.5x load an athlete goes, the increased risk of injury,¹ I decided to set my initial goals for the week at 225–300 total. From there, we have been using a combination of sprint speeds, peak acceleration, and “coach’s eye” to adjust as the situation demands. We found our “sweet spot” to be in the 200–260 range.

One thing you must consider when using GPS to guide practice adjustments is that each team, each coaching staff, and each season will present a unique situation, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

One thing you must consider when using GPS to guide practice adjustments is that each team, each coaching staff, and each season will present a unique situation. You and the football staff must develop your own process based on those and many other factors. You must collect historical data from your team’s plans and tweak them within the parameters your coaches are comfortable with.

In my ideal situation, Monday is always a bit of a gamble because kids don’t really rest as much as we hope on the weekend. I’d keep this as a moderate day. Tuesday would be the heaviest load. Wednesday would be our adjustment day, and Thursday would be our lighter day.

Based on our staff plan, the following is the reality that makes the most sense for us as of the 2022 season.

Here is an example of our last three weeks, with black being the optimal load, red higher than scheduled, and blue lower than expected:

As we look over the chart, we can see a perfect example of day-to-day adjustments in week 1. Monday was one of those days that football teams sometimes have—it was longer and had much more high-speed movements. Reviewing practice with our head coach showed that our team and group sessions were extended by multiple plays each. There was also an extended special team session.

Those are all factors that are out of our control. Our job in this situation isn’t to attempt to change the way our sports coaches coach. Instead, we need to examine the results and do our best to adjust going forward in a way that culminates in our goals being successfully met.

I control Tuesday in class—this gives me a great deal of influence on our actual workload. We used Tuesday as a lighter day in our class “fill the bucket” session and in practice. However, as can happen, it ended up being a little too low (although the in-class GPS load is not calculated, which is one unavoidable hole in our process that I will discuss later in this article). Wednesday was back up a little, as the needed adjustment was made, and Thursday was higher than normal but not out of the norm by much.

Week 2 was a more typical workload. Week 3? We had a heat-related shorter practice. What isn’t reflected? We adjusted our Tuesday “fill the bucket session” to be less “max velo” centered and instead did higher volume high-speed acceleration and deceleration drills, including small-sided games. Because of the turnaround time for syncing units and washing vests, Tuesday’s class was educated guessing. We looked at what was in need and attacked it as optimally as possible. Wednesday was once again adjusted to offset a need. Thursday was typical, and Friday was a low-workload game.

The GPS data from that particular game showed less than normal max velo or high-speed acceleration. It was a defensive shutout, so very little was needed. That will factor into what we do the following week on Tuesday as well. We let the data guide the programming. Our goals for the next week? Hope for a typical Monday and adjust as needed each day to ensure we don’t have any significant increase or decrease in workload.

I cannot emphasize enough how important trust is between you and the football staff for this process to be effective. I had to go to our head coach and explain in depth why any type of running post-practice needed to be dealt with in a targeted way. If the data says we have filled our need for sprint yardage, running ten 40-yard dashes is counterproductive.

He had the combination of trust and a growth mindset to look at what I was showing him and see great value in it. If we have a deficiency in high-speed deceleration, and I ask our defensive staff to coach a hard, full-speed change of direction in drills, I must know they trust me enough to take that recommendation. Trust and willingness to comply and make these adjustments is the ONLY reason I spend the time and effort on GPS.

Using GPS load is just one of many ways to help your coaches and athletes be shielded through exposure to the demands of their sport, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

Using GPS load is just one of many ways to help your coaches and athletes be shielded through exposure to the demands of their sport. It is part of my process, but it may or may not fit your situation or needs. That is not right or wrong—it’s perspective-based problem-solving. I encourage you to jump into the GPS pool and begin collecting data. Your process, whether the same as mine or not, will begin to develop.

This time we added depth to our process by moving from volume to load. In future installments, I will continue to layer our process by covering how we use acute:chronic work ratio to help individualize load, high speed (90%+ of max velocity) sprint data, and high-speed acceleration and deceleration as guides to fill the buckets that practice may not always succeed in doing. We will continue to explore how GPS allows us to make these decisions without a high level of guesswork and as optimally as possible.

Since you’re here…
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References

1. White, Ryan. “Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio – Science for Sport.” Science for Sport, 26 Nov. 2017.

Everyone wants to be faster. We dedicate hours upon hours to reading and researching ways to improve technique, power output, and the effectiveness of our training modalities. And while we all admit the importance of nutrition and its application to speed and athletic performance, we spend little time on this area that could give us a level up on our competition.

Enter the Fueling Speed Hierarchy, nutritional items with a direct application to speed. Nutritional strategies have a range of important benefits when we look at optimizing speed and power output, whether providing fuel for our energy systems and the brain and central nervous system, assisting with muscle protein synthesis, promoting optimal body composition, aiding in muscular contraction and nerve conduction, or playing a role in injury prevention.

This article will discuss the five nutritional practices I believe have the biggest impact on helping athletes improve their strength, power, and explosiveness in ways that translate to increases in speed:

1. Ensure sufficient carbohydrate intake. This fuels our most utilized energy systems and provides the substrate used more directly in speed and explosiveness as the preferred fuel for the brain and central nervous system.
2. Plan adequate protein intake, timing, and dosages. Doing so will optimize muscle protein synthesis and allow for muscular adaptations to training.
3. Maintain euhydration and fluid/electrolyte balance. This plays a crucial role in muscular contraction, body temperature regulation, and injury prevention.
4. Consume an adequate intake of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). The benefits of this include helping regulate muscle and nerve contraction and providing antioxidants.
5. Supplement as needed with vitamins, minerals, and compounds. Finding the right supplements can improve power and explosiveness by reducing perceptions of fatigue, providing energy system fuel, and preventing acid-base disturbances.

It is important to note that while nutritional interventions for a singular sprint are poorly represented in research, the training required for that single race—including lifting, plyometrics, speed drills, and repeat sprint training—is impacted immensely by nutrition strategies. We also know that speed and power have commonalities across many sports that include intermittent maximal efforts, including an explosive first step in volleyball, a breakaway in soccer, stealing a base in baseball, and driving to the hoop in basketball.

While nutritional interventions for a singular sprint are poorly represented in research, the training required for that single race is impacted immensely by nutrition strategies, says @lindsey_rd. Share on X

Knowing the causes of central (CNS) and peripheral (muscular) fatigue in these maximal, short-duration training and competition scenarios allows us to better identify the nutritional strategies that can help support optimal speed and power output.

Muscularly, multiple energy systems will be utilized during an intermittent sport: primarily, the ATP-CP for individual explosive outputs and repetitive efforts with sufficient recovery and anaerobic glycolysis for repetitive efforts with incomplete and insufficient recovery (obviously along with aerobic for long competitions and active recovery during low-intensity breaks in the action). However, fueling is not just about energy systems.

For speed, the central nervous system also needs the correct nutrient substrates due to the highly coordinated, neurologically demanding, and focused nature required for optimal expression. The goals of performance nutrition interventions as they pertain to speed then become providing the most economical energy system fuel that will meet the demands of the sport (or event) and ensuring there are adequate substrates available to fuel optimal performance.

Below, we will discuss in greater detail each of the five nutritional strategies I have identified to positively impact speed and power development and performance.

Ensure Sufficient Carbohydrate Intake (Yes, Power Athletes, You Need Them Too!)

When it comes to performance nutrition, carbohydrates are king. They are extremely pertinent to speed and often overlooked in favor of viewing fuel as simply muscular energy, but the fact is that the brain and CNS prefer to run on glucose, and carbohydrates play a significant role in neurotransmission and cerebral metabolism. Based on this fact alone, we can see where they would play a substantial role in sprint performance and speed development; on top of that, they are the primary fuel for our anaerobic energy system while also being the most efficient and economical substrate available.

Carbohydrate depletion leads to fatigue. But did you know this depletion can also lead to reductions in sport-specific skills, decreased work rates, and impaired concentration, asks @lindsey_rd. Share on X

Carbohydrate depletion leads to fatigue, which would typically be thought of as occurring in a longer duration sprint through the reduction of glycolysis. But did you know that this depletion can also lead to reductions in sport-specific skills, decreased work rates, and impaired concentration? These are all factors that need to be locked in for improvement in a refined and complex motor skill such as sprinting. In fact, at the neurological level, a reduction in available glucose inhibits CNS and neuromuscular coordination and efficiency, potentially leading to decrements in motor skills and increased perception of fatigue!

Video 1. Speed training.

So how do we address this? For a speed athlete, even though carbohydrate fueling strategies are traditionally most discussed in the endurance population, starting a training session or competition with sufficient muscle glycogen levels and using pre/intra fueling strategies to support glucose availability and glycogen sparing is incredibly important.

We know that our storage capacity for glycogen is approximately 400 grams in the muscle and 100 grams in the liver. Depletion of these stores, as seen in high-volume training sessions, in multiple daily sessions, or with inadequate refueling/fueling, can not only contribute to the fatigue mentioned above but has also been connected to an increased risk of injury. Carbohydrates also help spare protein instead of it being oxidized, allowing it to be used for muscle protein synthesis, which is vital for speed training adaptations (discussed in more detail below).

While body composition is influenced by multiple factors, carbohydrate and protein intake (discussed in the next section) can be manipulated within the total energy intake to support these goals. It is important to note that body composition and body weight alone are not accurate predictors of performance, and the goal of hypertrophy work within a speed development program is to optimize, not maximize, to meet the demands of the sport/event.

When looking to gain fat-free mass in a speed athlete, the objective should be to optimize the power-to-strength ratio as opposed to gaining absolute strength and size. When changes in body composition are warranted and could help the athlete optimize performance, they should be done in the off-season or early pre-season to avoid any possible decrements to performance. We will discuss body composition further in the next section.

Carbohydrate needs vary based on body size, lean mass, and sport and training demands, but current recommendations support athletes consuming between 4 and 12 grams per kilogram of body weight daily to help optimize performance. Speed athletes I have worked with tend to perform best in the 5–8 g/kg BW range, adjusted up or down based on individual needs. Within these daily needs to support glycogen storage levels, we can look at specific nutrient timing to best support training, competition, and recovery.

In the pre-training window, athletes should seek to consume 1–4 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight one to four hours pre-training. As this meal gets closer to our training/competition, we want to avoid too much fat or fiber, which could cause GI distress during exercise. In the window directly pre-training (15–30 minutes out), an easily digested, simple carbohydrate item can provide a source of glucose and aid in glycogen sparing, leaving that fuel for anaerobic glycolysis (and preventing protein oxidation for optimal MPS).

In the post-training window, we aim to replenish glycogen stores used during training or competition. Athletes should seek to consume 1–1.2 g/kg/hour for the first 4–6 hours post-training. Continual feeding past the meal directly post-training is important to optimize glycogen levels, as glycogen resynthesis rates are shown to be ~5% an hour.

The role of carbohydrates intra-training as they pertain to speed is not limited solely to glycogen sparing. Research now supports carbohydrates used as a “mouth rinse,” playing a role in counteracting signals that can contribute to central (CNS) fatigue. Think of them as “taking off the governor” (motor drive) and positively modifying the motor unit output.

Research now supports carbohydrates used as a ‘mouth rinse,’ playing a role in counteracting signals that can contribute to central (CNS) fatigue, says @lindsey_rd. Share on X

This has been demonstrated mostly in 30- to 60-minute activities (e.g., intermittent sports, speed training) and is thought to be related to receptors that are present in the mouth and brain responding to carbohydrates (seen with both glucose and maltodextrin [maltose and dextrose] mixtures), which activate reward centers in the CNS and reduce perceptions of fatigue, thereby increasing work rates. Implementation of the mouth rinses could be as simple as sipping and spitting a sports beverage that is 5–8% carbohydrate during training/competition.

Plan Adequate Protein Intake, Timing, and Dosages

If carbohydrates are the king of performance nutrition, protein is the queen. Protein serves as a substrate but also a trigger for the synthesis of contractile proteins through a process known as muscle protein synthesis (MPS). This process is critical in creating the training adaptations we are looking for in speed development training, and protein itself can serve as a trigger for those metabolic adaptations we seek.

Like carbohydrates (and dietary fats), protein has a direct effect on body composition—not only through its contribution to total energy intake but also in the maintenance of lean body mass on a hypocaloric diet. If body composition changes are warranted to optimize performance (remember, body comp and body weight do not accurately predict performance), keeping protein levels higher can help maintain lean mass while in a caloric deficit to see body fat reductions. Recommendations for protein intake when reducing total calories to make body composition changes range from 2.3–2.4 grams/kg BW/day. Lean mass maintenance has been shown to be optimized when athletes lose no more than 1% of their body mass weekly.

Daily protein intake for athletes is currently set at 1.2–2.0 g/kg BW/day. Most literature supports an ideal range of 1.5–1.7 grams/kg BW for speed athletes, but this may increase with the demands of the sport (e.g., in contact sports).

Protein timing throughout the day is important to optimize MPS. The majority of protein intake in regard to training is focused in the post-window. However, pre-training protein consumption can aid in satiety to lower the physiological hunger experienced during training and competition. During training, protein consumption can help spare amino acids from being oxidized, leaving them available for MPS.

Post-training, we are looking to trigger metabolic adaptations within the muscle, which has been shown to happen with highly biologically available proteins consumed 0–2 hours post-training containing 10+ grams of essential amino acids. The total protein content of this feeding should be around .25–.3 g/kg BW post-training. It is recommended that this dose is then repeated about every 3–5 hours throughout the day to optimize MPS and recovery. Intakes of more than 40 grams of protein have not been shown to further improve MPS but may be warranted for larger athletes, individuals on a hypocaloric diet, or those with higher total daily protein needs. A good goal for most athletes is to consume doses of 20–40 grams of protein every 3–4 hours while awake to optimize MPS and hit total daily protein intake needs.

A good goal for most athletes is to consume doses of 20–40 grams of protein every 3–4 hours while awake to optimize muscle protein synthesis and hit total daily protein intake needs. Share on X

Protein intake in the post-training window can also lower carbohydrate needs to achieve the same glycogen resynthesis. Research supports that an intake of .8 grams of carbohydrate/kg BW/hour combined with .4 grams of protein/kg/hour achieves similar glycogen resynthesis as a consumption of 1.2 grams/kg/hour of carbohydrate. This is yet another reason to consume protein in the post-training window and throughout the day, especially for an athlete who struggles to meet higher carbohydrate needs post-training.

Maintain Euhydration and Fluid/Electrolyte Balance

Hydration has multiple impacts on athletic performance, including the role of electrolytes in muscular contraction, injury prevention, and maintenance of electrolyte balance in the body. Pre-exercise hypohydration can increase muscle strength and power, and too great of a loss of fluids and electrolytes can impair performance. We start to see a decrease in high-intensity activities at a loss of 3%–5% of total body weight during training and competition. At these levels, we can begin to see alterations to CNS and metabolic function due to hypovolemia and increased glycogen use leaving less fuel for glycolysis.

To prevent this great of a loss, speed athletes should set a goal of starting their training or competition in a euhydrated state and losing no more than 2%–3% of their body weight during exercise. The focus post-training should then be on rehydrating and replacing lost fluids and electrolytes.

Current recommendations for pre-exercise hydration include consumption of 5–10mL/kg BW 2–4 hours prior to training/competition. Sweat rates and concentrations vary greatly between athletes and in different weather/altitude conditions. Sweat losses per hour can range from .3–2.5 L/hour. We can calculate an athlete’s specific fluid loss by taking their pre-training weight and subtracting their post-training weight, adding fluids consumed during training, subtracting urine output during that time, and dividing by the duration of training. For every kilogram lost during training, an athlete needs about 1–1.5 liters of fluids for rehydration.

The general recommendation is to consume .4–.8 liters an hour during training/competition for intermittent sports to avoid hypohydration. Athletes with high sweat rates (>1.2 L/h), those identified as “salty sweaters” (usually you will see white residue on the skin or jersey, or the sweat will have a very salty taste), very hot/humid temperatures, and those training more than two hours will also need to replenish sodium in this window.

Sodium is the primary ion lost in sweat (~20–80 mmol/L) and should be the primary electrolyte in a hydration beverage. A sports drink with 5%–8% carbohydrate (higher can cause GI distress), 10–35 mmol/L sodium, and 3–5 mmol/L potassium (for the CNS) is currently recommended for sodium replenishment during training. (As mentioned above, this could also be used to provide glucose for glycogen sparing and as a mouth rinse.) Cold beverages may also help reduce core body temperature in hot weather training/competition.

Rehydration post-training should be the focus of a speed athlete, allowing them to begin their next training session/competition in a euhydrated state. An athlete’s goal should be to replenish with 125%–150% of the fluids lost during training (1–1.5 L/kg BW lost) and to replace sodium losses via the consumption of salty foods or an electrolyte replacement supplement (50–60 mmol/L sodium and 10–20 mmol/L potassium).

Rehydration post-training should be the focus of a speed athlete, allowing them to begin their next training session/competition in a euhydrated state, says @lindsey_rd. Share on X

The average sodium loss per liter of sweat is 1 gram or 1,000 milligrams (as mentioned above, this varies significantly between athletes). Replenishing these losses post-training and competition is vital to help the body retain the fluids consumed, restoring optimal plasma volume and levels of extracellular fluids. It is essential to be aware of an athlete’s rehydration rate and spread their intake over the 0–4 hour post-training period to avoid a rapid expansion of blood volume, which can cause a diuresis effect.

Consume Adequate Intake of Micronutrients

Any athlete should aim to prevent micronutrient deficiencies through a balanced intake that meets total energy, macro, and micronutrient needs. And while all micronutrients have an indirect role in supporting energy production—and thus performance—there are three we should be extra aware of as they pertain to muscular function and speed:

1. Calcium
2. Vitamin D
3. Iron

Calcium

Calcium aids in the regulation of muscular contraction and nerve conduction. As we know, calcium facilitates the myosin and actin interaction within the muscle cell. It is then, when calcium is pumped back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum, that the muscle relaxes. Most athletes who do not avoid dairy or use foods fortified with calcium will meet their daily intake needs of 1,500 mg/day (with 1,500–2,000 IUs of vitamin D as discussed below). Calcium is also an important mineral in bone health (along with vitamin D and phosphorus), which can help prevent bone injury. It is important to note that high levels of calcium in the blood can cause muscle weakness, and supplements should be used under the direction of a physician or dietitian.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D has a role in bone health (aiding in calcium and phosphorus absorption and playing a biomolecular role in mediating the metabolic functions of the muscle). Optimal vitamin D levels for athletes are >40 ng/ml. Athletes living above the 35th parallel, or those who train and compete indoors, are at the highest risk of deficiency. Supplementation may be warranted in amounts of 2,000–5,000 IUs daily as indicated by lab work.

Iron

We know iron deficiency, with or without anemia, reduces muscular function and work capacity, as maximal oxygen uptake will be limited. Elite athletes, especially females, can be at risk of developing iron deficiency. While this is most frequently seen in the endurance population, we must be aware of iron’s importance for all athletes. Intakes >18 mg/day for menstruating females and >8 mg/day for males are recommended, with heme iron (meat, poultry, seafood) being better absorbed than non-heme (nuts, whole grains, legumes, etc.).

It wouldn’t be a micronutrient conversation without discussing antioxidants—something that has a lot of steam in the sports nutrition space right now. We agree that exercise causes oxidative stress and that an athlete’s goal should be an antioxidant-rich diet (think fruit, vegetables, and healthy fats). Where opinions differ is on the use and benefit of antioxidant supplements like tart cherry juice.

I do not recommend that my athletes use these antioxidant supplements in the off-season or pre-season when our goal is adaptation, as these supplements could negatively influence it. Instead, they should be used during the season, potentially in the evening before competition or key training sessions.

Supplement as Needed with Vitamins, Minerals, and Compounds

The role of supplementation in positively impacting speed performance lies in providing energy system fuel, preventing acid-base disturbances, and reducing perceptions of fatigue. There are four supplements I lean on to help optimize sprint performance:

1. Creatine
2. Caffeine
3. Sodium bicarbonate
4. Beta-alanine

The sport/event would impact the use of these, but by understanding their mechanisms, we can best identify which athletes would benefit from their use.

There are four supplements I lean on to help optimize sprint performance: creatine, caffeine, sodium bicarbonate, and beta-alanine, says @lindsey_rd. Share on X

It’s important to remember that athletes must be careful with supplements and ensure their safety and purity before using them. Supplements should be third-party tested with effectiveness and dosages backed by research. A cost-benefit analysis should always be done before beginning a supplement, and tolerance should be tested outside of competition/key training sessions.

Creatine

Creatine is one of the most studied and safest supplements on the market and, in my opinion, the most impactful on performance. Creatine has been shown to have numerous benefits, but for the purposes of this article, we primarily see performance improvements in repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise with short recovery periods. Based on our earlier discussion of surrounding energy systems, we know phosphocreatine is the substrate used in the ATP-CP, our main energy system utilized in maximal sprints. Creatine phosphate provides a rapid source of phosphate to resynthesis ADP to ATP. Creatine has also been shown to enhance glycogen storage and muscle protein synthesis, which are both critical for optimal speed development and to buffer H+ ions created in anaerobic glycolysis.

On an omnivorous diet, most individuals will get between 1 and 2 grams of creatine daily (found in meat, fish, and eggs). Supplementation is then recommended to saturate muscular stores. Creatine monohydrate is highly bioavailable and is what I recommend to the athletes I work with. Creatine can be taken using a loading phase of 20–25 grams (.3 g/kg) per day split into four doses for 5–7 days or starting at a maintenance dose of 3–5 (.03 g/kg) grams per day taken for 4–12 weeks. After these phases, the levels of creatine stored in the muscle can be maintained with doses of 3–5 g/day (.03 g/kg).

It is important to note that a loading phase may be accompanied by a 2% increase in body weight (water, glycogen, intracellular concentrations of PC) and may not be recommended in speed-based training/sports. Creatine intake post-training with carbohydrates and protein is found to enhance creatine storage caused by increases in blood flow and the effect of insulin.

Caffeine

Ingestion of caffeine pre-training and exercise has been shown to reduce the perception of fatigue (given its role as an adenosine agonist), reduce pain perception, increase athletes’ alertness, and help enhance mood. Caffeine can also help with the release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which we discussed earlier.

Recommended caffeine ingestion pre-exercise is ~3–6 mg/kg body weight, taken 30–60 minutes pre-training/competition. Gums with caffeine content, which are increasing in popularity, are absorbed more quickly and could be taken closer to competition. The half-life of caffeine depends on genetic factors but ranges from 2.5–10 hours. We do not see performance benefits above 6 mg/kg body weight, and high intakes can be associated with adverse side effects; therefore, these are not recommended.

Sodium Bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate is a buffer helping to prevent acid-base disturbances, which occur from the accumulation of lactic acid and H+ ions via anaerobic glycolysis—we see this in sports that involve sprinting but are more continuous in nature (e.g., hockey) or alactic sports where the pace of the game results in recovery periods that are insufficient for the ATP-PC system to keep up (e.g., spread offense in football). Sodium bicarb helps enhance the muscle’s ability to dispose of those hydrogen ions, which can delay the onset of fatigue. This would be most beneficial in sports with repeated high-intensity sprints (1–7 minutes) and may not be beneficial in single, maximal sprint events.

Doses of 300–500 mg/kg body weight are recommended 60–180 minutes before training/competition with a carbohydrate meal and fluids. Gastrointestinal symptoms are a known side effect of sodium bicarbonate, and tolerance should be tested during non-key training sessions. Splitting the amount into smaller doses spread over the pre-training period may help.

Beta-Alanine

Beta-alanine is primarily found in type II muscle fibers, accounting for 10% of the ability to buffer hydrogen ions. This occurs through the increased synthesis of carnosine, which lowers the ph balance in the muscle by exchanging hydrogen ions for calcium within the muscle, leading to enhanced efficiency of contraction in coupling and excitation. We see the most ergogenic benefits from beta-alanine in 60–240 seconds of high-intensity training/competition, such as in the example scenarios in the previous paragraph.

When compared to sodium bicarb, beta-alanine provides more chronic muscular adaptations. The goal of supplementation is to increase the storage of carnosine by 30%–50% in the muscle, which has been seen with 3–6 grams of beta-alanine taken daily over 4–10 weeks, then a maintenance dose of 1.2 g/day from there on. It is recommended to take beta-alanine with a carbohydrate/protein-rich meal at any time during the day. Parathesis is a known side effect of beta-alanine, but it can be reduced by dividing the daily dosage and spreading it throughout the day or using a slow-release capsule.

Creating Your Edge

While your competitors obsess over finding the latest and greatest training fad in speed development, get an advantage by making sure that the V8 engine you built during training has the right high-octane fuel to use all that horsepower. Using these strategies with the athletes I’ve worked with, I have seen increased abilities to perform repeated, max-effort sprints and explosive movements, improved recovery and muscular adaptations to training, and reduced perceptions of fatigue in training and competition. In my experience, dialing in nutrition, hydration, and supplementation also increases an athlete’s confidence in their ability to train and compete at a high intensity for a longer duration.

Dialing in nutrition, hydration, and supplementation also increases an athlete’s confidence in their ability to train and compete at a high intensity for a longer duration, says @lindsey_rd. Share on X

When looking at nutrition for speed development and competition, consider the Fueling Speed Hierarchy: carbohydrates, protein, hydration, micronutrients, and supplementation. Implement a few of these strategies into your training, and let those horses sing!

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

Thomas T, Erdman KA, and Burke LM. “Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance.” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2016;116(3):501–528.

Naderi A, de Oliveira EP, Ziegenfuss TN, and Willems MET. “Timing, optimal dose and intake duration of dietary supplements with evidence-based use in sports nutrition.” Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry. 2016;20(4):1–12.

Maughan RJ (Ed.). (2014). Sports Nutrition : The Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine an IOC Medical Commission Publication: Vol. XIX. Wiley.

Burke L, Deakin V, and Minehan M. (2021, July 29). Clinical Sports Nutrition 6th Edition (6th ed.). McGraw Hill/Australia.

Being a high school strength and conditioning coach is a highly rewarding career—we have the opportunity to not only make young people healthier, stronger, and faster, but also can instill lifelong values of hard work, overcoming adversity, teamwork, perseverance, and the ability to become the best at getting better.

Even with all those intrinsic benefits of coaching at the high school level, many coaches in this profession still have issues they often have to deal with, ranging from:

1. Sport coaches not trusting their strength coach and wanting to run their own strength program for their team.
2. Parents of student athletes not believing in the strength coach and wanting to tell them how best to do their job.
3. Student athletes not wanting to train at their school, believing that more is better and wanting personal training from a private sector coach.

I have been blessed to work at two different high schools in my career and can say that I’ve rarely had to face these issues. I don’t think that this is because I’m a better coach than my peers in the profession, but I do think part of the reason I haven’t had to deal with these challenges is that I am very open and welcoming to all parties in my weight room. Having an open-door policy has helped to gain buy-in from all parties involved and allowed our strength program to continue to grow and succeed.

Having an open-door policy has helped to gain buy-in from all parties involved and allowed our strength program to continue to grow and succeed, says @KurtzM3. Share on X

In this article, I will outline ideas and principles I have used to avoid regularly facing those common issues.

1. Have Core Values for Your Program and a Strength & Conditioning Philosophy—and Be Ready and Able to Explain It

I am entering my fifth year at my current school and I vividly remember having countless meetings with coaches, student athletes, and their parents explaining who I am and what my background is. I also had many meetings on how I design my strength and conditioning program. When meeting with the head sport coach, I wanted to convey to them how I can best help their team be successful. When meeting with the parents of student athletes, I had to convey to them how I can help maximize the potential of their son or daughter in their sport and in life.

I came to my current school after being named the National High School Strength Coach of the Year in 2016 and State Coach of the Year two times. This held some weight, but I still had to prove to everyone that I would be best for their team, their child, and for them personally. Some coaches may shy away from these conversations, but if we can embrace it, the buy-in and support will come much quicker.

I had and still have these conversations with our head sport coaches, the parents of my student athletes, and with my athletes. I want them to always understand the why behind my programming.

We base our training around our five core values. Those values are:

1. Protect. Every movement in the weight room is designed to protect the student from being injured in sports, the weight room, and everyday life.
2. Move Well. Students will be able to perform fundamental movement patterns with adequate mobility and stability in ways that will lead to a healthy, well-rounded lifestyle.
3. Move Strong. Students will perform multi-joint weight training exercises to develop the foundational strength base needed for optimal performance in all areas of life. Movements will be progressed and regressed according to a variety of factors, including age, movement competency, and trust level.
4. Move Fast. Our linear speed, reactive agility, and deceleration training will enable the student athlete to MOVE FAST in competition.
5. Thrive. Students will develop skills that will translate to improved sport performance, a lifetime of wellness, and the ability to overcome obstacles, maximizing their potential in all areas of life.

At the middle and high school level, one of the challenges for a strength and conditioning coach is breaking their athletic development program into different blocks or levels. There is a huge difference between training a 13-year-old freshman versus an 18-year-old senior.

There are several factors to consider when determining how to differentiate your program to meet each student athlete where they are. These include:

• Birth year age
• Developmental age
• Training age

As mentioned above, our first core value is for our athletes to be able to move well. Therefore, the main goals for our younger athletes are to teach them good mobility, stability, and proper fundamental movement patterns (like a bodyweight squat, lunge, hinge, push, pull). On top of that we want them to enjoy working out and training. We talk to them a lot about the coaching triangle of accountability, responsibility, and a non-judgmental environment.

The main goals for our younger athletes are to teach them good mobility, stability, and proper fundamental movement patterns, says @KurtzM3. Share on X

While some students may be at the same birth age, they may be at a different age in puberty development. Therefore, we need to factor that in to create a program that meets each of them where they are.

Additionally, some students may have been training with me for multiple years while some that are the same birth age may be just starting to train. This is what we call their training age and again must be considered in our programming in order to meet them where they are.

We also have our student athletes fill out questionnaires about themselves. This allows me to get to know them on a more personal level. Those questions can vary, but some of my favorites are:

1. Who do you look up to and why?
2. What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
3. What are the three most important things in your life?
4. How do you like to be coached?

The how do you like to be coached question is huge. Some athletes like a loud coach, some do not. I want to know what makes each student tick and how they are best motivated. Therefore, I use different coaching styles with each student athlete.

Some athletes like a loud coach, some do not. I want to know what makes each student tick and how they are best motivated, says @KurtzM3. Share on X

I want all of my student athletes and the sport coaches that I work with to know that my number one goal is to help them reach their goals in the fastest and most efficient way possible. I am their number one fan and am rooting for each and all of them to succeed.

2. Have an Open Door Policy for Coaches, Parents, and Community

While I am our school’s Head Strength & Conditioning Coach, I make it a priority to explain to every stakeholder that it is my job to help them reach their goals in the fastest way possible. I want to explain to the head sport coaches that I am their assistant coach. My goal as the strength coach is to put the head coach’s athletes in a position to be strong, fast, explosive, and durable for their sport. Therefore, it is my plan to be the head coach’s biggest competitive advantage.

My goal as the strength coach is to put the head coach’s athletes in a position to be strong, fast, explosive, and durable for their sport, says @KurtzM3. Share on X

Additionally, I know that I am not controlling the athlete’s playing time or who makes varsity and who does not—the head coach is ultimately deciding that. So, I want the head coach to also have a presence in the weight room during their team’s workouts. I do not want them to think that the weight room is my domain—I want them in the weight room with me, because if they show their athletes that it is important to them, then it will be important to the athletes as well.

A complaint from many high school strength coaches is that the parents of their student athletes do not trust their programming in the weight room. As referenced earlier, being able to explain the why behind what you do will go a long way in getting that support. But something that has helped me even more is inviting parents in to train with you as well.

Being able to explain the why behind what you do will go a long way in getting support from parents, says @KurtzM3. Share on X

At my previous school we would hold what we called Falcon Family Bootcamps. The parents and their kids (my students) would come and train with me in the evenings. At my current school, we hold what we call a Morning Machine Workout group for parents. Even though the program design is much different than how we train the student athletes, getting to know the parents has gone a long way in getting them to believe that I have their child’s best interest in mind.

Another way we have instituted an open-door policy in our strength and conditioning program is by hosting an annual Dad’s & Daughter’s Lift. On the weekend, we have our female athletes invite their father to a workout that is designed by me. While I design the workout, the daughters help to coach their dads through the workout. This is a great time for me to get to know the fathers and the fathers to get to know me as a person and a coach. Additionally, it’s amazing to see the interactions between the dads and daughters. Oftentimes, the dads hadn’t realized how strong and competent their daughters had become as lifters.

We also hold a community workout to support a worthy cause. Last Thanksgiving, we hosted a community workout where attendees brought canned goods or gift cards in to benefit needy families for Thanksgiving. This was an effective way for more of our parents and community to get a glimpse into our strength program and meet our coaches, and it was a way for athletes to learn that the weight room can be about much more than just becoming bigger, stronger, and faster.

Finally, anyone who has ever run a high school weight room has likely struggled with having upwards of 40, 60, or even 100 student athletes in the weight room at the same time. How can one coach properly supervise and coach this many athletes at one time? We love to get our sport coaches in the weight room to assist us, but oftentimes that is not enough. By holding our Falcon Family Bootcamps, Morning Machine Workouts, and Community Workouts, we have been blessed to have parents, current students, and older siblings want to volunteer in our strength program. This is amazing and allows me to get more eyes on our student athletes in the weight room.

3. Develop A Trust Level with Your Student Athletes and Private Sector Coaches

I hear this from many coaches I speak to: “I am having trouble getting my student athletes to be consistent in our after school or summer workouts. They want to go to XYZ private gym or personal trainer.”

I think everyone can agree about the countless benefits of training at school surrounded by your teammates. But we also don’t want to discourage our student athletes from always looking for the best options to become the best.

We don’t want to discourage our student athletes from always looking for the best options to become the best, says @KurtzM3. Share on X

One of the best ways to tackle this challenge is to develop trustworthy relationships with private sector gyms and coaches in the area. Some of my best friends in the strength and conditioning industry (Jason Brunson, Arena Athletes; Josh Ortegon, Athletes Arena; Langston Provitt and Trevor Anderson, TNXL; and Wes Murray, D1 Training) have been made through discussions about my student athletes training with them. Everyone in this profession wants the athletes they work with to become the best version of themselves. So, by our student athletes also training with private sector coaches, hopefully it can help them reach their promised land faster.

If the private sector coach and I are on the same page, we can work together to maximize the hours that athletes spend with us. We can have that open line of communication so we know what that student athlete has done outside of working with us. Therefore, we both can fill in the areas that could use extra time and work.

Empowering the Next Generation to Be the Best Version of Themselves

We are in a service industry and our goal is to maximize the potential of every person we work with. One of my favorite quotes is one from Theodore Roosevelt that many know: “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

We are in a service industry and our goal is to maximize the potential of every person we work with, says @KurtzM3. Share on X

It is my hope that when our athletes, students, coaches, and parents truly believe that our main priority is to not only make everyone we come in contact with the best athlete possible, but also the best possible version of themselves, many of the issues with buy-in will be eliminated.

Thank you to every coach in this industry. I truly believe we have the best and one of the most important jobs in the world!

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 an athlete 20 years ago, I was taught never to false step because it’s wasted movement and will slow me down.

As a new coach 10 years ago, I taught athletes to never false step because it is wasted movement and will slow them down.

Today, I am writing an article about how beneficial, natural, and efficient the false step is for speed in sports and how it will undoubtedly make athletes faster.

So, what is all the fuss about the false step anyway?

What people refer to when they say a “false step” is a step, jab, or movement in the opposite direction of where an athlete wants to go. Many people still believe it is a wasted movement or a disadvantage to the athlete because of their lack of understanding of what actually happens during these false steps.

Many people still believe it is a wasted movement or a disadvantage to the athlete because of their lack of understanding of what actually happens during a false step, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

And the name doesn’t help. False has a negative connotation. False, after all, is wrong.

I really like the term that Lee Taft coined with the intention of replacing the use of “false step” while describing an actual positive athletic movement: the plyo step. Plyo step sounds athletic. It sounds positive. It sounds efficient. False step, again, sounds like a mistake. But it’s not a mistake at all.

They are technically the same thing, but as we know, our words matter. So our terminology matters too. A plyo step reframes the idea of a false step into something that makes sense from a physics standpoint as well as from a pure communication standpoint.

A plyo step is a step, jab, or movement in the opposite direction of where an athlete wants to go that allows the athlete to reposition their body for the most efficient propulsion in that direction. Instead of it being a wasted movement or disadvantageous, it actually helps the athlete naturally find the better angles and kinematic postures needed to accelerate into their next movement.

Newton’s Laws of Motion

I don’t know about you, but when we learned about Newton’s Laws of Motion back in ninth grade, I was probably in the back of the classroom in full REM sleep. But these three simple principles are so foundational for everything we teach as performance coaches, it’s pretty ironic how much I refer back to them today.

Newton developed these principles in 1666, and they are still relevant to all movements today. They make it especially easy to grasp the concept of why and how a plyo step works and why we’ll never get rid of it, no matter how much we try to coach it out of athletes.

Newton’s First Law—Inertia: An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at a constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

A great athletic example of this law is an athlete making a cut. Let’s say an athlete is running forward and wants to make a cut to the right. To do this, the athlete must plant their left foot in the ground to decelerate their forward motion and re-accelerate moving in a new direction.

Newton’s Second Law—Force: The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied.

In the example of a plyo step, the acceleration of an athlete is dependent on the amount of force they can apply and the direction in which it is applied. Force (N) in this case is equal to mass (kg) x acceleration (m/s).

Newton’s Third Law—Action & Reaction: Whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite on the first.

Now, the first two laws are obviously vital, but the third law is especially relevant to the topic of the plyo step because it’s a perfect depiction of exactly what is happening between the ground and the foot.

Video 1. When NASA launches a rocket, it relies on Newton’s third law. But you don’t hear anybody calling it a “false launch.”

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When NASA launches rockets into space, you see an explosion of flames, fuel, and energy coming out of the bottom of the space vehicle to propel it upward. You don’t hear astronauts calling it a false launch.

But for some reason, when an athlete puts their foot violently into the ground behind them to produce force for movement going forward, coaches lose their minds.

For some reason, when an athlete puts their foot violently into the ground behind them to produce force for movement going forward, coaches lose their minds, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

If we want to move efficiently, we have to work within these laws of motion. And the plyo step perfectly combines all three of Newton’s Laws of Motion into one beautiful, athletic movement.

The Plyo Step in Sports

Okay, Justin, you think you’re so smart because you referenced Isaac Newton in an article…but how does this even make sense in the world of sport?

This is so simple that it’s actually a bit lazy on my part. I searched “Best NFL Routes” on YouTube and watched the top result. Here it is. Every single route begins with a “false step.” The receivers step back, or sometimes even hop back, to better position themselves to create power and explosiveness coming off the line.

If we try to coach that out of our athletes in the name of “getting rid of wasted movement,” we end up telegraphing the upcoming route, lose explosiveness, and ultimately cause the athlete to overthink a simple, natural movement—possibly resulting in decreased performance.

Here’s another great visual example of a notorious LeBron James chase-down block.

Notice LeBron on the bottom of the screen. He plants his right leg outside his frame to project himself to the left and then performs a crossover step to get into his sprint to complete the amazing play.

That “false step” wasn’t wasted movement. That was the exact movement he needed to do to perform the crossover step. The crossover step could not have happened without the plyo step.

The right foot striking outside his frame allowed him to reposition his left foot under his hips to create a better driving angle as he transitions into a sprint. Without making that subtle plyo step, he may have lost acceleration speed and been a split second too late on that block.

Let’s take a look at soccer and the masterful goalkeeper, Ederson, from Brazil. In this video, he utilizes just about every example of a plyo step possible. He goes from static to forward with a linear plyo step. He goes from static to lateral with a lateral plyo step. He goes from shuffles to change of direction, backpedaling to shuffling, sprinting to jumping. He begins all of these movements with a plyo step. It’s all there.

There is a reason the plyo step continues to occur in all these high levels of sport. It’s natural. It’s efficient. Coaching this out of our athletes is counterproductive.

There is a reason the plyo step continues to occur in all these high levels of sport. It’s natural. It’s efficient. Coaching this out of our athletes is counterproductive, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

At this point, it’s hard for me personally to conceptualize any other footwork strategy in a lot of these scenario examples. After seeing these athletes perform the plyo step so well, it’s very tough to entertain other strategies, because they don’t even come close.

Cheetahs vs. Rhinos

While we can’t possibly put athletes into general categories and get it right every time, there are some basic distinctions that can help separate two very different types of movers.

You’ve got your cheetahs, and you’ve got your rhinos. Again, every athlete is unique, but these two categories are broad enough to create a little bit of separation in training and some semi-individualized programming.

The Cheetah

Your cheetah athletes are elastic and reactive by nature. They are super springy and fast, and they store and release energy extremely well.

A cheetah athlete makes great use of the stretch-shortening cycle. They probably have a great RSI score, good top end speed times on a flying 10, and a near-perfect plyo step with little to no coaching.

The downside? They may lack mass or structural integrity. If you help a cheetah gain some strength and robustness, you can help them support all of their speed and twitchiness. This ultimately allows them to reduce their injury risk and also helps them by adding a little bit more force qualities to their velocity-first tendencies.

The Rhino

Your rhino athletes are still good athletes but in a different way than the cheetah. A rhino athlete is more muscle-driven than elastic.

A rhino athlete excels at exerting force and moves well in a force-dominant environment. They are often strong accelerators but may not have the top end speed of a cheetah.

Reactiveness and elasticity aren’t the strong suits here, but these athletes are robust and strong. When it comes to the plyo step, since it’s an elastic movement, the rhino may not look as fluid when attempting this step.

Training the rhino to improve their reactiveness and elasticity can help them better utilize all of their natural force-producing qualities and ultimately give them what they need to become a better athlete.

Note: You can most definitely come up with a testing procedure to differentiate a cheetah from a rhino with RSI, speed, power, and movement testing. But honestly, the good ol’ eye test may be all you need. If you watch an athlete play their sport for 10 minutes, you’ll be able to tell almost all of the time.

Plyo Step Drills

Both cheetahs and rhinos will plyo step naturally more times than not, but the way we approach the coaching and training of each athlete is slightly different due to the natural strengths and weaknesses of each athlete archetype.

In the weight room, I would approach each athlete with programming that fills the gaps in their athletic profile. For cheetahs, try to build some structure and mass without losing their natural elasticity. For rhinos, try to expose them to faster RFD demands and velocity-based movements to show them how to use their force-dominant movement more efficiently.

However, in a drill setting, I like it the other way around, at least to start. Since the cheetah is a little bit better at naturally using the plyo step, their variations below will add an additional element of reactiveness to the drill to meet the level of the athlete.

Having these athletes simply do a plyo step may not be enough of a challenge. Like having a rhino with a 350-pound 1RM bench press do sets of five with 135—it’s just not enough stimulus.

Same for the rhinos. Since these athletes aren’t quite as natural at the plyo step, we start them off with the more basic fundamental drill variations without the additional reactive demands. Then they can progress to more advanced drills as they get better at the technique and their strength training starts to trickle over into their SAQ movements.

Hip Turns

Hip turns are a great way to transition from a retreat position to a catch-up position. For example, if a basketball player is in a defensive stance and gets a little out of position laterally, they will need to hip turn to reposition their feet to get into a movement—like a shuffle, lateral run, or sprint—that will help them catch up with the ball handler.

This is also a great movement strategy for getting from a bilateral or squared-up stance into a movement at an angle. Again, if a defender is square to the ball handler and they drive right, the hip turn is a great transition from that defensive stance into a lateral shuffle into the cutoff angle.

Below are two great drills, one for rhinos and another for cheetahs, to work on their hip turns.

For Rhinos:

Video 2. The hip turn to shuffle drill helps “rhinos” work on their hip turns.

For Cheetahs:

Video 3. The decel to hip turn to shuffle drill helps “cheetahs” work on their hip turns.

Linear Sprint

A linear sprint is obviously a crucial game-speed skill to have for all athletes.

But how do we get into that sprint?

In sports, there are hardly ever static starts for sprints outside of track and field, so the use of a plyo step to initiate the sprint action will almost always be the best movement solution.

In sports, there are hardly ever static starts for sprints outside of track and field, so the use of a plyo step to initiate the sprint action will almost always be the best movement solution. Share on X

Whether it’s a backpedal to a sprint, lateral shuffle to a sprint, or a sport skill action like a crossover dribble, all of these movements require an athlete to produce force down into the ground to propel themselves in the opposite direction—a plyo step.

Below are two great drills for rhinos and cheetahs to get into a sprint from a plyo step.

For Rhinos:

Video 4. This bilateral stance to plyo step with target drill helps teach “rhinos” to get into a sprint from a plyo step. (Note that this athlete is on a return-to-play program, so speed is appropriate for his stage of recovery.)

For Cheetahs:

Video 5. The reactive split stance reaction sprint drill teaches “cheetahs” to move from a plyo step to a sprint.

Lateral Sprint

Sometimes we need to bridge the gap between purely lateral and linear movements. In the chaos of sports, we don’t get to pick and choose how to move; we just take the opportunities presented by the sport and react accordingly.

A plyo step into a lateral transitional movement is a great way to blend lateral and linear in training. Below are two great drills for rhinos and cheetahs to get exposure to these gray area movements.

For Rhinos:

Video 6. The lateral plyo step to sprint is a great drill for “rhinos” to blend lateral and linear movements.

For Cheetahs:

Video 7. “Cheetahs” should use the continuous hip turn to reaction lateral sprint drill to hone their lateral to linear transition skills.

Helpful Tips

The drills featured here only scratch the surface of what you can do in training to continue crafting a great plyo step. Beyond that, there are two major things that have made a huge difference in training for our athletes.

The first is that we always try to use lines or visual feedback when working on our plyo steps or any type of repositioning of the feet. Lines are amazing for showing an athlete where their foot started, where it finished, and if needed, where it should have finished.

This is nothing new, though. A very similar technique comes from the weightlifting world when teaching the clean and catch position and how the feet should widen slightly on the catch compared to where they begin in the first pull.

We’ve used tape on courts and rubber surfaces, washable spray chalk on turf surfaces, and cones if tape or chalk isn’t available. Another great option, if time allows, is visual feedback on video. This really helps the athlete connect the dots, showing them what they actually did versus what they thought they did.

Another amazing coaching tool, if available, is objective quantification of these drills. The 1080 Sprint has been such a great tool for showing athletes immediate feedback on their force, speed, or power in connection with the video feedback of the rep. And we can store and compare them over time from a numbers standpoint and a technique standpoint.

Other ways to quantify things would be laser or manual timers, again, supported by the video of the rep so athletes can break down their actions and the results those actions got them. OnForm is a great app for coaches to really do all of this in one platform with slow-mo, built-in timers, and tools for displaying body angles.

I’d say it’s safe to move on from calling these steps false and start teaching them as the correct way to move, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

We know that false steps aren’t false. They are a naturally occurring movement that, in many cases, is the proper strategy for an athlete to use. Supported by physics and years of athletes’ experiences, I’d say it’s safe to move on from calling these steps false and start teaching them as the correct way to move.

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 in the private sector can provide a sustainable start to a coach’s career, allowing for more lifestyle flexibility, athlete accessibility, and programming freedom. After six years of coaching in the private sector, I know many of the skills and lessons I learned will carry me through the next phase of my career.

Even if you are working for someone else, taking responsibility for yourself as a business and developing your coaching craft is something the private sector doesn’t leave up to choice if you want to be successful. There are numerous facilities that have phenomenal continuing education programs and solid business structures already set in their foundation. Like anything, though, to excel at the profession, you have to use your own time to go above and beyond with additional continuing education and skill acquisition.

Taking responsibility for yourself as a business and developing your coaching craft is something the private sector doesn’t leave up to choice if you want to be successful. Share on X

Today, I can appreciate my time in the private sector more because, while it may have been frustrating to have to learn and develop on my own outside of work, it laid a foundation for years to come. If you take responsibility and treat your work and yourself as something more—studying on your own, learning other skill sets, building a brand, and taking yourself outside of your comfort zone—then you will have more to show for it when it’s all said and done. I have also learned that six key learnings will help you build your brand.

1. Embrace Sales

By far, my least favorite thing to do while in the private sector was sales. I would wager that this is a shared hatred of many coaches, but it’s a necessary skill. I’m still no expert, but I did improve from where I originally started. Just becoming more comfortable with the discussion of money and the value of the program demonstrated improvement in itself. Tracking indicators such as monthly commissions, closing rates, contacts met each week, and the results of those contacts helped make my sales interactions more efficient and far less uncomfortable.

Sales is an essential skill that runs much deeper than just money: everyone in the field would be better off if they put down the book on advanced periodization principles in favor of a basic sales book from time to time.

Everyone sells. Whether it be a tangible good or service, your program to a head coach, or yourself to an athlete, selling is a large part of what we do every day. When we realize that sales isn’t a dirty word and we begin to value our skills and profession, the transition to becoming a professional will become easier. There are some amazing, established coaches out there who downgrade their value by offering their services for far less than what their education and experience would dictate in other fields.

Whether it be a tangible good or service, your program to a head coach, or yourself to an athlete, selling is a large part of what we do every day. Share on X

Coaches should be compensated for their worth, like any job in any other respected field. The private sector allows you to learn sales and put it into practice daily. If I didn’t have the opportunity to fail at and learn in sales in the private sector, I know I wouldn’t be as good of a coach or as valuable of a staff member today.

2. People Are the Best Marketing

Like sales, marketing is something that I had no desire to be an expert in, but I had to develop and learn while in the private sector. Marketing depends on a host of variables that I cannot fully grasp, but for me, people have always been the best marketing tool.

I found success in first connecting to the people already in my network: my current and former athletes. Block off a small piece of time to email or direct message those clients for a quick check-in. I prefer this over a phone call because I am a millennial, but I also want this to be a quick conversation, and a 30-second phone call can be painfully awkward for all involved. Remember—this is just my preference and experience of what has worked for me.

All it takes is just being a decent person and reaching out to see how they are doing. Don’t bring up sales or the gym—unless they do—but make it clear that isn’t the reason for the contact. Some of these should already be paying clients, so it shouldn’t be stressful; just be genuine and leave it at that. Do this a few times a year (or more frequently, if appropriate), and I think you will be surprised what a little connection can do for a relationship and the marketing those individuals drive for your business.

3. Who’s in Front of You Doesn’t Dictate Your Value

Often, our abilities as coaches are judged by what athletes we train or what logo is stitched onto our T-shirts. This is just a micro-fragment of what defines a coach, and it doesn’t guarantee ability.

Like any job, there are those at all levels who are good…and those who are not so good. I have met amazing coaches with no Instagram following and who train middle school athletes all day. Each group of athletes presents unique challenges, and there is something to learn from everyone you step in front of.

Instead, coaches should be valued for their impact on their athletes and those they come into contact with. The physical improvements should still be considered when discussing impact, but just as a piece of it. Along with being mentors and supporters, the emotional and psychological elements should receive just as much praise—each piece is not as strong without the other’s support.

This occurs on all levels, and strength and conditioning coaches often wear several hats and must be excellent human connectors to be successful at their job. At the end of the day, whoever is in front of us deserves our respect and absolute best when it comes to coaching—whether they play on ESPN or are just trying to find their way in junior varsity sports.

4. Training Isn’t About Numbers

In the private sector, it’s important that your clients and athletes demonstrate improvements over time: people are paying you for a service and expect results. I learned, though, that in most cases, you are getting paid for something more important than numbers in a column.

While performance data has a place, training is about more than just the numbers. When sitting down with athletes and parents, you need to find their why. Why are they coming to you in the first place? Many of our athletes’ goals aren’t really to run a faster sprint time or to jump higher—it’s to improve in their sport, make the varsity team, or gain confidence and make themselves proud. They just believe that getting a faster sprint time or higher jump is the path to get there.

Yes, improved athletic attributes are a byproduct of that, but digging deeper to get to the roots of why and connecting to the individual’s emotional side is a recipe for a stronger connection. The cherry on top is improving the physical performance numbers as well, which will create a supporter for life.

5. Programs Must Be Flexible

Programming in the private sector offers some unique obstacles:

• Helping your athletes navigate around sporadic schedules.
• Having to adjust the plan due to their high school lifts or additional skill training sessions.
• Monitoring athletes who could be playing two to three sports at the same time.

It’s a never-ending science project most days, but it’s made achievable through flexible programming.

When programming for an individual or team, you must give yourself wiggle room. I have never been through a session from start to finish exactly as it was written. There is always some variable or exercise that needs to be adjusted to better fit the athlete at that time. Something that struck me early on was Strength and Conditioning Coach Joe DeFranco mentioning that it’s essential to write your programs in pencil, not pen.

The private sector will allow you to have flexibility in your programming and take control when needed. Having this adaptable mindset aids in the coach’s brand because it shows that you actually listen and care for your athletes’ needs but also are knowledgeable enough to execute an appropriate plan B or C. Doing this shows our loyalty to the athlete and not our own selfish egos.

This also bolsters your value as a coach because it demonstrates a skill set. People shouldn’t only be coming to you because of a great training program—you can find those easily with a Google search. They should be coming to you for your ability to manipulate and adjust that program to best fit the individual’s circumstances. Having a great recipe book doesn’t make you a great chef, and having the “world’s best” training program doesn’t make you a great coach. An adaptable mindset creates fewer headaches for you in the future and leads to more athlete success.

6. Fun Is a Training Variable

Fun is the unspoken training variable in the private sector. Especially for youth athletes, but even with older collegiate athletes, training isn’t part of their job, and they shouldn’t consider it an additional stressor. They should view it as a chance to better themselves and their team and also as a release from their day-to-day practices, schoolwork, and hectic schedules.

The art of coaching often gets placed behind the science, but ultimately this is what creates the greatest relationships with your athletes. In training, psychology will trump physiology. I am not saying that having sound training principles isn’t important, but in the private sector, your athletes are not forced to come to sessions—they can go anywhere they please. It is, therefore, critical that you create a relationship with them and have a fun and engaging training session.

Having purposeful training that happens to be enjoyable is not an impossible task. Share on X

Having purposeful training that happens to be enjoyable is not an impossible task. It’s essential to demonstrate not only the knowledge of why you’re doing specific drills or exercises but also the adaptability to make it relatable and reach the interest of the individuals.

I often put myself in the shoes of those I’m coaching, imagine how they would interpret this, and then reconstruct my presentation, my explanation, or the movement based entirely on that.

Moving On

I am incredibly grateful for the experiences the private sector offered. While building an extensive coaching resume, I also received a crash course in sales, marketing, and human relations.

Writing this isn’t so much a goodbye but more of an appreciation of how these six takeaways helped me prepare for the next step in my career. Looking forward, I have realized that regardless of the sector, I utilize these points every day in one way or another. Doing so helps me be a better coach for those I serve on and off the floor.

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 is measured in time.”

— Louie Simmons

Strength is important for every athlete, but even more crucial is displaying it over the course of time. For anaerobic dominant athletes, the ability to access strength immediately and accelerate through range of motion (ROM) is paramount. For the glycolytic-aerobic dominant athlete, maintaining output over the course of the event is key.

The application of strength in the first instance is known as Rate of Force Development—where he who turns their strength on immediately, wins. This will be witnessed in burst-oriented sports such as baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse, and basketball that rely on short-duration, explosive actions over the course of the contest. In the second instance, strength is accessed immediately and ideally maintained over the course of a distance-strength-endurance. Think stopwatch sports here: track, swimming, rowing, etc.

If the title quote holds true, then we can certainly appreciate the importance of time involved in applying and sustaining force. In essence, time can give us a way to quantify strength outside of the 1RM- or RM-type protocols.

While there is nothing wrong with max out sets or max rep sets, certain issues may mar their utility. Regarding a true 1RM, there is no strength test purer or more revered in the meathead psyche than crushing a big personal record (PR) single. The emotional euphoria coming off a big lift boosts the ego like nothing else, leaving you hungry to come back for more. A great state of being for sure, but how sustainable is it? We all know the answer: not for long. Dr. Bondarchuk even cited that the recovery time for a PR throw is about 15 days.¹

While there is nothing wrong with max out sets or max rep sets, certain issues may mar their utility. Share on X

While we certainly appreciate the 1RM mentality of our athletes in the weight room, a two‑week hangover will cost us valuable training time, especially if we are attempting to improve upon multiple bio-motor abilities at once. Not to mention the bulk of our trainees may not even possess the ability to recruit the high threshold motor units to benefit from maximal loading. In this case, what are we really testing (or training, for that matter)?² In my opinion, training should give more than it takes from you at every level.

Bar Speed and Velocity Based Training

If applied strength for athletes lies within producing it quickly, accelerating through the ROM, or maintaining output over time, then I would assume submaximal loads would be of the highest utility. If total reps (within a set) are kept within a range of quality, then it will be tough for things to go awry.³

One common new way to measure strength improvement is via bar speed through a velocity measuring device. These are great because you can extrapolate a “1RM” based on speeds you hit along a spectrum of submaximal loads and also manage loading for a particular training effect. This process is relatively simple if you have the tools—but what if you don’t?

One common new way to measure strength improvement is via bar speed through a velocity measuring device. These are great because you can extrapolate a 1RM based on speeds you hit along a spectrum of submaximal loads. Share on X

In the case of the author of the opening quote, Louie Simmons timed his world class bench press lifters and the same theme rang true—personal best and world record attempts were completed in no more than 3.25 seconds during the concentric, phase and if the effort went beyond this, then the lift would fail.⁴ From an absolute strength standpoint, this is a slow lift where extremely heavy weights are moved by those that possess the skill. From a special strength perspective, we can use the same line of thinking with submaximal loads. We can apply a time constraint within a given rep range; let’s say X number of reps within Y time.

In fact, Louie wrote about this as well to justify the rep range for dynamic effort work in the bench press and squat, keeping to the three-second rule for both. If the double in the squat or triple in the bench was significantly over this mark, then the weight is too heavy; if it was under the time cut, the load was deemed too light (keep in mind the time applies to the total reps within a set including the eccentric portion and amortization phase; we’ll delve into the details of this later).

Roots and Applications of Timed Max Effort

I must mention that this idea is not an original of mine, but a version of one I read about close to a decade ago. I can’t find the article I have in mind, but I believe it was written either by Dave Tate or Louie Simmons and titled either “The Timed Max Effort” or “Max Effort for Time.” It is also possible that title was a section of a larger article. My apologies to the original source for this imperfect citation, but I hope they know their variation lives on in spirit in these protocols.

At Performance Inspired Training, Inc., we routinely apply these protocols to the bench press, so I’ll present this as our example:

• Beginning with 50% body weight, we pick a range of 3, 5, or 10 reps depending on what we are trying to affect. We time the set with a stopwatch, aiming for one rep a second on the initial set.
• On the next set, we’ll add five total pounds and give an extra second to complete.
• If the previous set is completed within this time frame, then we add another five pounds and an additional second.
• We usually perform three sets but with the lower rep ranges we may go up to five.

The three- and five-rep protocols are obviously geared toward the anaerobic dominant athlete—the power athlete! We’ve used this with football players and baseball players to bridge the gap of general strength to applied strength that develops not only the RFD, but also the ability to “load” the eccentric rapidly. For the front seven players on the gridiron, the ability to absorb and control the impact of an oncoming opponent will determine the outcome of that interaction. For a baseball player learning to load the antagonist muscle groups for a throw with speed, the rhomboids, rear deltoids, and biceps will potentiate the stretch reflex of the prime movers in the throw (pecs, lats, triceps) for increased arm speed.

For the front seven players on the gridiron, the ability to absorb and control the impact of an oncoming opponent will determine the outcome of that interaction. Share on X

In the 10-rep protocol, the idea is the same but the effect is a bit different. For this timeframe, we are venturing into the endurance end of the spectrum. We are talking about the stopwatch sports like track and swim, where the ability to access power immediately and sustain it makes the difference between winning, placing, or neither. The concept is simple: the one who decelerates the least wins the race. By this logic, you’d better be able to stay strong for the time it takes to complete your race.⁵

We’ve applied this method in the training of male swimmers with some pretty good live results. This protocol was part of a proprietary program that helped lead to an Olympic Trials time cut in the backstroke for a 17-year-old high schooler. I have confidence in claiming this because this period of training was strictly in the gym during the lockdowns of 2020 when these kids were banned from training in the pool. We were able to sneak into a gym for three months of remote coaching, where this method was used throughout that period. When swim practice and meets commenced, it didn’t take long for this newly found power to be demonstrated as state and local pool records fell and the trial cut was attained.

We began as described above with ~50% body weight (100 pounds) for 10 reps in 10 seconds and climbed to a 30-pound increase over six weeks. After getting stuck at this mark for a couple of workouts we adjusted to a six-rep protocol using the same loading rules and improved to 175 pounds (~80% body weight) for six reps within six seconds. This process was interesting, as he was able to hit the 175-pound mark within three workouts (we used 10-pound increases at this point)—but was stuck for the remaining nine sessions before the six-second mark was cracked. My guess was that his system needed time to acclimate to stabilizing the load eccentrically for total power to be realized.

Timed Max Effort Protocols

In hindsight, this mode of work corroborates with DB Hammer’s definitions of work zones. Hammer classifies work zones as response and reserve.⁶ In my interpretation, we can understand this as:

1. Developing a surplus of strength.
2. Developing the ability to sustain it.

Some would argue, “Why not just do higher reps in general to effect strength endurance?” Hammer states, “A set of 10 squats vs a set of 10 shrugs are not equal.” The time demanded and systemic effect are hugely different given the difference in ROM and musculature used.

From a periodization standpoint, the zones of work (response and reserve) build on each other. Each time bracket is good for raising the capacity of work of the one beneath it. For example, work in the 9-25 second range is better for pure anaerobic development (4.5-9 sec.). The work in the longer periods allows some aerobic effect, allowing one to decrease recovery time between bouts of exercise and between intersession bouts, and to repeat outputs close to terminal level.⁶This gives coaches a working template to structure longer-term training cycles based on time where changes can be based on tracking performance effect. Like above, when my swimmer got stuck in the 10-rep protocol we dropped to a shorter time bracket of work and kept the needle moving forward.

Here are two protocols in live action:

Video 1. 10-Rep Protocol

We can see here that Pat progresses from 110 pounds in 12.55-13.07 seconds in week one to going sub-10 seconds with the same weight in the first set of the following week. In set two of week two, we move up to 115 pounds and add one second (10.62) to the time restraint. He hit the set in 11.10 seconds, so for the third set we kept the weight, which was hit for 10 reps in 11.66 seconds. Bar speed dropped a bit, but overall, a five-pound improvement in approximately one second less than the previous week. For week three, we will load the initial set with 110 pounds.

For MJ, his best set with 110 pounds was done in 13.63 seconds. His initial set in week two was performed in 12.30 seconds (1.33-second PR). We increased to 115 pounds with a time cut of 13.30 seconds and the time performance was the same as the first set. Given he made the cut within a second, we bumped the weight up another five pounds for the next set. It’s not in the video, but MJ pressed 120 for 10 in 13.43 seconds, which is 10 pounds heavier and one second faster than week one.

Just to be clear, I’m using the 10-rep protocol here with swimmers whose shortest race is in the 20-23 sec range. Their energy demands are different, as they must sustain power over time to cover as much “ground” as possible. This is known as stroke economy. This timed max effort feeds right into a racer’s mentality, allowing them to keep their mental focus sharp in training.

This timed max effort feeds right into a racer’s mentality, allowing them to keep their mental focus sharp in training. Share on X

Video 2. 5-Rep Protocol

Here we have a couple of multisport athletes, MS and Wheels, whose demands call for short bursts of strength where the tissues of the upper body must “load up” (eccentrically) in rapid fashion.

MS hits his initial set of 85 pounds in 4.06 seconds. This is very fast (and borderline too light)—but the key is that intent was applied and confidence was built. For set two we added five pounds and MS hit the set in 4.55—another fast one! Set three called for 95 pounds and another sub-five second performance, with 4.76. The next week we began with 95 and MS hit the five in 4.56—a two-tenths time drop! For set two, we jumped to 100 pounds for five timed at 4.73 seconds—which is just as fast as the previous week’s third set with five more pounds. For set three we added another five pounds for 105, which MS hit in 5.23 seconds. He is currently at 75% body weight with this effort.

For his training partner, Wheels, this was his first workout with this method. So, we established a baseline and were able to progress from 95 to 105 pounds within the course of the session. He was even able to hit his second set faster than the first.

Using time to quantify sets as opposed to pure load allows us to realize the benefits of dynamic effort and max effort simultaneously. Share on X

Using time to quantify sets as opposed to pure load allows us to realize the benefits of dynamic effort and max effort simultaneously. A maximal intent to move the bar as fast as possible within the given time frame can cover the short burst power spectrum to the special endurance. Not to mention, we have two ways to set a personal best every session—which helps in the incentive department. Give this method a try!

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. Mann, Bryan. “Testing & Statistics.” Strength Coach Network Fundamentals Level I.

2. Mann, Bryan. “Maximal Strength Development.” Strength Coach Network Fundamentals Level I.

3. Tsatsouline, Pavel. “The Origins of Strong First Programming: The Soviet System.” StrongFirst: The School of Strength. Retrieved from: www.strongfirst.com/the-origins-of-strongfirst-programming/

4. Simmons, Louie. Book of Methods. Westside Barbell. 2007.

5. Harvey, Nate. “How to Smash Track PRs with Timed Squats.” EliteFTS. Retrieved from: https://www.elitefts.com/education/how-to-smash-track-prs-with-timed-squats/

6. Buchenholz, Dietrich-Heinz. The Best Sports Training Book Ever. 2004.

Field and court sports share common goals: on offense create as much space as possible, and on defense close space between the defenders and the ball. We saw this when Michael Jordan created 4 feet of separation to hit the game-winning shot against the Utah Jazz in Game Six or when watching Darrelle Revis break up a pass by running the route for the WR. Al Pacino said it best in the movie Any Given Sunday: “The inches are all around us—one inch left you miss the ball, one yard too short you lose the game.”

This perspective puts a premium on the ability to sprint, accelerate, change direction, and decelerate. Improving general skills guides the planning process of off-season training. Being more skilled in sport means that an athlete has the ability to control their body accurately, efficiently, and in a timely manner, which provides faster sport motion. Zatsiorsky stated that “when sports performance improves, the time of motion turns out to be shorter.”

Breaking down sport, there appears to be a continuum of skills and capacities, with a capacity reflecting the amount something can produce. The capacities that contribute to the success of sporting movement are:

These capacities can be propulsive or decelerative, depending on the direction of the applied force. The capacities related to impulse cause change in movement and follow Newtonian law. As athletes get stronger and more powerful, they are able to increase their manipulation of momentum more successfully.

In my previous article, I went through the why of implementing decelerative-emphasized training. This article will go through the how of implementing decelerative training, breaking down how to classify, progress, and pair eccentric training elements with increased decelerative capabilities in mind.

Learning and Repping the Skill of Stopping

A skill is defined as “the ability to do something well, expertise.” As stated above, being more skilled in sport means that an athlete can control their body accurately, efficiently, and in a timely manner, which provides faster sport motion. In order to be proficient in any skill, the movement pattern must be rehearsed and fit a specific technical bandwidth that allows the athlete to express the necessary force to be successful.

Deceleration ability may be the biggest determining factor in performance when looking at general skills and their effect on sports, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

The reason athletes train is to prep for the demands of the sport while increasing the underlying factors affecting faster sports motion. Deceleration, in particular, is the underpinning factor in greater change of direction and max velocity speeds, which are directly responsible for creating and closing space.

Dr. Damian Harper defines deceleration as:

“[The] ability to proficiently reduce whole-body momentum, within the constraints, and in accordance with specific objectives of the task, while attenuating and distributing the forces associated with braking.”

Deceleration ability may be the biggest determining factor in performance when looking at general skills and their effect on sports. In the research article “COD task: does the eccentric muscle contraction really matter?,” Helmi Chaabene stated, “from a practical observation suggest that coaches should consider implementing eccentric strengthening, which is the main muscle contraction regime activated during deceleration, in their training program directed at promoting COD outcome.”

When looking at horizontal deceleration, research has pointed practitioners toward developing eccentric capacities specifically in the quads, hamstrings, and glutes. When the athlete has lower levels of eccentric strength in their lower body, it will cause reduced knee flexion in stopping movements, putting the majority of the mechanical stress on the hamstrings. Pairing this shallow knee flexion decel with poor trunk stability can lead to a dramatic increase in non-contact ACL injuries. Increasing eccentric force capabilities in key muscle groups and joints will increase performance and help mitigate several common injuries, such as hamstring strains and ACL tears.

Look at sprinting, as Peter Weyand and Ken Clark found that elite sprinters are able to decelerate the lower limb in the two-mass model faster than normal team sport athletes. The elite sprinter’s impulse curve or waveform should have much higher levels of eccentric peak force and eccentric rate of force (RFD). Contributing factors to great deceleration show up all over sports in a variety of skills.

Five Factors Affect How Well an Athlete Can Decelerate

Using the hierarchy developed by Al Vermeil, we see the progressions of how to increase braking ability, which will have a cascading effect on a player’s athletic abilities. This hierarchy is not limited to the lower body, as football blocking and block destruction both have decelerative actions, so apply the same methods to upper body training.

There is some crossover between the training elements in this hierarchy, as dynamic stability is present in all of these exercises and does not have its own catalog of exercises. I will focus solely on eccentric peak force and eccentric RFD, as plyometrics has been explored in recent articles. In the following sections, I will go through the exercises that have been implemented here at FAU and give examples and rationale on why we use them to develop deceleration capabilities.

Eccentric Peak Force

“Eccentric peak force allows athletes to harness gravity to create power.” – Antonio Squillante

From a kinetic perspective, peak force is the peak of the waveform curve or impulse curve. It can be described as the max amount. Traditionally, strength and conditioning coaches have measured this through 1RM testing. There is an understanding that the limiting factor in true training of peak eccentric force is the ability to complete the concentric phase of the lift. Research has shown that eccentrically, athletes can produce 120%–140% of a normal 1RM squat.

Peak force manipulation does not have time constraints, which is a major reason just focusing on strength production has limits when looking for transfer to sport activities, as sport has specific time windows for the application of force governed by movement. Getting strong just for the sake of getting strong will not guarantee better sports performance, as much as we would like to believe it will.

Strength is necessary, as the lack of it will guarantee failure in the ability to produce skills—but solely focusing on strength as the holy grail will reach a point of diminishing returns and lead to stagnation of performance gains. Strength and conditioning coaches do need to create reserves (or surplus) greater than what is demanded in sport to protect the athlete from injury. This also gives the athlete the ability to perform under some levels of fatigue if the capacity is developed to new and higher levels. These reserves are critical for performance, as athletes in field sports rarely are completely fresh during competition.

Strength and conditioning coaches do not want the first time that athletes experience 6x BW in eccentric forces to occur in competition, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Building eccentric peak force is critical for enhancing the skill of deceleration, as peak force shows up in the later phases of horizontal braking in the steps leading to the penultimate step. As the ground contacts expand and the knee and hip angles deepen, the need for more force—specifically deceleration force—is pivotal in the athlete’s ability to manage the momentum. Deceleration forces have been recorded as high as 8x BW and occur between 50 milliseconds and 300 milliseconds. Neglecting the training of this sports phenomenon will most certainly lead to an increased risk of injury. Strength and conditioning coaches do not want the first time that athletes experience 6x BW in eccentric forces to occur in competition.

Peak force can be developed through two modalities:

1. Submaximal eccentric training
2. Supra-maximal eccentric training

Submaximal Eccentric Training

Submaximal eccentric training has been made popular by coaches like Charles Poliquin and Cal Dietz, and it is not a new training intervention. It can be applied to all exercises, and its reach is only limited by the strength and conditioning coach’s creativity. The greatest impact is on the implementation of tempo to compound lifts such as squats, hinges, presses, and pulls.

The benefit of using submaximal eccentric training is twofold.

1. 1. The structural adaptations that occur with increased time under tension. Using this method has a great hypertrophic response on the muscles. The time under tension stimulates an anabolic hormonal response, along with the increased tissue damage from the focused eccentric action, allowing greater size and strength adaptations to the CSA if adequate recovery periods are applied.

 

1. The adaptation of the tendon structures and motor unit recruitment, which, if implemented early in the training phase, can allow the strength and conditioning coach to be more aggressive in later progressions when programming plyometric activities, as GTOs are programmed to allow higher levels of stretch-shortening activities. The controlled lowering helps groove the pattern, increasing the technical proficiency of the lift, and is a great motor learning tool when teaching early progressions of exercises.

Using this method is a great alternative to the 3×10 rep prescription seen in the early offseason that is used too frequently, as it checks many of the same boxes as hypertrophy, tendon health, motor learning, lactate buffering, and even aerobic system development. This early intro to eccentrics at submaximal intensities accomplishes the adaptation of hypertrophy with higher intensities and sets the S&C up for supra-maximal eccentric training progressions later in the training cycle.

Squats are one of the most common means of implementing this method in the S&C community, but bodybuilders have been using tempo on isolated joint work for a long time. The load is less than 100% of 1RM, hence the name submaximal. The preferred intensity zones that we have found to be adequate in stressing the athlete safely were between 65% and 85% of 1RM. Once the 85% of 1RM threshold was crossed, it was extremely difficult for the athlete to complete the concentric portion of the lift. We use the rep range of 3–5, as 5+ reps dramatically increase the risk of injury due to fatigue. Sets of 5+ reps with tempo can expand past several minutes, which under significant load is not a safe environment for athletes.

Lower body examples:

Video 1. Squat.

Video 2. Sub max split squat.

Video 3. SL tempo RDL.

Video 4. R leans.

Video 5. Tempo side squat.

Upper body examples:

Video 6. Sub max bench tempo.

Video 7. Sub max DB bench.

Video 8. Tempo chin-ups.

Video 9. Submax tempo press.

Video 10. Sub max rows.

Supra-Maximal Eccentric Training

Using sub-max eccentrics is like eating appetizers at a restaurant: they are great starters, but you are still holding out for the main dish. Sub-max eccentrics set up athletes to handle higher-intensity training means like supra-maximal eccentric training and plyometric training. This style of training is defined as 100% of 1RM or greater: controlled lowering without the possibility of completing the concentric portion of the lift without outside aid.

Using sub-max eccentrics is like eating appetizers at a restaurant: they are great starters, but you are still holding out for the main dish, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

This is a very aggressive and intensive style of training that should be completed with minimal volume and carefully progressed. This method should be used with main core lifts such as presses, squats, and hinges. Coaches must have mature, attentive lifters, as equipment such as weight releasers or spotters is needed to accomplish this modality.

Supra-maximal eccentric training cannot be mentioned without bringing up Dr. John Wagle and his research pertaining to accentuated eccentric loading (AEL). Dr. Wagle defines AEL: “Accentuated eccentric loading (AEL) prescribes eccentric load magnitude in excess of the concentric prescription using movements that require coupled eccentric and concentric actions, with minimal interruption to natural mechanics.”

This style of training is supra-maximal eccentric and has, in several research papers, shown increases in strength and speed in field-based sports athletes. Eccentric training can lead to greater increases in total strength and, when paired with SSC activities, allows for more forceful and propulsive concentric actions. In Jamie Douglas’s research paper “Effects of Accentuated Eccentric Loading on Muscle Properties, Strength, Power, and Speed In Resistance-Trained Rugby Players,” he stated:

“The additional eccentric load afforded by slow AEL may provide a superior stimulus to the neuromuscular system, a stimulus that could be especially relevant to trained athletes simultaneously attempting to increase strength, power, speed, and aerobic fitness.”

Creativity must be at a premium when navigating equipment deficiencies and it shouldn’t push coaches away from using this training method, as it produces immense results.

Lower body examples:

Video 11. Squats with weight releaser.

Video 12. AEL supra max squats with SSB, no hands then hands.

Video 13. Supra max split squat.

Video 14. Trap bar deadlift AEL.

Video 15. Push press to controlled lowering supra max for press.

Video 16. Bench weight releaser supra max.

Video 17. Chin-ups partner pulldown.

Video 18. Deadlift to supra max RDL.

Video 19. AEL band-resisted box jump.

Video 20. AEL box jump.

Eccentric Rate of Force

Deceleration is a rate-dependent activity. From a kinetics standpoint, RFD is, in simple terms, how fast to peak force. There are several time brackets that people use to measure it between 50 milliseconds and 250 milliseconds. The steeper the slope, the more the athlete is able to express force faster.

Why is it important to manage force fast? In sports, there are limited time windows in which the athlete can apply force—if the window is extended, the movement slows down. Slower playing speed in specific situations like tackling, decelerating, or cutting can lead to serious injury. The main determinant of not being able to express force faster is slower skill execution, which makes it easier for the opponent to separate or close on you.

With eccentric RFD exercises, we want to increase the rate of the stop. These exercises must be performed with violent intent and have tremendous adaptive responses, such as increased muscle stiffness and higher recruitment of type IIx fibers. When classifying eccentric RFD exercises, the higher the jarring effect of the modality, the higher the demand of mechanical stress on the athlete and the increased GRF. These exercises fall into the classifications of altitude drop, snap downs, and rapid catch. Because of the high mechanical stress of the exercises, coaches only need to prescribe a small volume to elicit positive adaptation.

A simple way to conceptualize programming for snap downs is to prescribe them similarly to Olympic lifting variations. Quality over quantity is at a premium, as we don’t want to have these rapid decelerations happen with fatigue. Coaches can be extremely creative in the final position of the decel out of the snap down. We start with a square “athletic position” and move to a staggered stance. Limiting or removing the portion of the base of support has an increase on the dynamic stability demand. This exercise isn’t limited to the sagittal plane, as coaches can tap frontal plane decelerations as well.

Because of the high mechanical stress of eccentric RFD exercises, coaches only need to prescribe a small volume to elicit positive adaptation, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

When selecting drop heights for altitude drops and depth jumps, the most logical resource has to be Dr. Verkhoshansky. We looked at his recommendations and compared how applicable they would be in our specific setting and how compatible they would be with our intended training emphasis components. Dr. Verkhoshansky recommends that the drop should be 2.5 feet, or 30 inches, for explosive strength and reactive ability. For increasing peak force, the drop should be performed at 3.5 feet, or 42 inches!

As coaches can see, these aren’t small boxes to step off of. In the research paper “A methodological approach to quantifying plyometric intensity,” the authors found that a rebound vertical jump produced around 4.5x BW in GRF. If a vertical jump landing is more intensive than falling off a sub-vertical-height box, it didn’t make sense to start the altitude drop progression with anything short of the average vertical height for each position group. We add intensity to the exercise by increasing the height over the positional average.

Video 21. Drop landings.

Video 22. Altitude drops.

Video 23. Assisted snap downs.

Video 24. Tb snap downs.

Video 25. Db snap downs.

Video 26. Push-up drops.

Video 27. Bb drop rows

Video 28. DB drop rows.

Video 29. Full-speed decelerations.

Video 30. Decelerations.

Pay More Attention to Deceleration

As more light is shone on the sporting task of deceleration and its components, it is becoming more evident not only of its need on the training calendar but the performance benefit if this skill is improved. Field sports are about manipulating space, and deceleration not only increases COD but also improves speed. This is not a new training modality, as Loren Landow, Vern Gambetta, and Bill Parisi have been using similar training methods for decades—not to mention what the Soviets did for who knows how long.

Though it is not new, deceleration and its components often get neglected in the training process, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Though it is not new, it often remains neglected in the training process. Thankfully, researchers like Damian Harper have brought notice to this neglected training element, and practitioners like Les Spellman and Jevaughn Pinnock are consistently creating new methods of training. As Dr. Harper stated: “You cannot speed up what you cannot slow down.”

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

Breath mechanics are at the literal core of the human body. Most obviously, they have a direct effect on the air coming in and going out of the body, but much more is going on. So much so that perturbed breath mechanics create a ripple effect that holistically and simultaneously impacts neurological, motor, and psychoemotional systems.

If coaches and athletes better understand how far-reaching the positive and negative effects can be, I’m sure that far more attention would be paid to teaching good breathing habits and alleviating poor ones. Even slight changes in breathing can yield significant long-term results—reaching far beyond the obvious and with a relatively low cost in time and effort.

If coaches and athletes better understand how far-reaching the positive and negative effects can be, far more attention would be paid to teaching good breathing habits and alleviating poor ones. Share on X

Conversely, compensatory and dysfunctional breathing mechanics in athletes have multiple adverse downstream effects on performance. Training for and competing in sports is stressful on the human body, and combining the repetitive and lopsided demands of all sports will create compensation. These effects are subtle and can be difficult to prioritize in the scheme of problems coaches face. Left unchecked, however, breathing compensations can aggregate like interest on an unpaid debt.

The goal for us as we study this subject here is to develop a basic understanding of the holistic nature of breath pattern dysfunction in athletes, some of the limitations it causes, how it presents itself on the field of play or in training, and what we can do about it within our scope of practice.

Athletic Breathing Dysfunction Overview

Let’s make sure we are crystal clear about what dysfunctional breathing is. It is “Inappropriate breathing which is persistent enough to cause symptoms, with no apparent organic cause” (Cliftonsmith & Rowley, 2011). This means that the athlete does not have an underlying disease state of which poor breathing may be an expression: for example, a metabolic disorder like diabetes that may cause a higher offload of energetic waste. Since many of these disorders are non-factors for athletic populations, most breathing issues can be attributed, at least in part, to poor mechanics.

As a point of conscience, though—if you have an athlete who consistently can’t breathe, send them to medical care!

The symptoms of poor breathing can be hard to spot because they can be situational and sporadic. However, breathing dysfunction can surface as shortness of breath during activity (duh), frequent yawing/sighing, chest and upper back pain, air hunger (“can’t catch my breath”), unusual fatigue, and anxiety/panic attack (this one is especially important in modern youth athletics).

The symptoms of poor breathing can be hard to spot because they can be situational and sporadic. But the energetic costs for poor breathing can aggregate. Share on X

Additionally, negatively altered breathing mechanics can result in altered motor patterns downstream that disrupt postural orientation as well as extremity coordination. Long-term hyperinflation patterns can result in poor length-tension relationships in trunk muscles and put undue stress on postural muscles in the low back especially. Poor breathing also does the obvious: you bring in less oxygen/per unit breath (aka vital capacity). In other words, you’re shallow, Hal. Last but not least, aerobic efficiency can become enfeebled over time, and energetic costs for poor breathing can aggregate.

The nature of the human body is so completely interwoven and interrelated that it can be difficult to say with absolute precision that “X issue” equals “Y problem.” However, identifying areas of emphasis can help coaches better understand the components of complex systems in a way that allows for better problem-solving and application of interventions.

Because ventilation is a foundational component of human anatomy and physiology, many things can cause and contribute to disordered breathing (and vice versa). More than just poor mechanics contribute to breathing disorders—everything from pain, autonomic arousal, and sinus dysfunction to pregnancy and diet can contribute to the etiology of breathing issues. Regardless of origin, the continuum of effects of altered breathing is varying degrees of physiological, psychoemotional, and biomechanical outcomes.

The best way to begin attacking these issues is by first identifying the ideal and moving toward that ideal with progressive skill. Don’t get too lost in the corrective weeds and steal all the fun from the sports physios out there.

Keep It Super Simple

All roads lead to Rome. Regardless of where an athlete’s breathing problems come from—or the direction they’re going—there has to be a mechanical change to elicit a positive response. This means that there’s a change in movement skill at the most fundamental level, and that’s where coaches live.

If you’re a coach, rather than focusing on the minutiae of correctives, use simple mechanical tools that athletes can learn and repeat accurately. Share on X

There is a vast literature on the many positive effects of “diaphragmatic breathing” as well as “chest breathing” and the negative ones. If you’re a coach, rather than focusing on the minutiae of correctives, use simple mechanical tools that athletes can learn and repeat accurately. As my friend Mickey Schuch says: “Is it robust? Is it reliable? Is it repeatable?”

A Word on Cueing

When I hear things like “use your diaphragm,” my neck hair stands on end a little. No coach worth their salt would ask you to run faster by “using your rectus femoris.” Instead, we provide cueing that gives a point of focus and movement instructions (constraints) that allow the athlete to envision the end result and then start iterating. It’s the same with breath mechanics.

Have an accurate and reliable ideal that you will use as a measuring stick. Most generalist coaches have neither the time nor the inclination to become breathing experts. However, a basic understanding is a must because of the breadth and depth of both the harm and the benefit from breathing.

A basic understanding of breath mechanics is a must because of the breadth and depth of both the harm and the benefit from breathing. Share on X

In that vein, let’s touch a little bit on identifying and cueing ideal mechanics—for the sake of brevity, we’ll cut right to the chase. (If you are looking for a more detailed reference on breath mechanics, check out this article.)

Three steps to keep it super simple:

1. Cue the ribs. Learn to move ribs, not bellies. Athletes brace their trunk position to deal with higher forces on their structure, so moving the belly is not a viable option under many circumstances, especially competitive ones.
2. Fill the bucket. Ribs should move in waves from bottom to top as well as up to the sides just like filling a bucket with water.
3. Control the flow. Imagine sipping air slowly through a straw (but with your nose). If you try to suck everything in at once, the straw will collapse. Keep the flow smooth and deliberate.

These three principles will help orient athletes toward breathing that primarily uses the diaphragm and intercostals while using accessory breathing muscles as, well, accessories. When you see breathing like this, the ribcage moves smoothly and evenly all the way around the torso. As we’ll discuss in more detail, the demands of athletics have some compensatory and dysfunctional patterns that can be easily redirected with simple, well-applied tools.

Video 1: Learn how to cue ideal mechanics before introducing any potential corrections.

As a final reminder: it’s easy to get stuck in the correctives without practicing the movement well and often. Use the ideal mechanics as a benchmark before and after any intervention, so you know if you’ve made a change.

Regardless of origin, you can alter breathing habits toward the positive with mechanical interventions that don’t require specialized expertise. The easy way to stratify these is through lower-body- and upper-body-focused interventions.

Lower Body Interventions

It might seem like the lower body has less implication for breathing mechanics and that improving them may not have much effect on issues in this area. Not at all. Well-implemented breathing strategies can dramatically and positively affect outcomes for lumbopelvic dysfunction. It may be truly impossible to separate the mechanical from the holistic outcomes of improved diaphragm engagement, but let’s start there.

Athletes who, through genetic anthropometry or movement history, develop local extension moments in the lumbosacral area often have increased tone in deep hip flexors that can put undue stress on the system and limit diaphragm excursion. Contrary to popular belief, athletes with a proclivity for spinal extension will not snap in half at the first sign of trouble. So, it’s important we alter our thinking from one of correction to one of integration. Is the system working together optimally? Is one spot stealing efficiency from another?

Contrary to popular belief, athletes with a proclivity for spinal extension will not snap in half at the first sign of trouble. It’s important we alter our thinking from correction to integration. Share on X

The psoas and the diaphragm share some important anatomy with serious implications for not only better breathing but also spine and hip function. The bottom of the diaphragm, called the crura, comes down like snake fangs between T10 and T12 and crisscrosses with the upper and medial portions of the iliopsoas, continuing upward toward the spinal origin of the diaphragm. Of course, also woven in are the usual suspects: QLs, transverse abdominis, latissimus dorsi, and the other members of the paraspinal gang. Most importantly, all that tissue interlocks with the thoracolumbar junction and acts like a Chinese finger trap to mechanically reinforce that area of the body.

The first lower body intervention we’re focused on here is a kind of pelvic “tempering” (a term coined by the legendary Donnie Thompson). Here we use direct pressure into the iliopsoas with hip and leg extension to deal with tissue stiffness. Due to the anatomical relationship with the breathing mechanism described above, maintaining smooth, controlled breathing is an absolute must to maximize this technique. If it feels like it’s too much, back off or stop.

Video 2. Iliopsoas Tempering.

The second lower body intervention is the classic deadbug, but with some applied nuance. Here we emphasize lumbopelvic positioning with breathing added in. This “core” exercise can be valuable if done with attention and intention instead of the lackadaisical approach of an actual dead bug that is all too common in even the fanciest training halls. Pressurize the trunk using the cueing from above and then move the hip into relative extension without creating local movement at the spine. This technique reveals some nuanced connections in the kinetic chain while at the same time creating a therapeutic input.

Video 3. Deadbug

These exercises can be used separately or in a superset fashion. I’ve had the most success with the latter application. The first technique creates some options for movement, and the second dials in the software. Going back and forth with low but focused repetitions gives the athlete a feel for the breathing’s new range and application without getting overwhelmed.

Application

Alternate

1. 1:00–2:00 body tempering/side (with 3–5 reps leg extension).
2. 6–10 deadbugs: Slow and controlled! Set posture, nasal inhale (fill the bucket), extend leg, return leg, nasal exhale.

Key Points:

• These exercises are subtle, not passive. Keep your and your athlete’s attention locked on the details.
• Do not approximate an arbitrary range of motion. Focus on the constraints given in the video to maximize the outcomes.
• Make the breath the center of the focus for the exercises and everything else secondary.

The lower body techniques described here are not intended as a panacea by any means, but they can move the needle on essential pieces of the breathing puzzle. I’ve found these exercises incredibly beneficial for not only helping athletes reset faulty breathing mechanics but also helping to create a more integrated relationship between the tissues around the trunk and the ability to manage pressure. This enhances overall stability and can diminish negative feedback from pain-sensitive tissues and increase mechanical breathing efficiency.

Bonus Technique: Super Lunge

You want to be super, don’t you? Good. Pay attention to the details of this exercise, and you will be.

Video 4. Super lunge: The basic lower body interventions use breath and movement together to progressively improve the coordination of the trunk to deal with force inputs more efficiently.

Upper Body Interventions

Athletes, in particular, often suffer from “hyperinflation” issues stemming from apical breathing. Apical breathing is when the mechanical load for ventilation is adversely distributed to the accessory muscles of the chest and shoulders. This cycle often results in poor and partial exhalation preventing the full contractile cycle of the diaphragm. Over time, this, combined with other mechanical inputs, can create aggregate compensations and potentially true dysfunction. These can limit performance through their contributions to mechanical issues in the upper body but also by restricting optimal energetic efficiency that is managed by breathing.

Most of the time, when we think of neck and shoulder problems, in particular, improving breath mechanics does not come to mind as a solution. However, simple interventions that improve breath mechanics have both holistic and direct mechanical benefits, specifically for issues in the neck and shoulder. Holistically, removing roadblocks to breathing efficiency takes the edge off the nervous system, yielding a net benefit to any movement strategy that may be used body-wide.

Simple interventions that improve breath mechanics have both holistic and direct mechanical benefits, specifically for issues in the neck and shoulder. Share on X

Additionally, many accessory breathing muscles have crossover functions in the upper body, the most obvious being the scalene, sternocleidomastoid (SCM), and pec major and minor. These muscle groups implicated in neck and shoulder dysfunction frequently have a breathing pattern disorder as an associated causal factor. Conversely, neck and shoulder dysfunction affects downstream breathing pattern issues.

Our first upper body intervention is to help bring awareness to and encourage the full range of motion in the ribcage. This includes the global sense of thoracic extension and rotation but also the more granular relationships of the ribs to each other. Larger tools like rollers tend to encourage global extension. To get more precise, a smaller fulcrum is necessary. For this, you can use a cheaper and more ubiquitous tool like a lacrosse or tennis ball or get something specifically designed for refined t-spine access.

Video 5. T-spine opener.

Key Points:

• Be purposeful. Don’t just slide all over the place like you’re getting moved down an assembly line.
• Use breath first. A full inhale will create pressure and traction in the area first.
• Pops don’t mean it’s working. Your indicator shouldn’t be that your spine sounds like a crackling campfire. Sometimes it does; sometimes it doesn’t. Can you breathe/move better?

The second upper body intervention is the neck peel. This is simply using a tool to create drag over the SCM and other regional tissues to relieve tension associated with apical breathing and neck/shoulder dysfunction. This technique is all about using the ball to wind up superficial fascia. This can be done almost anywhere, whether seated or standing, and in my experience, it gives tremendous relief from a variety of issues.

Video 6. Neck Peel.

Key Points: 

• Go slow. Three seconds to move an inch is a good rule of thumb.
• Create drag. Grab and slide the tissues; don’t push into the neck.
• Explore and move. Start with the traditional origin and insertion, but remember that the systems are interconnected. Go where things are sticky.

Some final words on applying these tools. Repetition over intensity: your athlete should be able to control their breathing the entire time. Order matters: do the steps given in the video in order—every time. The given order emphasizes tissues in very specific ways, so don’t just wing it.

Performance Anxiety

While performance anxiety doesn’t have as obvious of a mechanical cause as some of the issues we’ve already discussed, understanding the part that breath plays is essential for helping athletes on your roster who may suffer from this issue. Furthermore, it gives coaches and athletes access to a solution that is:

1. Free of stigma.
2. Accessible anytime and anywhere, whether in the field of play or not.
3. Within a coach’s wheelhouse.

Performance anxiety has multifactorial origins, and breathing dysfunction—while not the sole cause—usually plays some part in the propagation of performance-related anxiety. That said, there are definitely signatures patterns of shallow, inhale-focused breathing that cause dysregulation in carbon dioxide levels. Over-arousal of the autonomic nervous system expresses itself as anxiety on the psychoemotional level but as breathing dysfunction on the physiological level. This increased arousal response acutely upregulates the urge to breathe. Those suffering from performance anxiety are often referred to as “stuck on the inhale.” This means that they’re breathing in the upper part of the ribcage with the muscles of the neck and shoulders.

Breathing dysfunction usually has some part in performance anxiety. Making breathing the focal point turns what can be a hard-to-grasp problem of the mind into a physical skill the athlete can learn. Share on X

Self-perpetuation of these habits through behavioral-psychological-physiological loops can be interrupted by pulling on the lever of breathing. Making breathing the focal point turns what can be a hard-to-grasp problem of the mind into a physical skill the athlete can learn. This is really empowering because athletes know how to learn physical skills!

Video 7. Breathing intervention for performance anxiety.

When performance anxiety hits the breathing, symptoms tend to come as short repetitive urges to inhale. Trying to “take a deep breath” at that point can actually worsen the feeling of panic. Instead, “catch the exhale” by pushing air out with short, controlled bursts and then slowing things down progressively.

Think of it the situation as two spinning gears. One gear is the athlete’s anxious state: it’s spinning at 1,000 RPMs. The other gear is breathing. If you bring that gear in at 100 RPMs, they’re too far apart, and they’ll just grind each other up. Catching the exhale is like bringing the catch gear in at 950 and then slowing the whole thing down together. Pump the brakes—don’t smash them.

One more thing: Stop. Just stop. Unless your athlete has something life-changing on the line in this game or practice, have them discontinue play and regain their composure. The headlines are chock full of athletes who have pushed through mental health issues at a serious personal cost. No need to add to that pile.

Additionally, this generally moves away from thinking of athletes as commoditized sports robots and acknowledges that there’s a human being in front of you. This approach will undoubtedly build trust between you and your team on a deeper and more meaningful level.

Not the One but the Many

When it comes to an issue that has the potential to reduce function and efficiency system-wide, it behooves coaches to take notice and minimally learn the basics. Breathing pattern dysfunction is broad-reaching and nefarious. There is rarely a moment of catastrophic collapse. In most cases, they slink in slowly, under the radar. A little too much mouth breathing here, a little back or neck pain there, a bit more use of the inhaler, mix in some pre-game anxiety, and you have a nice little cocktail of issues that can put serious limits on athlete health and performance over the long haul.

It’s not one big swing of the axe. It’s death by a thousand cuts.

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

Resources

Bahr R, Andersen SO, Løken S, Fossan B, Hansen T, and Holme I. “Low back pain among endurance athletes with and without specific back loading—a cross-sectional survey of cross-country skiers, rowers, orienteerers, and nonathletic control.” Spine. 2004;29(4):449–454.\

Bradley H and Esformes J. “Breathing pattern disorders and functional movement.” International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. 2014;9(1):28–39.

Cliftonsmith T and Rowley J. “Breathing Pattern Disorders and Physiotherapy: Inspiration for Our Profession.” Physical Therapy Reviews. 2011;16(1). doi:10.1179/1743288X10Y.0000000025

Hodges PW, Eriksson AEM, Shirley D, and Gandevia SC. “Intra-abdominal pressure increases stiffness of the lumbar spine.” Journal of Biomechanics. 2005;38(9):1873­­–1880.