Blog

By Matt McInnes Watson and Ash Buckman

Plyometrics are a powerful training method used by many athletes within speed and power sports. The effectiveness of the training can transform an athlete’s ability to utilize and produce force quickly, with greater precision and locomotive control. The development of plyometrics as a training tool and its link with sport-specific expression of movement has grown in recent years and led to an increased use of plyometric exercises. The variations of plyometric movements range from highly dynamic, intense movements in a linear fashion to a large array of extensive landings and takeoffs in multiple directions and planes.

Despite the growth of the training method, the testing of plyometrics has been limited to vertical, angular, momentum-based (on the spot, up and down) movements. This type of movement enables us to determine simple measurements of ground contact time (GCT) and jump height/flight time (JH/FT) to calculate metrics like the reactive strength index (RSI). Although this may be deemed an effective way to measure forms of reactive strength and plyometric potency, it does not have the capacity to measure influences of horizontal-based momentum.

Although RSI may be deemed an effective way to measure forms of reactive strength and plyometric potency, it does not have the capacity to measure the influences of horizontal-based momentum. Share on X

Measuring jump height and/or the incoming momentum of a movement that possesses more of a horizontal focus (e.g., bounding) is difficult using force plate, camera, and VBT technologies. The influences on landings—such as incoming descent angle and velocity—can often produce data that is difficult for coaches to understand and use as part of their movement assessments. The sport science and coaching community understands the specificity of more horizontally focused plyometrics and their link to sporting movement—therefore, the need for a new testing and monitoring metric is critical!

Outputs and Momentum

As previously mentioned, RSI is a widely credited testing metric for providing simple output data to assess an athlete’s reactive strength. That being said, the data that is recorded may be deemed symptomatic, showing the outcome of a movement. Yet understanding the reasoning behind outcome variables can be more important and can often provide greater clarity on the athlete’s performance. In plyometric movements with varying approaches, we can identify differences in outcome performance through comparison of the incoming momentum of the previous movement.

When it comes to truly understanding what is happening at a given moment within sport or training, we must analyze influencing factors to determine the reasoning of the outcome. This can follow a process similar to a physical therapist taking medical assessments, looking at what contributed to the injury, and linking this to the symptoms. If we’re being overly critical of the output measures, we are only getting half the story, and it can become difficult for coaches to truly understand how to further change and impact these output metrics and athlete performance.

So how can different incoming momentums change the outcomes of a takeoff?

We need to consider the loading pattern and what influences that loading pattern:

• Did the athlete fall vertically?
• Did the athlete fall horizontally?
• Was the incoming momentum affected by a greater entrance velocity?
• Is that landing affected by a higher velocity produced by an increase in negative foot speed?

When you consider these questions, you can start to understand how just considering output metrics in dynamic movement is half the story. Another important consideration when asking those four questions is: what are the output metrics telling us?

There are three potential outcomes:

1. The athlete is gaining momentum.
2. The athlete is losing momentum.
3. The athlete is maintaining momentum. (Although this may be deemed as important, the likelihood of exact momentum maintenance is very low, and each landing to takeoff varies slightly.)

If we bring these influencing factors together with the potential outcomes, we often see these typical occurrences:

• Too fast incoming momentum = losing momentum (often seen in the triple jump).
• Too long falling momentum = losing momentum (often seen with depth jumps).
• Smaller incoming momentum = gaining momentum (often seen in acceleration-based practices).

When looking back at the first two examples here where the athlete is likely to lose momentum, be it speed and/or jump distance, we as coaches must assess how these influencing factors that may negatively affect performance can eventually be used advantageously for the athlete.

We need to understand how to assess our athletes’ movements & use a new form of plyometric testing to help positively impact their output capacities when dealing w/greater incoming momentums. Share on X

The reasons for declines in momentum in these instances are that the athlete cannot handle the eccentric forces upon landing and/or the rate in which the eccentric portion of the landing is loaded. It’s therefore our mission as coaches to understand how we can assess our athletes’ movements and use a new form of plyometric testing to help positively impact their output capacities when dealing with greater incoming momentums. By just assessing output metrics, it becomes difficult to disseminate this data into our coaching and identify ways in which we can affect technique and task to improve performance.

Video 1. Bounding exercise with flight times and RSR calculated.

The Reactive Strength Ratio (RSR)

The RSR is a measurement of both the incoming and outgoing momentum of a plyometric landing and its influence on the ground contact.

When looking to calculate RSR, the FT before and after a landing should be measured while monitoring GCT. By accounting for both FTs, the incoming approach can be used to assess its influence on GCT, outgoing FT, and the performance outcome (RSI). Both FTs are individually divided by the GCT, giving two initial RSI scores. The outgoing RSI is then divided by the incoming RSI to give a ratio of 1 based on the impact of incoming versus outgoing capacities.

RSR = (Outgoing RSI)/(Incoming RSI)

Incoming RSI: Flight time – 0.35/0.17 GCT = 2.05

Outgoing RSI: Flight time – 0.37/0.17 GCT = 2.17

RSR: 2.17/2.05 = 1.059

Understanding the Ratio

When delving into the data, it’s important to understand the ratio and what it tells us. A perfect ratio of 1 relates back to the maintenance of momentum, which could be classed as a state of equilibrium. We can then base all other movements, whether they’re <1 or >1, and account for them having either lost momentum or gained momentum.

Ratios greater than 1 (>1) suggest that the incoming flight time is managed well upon eccentric loading for the athlete and they’re able to handle the force to propel themselves out of the takeoff, creating a larger outgoing flight time (increasing momentum).

Ratios lower than 1 (<1) suggest a greater incoming flight time (e.g., a high platform depth jump) that the athlete struggles to couple the energy of to create an equal or larger outgoing flight time (losing momentum).

Due to the previously mentioned difficulties of achieving a perfect ratio of 1, bandwidths are used to gain a greater perspective of the athlete’s ability to utilize or not utilize incoming momentum. The initial bandwidths are set within the 10 percentiles of the ratio of 1 to provide coaches and athletes with a guide to get the most out of plyometric adaptations.

The reasoning behind staying within the bandwidths of 0.90 to 1.10 is to ensure that athletes are training within elastic/plyometric zones, whether that’s overloading the athlete by spiking the eccentric GRF or looking to produce a higher output through the concentric takeoff portion of a movement. It’s important to understand that when we step too far outside these bandwidths there becomes a point of diminishing return. Saying that using just movements that possess a ratio of 1 is the way to train for plyometric adaptations would be foolish, and obvious forms of overload (especially through eccentric loading—ratio of 0.90) are critical for developing athletes.

But too often, coaches and athletes bang on the doors of plyometric overload and leave aside critical areas for developing the velocity side of landings. We must understand that high GRF must come with rapid GCTs in order for movements to be reactive, elastic, and, most importantly, efficient.

It must be noted too that the optimal ratio of 1 can be a sign of locomotive rhythm for the athlete in a given exercise. Rhythm can be the foundation of force-velocity acquisition, showing that an athlete’s competencies at a given movement in time are handled with efficient locomotive properties.

Using the Data to Guide the Coaching Process

The common practice of dividing plyometrics into intensive and extensive movements has given coaches a simplistic way to program dynamic training. The split is a similar reflection of maximal and submaximal categorization of movement, which also has implications when measuring RSR.

Intensive or maximal plyometrics will be most critical for monitoring RSR bandwidth. Often, the use of maximal intent for a given task shows the true colors of how the body reacts to maximal output stimuli. This may highlight weak links and disconnects of skills that result in biomechanical faults that inherently diminish the performance of said task or movement.

Analysis of the movement using the RSR could be a way of discovering asymmetrical discrepancies or a lack of eccentric loading control of the given movement, says @mcinneswatson. Share on X

Coaches can be left second-guessing or unaware that an athlete’s RSI score may be low due to an overwhelmingly low ratio of <0.90 (high eccentric loading). Equally, monitoring of RSR bandwidth can be used to detect if the eccentric loading is placing enough stress on the athletes, with regard to producing ratios >1. This also plays a critical role in monitoring fatigue and potential overuse or stress-based injuries.

Extensive or submaximal plyometrics have a fundamentally different emphasis and intent—loading or output are not always KPIs. Submaximal strategies are implemented for physiological and neuromuscular adaptive reasons, such as:

• Higher landing volume to accommodate tendon CSA growth/stiffness.
• Better timing and efficiency of the SSC.
• Heightened proprioceptive awareness.
• Overall mechanical landing improvement.

As with many submaximal or extensive strategies for training, rhythm becomes the foundation of movement. It is usually the case that submaximal effort can give way to conscious, relaxed states to then place further efforts on smooth locomotion. This is achieved through, ideally, an optimal RSR of 1, when athletes are able to utilize and produce force efficiently. If an athlete is struggling to maintain speed, fluidity, or rhythm during an extensive plyometric activity, then analysis of the movement using the RSR could be a way of discovering asymmetrical discrepancies or a lack of eccentric loading control of the given movement.

Videos 2 & 3. Extensive crossover bounds and extensive split exchange leaps.

Optimal locomotive performance often requires movement in the most intense manner but is also achieved in the smoothest and most efficient way. Often in sport, the fastest and best performers aren’t always producing the highest force but are using it effectively to accomplish the sporting skill best (whether that’s sprinting, pitching a ball, or outmaneuvering a defender).

Therefore, our utmost aim as coaches is to develop movers who execute specifically intense movements like sprinting or bounding for distance with an optimal RSR of 1.

Our utmost aim as coaches is to develop movers who execute specifically intense movements like sprinting or bounding for distance with an optimal RSR of 1, says @mcinneswatson. Share on X

Further Observations and a Sampler of Unilateral Landings

There are two options for unilateral plyometrics:

• Hopping (unipedal—moving on just one leg).
• Bounding (bipedal—alternating legs).

Although both are considered unilateral, they have some inherent differences when it comes to landing forces, mechanics, and neuromuscular stimulus. A consideration and finding from the RSR brings up the asymmetrical differences that may be observed during bounding.

All athletes will possess an asymmetrical balance between legs, with what may be considered a dominant and nondominant leg. Other descriptions may be a “strength leg” and “speed leg” that are based on takeoff preferences in jumping actions.

This difference brings up scenarios during bounding that may sway the use of maximal intent versions. For an athlete with a dominant left leg, when bounding for distance left to right, due to the left leg’s capacity, the flight time of the incoming right leg landing is likely to be high. This subsequently has a knock-on effect due to the nondominant right side then having to deal with the larger incoming flight that will inevitably spike a high eccentric ground reaction force. The right leg’s inferior capacities can potentially have a further effect when coupling energy from what may be deemed a supramaximal landing, which cannot produce an equal outgoing flight time (= RSR <1).

This continues to have a knock-on effect with the lack of influence it may bring when alternating back to the dominant left side as it receives what should be maximal—but is in fact a submaximal—loading of the next landing due to the nondominant leg’s incapacities to utilize and express force. This leads the dominant left to then proceed in having to recreate momentum again (= positive RSR >1).

The scenario can create a vicious cycle where both legs are not training within the zones a coach may wish for, especially if the intent is to work on maximal output. This might be the typical response we may want with plyometrics, by highly loading the eccentric phase, but when using unilateral bipedal movement (bounding), this may bring up some faulty patterns that could lead to potential asymmetrical landing injuries.

It must be noted, too, that a certain level of dominance will always be there for some athletes but must only be present at a minimal level. Negative influences that were previously discussed must be monitored through the ratio to help determine further if gait and loading mechanics are leading to overuse and/or potential injury.

Final Takeaways

The RSR can be a great tool for evaluating and monitoring a particular plyometric or dynamic movement in time. The ratio can provide athletes with a measurement of their capacity to deal with all landing and takeoff scenarios, no matter the trajectory of the incoming movement.

The reactive strength ratio can provide athletes with a measurement of their capacity to deal with all landing and takeoff scenarios, no matter the trajectory of the incoming movement. Share on X

What’s important about the ratio is that it does not replace RSI but becomes part of the story for movement assessments. Output RSI is always present when measuring RSR, so you still get a value to determine the output capacity of an athlete’s reactive strength. With both load tolerance measured in the ratio and dynamic output from RSI, we can now better understand the reactive abilities of our athletes.

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

Ash Buckman is a performance coach based in the U.K. who has a master’s degree in sport science. He has worked within many high-performance environments across sports including basketball, track and field, and motorsport. His work includes strength and conditioning and soft tissue therapy, with a strong interest in the use of plyometrics in sports performance.

Anyone who has taken biomechanics courses in college and survived to tell the tale understands how the academic world looks at human movement. It’s taught that the body consists of a series of muscles, connective tissues, and bones: this is a system of levers and pulleys creating locomotion.

While crunching complicated equations, most of us begin to compartmentalize action based on the surrounding muscle groups. And why wouldn’t we? The entire strength and conditioning field revolves around strengthening particular muscle groups. We have machines for biceps and entire days dedicated to legs. The internet is full of gurus whose Instagram handles include the words knee, hamstring, glute, etc. Our field mocks bodybuilders for their training methodologies and then applies the same kind of muscle idolization in its training.

So, how did this happen? To answer that, travel with me back to 2016, when I finished my master’s thesis (see the abstract for “The Impact of Three Different Forms of Warm Up on Performance”).

From the Playing Field to Academia

Before I conducted my research, I spent the year coaching athletes in the strength and conditioning program at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. Having played football and powerlifted for my university, I already knew what it was like to do the training. Like any new coach and grad student, I ate up the new nuggets of knowledge I gained. The purpose of my thesis was to check how different forms of warm-ups could positively or negatively affect power performance. I looked at the differences between the impact of dynamic warm-ups, static stretches, and foam rolling on peak power and range of motion.

At this time, there was a great deal of debate about whether foam rollers were worth the energy for a sports program. Old-school coaches looked at it as a waste of time, stating that rolling on a piece of plastic was a horrible way to start a workout. On the opposite side of the spectrum, new age gurus claimed a simple piece of foam could break down scar tissue within the muscle. (Fun fact: it cannot). For more than a year, I had started every session with rolling out, and I believed it improved how well I moved during my workout. This made me want to investigate two things:

1. Does myofascial release (foam rolling) have any positive or negative impact on training and performance?
2. If there is a positive impact, how does it work?

To answer the first question simply—foam rolling did seem to affect peak power or improve range of motion. To answer the second question complexly—a lot happens when pressure is applied to muscle and its connective tissue.

So, like any good grad student, I began researching how foam rolling affects the body and why it impacts performance. After a few weeks down the rabbit hole, I looked at myofascial release therapy and its effect on fascia. At this point in my career, I had compartmentalized the body into more than 600 different muscle groups. If your quad hurts, you need to fix your quad. If your shoulder blade “pinches,” you need to fix the muscles around your shoulder blade. After all, muscles are the main character in this movie.

Apparently not. I learned that our bodies are covered in an intertwining organ that is full of sensory receptors that can affect everything. From “tightness” to how the body can transfer energy between limbs, myofascia played a huge role. I had spent years thinking of the body as this series of segmented levers. All school taught me about fascia was that it covers our muscles—that was about it. It was during my own research that I learned the positive effect of foam rolling comes partly from the pressure feedback within the myofascia. This creates a cascade of events that not only improve the range of motion, but also the power an athlete can produce.

My light bulb moment: If the function of fascia can improve from rolling out, then emphasizing it in training surely would enhance performance, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

I had never considered the impact of how fascia can aid (or impair) movement. LIGHT BULB.

If the function of fascia can improve from rolling out, then emphasizing it in training surely would enhance performance! This organ doesn’t stop and restart at each bone like muscles; rather, it covers EVERYTHING. This is why you can stretch or massage the glute and relieve shoulder blade tension. Or how you can have someone who is weight room weak produce massive amounts of power and speed on the field. Skinny pitchers and lanky basketball players can do things that no elite-level powerlifter could dream of. This “discovery” helped me realize two huge concepts:

1. Anytime an athlete trains, we should organize sessions, microcycles, and macrocycles around more than just traditional strength training.
2. What made me into a great powerlifter might have been the same thing that made me such an injury-prone and average football player.

So, the big question is: “how do we train fascia?” The truth is that almost everything you do in sports and the weight room will train your fascia. Now, if you stop reading at that line, you will miss out on the UGLY truth of fascia: How you train affects your fascia.

Fascia is an interesting organ because of its adaptability. It can act like a sail, catching and sharing power across the body using mechano and chemoreceptors littered throughout. Not only does it adapt to stress in the form of normal loading, but it also can adapt specifically to the velocity at which it loads.¹

Fascia is an interesting organ because of its adaptability…Not only does it adapt to stress in the form of normal loading, but it can also adapt specifically to the velocity at which it loads. Share on X

In other words, if you only move slow, you create slow fascia. If you move in one pattern, your fascia will create lines of efficiency in these directions. The inverse is true as well. And unlike muscle, which can have growth and neurological adaptations in only weeks, fascia takes months to change. This becomes a problem when we neglect higher velocity training for predominantly heavy weight-based workouts.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020, athletes across many sports (except for a few basketball players in Disneyland) found themselves trapped in their houses and apartments. Gyms were closed, and nobody knew if it was safe to interact with each other in public. We were a community of individuals doing our best to get by. This resulted in elite-level athletes performing bootcamp-style workouts in their living rooms. Unfortunately, this predicament lasted longer than six weeks for most people. They went from sprinting, jumping, and moving at high speeds many times a week to doing nothing at all for months in a row.

Finally, once competitive athletics resumed, sports like football gave their top performers only a few short weeks to get back to “game speed.” This was when we saw the largest number of soft tissue injuries ever in the NFL. Between hamstrings, Achilles, and ACLs, some of the league’s best athletes were out for the year.² Although there isn’t a single source of blame, low-velocity workouts done for months with only a short time allowed for correction seems to just scream that it’s one of the culprits.

This is where my personal history comes into play—I was a perfect soldier of a football player. If you asked me to run through a brick wall, I would. No questions asked. My high school coach told me that if I wanted to be a great at football, I needed to do power cleans and squats—so I did. In college, I was the strongest in my class, so I always lifted with the upperclassmen. I enjoyed that title, and my strength coaches praised me for my weight room abilities. I got strong, I improved my vertical, and I got decently fast—but I was always getting hurt.

I also struggled with certain athletic traits that I knew I should be better at. I could dunk from a standing position, but barely jumped higher with an approach. I was a great 10-yard sprinter but was inconsistent with 40-yard distances. What I (and many coaches today) failed to realize was that I had spent so much time focused on muscle-specific strength training that I had neglected the fascial side of human performance: the athletic side, if you will.

How to Train Fascia

Go to any AAU basketball tournament and you will see some of the most athletic movements performed by the most gangly of individuals. A combination of explosive dunks, extreme footwork, and powerful sprints are done by “weight room weak” individuals. This has to make the most seasoned strength coach pause in their tracks when building the best programs for their athletes. Break basketball down into its base components, and it’s just jumping, sprinting, decelerating, and throwing. Because of the nature of the sport, there are more than 60 jumps per game and dozens of speed changes.³

If that is all it takes to create astounding athletes, why don’t we do more of that in the weight room?

In NO WAY am I saying that we should neglect the many benefits of strength training in the weight room. The sad truth, though, is that many high school and college coaches have turned the weight room into powerlifting, Olympic lifting, and body building centric zones. I believe that strength is the foundation to performance enhancement, but it, in and of itself, does not create the most athletic of individuals. If you’ve ever seen Usain Bolt’s weight room training, it will haunt your nightmares.

The way Bolt trained in the weight room likely had nothing to do with his world-record success. So, let’s look past the barbells, bands, and squat racks to determine what we can do for our athletes to create positive fascial adaptations. Many coaches already incorporate these things, but as the “garnish” of their workouts. I argue that we should find ways to make these the steak and potatoes of the hour. Squats, presses, and pulls will still be integral in building great athletes, but we need more of these four qualities in each session:

1. Throw Things

Throwing medicine balls is not just a baseball player’s job anymore. The way that the body has to transfer force from the ankle to the knee, to the hips, to the spine, to the shoulder, to the arm, and out of the hand, maximizes the fascial “sail.” Our facility has anecdotally used medicine ball throws with our varsity football players before sprinting with great return. The better the body is at transferring energy throughout, the more it will be able to handle energy during athletic performance.

Video 1. Athletes play med ball volleyball to further build explosiveness at the tail end of a summer development program with Endunamoo Strength & Conditioning.

2. Jump, Sprint, Land

Jumping and sprinting are some of the most primal of movements when it comes to being human. Although these movements can be very force dominant, you cannot deny the velocity-explicit components. A max effort jump will utilize the entire body to produce force both vertically and horizontally.

The more in tune with fascial transfer an athlete is, the better they seem to perform things like continuous jumps. The strongest powerlifter is NOT the fastest sprinter for many reasons, but one of them is the inability to rapidly transfer force across the body. Sprint fast and sprint often to convert muscular strength into athletic strength. Sports play is full of rapid eccentrics, but if I walked into any random high school or college weight room, I would most likely see nothing but tempo-controlled lifts. Rapid eccentric movements seem to excite more eccentric overload and induce greater stretch shortening cycles.⁴ Exercises such as depth drops, depth jumps, and even “rapid eccentric” weight room exercises will benefit most athletes.

Video 2. Advanced phases of a box jump progression targeting improved ground contact times.

3. Train Across the Body

If you want to understand how fascia connects our body, just watch sports. We instinctively know to apply forces across the body from one foot to the opposite hand, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

If you want to understand how fascia connects our body, just watch sports. A pitcher plants with their left foot before throwing from their right hand. A sprinter simultaneously drives the opposite knee and hand while running. A basketball player leaps off their left foot while winding up their right hand for a dunk. We instinctively know to apply forces across the body from one foot to the opposite hand.

Adding in training that works across the body can build these already natural fascial pathways. Things like landmine movements with rotation, single limb dynamic movements, and even trunk rotating exercises should be added at the appropriate times and intensities.

Video 3. Baseball players working cross chops and suspension rows to target the trunk muscles responsible for rotation/counter-rotation and scapular control. 

4. Train Along Lines

I am still surprised at how little people know about fascial lines. Granted, I researched fascia in grad school and had no clue this concept even existed. Many of the best coaches in today’s industry have concurred that the body contains “lines” that we can train to maximize. I’ve mentioned different exercises above that work across the body, but we cannot neglect these lines:

• Front line.
• Superficial back line.
• Lateral line.
• Spiral line.
• Back functional line.
• Front functional line.

Adding Intent to Common Practice

This sounds so simple, and most experienced strength coaches will scoff “I already do this.”

So did I.

It’s only when the intent behind these core principles matches our weight training intensity that the results are maximized. We program percentages and rep schemes and treat them like gospel, but things like plyometrics are usually an afterthought. When you look at your old workouts, how often are your athletes performing max effort or measured jumps? Does most of your running involve full speed trials or is it predominantly conditioning? Do your kids perform intentional deceleration work, or do you let “the game” take care of that?

If your goal is to build a powerlifter, then continue to neglect the athletic side of training. But if you want a team of elite athletes, you’re going to have to train them like elite athletes. Share on X

If your goal is to build a powerlifter, then continue to neglect the athletic side of training. But if you want a team of elite athletes, you’re going to have to train them like elite athletes.

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.Myers, Thomas. Anatomy Trains. Churchill Livingstone: 2001.

2. Blumenthal, D. “NFL injury rate rises in 2020 as culprits range from Covid to turf.” Sportico.com. January 29, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.sportico.com/leagues/football/2021/nfl-injury-rate-rise-2020-1234621442/.

3. McInnes, S.E., Carlson, J.S., Jones, C.J. and McKenna, M.J. “The physiological load imposed on basketball players during competition.” Journal of Sports Sciences. 1995;13(5):387-397.

4. Hernandez J. L, Sabido R., and Blazevich A.J. “High-speed stretch-shortening cycle exercises as a strategy to provide eccentric overload during resistance training.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. September 2021.

The relative importance of in-season vs. off-season training is often debated, and through my eight years of being a sports performance coach at the collegiate level, there is no doubt in my mind that in-season training is the most valuable training period of the year.

In-season is when we are competing at the highest level in our pursuit of a championship. This is the time when we want to be at our peak performance levels, and to limit our training at this time of year is dangerous and setting the team up for failure. Training in-season isn’t as simple as prescribing reps and sets and letting the players get to work; it is a science to be able to run an effective plan while priming players for game day.

In-season is when we are competing at the highest level in our pursuit of a championship, says @bigk28. Share on X

In this article, I am going to discuss how to map out an effective in-season training plan, what to include throughout your training week, and how you can maximize time with your players so they are performing at peak levels on game day.

Establishing an Outline

It is impossible to make an effective training plan without understanding the demands of practice and competition. First, I would connect with your sports coach and find the answers to a few simple questions:

• What days are competitions? (You can do this yourself by looking at your team’s schedule.)
• How long is pre-season/in-season/post-season?
• Are there different themes to practice for different days of the week?
• Which days will we be conducting workouts?
• Will we be conducting workouts before or after practice?

These are crucial questions you need to answer before beginning to outline your plan. Do not go in blind when creating your program—that can be extremely problematic when it comes to preparing the athletes for competition and could potentially lead to harmful situations such as overuse, neural fatigue, and injuries.

First, and most importantly, you have to know how the game schedule is set up for the week. This can change from week to week depending on the sport you work with, but you need to have a plan for certain outlines of multiple-competition weeks. For example, a workout week consisting of competitions on Wednesday/Saturday, will look completely different from a week where you compete Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday. Map out how many times these instances occur and map out different plans for those weeks.

Next, understand how the season outline will go and map out the length of each training period:

• Pre-Season
• In-Season
• Post-Season

For example, with our volleyball program, we will always have two weeks of pre-season training followed by an 11-week regular season, one-week conference tournament, and one or two weeks of NCAA play. Knowing this allows us to plan what qualities we will work on at different points in the year and how long we have to train each one. We start every athlete that hasn’t been with us for quite some time in a general preparation block. There is a ton of value in building a foundation and teaching your athletes better movement. Start from there to set yourself up for training success throughout the whole year.

Next, understand the demands of practice. If you are lucky to work with coaches that understand nervous system demand, you will be able to structure your workouts to fit the theme of the practice. For example, if I know that we are about to have a high-speed practice that will have a high CNS output effect, these are days we will incorporate our max velocity work prior to practice.

If you are lucky to work with coaches that understand nervous system demand, you will be able to structure your workouts to fit the theme of the practice, says @bigk28. Share on X

Based on this understanding, the next step is to figure out what days of the week your workouts will be held. Full disclaimer: there are certain days that are more ideal than others, but you can hold workouts any day throughout the week. Just remember the main goal will always be to have them primed for game day. I usually like to pick one day early in the week, preferably Monday, and the day immediately after competition. I will go into the structure of the workouts shortly, but this has been my go-to plan for most of the teams I train.

The last piece of the puzzle is to establish what time workouts will be conducted: before or after practice. There is no question in my mind that the best time to hold workouts is prior to practice. The reason is simple: there are things we need to develop from an athletic standpoint that will simply not be effective after practicing for 2-3 hours. When referencing these qualities, I am 100% talking about speed and power work. I have done workouts before and after practices and speed work is simply not effective post-practice because the athlete is fatigued.

Video 1. Team sport athletes live in acceleration—it is a quality that must be trained often. We start every workout with theme-based sprint work for both acceleration and peak velocity.

Meanwhile, there are ways to structure your workouts to prime the athletes for the practice ahead with any type of low volume speed work and a total body lift. This really isn’t up to debate within my programming anymore—if we have the opportunity to train before, we will. If not, we will have to figure out another plan of attack.

Define Which Qualities Matter the Most

This has completely changed for me over my years of being a sports performance coach. I used to be hell-bent on training strength and being strong throughout the entire season. Although I wasn’t 100% wrong in my pursuit of strength, I wasn’t necessarily right either. It is important to maintain strength levels for three primary reasons:

1. Sets the foundation for acceleration development.
2. Sets the foundation for training other weight room qualities (power and speed).
3. Lowers the incidence of injury.

There is no question that you must be strong and work consistently if you want to stay healthy throughout the duration of a season. However, how much will strength carry over to helping your players become better athletes? For freshmen, I believe the carry over is high. A lot of the positive adaptations for freshman will come from being exposed to a new stimulus. That is why I believe the first one to two years of development for incoming players must focus on better movement and improving strength levels.

The first one to two years of development for incoming players must focus on better movement and improving strength levels, says @bigk28. Share on X

I would love to sit here and give you a number that is “strong enough,” but there are too many variables from individual to individual for that. Not only is there an individual factor, but the sport being played matters as well. This is my rule of thumb when it comes to strength development: if they are continuing to improve qualities that matter (speed and power), then continue to work that stimulus. As soon as they stagnate in their development, it is time to switch up your plan.

It is important to understand what is most important: keeping the players fresh for game day, says @bigk28 Share on X

Here is a list of assessments you can do in-season to assess different qualities.

1. Speed – This is where you need to invest in a fully automated timing system to get objective data to guide your program. My go-to assessment for speed is the 30m sprint, and from this one assessment I can get force, power, and velocity for each athlete. I am fortunate enough to have the Muscle Lab Continuous Laser, but if you are in a budget crunch, buying the MySprint App and a few cones will do just fine.

JB Morin has an amazing force-velocity spreadsheet that will spit out a range of metrics once you input them for the player. Most athletes that I work with hit peak velocity at 25-30m, so most of the time a 30m sprint will be enough distance for you to get an idea on their peak velocity. However, I will also use a fly variation somewhere between 10-20m with a 20m run-in to get a read on peak velocity as well. A simpler version of all of this would be to just get splits for anything 20m and under. If I only had two points, I would do 10-20m sprints for all my athletes to measure acceleration and fly 10-20m to measure velocity. If you have no timing gates whatsoever, a stopwatch can be used as well.

2. Repeated Power – If you are lucky enough to get a contact grid or jump mat system that measures repeated power outputs, then the Scandinavian rebound jump (5 jumps) would be my go-to test. Not only does this provide a ton of valuable information about the vertical power outputs of the athlete, but it will give you a really great reading on athlete readiness. This test is easy to implement and can be used at any point throughout the week (even gameday). If none of these options are available to you, then a triple broad jump is another great test.

3. Power – This one is simple. Use either a standing vertical jump or broad jump to measure singular power output

4. Strength – My go-to strength assessment is the isometric belt pull. The main reason for this is that there is usually a learning curve on most strength exercises to get an accurate read on strength levels. The isometric belt pull is an easy test to perform that requires a low skill level. Without it, I found it challenging to gauge where my freshman athletes were at with regards to strength, because a lot of them came in with no weight room experience. Now, if you don’t have access to a force sensor to accurately measure the belt squat, I wouldn’t recommend testing strength in-season without the use of velocity based training devices. This is where investing in velocity devices such as Vmaxpro come in handy. Instead of looking at a number like 1 RM, you can easily look at the velocity measurement of a given day compared to previous days and see if strength levels are improving. While this is at the bottom of my list for assessments, it is still extremely valuable to assess strength throughout the in-season for health reasons.

Video 2. All of our workouts have the same structure: Sprint Mechanics, Sprint Work, Plyos, Lift. Athletes will be grouped based on their assessments for lifting. In this video, athletes that showed a strength need performed Olympics lifts from the floor while those that showed a power need did Olympic lifts below the knee.

Building Out Your Daily Workout

Once you establish all of the criteria I’ve discussed to this point, you can begin building out your workout plan. I am a big proponent of utilizing the block model. Simply put, you are focusing on one specific quality in the weight room as opposed to multiple at the same time. The three main qualities we will work on throughout the year are:

• Strength
• Power
• Speed

I also believe that your acceleration work should be matched to this theme. For example, if I am working on developing strength, I will also work on force development within my acceleration work. The only quality I will not pair with my strength work is peak velocity. Everyone needs to be fast at all times, regardless of the sport or position they play. That means that everyone should be training the peak velocity stimulus at all times throughout the year.

Everyone should be training the peak velocity stimulus at all times throughout the year, says @bigk28. Share on X

For freshman and incoming athletes, I follow this simple outline:

1. GPP
2. Strength
3. Power/Speed

We will train these qualities continuously; first by establishing a base of better movement with our foundational exercises, then by building strength, then switching the focus to power/speed as we get closer to our conference tournament and NCAAs.

For upperclassmen, in order to figure out what type of training they need, you need to figure out what assessment you will be using. This is where you need to find things that are based around athletic success. That is why I focus my assessments around two main skills:

1. Sprinting Assessments

• Force Velocity Profile
• 10/20 Sprint Tool by Cal Dietz

Nothing too complex here. I have my athletes complete a 30m sprint, then look at the slope of the force velocity curve. If my athlete is force-dominant, we will work on speed work for the weight room and transition to max velocity for acceleration. If my athlete is velocity dominant, we will work on strength for the weight room and force with regards to our acceleration work. If my athlete is a balance of both, we will focus on power development in the weight room and with our acceleration work.

If you don’t have the time or tools to do that, Cal Dietz has done an incredible job with the 10/20 sprint tool. Basically, have your athlete run a 20 yard/meter sprint, with a 10 meter/yard split, plug it into the calculator, and work in the zone where your athletes need the most improvement.

2. Jumping Assessments

• Eccentric Utilization Ratio/Stretch Shortening Cycle Percentage

Another easy one to perform. With their hands on their hips, have your athlete do a countermovement jump squat, followed by a rest period, then a squat jump with a 3-second pause. Use the following formula:

SSC% = (CMJ – SJ)/SJ

If I have an athlete above 10%, the emphasis of their plyo work needs to be on strength; less than 10%, the emphasis needs to be on reactive plyos. And if they are in that 10% range, the athlete can do a combination of both (French contrast method works well for this group).

Once our assessments are established, it’s time to build our workout. All of my workouts use the following structure:

1. Reflexive Performance Reset
2. Sprint Mechanics (drills based on acceleration vs. peak velocity focus)
3. Throws (acceleration only)
4. Sprint-Specific Work
5. Plyos
6. Lift

I like to match themes, so on my acceleration-based days we will do the following:

1. MB Throw Variations
2. Resisted Sprint Work (chains, hill, sleds)
3. Horizontal Plyos
4. Lower CNS Output Lifts (squat, deadlift, upper body press, pull, single leg movement, hamstring)

On peak velocity days we will do the following:

1. Low Ground Contact Time Sprint Drills (hops, a-switches)
2. Vertical Plyos
3. Speed Bounds
4. Fly Variations, Buildups, Drive Floats
5. Olympic Lifts

I have found that the themed-based workouts work really well. I usually put peak velocity-based days in the beginning of the week because that’s when my athletes were the freshest. I do acceleration-based workouts the day after competition because the stress is lower on the athletes’ bodies and we are still able to get quality work in.

I have found that the themed-based workouts work really well, says @bigk28. Share on X

In-Season Work Is Paramount

There is no questioning the importance of training in-season as it relates to the development of the athlete. We want to be in the most primed state in our pursuit of competing for a championship—designing and implementing an effective in-season training plan has provided my athletes with that opportunity.

By establishing an outline prior to the year to understand the demands of the practice and game schedule, I have been able to build out a strategy to train certain developmental qualities. I establish early on what qualities matter most to the success of the sport, and how I am going to assess those qualities throughout the season—you must assess if you are trying to optimize your in-season program. I develop a structure to my workouts and educate my players on the specifics of each day—at the end of the day, athlete buy-in is the most critical factor to the program’s success. Having them understand the why of the program is paramount for continuing to improve all the way through post-season competition.

Build a plan, follow through, make adjustments where necessary, and continue to grow your mindset and there is no question you will be able to implement a successful in-season sports performance program as well.

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

If you’re an “old school” coach, then the recent blitz of tech probably has your head spinning as much as it does mine. Measurement devices for speed, jumping, readiness, and more have made things simultaneously easier and more complicated. The era of using the coach’s eye alone has ended and logging training via the old notebook is unfortunately passé (although these remain my go-to’s for review to this day).

For better or worse, the bells, whistles, gadgets, and flashy flickering lights are here to stay—as coaches, we must traverse the muddy waters of what we want to have, what we can have, and what we need to have with the underpinning of what holds the best utility for us.

As coaches, we must traverse the muddy waters of what we WANT to have, what we CAN have, and what we NEED to have with the underpinning of what holds the best utility for us. Share on X

For me, the lure of a tech-based programming tool became too enticing. I honestly tried using Excel printouts for some time, and while these did help clean things up, printing out sheets in ink became an exercise in futility as they would often grow legs, or I would have to toss them out with the ever-changing status of various clients. The seasons of young athletes seem to run into each other, making readiness and availability change as often as the Chicago weather. Even your general population clientele isn’t immune to the outside stresses of family, work, and play. For both demographics, the nicks and dings of life exacerbate the fluctuation of abilities to perform work, making that gorgeous long-term training block obsolete and irrelevant at any given time.

Browsing for the Right Solution

After considering several well-known software products that were both visually and functionally impressive, the subscription cost for my roster size couldn’t be justified as a small business. For private sector coaches, budget is a huge concern—and as much as having software to bring my program into the 21st century would improve the optics and potentially save me time, committing to a subscription was not in the cards.

Lo and behold, Steve Olsen (formerly Excel Training Designs), who designed the aforementioned Excel-based program, came up with the bright idea of marrying the functionality of Excel within a digital format with his Strength Coach Pro software (SCP). If you’re familiar with Excel templates or have designed your own, then you appreciate the ease with which you can choose your training parameters for every program you design. The setback would be changing anything on the fly given everything is on paper, printed in ink. The digital capabilities of Strength Coach Pro rectify this quite a bit because you can customize almost any parameter.

As Steve initially rolled out Strength Coach Pro, it sounded a bit too good to be true: unlimited roster, build-your-own template, customizable schemes, exercises, and metrics. This program also offered metric tracking, video linking, and no upcharges on future updates—and all for a one-time price? For a coach functioning within the Stone Age, this sounded like the keys to the Batmobile. Of course, as with any potential business purchase, I asked myself the important questions of why not to buy it:

• Will this work as advertised?
• Will it help me save time?
• What’s the cost?

Given the demo offer and one-time price, I took the dive in late 2019 and became a founding member. I figured that even if the software only functioned in the most basic sense in designing, assigning, and copying programs, that would at least justify the one-time cost. Two years on, it’s done much more than that.

The Power of the Card

As I explored the software, I noticed it was set in an open style with some preset schemes, exercises, and metrics. Coaches can add or discard any part of the design program at their discretion. For me, this feature was key in streamlining the language, flow, and structure of my programs. I can adjust for individual, small group, and team settings based on the amount of time I have with each. If you’re in varying settings like I am, this becomes paramount for reserving brain space for the important stuff, like coaching.

I’ve always seen each setting as its own life, with its own language, themes, and environment. Having the ability to explain the nuts and bolts on paper (or in app form) is vital in delivering the consistent message you want to each trainee.

Video 1. Simple drag-and-drop features make the software intuitive and easy for any coach to use.

I’ve always looked at written programs as a fortification of your message and language. Everything from your exercise library to the loading schemes and actual programs serves as an extension of your coaching process, especially when addressing larger groups or when coaching individuals in the gaps. The “open set” of SCP allows me to put the elements we need in the order we need them, which conveys the consistency of what we do in live time and in turn facilitates the process of what we do in real time.

Your written programs fortify your message and language. Everything from your exercise library to the loading schemes and actual programs serves as an extension of your coaching process. Share on X

One mistake I made in the Excel days was underestimating the power of a training card with an athlete’s name on it. One surefire way to take the wind out of a kid’s sails is to not have a card with their name on it. Although a small detail, it shows that you care. With SCP, I can print a card, or even easier, they can access a digital card via their account. From experience, I can tell you printing sheets will get old fast (as well as being antiquated).

Features and Functions

One of the first aspects I noticed about SCP was the simplicity of the interface and the accompanying ease of its operational use. The interface didn’t feature any exploding icons or annoying pop-ups, just a toolbar along the left margin and a main screen encompassing the rest.

Given I’m not much of a user manual type of guy, this made learning the software a nearly foolproof process. Any time I was confused, I could click the question mark icon and up popped a quick how-to video taking me step by step through how the section works—this was far better than my gonzo method and saved a heap of time.

Even though the toolbox contains 13 icons, you’ll mostly be working with these four during program design:

1. Exercises
2. Metrics
3. Set/Rep Schemes
4. Program Design

1. Exercises

The Exercises tool contains some presets for the classic strength exercises prominent in most strength programs. This section is not limited to the presets, however, and you can create your own at any time, even going beyond strength exercises if you wish. The exercises aren’t merely text descriptions either—coaches have some versatility here in how they want to quantify and contextualize each exercise.

For instance, a classic approach for many coaches is to relate the core lifts to a 1RM in that exercise. For my inexperienced trainees and developmental athletes, this becomes problematic because we don’t have a 1RM established or extrapolated (as some may do by measuring bar speed) given their technical ability is often unstable at this juncture.

Any exercise can be deleted, reformatted, and/or created from scratch. Strength Coach Pro’s versatility in this aspect allowed for the novel application of relating any exercise to any metric. Share on X

Fear not…any exercise can be deleted, reformatted, and/or created from scratch. SCP’s versatility in this aspect allowed the novel application of relating any exercise to any metric (more on metrics later). My idea was to relate certain exercises to the athlete’s own body weight as opposed to a guesstimated 1RM (the proxy to this would be to enter body weight via the athlete bio in the metrics section). For my program, this allowed an appropriate relation of loading that grows with the individual and can help them gain an appreciation for relative strength as opposed to the load on the barbell.

A big obstacle for beginners is the intimidation factor of loading an implement such as the barbell—relating that load to their body weight can break the barrier of fear and allow them to achieve incremental markers along the way.

2. Metrics

SCP offers the same versatility in the Metrics section. Metrics serve three functions in my programs.

1. Visible achievements
2. Monitoring
3. Relation of loading

The metrics primarily serve as a visible marker of achievements in training, which trainees and coaches can review at any time. This section can go beyond the barbell as well, as coaches can create any type of measurable they wish. In this more athletic-minded day and age, tracking sprints, jumps, and throws can give coaches relatability to athletes of all ilk. The tracking charts also come in handy when reporting, as this saved my butt in keeping clients when their parents requested an answer to the “how are they doing” question that their kids could not quite explain (given that they are kids).

Another way coaches can use this tool is in monitoring trends via the peaks, valleys, and stalls that may occur along the way. In my mind, this is an attractive feature for those that apply a Bondarchuk-type system where finding peaks of sport form will prompt an emerging strategy of program design.

The Metrics tool is an attractive feature for coaches who apply a Bondarchuk-type system where finding peaks of sport form will prompt an emerging strategy of program design. Share on X

One unique way I use the metrics section is in relating exercises appropriately. For instance, in my example above, I mentioned why assigning a 1RM to beginning trainees may be problematic in practice and how relating exercise loads to body weight can serve as a solution. This very same feature allows coaches to design strength programs “off of” a 1RM, creating a training max (à la 531). Here, the training loads will be based off a portion (in percent form) of the 1RM.

For instance, let’s say we want to train our core lifts based on 85% of a 1RM. We simply design, label, and tag that lift and apply the desired percent related to the applicable metric. (For example, bench press @ 85% TM will be listed as “Bench-Press-85%-TM” related to bench press 1RM metric at 85%). It will list as a separate exercise, but the tags feature allows for a quick search. Now, any set/rep scheme you choose will present the loads for each core lift on the chosen percentage.

3. Sets/Rep Schemes

The Sets & Reps tool allows for the basic presentation of volume and intensity prescriptions along with a few novel options that make this section extremely versatile. Again, this section has its preset schemes that you can keep or delete at your discretion. Upon designing a new scheme, users have options for how long each scheme can last. Instead of having locked-in programs for X number of weeks, you can design a scheme for however long you want. This comes in handy whether you work with teams for a pre-specified amount of time, with month-to-month clientele, or with online trainees.

SCP features standard entry data of percent (%), sets, and reps, but offers four other optional entry points:

1. This feature is quite unique, as it offers relatability to interval sets using long-hold isometrics, strength aerobic sets, and timed max efforts.
2. Distance. I haven’t delved into this yet, but my assumption is coaches can use this to assign distances for carries, sled work, or sprints.
3. Rest interval. This is nice to have, especially in attempting to corral the “non-resters” and the “too-much-talkers,” as in either case it keeps everyone honest.
4. Reps achieved. My personal favorite, this feature allows the trainee or coach to enter the “actual reps” performed on each set. This has been a key feature in tracking progress on PR sets (as in 531), work sets (as in APRE), and any performance-based, autoregulatory scheme you can imagine.

Coaches can calibrate the load on the fly and as they see things in real time, allowing for that ownership-management dynamic to take hold among coach and athlete daily.

4. Program Design

The Program Design tab brings you to an empty digital canvas, where you can create any type of program you want and deliver it in such a way to clearly communicate the “what” and “how.” Coaches will have drag-and-drop options that they can place anywhere they want, including:

• Training Block
• Metric Block
• Survey Block
• Note Block
• Multimedia Block

The Training Block is the place where you create the nuts and bolts of the day’s work. You simply select the exercises you want and assign the appropriate set and rep schemes, and you’re good! And if you happen to forget the name of an exercise or scheme, the unique “tagging” feature allows you to search via tags to narrow down your choices. This has come in handy more than once, especially with all the variants upon variants that are omnipresent in my programs. This section also includes a notes portion, where you can describe the details of each training block.

The Metric Block is another great feature here, where you can place a test at any point in the daily menu. This is key if you may have multiple “tests” within your program: for example, you may start off with a sprint or jump before your strength work or embed it with the training blocks, and you can also enter in personal bests for lifts if you wish.

Video 2. Data entered here digitally goes right into the athlete’s bio and records it in the specified metric. This really saves time!

The Survey Block isn’t something I’ve applied, but from a few online meetings, I know coaches in scholastic settings have employed it as a part of their department’s holistic approach. You can pre-design any number of surveys by clicking the icon in the left margin, enter it when you drop the survey block for whatever day you choose and display it for whatever week you choose. The information that each trainee enters will be saved in their profile under “Surveys,” a unique feature that expedites access to pertinent information.

The Note Block is simple—this is usually the place to write the warm-ups or any daily motivational jargon you may want to put in. It is basically a Word document with some text font and size options.

As great as the written word is, I usually complement this with the Multimedia Block, which features a linked video of the user’s choosing. You can link any video you want (usually in the form of a YouTube link), and this is a great place to have your own content—especially for those utilizing video platforms. I’ve customized my warm-ups quite a bit, so I have videos of myself or trainees performing them so they can get the visual—this visualization/modeling technique takes advantage of the mimic effect. The video linking is also available when creating or editing exercises—this was particularly useful in 2020 when I was designing programs for trainees across the country.

Videos 3 & 4. Coaches can use the multimedia blocks to provide their athletes with demonstrations of the movements and lifts in the program.

Final Evaluations

Given that SCP is the new kid on the block in the training software game, it wasn’t always easy in terms of what the founder had promised. In the first several months, there were operational bugs: sometimes what you entered didn’t always appear as written, advanced options weren’t always selectable for every exercise, client account access wasn’t always consistent, and user access was limited while the bugs were being repaired. I certainly second-guessed the value of the unlimited rosters, custom template building, schemes, exercises, and metrics, along with metric tracking and video linking, for that one-time fee.

These, however, were just bumps in the road for inaugural members. Thankfully, these bugs were dealt with in due time along with a myriad of updates (sans the upcharges for the founding members), and I can say this was worth the hassle of the early going.

I felt like I knew Strength Coach Pro like the back of my hand in no time, and I am quite satisfied with what is has allowed me to do thus far. Share on X

Knowing my learning curve was steep in figuring out how to use digital software for the first time, I planned to be patient with it. Surprisingly enough, I felt like I knew SCP like the back of my hand in no time and am quite satisfied with what it has done thus far. Saving time and effort and allowing a workable familiarity has made this purchase more than justified.

Steve has stuck to his guns and still offers a one-time price without upcharges for updates and the pending mobile app. For a coach who’s ballin’ on a budget, SCP is at least worth a look—I can honestly say that, although not fancy, it has more than met my expectations and has paid for itself in time saved and convenience.

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

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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

Swimming is a unique sport that poses a challenge for strength and conditioning coaches. It’s one of the few non-land-based sports in the collegiate or high school setting, and most—if not all—of our knowledge and experiences tend to be based on dryland sports. Still, swimmers need to develop the same performance qualities as any other athlete, and just like we trust them to perform their best when it counts, they trust us to rise to the challenge.

A quick online search on “dryland training” provides workouts centered on developing endurance through high repetition sets or intervals—this is the most common trait swim coaches want to develop, but it quickly becomes redundant if it’s the only quality we’re training for week after week. Eventually, we’ll reach a point where our focus on endurance takes over and speed and power fall out of focus. To develop a healthy and successful swimmer, we must pursue multiple performance qualities in and out of the water with the end goal of swimming faster times.

Speed vs. Endurance

Endurance is the enemy of speed. The more effort we pour into endurance, the more speed we take away. If you’re a short-distance swimmer, speed has a greater impact on performance than endurance. Is endurance valuable? Absolutely, but it is highly trainable and is retained over longer periods of time compared to speed or power. Our speed bucket needs to be deep and refilled weekly. Therefore, short-distance swimmers will find it beneficial to train with the High-Low Swimming Model in and out of the water.

Most swimmers have never trained with the goal of improving athletic performance. With this model, the goal is to improve movement proficiency, performance outputs, and the aerobic base. These qualities will reduce their risk of injury, improve speed, increase stroke rate, raise power outputs, and increase the efficiency of the cardiovascular system.

For swimmers, movement proficiency isn’t typically hindered by a lack of flexibility but a lack of motor control and coordination, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

For swimmers, movement proficiency isn’t typically hindered by a lack of flexibility but a lack of motor control and coordination. Most swimmers haven’t been exposed to sprinting, jumping, or the foundational movement patterns for land-based sports. Why is that exposure important for swimming? By improving coordination and motor control, we can limit injuries through an effort to eliminate improper movement patterns and increase joint stability, all while improving performance outputs.

Performance outputs refer to the speed, power, and strength qualities commonly pursued within the weight room setting. These qualities improve our swimmer’s ability to produce speed and power coming off the blocks, while turning, and through the water. These will be trained through sprints, jumps, and resistance movements.

Developing the aerobic base is arguably the first performance quality we should pursue—if swimmers don’t have a substantial aerobic base, they will not have the capacity to train at a high level, recover quickly, or handle multiple races in a day. Once this has been established, we can pursue maximal outputs and train their aerobic system as needed.

Weekly Layout and Training Frequency

During the week, we alternate between high- and low-intensity days. Training frequency dictates what type of training session we perform day to day, as shown in figure 1. We can move the training days to reflect our schedule, but the key is to keep high-intensity days 48 hours apart.

For 2-3 dryland sessions a week, I suggest performing strictly high-intensity days unless your swimmers need to recover or improve their aerobic base. Early in the season, developing a robust aerobic base takes priority over max outputs. For 4-5 sessions, we alternate between high- and low-intensity days. For four sessions a week, the performance coach decides if the fourth day needs to be high or low based on their swimmers’ needs at the time.

Training Slow to Fast

As we progress through the week, dryland training goes from slow to fast in terms of emphasis. By doing this, we prime the nervous system to be ready for the rest of the week, which is a concept discussed by Cal Dietz in “Triphasic Training.” Monday is not the best day to perform max speed or strength work because the body will be sluggish from the weekend. Instead, we can use the beginning of the week to prepare the body for the more intense sessions later in the week. This will lead to higher-quality speed or strength sessions.

Starting Monday, we focus on acceleration. This means our first high-intensity session has a strength and/or power emphasis. Wednesday’s focus is max outputs: velocity, power, or strength. If we have a third high-intensity day, this is either a volume or speed day depending on the previous session, time of year, and training goals.

Wednesday, or the second high-intensity day, is the session we can hit hard. Focus on one quality for the day or train two qualities, such as speed/power or power/strength. Avoid combining speed/strength because they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Speed requires fast muscle contractions, while strength requires drawn-out or slow muscle contractions (relatively speaking). Power can be trained on either day because it sits between these two qualities.

In season, I suggest performing strength on Monday, speed/power on Wednesday, and then max velocity on Friday. This way, you are truly working slow to fast to prepare the body for weekend meets. You want to make sure your strength work is far away from race day while speed work is close to race day.

Developmental Jump Program

A significant part of our dryland training is incorporating jumps into every high-intensity workout. This includes multi-jump and single jump variations. We perform a minimum of four broad jump and four vertical jump variations in a month, which are measured each workout. Following the same concept as our weekly layout, we progress from our slowest to fastest jump in terms of ground contact time (GCT) each week.

The idea is that our jump variations surf the force-velocity curve and teach our swimmers to be powerful from a variety of positions and joint angles. This improves body awareness and inter- and intramuscular coordination and leads to greater intent coming off the blocks or turns in the water. Furthermore, this aligns our jump variations with the goal of the day, adding to our overall stimulus.

Our jump variations improve swimmers’ body awareness and inter- and intramuscular coordination and lead to greater intent coming off the blocks or turns in the water, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

By the end of each workout, our athletes will have 7-8 measured jumps. This also gives us the opportunity to autoregulate training if we desire. Typically, my athletes PR between the fourth and eighth jumps of the day. As coaches, we know this is due to potentiation, which leads to higher outputs in the long run. Psychologically, this builds tremendous confidence and buy-in because they’re jumping higher when they think they should be jumping lower.

On average, after implementing this program our broad jumps improved 8 inches and hands-on-hips jumps improved 3.6 inches over the course of six months (including five weeks off for winter break), and this was even during COVID-19. Six swimmers improved their broad jumps by 10+ inches and four went up 12+ inches. For the hands-on-hips jump, four swimmers improved by 4 inches or more. Did improvements in technique play a role? Absolutely, but we don’t improve our broad jump by more than a foot with just improvements in technique.

Practical Applications: The Performance Warm-Up

The goal of the warm-up is to improve the resiliency of our athletes and prepare them to perform. We combine prehab movements with total body movements to increase body awareness, muscular coordination, and human performance while improving resiliency. Think of the warm-up as an opportunity to stimulate performance and microdose athletic movements.

We combine prehab movements with total body movements in the warm-up to increase body awareness, muscular coordination, and human performance while improving resiliency, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

As shown in figure 6 below, we have six categories of movements to choose from:

• Shoulder health.
• Crawls.
• Posterior chain.
• Ankle mobility/strength.
• Human movement.
• Jumping/sprinting.

By assigning categories to our warm-up circuit, it ensures we train the areas needed to lower injury rates and raise athletic performance. The added benefit of categorizing our warm-up is if we’d like to give autonomy to our athletes, we can give them a list of movements to choose from in each category, and they can decide what works for them.

Each day, we should pick one movement from each category and perform 2-3 rounds. At the end of each round, athletes perform a short sprint or whichever jump is being measured that day. We use this to measure progress, evaluate readiness, and improve coordination and power outputs in specific positions.

High-Intensity Dryland Days

High-intensity dryland days focus on developing strength, power, speed, and total-body coordination. This is done through resistance exercises, jumps, and sprints performed in circuit fashion. Although it is a circuit, that does not mean we let our swimmers go through as fast as possible. Instead, we use a steady pace and recover as needed between movements. The added benefit to not rushing through the circuit is that we’re inducing an aerobic stimulus as a side effect, thus improving our aerobic base even when it’s not the focus.

Each workout, athletes have six stations:

• Lower body main.
• Multi-rep jump or sprint.
• Posterior chain.
• Upper press.
• Upper pull.
• Measured jump.

Ideally, athletes perform the movements in this order, but logistics can play a factor. In my situation, I told the athletes to perform the main lower body movement and multi-rep jump or sprint back-to-back, and the measured jump last. The key is to perform the jump last because this ultimately serves as our program’s evaluation. Are we improving what we say we’re improving?

Figure 7 gives an example of a weekly layout for in-season training (working slow to fast with a single focus each day). How we categorize specific movements, such as squats versus deadlifts, determines where movements land in our training week. For example, I categorize squats as my lower body strength exercise and deadlifts as lower body power or speed, considering the movement and loading parameters. This means we squat on Monday and deadlift on Wednesday.

As a note, we use heavy deadlifts, which may be considered strength, but I believe they have a higher correlation to promoting max velocity, which is why they are placed in the middle of the week. The idea is that we are priming or potentiating the nervous system to be heightened for weekend meets.

Low-Intensity Dryland Days

The goal of low-intensity days is to build up our aerobic base and drive recovery. By improving our aerobic base, we increase the amount of work our swimmers can handle while improving the efficiency of our cardiovascular system. This is accomplished through continuous aerobic circuits or interval training.

For continuous circuits, we place 20-30 minutes on the clock and get through as many rounds as possible. As the coach, you pick the movement and number of reps from five categories:

• Squat.
• Hinge.
• Pull.
• Push.
• Carry or medball.

Following the table below, we can create unique circuits week-to-week or let our athletes choose any movement they want within each category.

Performance over Endurance

As swim coaches, we must acknowledge there are more buckets to fill than just endurance, says @coachrgarner. Share on X

Dryland training adds another layer of stimulus to our training model in and out of the pool. As coaches, we must acknowledge there are more buckets to fill than just endurance. To build faster swimmers, we must have them swim as fast as possible in the pool and elevate their central nervous system out of the pool. By creating an environment where speed, power, strength, and overall human performance are pursued, we will develop well-rounded swimmers who are better prepared for today’s training and tomorrow’s races.

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