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Standing next to the finish line at Mt Tahoma High School, watching the boys 4A 1600m, I knew I was watching something special…but didn’t know just how special it was. This race passed all the eyeball tests: some of the best distance runners in the country getting out hard in the first lap, gracefully floating through the middle of the race, and then powering to a photo finish that left no one in the stands in their seat.

The result? The two fastest times that year in the country.

So, how did that happen? How did those two runners run sub 4:07 for 1600m with two other competitors at 4:10 or better? Assessing that race, those top finishers each took their places at the starting line possessing all four pillars necessary to hold up the house of distance running.

1. Aerobic Conditioning

When the term “aerobic conditioning” is mentioned, miles and miles of running immediately come to mind—but that is only one aspect of aerobic conditioning.

I like to compare aerobic conditioning to communication—when communicating, you are attempting to get information or a message from a sender to a receiver through a medium or channel. Without any one of those aspects, the message does not travel. In aerobic conditioning, you are attempting to move oxygen from a sender to a receiver through a medium. The sending is done by your heart and lungs, and to maximize the those organs’ abilities to transmit oxygen, you need to develop more capillaries—which are built up by the body when an athlete performs an aerobic function for longer than 60 minutes (but are more effective for lengths of effort longer than 75 minutes).

That takes care of sending, but what is the receiver? And, how is the ability to receive maximized?

The receiver is the muscles, and we increase the muscles’ ability to take on oxygen by training at or close to the velocity at which the maximum volume of oxygen can be moved, or vVO2max. vVO2max training is done as repeats in bouts of 90 seconds to about five minutes with a rest interval that is approximately equal to the duration of vVO2max effort.

Last is the medium in which the oxygen travels. Well, we all know that oxygen is carried in red blood cells through arteries to the muscles, except for the veins, which carry oxygenated blood from the alveoli of the lungs back to the heart. So how is that process improved?

1. Being able to move in the most efficient manner possible.
2. Getting rid of the excess hydrogen ions in the blood that is broken down from lactic acid buildup due to burning glycogen without oxygen with higher-intensity running.

Efficient running (or running economy) is developed and improved by a combination of the next three pillars. Your body’s ability to get rid of hydrogen ions is developed by training at a velocity equal to about 80% to 90% of an athlete’s vVO2max. That is done by what is known as tempo running (which is closer to the 80% area), lactate threshold or cruise intervals (done at about 85%), and critical velocity, which is 90% to 91% and also has a vVO2max improvement component.

2. Speed or Anaerobic Condition

The next pillar of distance running is speed or anaerobic condition (which by definition means “without oxygen”). With regard to the high school cross country distance of 5k, science tells us that anaerobic use of fuel comprises about 7% of an athlete’s effort. That is where many coaches come up short in their application of anaerobic training.

That’s not to say that speed is the only thing it takes to make a distance runner. On that thought, in 1987, Bob Kennedy won the Kinney (now Footlocker) National Cross Country Championship. A year later, as a true freshman at Indiana, he won the NCAA National Cross Country Championship. He was the first native-born American to break 13 minutes in the 5,000-meter event and never ran more than 35 miles a week in high school—and, after that, about 45 miles a week as a pro with mostly speed work as a staple of his training.

High school coaches all over the U.S. got a hold of that information and created maybe the worst decade in American high school distance running in history. Running a 3200m in under nine minutes was rare in the 1990s. Where are we at now? At the last Arcadia Invitational, 14 runners finished faster than nine minutes in one meet. So, where does that leave us with speed? More than just training your body to use a fuel source without the use of oxygen, anaerobic speed training has several other functions.

First, running fast is a skill that utilizes a combination of strength, reactiveness, and coordination, all of which must work in unison to perform effectively. That skill is no different than hitting a baseball, throwing a football, or even shooting a basketball. If an athlete in any of those sports spends time not practicing those functions, they lose muscle memory for that skill. It is for that reason that speed work must be a part of a distance runner’s training, year-round.

The more comfortable a distance runner is at running fast, the easier it feels to run at an aerobic race pace and the more economical the athlete performs the function of running. Share on X

Why does a distance runner need the skill of speed? The more comfortable a distance runner is at running fast, the easier it feels to run at an aerobic race pace and the more economical the athlete performs the function of running. Speed is an athletic movement. Endurance runners do well in distance races, but endurance athletes win distance races. Speed helps turn the endurance runner into an endurance athlete.

Several forms of speed training can be utilized to build the function of speed in the athlete. Speed training as basic as 60-yard strides at the end of a warm-up can be trained almost on a daily basis. Flys of 30-50 meters are also useful. The types of speed training utilized by most distance coaches are:

• Speed
• Speed endurance
• Special endurance 1
• Special endurance 2

Those distances go all the way up to 600 meters and build fast twitch, strength, and lactate tolerance. The variance of distances and speeds used together and sequenced properly in a macrocycle work together to prepare the athlete for the culminating event.

3. Strength and Mobility

If you wanted to build a V8 engine that can also go from 0-60 in a few seconds, you wouldn’t put that engine in the frame of a Pinto. That’s where this third pillar comes in—if you assign the work required to build a strong, aerobic, and fast athlete into a young runner without a strong athletic background, many stress-related problems will start to occur because their body just can’t handle it.

So, what type of strength does a distance runner need in order to handle the stresses of training required to improve? The basic answer is…all of it.

So, what type of strength does a distance runner need in order to handle the stresses of training required to improve? The basic answer is…all of it, says @DuplisseyJeremy. Share on X

I like to build strength from the knee to the shoulder and all points in between. Start with the quadriceps to the hip flexors with the lunge matrix or band work, and the runner can handle the mileage required to build an aerobic engine. The abdominal and all the core muscles help the athlete hold form throughout the race; if that form breaks down, it could reduce the runner’s speed and efficiency while increasing the likelihood of injury.

The chest and shoulder strength come in at the end of the race—during the kick, extra upper-body strength is used to bring about that last bit of form and speed needed to win the sprint finish. Mobility comes into play with the reduction of stiffness of muscles and joints, which could adversely affect movement, cause reduced efficiency, and increase the risk of injury. Strength training should be performed throughout the year and macrocycle to an extent necessary to prepare the athlete to perform their best.

4. Rest

I’ve heard many coaches talk about how their athletes performed due to a specific type of training or workout, but athletes don’t actually respond to a program or workout—they perform as a result of recovering from the stresses of that program or workout. Rest is essential. The stress put on an athlete flexes the body—if they don’t recover from that stress, they cannot benefit from it. The various stresses create micro tears in the muscle and those tears need to heal. That’s where recovery comes in.

Athletes don’t actually respond to a program or workout—they perform as a result of recovering from the stresses of that program or workout. Rest is essential, says @DuplisseyJeremy. Share on X

Rest in distance running comes in different forms at different times, and for different reasons. Easy running is a form of rest. The reason the athlete runs on a recovery day instead of no work at all is that the run elevates the runner’s pulse to above 120 beats per minute. That helps bring the healing blood to the damaged tissues from the hard workout and flush out the toxins created by the damage of the workout. Recovery days should be treated with as much importance as each hard workout day.

Another form of rest is sleep. The endurance runner experiences a stress that is unlike most other athletes, and most of the healing from that stress comes through sleep. An endurance athlete needs at least eight hours per night, and if that is not possible due to schoolwork or other factors, the coach should alter or reduce the training because the athlete is unable to properly recover from the workout.

The last type of rest is actual days off. During a macrocycle, a rest day can be done a few ways without reduction of performance. Once a week is the most popular among high school athletes; however, a high school athlete should not go more than 21 days without at least one rest day.

Outside of the macrocycle, the athlete needs a rest period more for psychological than physiological reasons. High school coach and physiology teacher Scott Christensen says a high school runner needs about six weeks off in a calendar year. Other coaches say that rest of longer than two weeks at a time leads to injury once the athlete starts back up. The best method is the one that works for your program and athletes, but they do need some form of a rest period following a season.

Know Your Athletes

Building high school distance runners involve many factors outside of these four pillars, but every successful program I’ve reviewed has some form of these pillars. These are the mechanics of a high school distance program, but the most important factor—which we can call the roof that caps it all off—would be the understanding that the athlete you are fortunate enough to coach does not care what you know or how you present it unless they know how much you care about them.

You are coaching young learners, and individual human beings. They all come from different backgrounds, have different experiences, and have different abilities. Knowing your athletes and how they respond to different stresses is the key to applying these pillars in developing the athletes you coach into the best they can be.

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

One of the toughest jobs of a performance coach in professional soccer is keeping the players who are not in the match-day squad, match-day fit. The match is the largest stimulus (in terms of volume, intensity, and specificity) the players get each week; meaning that the players who do not participate in it are missing out on a huge part of the weekly training load. Therefore, it falls on the performance coach to make up for that missing stimulus by conducting match-day sessions for this group of reserve players.

This already important session was elevated to a higher level of pertinence this past year with the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications of the pandemic were twofold: first, the shortened season caused increased fixture congestion, meaning more players were being rotated, which required more players to be moving in and out of the match-day squad. Second, to prevent bubble contamination between the USL and MLS teams, the players who were not in the match-day squad were not able to play with the USL team, which would usually be the case. This resulted in an increased number of players participating in the Reserve Group Session as well as an increased importance on these sessions being as intense and as specific as possible.

In this article I outline how we at Real Salt Lake attempted to make our match-day reserve group sessions as beneficial as possible. We established a framework that we could easily modify based on the needs of the players in the session, as well as the total number of players participating. The example session given in this article is based on having six players, which was a common number we had in the sessions this year.

As a framework for our match-day reserve group sessions, we wanted to first address the physical outputs missed by the players by not participating in the match—volume, intensity, specificity. Share on X

When deciding on a framework, we wanted to first address the physical outputs that the players were missing by not participating in the match. As mentioned previously, the main variables we want to take into account are volume, intensity, and specificity. From a volume perspective, while the numbers will inevitably vary by position and are also heavily predicated on your team’s playing style, we can assume the players not participating in the match will miss out on 9,000-11,000 total meters of movement. While it is not often feasible (an optimal versus practical dilemma) to replicate all of that volume, we aim to accumulate around 75% of it, or approximately 6,500-8,500 meters.

In terms of intensity, we look at this variable through the lens of high-velocity intensity, which tends to be more taxing on the hamstrings, and acceleration/deceleration intensity, which tends to tax the anterior chain (quads and hips flexors) to a higher degree. These metrics are much easier to accumulate over the course of a session and, depending on the player/time of year, may even be overloaded in a Reserve Group Session. Again, speaking in broad strokes, players can accumulate 500-1,000 meters of high-speed running (meters covered >19.8 km/hr), 50-300 meters of sprinting (>25.2 km/hr), and 30-50 high-intensity accelerations and decelerations (defined as a change in velocity +/- 3 m/s/s) in a match. Therefore, we can use those numbers as benchmarks (and can be more specific based on which players are in the session) to guide our session design.

After accounting for the total physical output in the session, we wanted to make sure we used this day to elevate players’ physical capacities through more intense training methods that are only dosed in small levels during the week in team training (i.e., max-velocity sprinting, plyometrics, and strength training). Since the majority of these sessions fall on a Saturday, it is the perfect time to really push the envelope with these training modalities, being that Friday is an easy day of team training and Sunday is generally an off day.

Finally, we wanted to try and make the sessions as specific as possible from a soccer standpoint. This not only keeps the players’ motivation high (not very many players enjoy coming in on Saturday just to run and lift) but also helps mitigate the risk of injury by stressing the same muscles and movement patterns that they are missing out on from the match, and it is conducive to the players continuing to develop technically.

Session Outline:

1. Physical Warm-Up – 20 minutes
   1. General circulation and joint mobility.
   2. Running technique drills.
   3. Plyometrics.
   4. Change of direction/Agility.

2. Technical Warm-Up – 6-10 minutes
   1. Passing and receiving over short distances.

3. Maximal Velocity Sprinting – 8-12 minutes
4. Technical Drill 1 – 10-15 minutes
   1. Passing and receiving over medium/large distances.

5. High-Velocity Conditioning – 6-12 minutes
6. Technical Drill 2 – 10-15 minutes
   1. Passing over long distances and shooting.

7. Small-Sided Games – 10-15 minutes
8. Repeat Effort Conditioning – 10-20 minutes
9. Total Body Strength Training

1. Physical Warm-Up (20 minutes)

The session starts, as all sessions do, with a dynamic warm-up. Five minutes of jogging, back pedaling, and other light dynamic movements to increase the muscle temperature and circulation to the working muscles. Next is five minutes of mobility-based dynamic movements both moving and on the ground. Then we move on to some traditional track-based technique drills. I am a big fan of Derek Hansen’s A-Skip and A-Run progressions¹, so we take the players through each of those to reinforce running technique and slowly increase the intensity of the warm-up.

Now, as we are approximately 15 minutes into the warm-up, we move more toward the performance end of the spectrum with plyometrics (horizontal, vertical, or a mixture of both). These drills may vary over the course of the year, but generally include various skips and bounds over 30-40 meters and/or different hurdle hop drills. The warm-up concludes with some longer distance build-ups (25-40 meters) and some high-intensity change of direction drills, reinforcing good acceleration and deceleration positions.

2. Technical Warm-Up (6-10 minutes)

The technical warm-up is generally an activity where the players execute simple passing and receiving maneuvers over small distances (5-15 meters). Despite the simplicity of the exercise, small distances, and short work periods, athletes should still perform these drills with maximal intensity to replicate the speed of match play. This drill serves as an extension of the warm-up and does not have a physical emphasis other than warming up the muscles and movements involved in soccer-specific actions.

3. Maximal Velocity Sprinting (8-12 minutes)

Maximal velocity exposure is something that we train during the week as a team, but we want to make sure we replicate the missing stimulus of the game as well, as we know more exposure to high-velocity sprinting may have a preventative effect against future injuries.² We generally will do a few reps of straight-line fly-in sprints as well as a few reps of curvilinear sprints (figure 2). The fly-in sprints make for easy filming and reinforcing top-end speed mechanics.

Maximal velocity exposure is something that we train during the week as a team, but we want to make sure we replicate the missing stimulus of the game as well, says @CoachCotter2. Share on X

Curvilinear sprints also play an important role for soccer players, as they are the most common type of sprints performed in a match.³ They stress the leg musculature differently than straight-line sprinting⁴ and therefore are beneficial to train in addition to traditional straight-line sprinting. We perform the sprints at this point of the session in an attempt to thread the needle between being sufficiently warmed up for such an intense exercise and not being so fatigued as to diminish maximal output. Again, the exact style and distances of the sprints will vary depending on a number of variables (what players are in the session, preceding and upcoming schedule, etc.), and it is up to the practitioner to determine what is appropriate for the players on that day.

It is important to note that this is a sprinting exercise and not a fitness exercise. The players are given 2-3 minutes of rest between reps and should feel like they have recovered before the next rep. Typical track and field guidelines would suggest that you take a minimum one-minute rest for 10 meters sprinted to ensure complete recovery between reps. While that is physiologically optimal (another optimal versus practical dilemma), it can be difficult in practice to require non-track athletes to take 4+ minutes of rest between 40-meter sprints. We have found 2-3 minutes’ rest between reps is sort of a sweet spot in terms of still getting quality repetitions and not having this portion of session drag on for too long.

4. Technical Drill 1 (10-15 minutes)

After sprinting, we move on to a second technical drill that requires the players to play passes over larger (10-25 meter) distances. Usually, we incorporate some sort of finishing on a mini goal at the end of the drill and make it a competition either between the players or against the clock (e.g., first player to score three goals, the drill ends when the team scores 15 goals, etc.). The competition element may seem like a small detail, but in my experience, it goes a long way toward keeping the effort and energy high.

Figure 3 is an example of a passing drill that requires quick combination play between players and ends with a well-timed run-in behind the theoretical back line and finish on a mini goal. As with every drill in this session, you can modify the demands and objectives based on the positions of the players in the session and the style of play of the team.

5. High-Velocity Conditioning (6-10 minutes)

Our first block of conditioning is of the higher velocity nature, usually being some variation of strides/tempo runs. The benefits of tempo runs are well known in the track community⁶, and we believe those benefits carry over to soccer players as well. First, it allows the athletes to condition aerobically without becoming too lactic, which could dampen their ability to complete the remainder of the session with high quality. Second, tempo runs give the athletes the opportunity to work on high-speed running mechanics more so than slower-paced aerobic drills. Third, it exposes the athletes to higher velocities than they often see during normal team training, which is frequently dominated by small-sided games in small spaces.

The benefits of tempo runs are well known in the track community, and we believe those benefits carry over to soccer players as well, says @CoachCotter2. Share on X

6. Technical Drill 2 (10-15 minutes)

Our last technical drill of the day involves hitting balls over the largest distances (20-40 meters) and finishing on goal. Obviously, not every player gets the chance to shoot on goal during a match, but we want to make sure that it is a skill the players continue to develop regardless of position. Out of all the drills, this one requires the longest periods of continuous time on the ball (10-20 seconds), the highest intensity actions (jumping/shooting/sprinting), and incomplete rest periods. This allows for some lactate accumulation and helps prepare players for the “worst-case scenario” in a match, when they might be required to perform a lot of demanding actions in a short period of time. Additionally, lactate accumulation, toward the end of a session, can be beneficial in inducing an anabolic hormone response.⁷

7. Small-Sided Games (10-15 minutes)

Despite the players already getting a healthy dose of this type of training during the week, it still has the merits of requiring quick decision-making and serves almost as a carrot toward the end of the session that the players enjoy. The space is kept intentionally tight to require a lot of high-intensity actions and ball involvements per minute.⁸ The coach puts another ball in play as soon as one goes out of bounds to keep the pace of the drill high (figure 6).

8. Repeat Effort Conditioning (10-20 minutes)

Our final on-field drill of the day is a repeat acceleration/deceleration conditioning drill that I stole from Derek Hansen’s excellent “Running Mechanics Professional” course.¹ This drill requires constant repeat acceleration efforts over a short period of time, which again, helps our players be prepared for the “worst-case scenario” and helps accumulate the number of accelerations that they would typically see on match day.⁹

There are a few different versions of this drill that you can run based on what physical metrics/actions you are after. The version that we use most often can be seen in figure 7, with 10-meter accelerations every nine seconds, for 90 seconds. However, if you wanted to elicit some higher velocity accelerations, you could push the distance out to 15 meters and change the duration to every 12 seconds. If you are after more decelerations in this portion of the session, you could add a 5-meter deceleration zone at the end of the acceleration zone, or even make it a 10-meter out and back drill with a full change of direction.

9. Weight Room (30-45 minutes)

After the on-field session is completed, we also have a strength training session. This day represents a great opportunity to do some more intense strength training (heavy and/or eccentric-focused) since the following day is off. Again, our goal for this day is not only to expose the players to a match-like stimulus but also train to improve their physical capacities.

Our goal for this day is not only to expose the players to a match-like stimulus but also train to improve their physical capacities, says @CoachCotter2. Share on X

Keeping Players Match-Fit

In conclusion, the above template is what we utilized this (unconventional) year to try and keep our players match-fit. It allows us to easily swap out different drills while still making sure we hit all of the physical and technical parameters that we want. It is definitely not perfect (many ways to skin a cat) and remains a work in progress, but hopefully it is something that other coaches might take some inspiration from and tweak to their needs.

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. Hansen, D. (n.d.). In Running Mechanics Professional. Retrieved from https://www.runningmechanics.com/

2. Malone, S., Roe, M., Doran, D.A., et al. “High chronic training loads and exposure to bouts of maximal velocity running reduce injury risk in elite Gaelic football.” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 2017;20:250. Doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2016.08.005

3. Filter, A., Olivares-Jabalera, J., Santalla, A., et al. “Curve Sprinting in Soccer: Kinematic and Neuromuscular Analysis.” International Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020;41(11):744-750. doi:10.1055/a-1144-3175

4. Churchill, S.M., Salo, A.I.T., and Trewartha, G. “The effect of the bend on technique and performance during maximal effort sprinting.” Sports Biomechanics. 2015; 14 (1):106-121.

5. Jouaux, T. (2015). “Technical Warmup: 50 Exercises Handout.”

6. Francis, C. The Structure of Training for Speed (Key Concepts 2008 Edition)(p. 18).

7. Godfrey, R. J., Madgwick, Z., and Whyte, G. P. “The exercise-induced growth hormone response in athletes.” Sports Medicine. 2003;33(8):599-613.

8. Owen, A., Twist, C., and Ford, P. “Small-sided games: The physiological and technical effect of altering pitch size and player numbers.” Insight. 2004;7:50-53.

9. Russell, M., Sparkes, W., Northeast, J., et al. “Changes in Acceleration and Deceleration Capacity Throughout Professional Soccer Match-Play.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2016;30(10): 2839-2844. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000000805

There are countless ways to perform movements, many philosophies that make sense, and innumerable methods of programming, so it would be absurd to claim that my way is the only way. I often stumble across something online that differs considerably with an approach of mine but doesn’t necessarily contradict it. There are, however, a lot of practices or opinions that I feel could use some help and a short list of concepts or setups that I feel are simply wrong or misunderstood.

Based simply on my own experience and a long time trying to rationalize certain craziness, this article contains 21 tips to potentially help change the way people view certain concepts or techniques. The idea came to me recently when a memory popped up on some social media platform of me and Jeremy Frisch authoring an article for T-Nation about 14 years ago titled “50 Tips for Serious Athletes.” It was a pretty fun and simple article that got a lot of love. I think people appreciate concise actionable tips that they can implement at the drop of a hat, and I hope to do the original some justice.

It’s never a bad time to challenge your own beliefs, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

I categorize the list into three parts. First are simple setup, organization, and technique missteps. From equipment setups to body positions, there are a few repeat offenders that I want to discuss first. Second, I highlight thought-process or concept-related elements. Occasionally, I’ll read something that changes my view on a topic, while at other times practical experience wins out, but it’s never a bad time to challenge your own beliefs. Last, I lay out some programming and training plan considerations that may or may not get me assassinated by the Armchair Warrior’s Guild.

First up…

Common Setup Flaws, Organizational Ideas, and Technique Errors

1. Lasers: Type, Setup, and Data Collection

The first issue I see fairly often is not placing the start laser in the correct place. There are a few potential “correct” ways to time sprints. Most “dash” timing involves first movement starts or off a “gun,” but none, in my opinion, should allow large magnitude displacement before the clock starts.

This is exactly what “two-point, front foot laser starts” result in, and it’s why that method is completely inaccurate. Obvious to many, by the time the front foot lifts and the laser is tripped, the athlete has established well over 1 yard of displacement and gained that much more momentum. Using this method, it’s not uncommon to see 10-yard times in the 1.2’s for faster athletes. That time should trigger a warning, and anyone understanding speed would step back and consider the issue at hand.

The first movement must start the clock. If for some reason you must only time two-point stance sprints, try setting up the laser on the back foot. It definitely creates more of a logistics nightmare having to move it for each individual stance, but at least you’re approaching what is standard. In almost all sprint timing, the clock starts on first movement. Be safe and use a three-point front hand laser position.

The second is laser height on subsequent gates. Mid-shin or knee-high beams don’t make much sense to me at all. Universally timed near the hip or waist, it’s almost certainly inaccurate to time a sprint with the shin or knee. The shin will be ahead of the hip by however long your femur is.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the double-beam versus single-beam argument. Single-beam lasers fail in terms of accuracy. Anything that trips the laser will stop the clock. An arm or hand, knee or rogue bird could maybe stop the timer. A double-beam laser will differentiate between an early trip when a second trip (arm then torso) is in close proximity. Whenever possible, go with a double beam.

2. Bands & Chains: Height, Tension, and Repeatability

I’ve seen a lot of band setups that leave much to be desired. I don’t want 12 pounds of variable resistance. The strength curve for any athlete using this tool should require a much larger gap between the top and bottom of the movement. That’s why setting up your bands to have adequate tension at both end ranges is important.

Chains are the same. One long chain attached to the bar sleeve will provide very little variance in the load. At the top there might be 40 pounds of added chains and at the bottom 28 pounds. That is barely variable resistance if you’re squatting any appreciable load. Use a chain loader to get enough weight to create a significant increase in load and earn the nomenclature of variable or accommodating resistance.

3. Push-Up: Scap Movement > Humeral Movement

Moving mainly through the humerus (flexion/extension) rather than scapular retraction during a push-up is a mistake I see most athletes making when they first step into the gym. Somewhere along the line they learned this pattern. Since the “closer elbow” trend started, people took this to the extreme and brought their elbows all the way to their ribs. This position doesn’t allow the scapula to move on the ribs, and all you’re left with is extension of the humerus.

The eye test alone should deter this erroneous pattern. I suggest about 45 degrees of abduction (give or take) to allow retraction, which will aid in shoulder health and provide a better overall pushing position.

4. Utilize Wall Space to Save Time and Help Instruct

The use of conversion charts, information posters, and wall templates is a surefire way to increase efficiency in your training space. I wrote an entire article on this topic, so I’ll save time and space and just link to it here.

5. Bench Press Setup Is More Than Just Hand Width

Every exercise has a novella’s worth of cues, tips, and instructions that will make or break the lift. There are tons of setups, foot positions, hand positions, and so on that are semantics across different individuals, but there are a few basic tips that can drastically improve a bench press’s functionality, safety, and execution that I don’t see in the “athletic” population. Most powerlifters have all of these down, and I’m sure they would roll their eyes at this post, but many people in collegiate, high school, and private S&C facilities are missing a chunk of these tips that I will list below.

There are a few basic tips that can drastically improve a bench press’s functionality, safety, and execution that I don’t see in the “athletic” population, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

• • Hand width: Unless you are doing a special grip, I suggest finding a grip that gives you the best leverage over the bar. Most of the time, I like the fist to be above the elbows at the bottom of the press and the forearms mainly perpendicular to the floor. As a side note, the name “close grip” should be changed to “closer grip.” A slightly narrower grip is enough to create the change in emphasis and not enough to wreak havoc on the wrists and elbows.

 

• • Scap position: The scapula should be retracted and typically depressed quite a bit. The idea is to pin the scap to the bench and get the shoulders in a stable position using your upper back and lats.

 

• • Back arch: Yes, you should arch. How much you should arch depends on quite a few variables, but lying flat puts your shoulders in a disadvantageous position, requires more range of motion and extension of the humerus, and ruins the bar path for optimal pressing.

 

• • Foot position: There are debates and rule differences regarding heels flat or not, but your feet should be closer to your head than your knees. Get them far enough back to be able to press your feet into the ground, create tension through your hips and legs, and not allow your butt to lift during the concentric portion. This is tricky for people at first, but the worst thing you can do is allow your feet to be soft on the ground and in front of your knees (feet should not be farther from your head than your knees).

 

• • Eccentric: I like to cue an active pulling during the eccentric portion, rather than simply passively allowing the bar to fall. Keep lats on, guiding your elbows down (not out) and the bar just below the sternum.

 

• Concentric: Think about pushing yourself through the bench. The cue “drive the bar up and slightly toward the rack” works best for most people.

Whether or not you use any or all of those suggestions, I think focusing on the scap and foot positions could be an instant game changer for most people.

Thought Process and Concepts

6. Range of Motion Is Not the End-All, Be-All

This is the first of three controversial range of motion points I will make in this section. Yes, when you have control over a range of motion, by all means, train it. The more and more I watch people squat and hinge, the less I am concerned with the arbitrary standard “full range.” Depending on body proportions, bone structures, injury history, and a slew of other factors, sometimes depth is unattainable. The options are to train around it or get the ROM through ill-advised mandates. Excluding powerlifters, where squat depth is not a suggestion but a mandatory marker for a successful lift, I don’t care if an athlete can do a full ass-to-grass squat with load. I care that they use the range of motion they currently possess.

I don’t care if an athlete can do a full ass-to-grass squat with load. I care that they use the range of motion they currently possess, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

7. Use Technology to Determine Appropriate Range of Motion

My second point will elaborate on the previous point. Barbell tracking technology—for example, GymAware or Vmaxpro—can provide you with an objective range of motion as you use your eye to verbally cue the pattern. For example, have your athlete squat with moderate weight to a comfortable depth, for you and the athlete, where they have control over their spine and maintain a good position. The technology will display the range of motion, and the remaining sets can be compared to the initial/optimal findings.

8. Stop Demonizing the Partial Squat…or Partial Anything

My final point on range of motion seems to really bother people. We use partial squats. We do partial speed squats and partial maximal or supramaximal squats as well. I will stick to a single exercise—in this case, the squat, for brevity’s sake—but we use partial movements in a number of exercises.

Tell me why the RDL (single or double leg) and trap bar deadlift, both partial range of motion exercises, are beloved by many while the partial squat is vilified and demonized by the masses. Even the Bulgarian split squat is often done with less range of motion than a true 90-degree squat.

Watch sporting movements, jumps, sprints, and everything else on the field, court, or ice. They are often done in a partial range of motion demanding high magnitudes of force or velocity. Why would we not want to emphasize this in training from time to time? In fact, we find partial speed squats and partial heavy squats translate just as well, if not better, to sprint and jump performances when compared to the traditional “full range of motion.”

The one argument I can understand is for injury prevention or tissue integrity at end ranges. This doesn’t affect my opinion, however, as we train full ranges of motion in a multitude of other movements more suitable for pushing the end range a bit more.

9. Use Technology to Verify a Program’s Efficacy…or Lack Thereof

Jump mats, force plates, timing lasers, barbell tracking tech—whatever you can get your hands on can be an effective way of keeping you honest. I hope everyone believes in their programs, but how many people test them? Using 1RM testing can provide some context but often that is just a small piece of the puzzle.

When dealing with generalists (anyone not competing in weightlifting or powerlifting), the important stuff is how the strength work applies to the sport. I still believe getting stronger should be a priority for most programs; however, speed, power, endurance, and a few hundred other qualities might be of more value than a 1RM bench test for a soccer player.

10. Progressions: Not Just for Lifts

Conditioning could be the most overgeneralized term in the industry but having the ability to repeat efforts for an entire game can separate the good from the great. Designing effective, challenging, and progressive energy system programs is the key.

The design shouldn’t be to crush everyone and let them slowly get more tolerant of the same dose over an extended time. That’s not how you design strength programs, and it’s not how you should design conditioning either. For example, two 300-yard shuttles are brutal on Day 1 of the off-season but on the easier side come the end.

For years, we have utilized a progressive system for all of our energy system development and testing protocols. We start out using shorter duration running with similar work:rest ratios and slowly progress the work distances, maintaining a very similar total distance and work:rest ratio. We do this with shuttles, longer tests (2-mile, Cooper), and general conditioning, like cardiac power intervals or aerobic density work on the bike, as well.

We’ve created a few templates that allow the athlete to visualize each phase of the program and see how it progresses and where they are at any given point in the off-season.

11. Stop Teaching Everyone to Land Soft

As with most “rules” or concepts, there are exceptions. Teaching certain people (young, old, novice, injured, early off-season) how to land soft and absorb force quietly can be of use. However, sport is not soft, and it’s not quiet—it’s filled with violent collisions both body-to-body and body-to-ground, and if you constantly do light and quiet single leg hops over 6-inch hurdles, you do your athletes a disservice when it comes time to cut and sprint in the game.

Box jumps and low-amplitude hopping has its place. But incorporating pogo jumps, drop jumps, multi-rebound jumps, weighted jumps, Russian and Polish plyos focusing on stiffness, and many other exercises will turn your athletes into better performing mutants come game day.

12. Body Weight Is Not Enough

Certain patterns are categorized as “body weight only.” To me, that misses a huge opportunity. You can manipulate single-leg squats, push-ups, glute extensions, and more exactly like any other lift. Strong people can add considerable load in any of the previously mentioned movements to target better adaptation.

If strength is the goal, 20 push-ups might be far from appropriate. Try adding some considerable weight to your back and pushing in the 5-8 rep range occasionally. Many athletes despise single-leg squats. If you prescribe eight reps, many will stop at eight reps regardless of how many reps they have in reserve. Encouraging the use of additional load to make the prescription challenging is the only thing that makes sense. And for people who use 5- to 10-pound plates in their hands…yes, that counts, but we all know that actually makes them easier due to the counterweight.

13. The Bulgarian Split Squat Has Its Own Risk/Reward to Consider… (*cough* and It’s Not Single-Leg)

We use Bulgarian split squats all the time. It’s just not a true single-leg movement pattern. If you’ve ever done them with considerable weight, you’d probably agree. My real argument here is that they do not magically eliminate all risk just because of less axial loading. Asymmetrical loading on the pelvis can play an integral role in changing the position of the spine. The rear foot height can alter the pelvis and hip significantly as well. The stride length can put more weight either on the front leg or the back hip and even the front foot position can stress the knee, hip, or back, depending on its position.

My real argument here is that Bulgarian split squats do not magically eliminate all risk just because of less axial loading, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

Next time someone tells you no one should squat, ask them to consider the implications of other movements before they spout off claims from the heavens.

14. It’s Called Velocity-Based Training, Not Max-Velocity Training

The response “Well, if we want to train velocity, we’ll just sprint, cause it’s faster than lifting” is just a strange way of saying you don’t understand VBT in the slightest. My contention is that its efficacy is only ever diminished to save the objector from having to purchase the tools to experience VBT.

Velocity-based training is decision-making. It’s goal or target setting, and it’s highly effective. If you want outcome X, stay in velocity range Y. Maximal efforts with mean velocity .19 m/s will by no means elicit the same adaptation and response as multiple sets of .79 m/s. When we have a tool as simple as some of the VBT systems are, it seems crazy not to use them.

Besides the more accurate targeting of motor abilities, giving athletes visual and objective feedback on their effort is invaluable. Hook up a transducer to a bar and have an athlete squat or jump or bench or whatever. I guarantee a noticeable change in the effort displayed from set 1. Cost aside, if you can get your hands on a VBT system, experiment and look into the actual application a bit before using the excuse I mentioned above.

When we have a tool as simple as some of the VBT systems are, it seems crazy not to use them, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

Programming Errors and Considerations

15. Pairing Everything and Anything

I’m just not a fan of pairing main movements that are not intended to potentiate or benefit one another. I understand time restraints can play a huge role in how college strength coaches program and lay out their lifts, but when time is less of a concern, let rest aid in the efforts.

Main lifts don’t need an ab and mobility exercise paired with them, especially if there is any cross-contamination, so to speak. I don’t want my upper back and core fatigued going into a heavy front squat. To me, this adds unnecessary risk all in the name of squeezing things in.

16. Pairing Considerations: More Than the Agonist

To expound a little on my previous point regarding pairing movements, I will discuss four items I think should get more consideration when pairing.

1. The first is grip-intensive pairing. Grip is a determining factor in many lifts. Yet many programs disregard it, at least in terms of considering its overuse. Let me explain through a hypothetical.It wouldn’t be uncommon to see a Bulgarian split squat using DBs at the side on a number of programs across many facilities and institutions. Some of those programs will undoubtedly be total body lifts and many might include chin-ups, RDLs, cleans, and/or rows. Most of those seem to be fairly different categorically. However, imagine completing 80-100 reps of those previously mentioned exercises and having to hold a pair of dumbbells. At the very least, you’ll be more inclined to grab a lighter weight, otherwise you might have trouble holding your steering wheel on the drive home. The agonists or main point of the lifts all differ greatly, but what might go unnoticed is how much demand they put on the hands and forearms.
2. My second pairing no-no is brief but important to mention: core-involved overlap. Not every lift involves a high degree of core stability, so using low-taxing movements when pairing with high-taxing movements can benefit the athlete greatly. A quick example is pairing core patterns with push-ups, mostly seen in circuit-style programming. Maybe using supine or standing triceps patterns would be more beneficial when pairing with a challenging core pattern. My next point will involve the core pairing a bit more but from a slightly different position—pun intended.
3. Third are positional-redundancy pairing issues. When pairing two seemingly unrelated movements, you should consider what they will require. For example, hamstring + rowing patterns. We already discussed grip and core, so let’s tie those into this point as well.The Nordic hamstring curl has no grip but a lot of core requirements. What row can we pair with it? The bent-over row has core, grip, and hamstring involvement, so maybe that’s a bad choice. Maybe inverted row is another bad choice because if you’ve ever tried to hold a bridge in the inverted row right after a challenging set of hamstring work, you might recall the cramp/fatigue that can pop up after a couple sets. My argument is that a chest-supported DB row might be the perfect complement to Nordic hamstring curls, and while the agonist mid/upper back was the only target for your program, the outside factors could make or break how it is applied.
4. Last is more of a generalization on biomotor abilities pairing. At certain times, it’s important to just get a bunch of stuff done. Other times in the most conjugate of conjugate programs, everything is all mixed in and it works. But I would argue that having more biomotor ability-focused programs can be very beneficial in how your athletes adapt.I think most people tend to agree that pairing like qualities—speed and power, for example—complement each other a lot better than, say, speed and glycolytic work. That’s why you will often see separate sessions for acceleration and lactic work, but it is much more common to see poorly paired lifting plans. I’m not sure why it’s not looked at in the same manner.

   If you are on a mainly “power” focused strength day, exercise selection may include Olympic work, speed/heavy squats, throws, sprints, and jumps. They all seem to coexist well, and might all be perfectly laid out, but if your rep ranges are going from 3’s to 20’s and in a circuit-style complex, I doubt you’ll achieve the desired effect. In summary, although power cleans are considered “explosive” or “power” exercises, nothing done for 15 reps per set is considered “power.”

The overall theme here is to consider the goal, take in non-agonist considerations, and remind yourself of the main objective for each lift and the lift as a whole before choosing exercises arbitrarily based on their globally intended use.

17. Believe It or Not, the Goblet Position Isn’t Always Best

I probably could have squeezed this in the previous point regarding pairing, but sometimes front loading someone in the goblet position isn’t the best approach. Yes, it is often a good choice for beginners to teach organizing themselves under a small load, but it has its own limitations. Spine flexion intolerance, anterior shoulder concerns, pairing with pressing patterns, and anterior-dominant young athletes are just a few of the reasons it could possibly be a poor choice for any athlete.

In terms of more advanced athletes, the position itself is somewhat problematic for a heavy loading option. It is not the same as the “front squat” position, and although it doesn’t axially load the spine the same, it most certainly brings along some shearing forces and flexion concerns because of the arm and upper back position. You can’t extend the thoracic spine well when your elbows are down and together. It’s just not manageable. So, although biasing toward a flexed thoracic spine won’t kill anyone, it could very well aggravate some people.

At some point you have to consider the following: Am I more concerned with challenging my athlete’s position and arms, or am I trying to develop leg strength and power, says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

And, at the very least, holding a 200-pound DB like a goblet is absurdly challenging for a lot of people. But how many strong people have trouble squatting 200 pounds? The answer is not many. At some point you have to consider the following: Am I more concerned with challenging my athlete’s position and arms, or am I trying to develop leg strength and power?

18. Cookie Cutter Programming Can Be Eliminated with a Little Planning

Giving everyone on the team the same program might be the only option for some coaches. Limited space, low coach-to-athlete ratios, and a host of other issues make it challenging to individualize, but planning eliminates this challenge. Take some time to create some templates that consider movement restrictions, equipment sharing limitations, athlete ability differences, and needs analysis considerations, and even consider the different training schedules across athletes and across seasons. Ability/genetic makeup and schedule considerations are the two main factors we consider regarding program differences in our population.

A lot of our athletes, more now than ever, have to do a jump/force/velocity type of assessment to get the program that fits best with their needs. It doesn’t mean their whole plan is different than their teammate’s, but maybe the emphasis on some patterns will differ slightly. We designed a quadrant system to categorize these athletes, and although it takes me a little more time programming, these programs have worked better, and we will use them later for other athletes. Improving the product and the athlete are primary objectives.

My suggestion for coaches with lots of constraints would be to slowly lay out your template system, figure out how to assess and categorize as efficiently as possible, and then work in the nuances slowly over time. For example, your average high school football team might have 5-6 freaks who jump through the roof and 5-6 kids who are all kinds of destroyed. Maybe you have three programs: Regular, Freaks, and Wrecked. (Just don’t label the plans that way, as you might get some backlash.)

Schedule tendencies, mainly infrequency, is one of the biggest factors for us in terms of programming and how we lay out our field work and programming. Many of our athletes train 4-6 days per week, and this is the easy stuff. With 4-6 days, you have enough time and space to include a lot of movement patterns and target a few biomotor abilities. There are a decent number of clients who can only train 2-3 days per week and seem to be consistent on which days those are. This makes sense, because they are most likely bound by other obligations.

We have designed many different options for our strength programming, and we have changed up how we lay out our warm-up, preparation, and field work to account for this. We rotate through our warm-up protocols incongruently to the days of the week, so that people get enough consistency to learn and improve and enough variation to “touch it all” (so to speak), and we won’t do the same thing every Monday and Wednesday if they are consistent on their training days.

We do something similar with field work. We may keep Monday as an acceleration day and just change up the focus (heavy resisted accels, longer accels or RSA work, start-based technique), or we might rotate what category we do on Monday altogether and do a deceleration session on alternate weeks. Regardless of what we are doing, by mid-week we start to separate athletes into “what have you done this week” groups. From Wednesday through Saturday, we might have a couple different things going on during the field work. First day-ers might be doing starts while Third day-ers might be on a regen tempo day.

However we lay it out, we always try to consider the athletes and be flexible. The worst offender is the inflexible private facility. The one that only does X on Monday and Y on Tuesday and so on. It’s very likely you will have kids who never show up on Monday because of schedule issues…do they just never train the X variable?

Make some templates to allow for subtle nuances to improve your product and your athletes’ experiences and results.

19. Demographical Nuances: Age, Training Age, Sex/Gender

All of these nuances are simple to grasp. People who have less time under their training belt, less testosterone, and/or less strength and muscle can afford to use shorter rests and shorter overall lifting sessions. A very strong college athlete might take eight sets just to reach their first working set, whereas a younger novice athlete might get four sets of the same exercise done in six minutes. The general rules for rest do not apply because the loads are proportional but not high enough, in absolute terms, to require the same amount of time and preparation. An elite athlete might spend 3-4 hours total in a training session. If your 12-year-old is spending more than 60-90 minutes in the weight room, you are missing the boat.

20. Give More Freedom on the Least Important Stuff

Some will argue that biceps curls and ab work are vital to any good beach season or upcoming game. Look good, feel good. However, I am slightly less concerned with the volumes, rests, and exercise choices here than with the big stuff. Allow athletes who have some time with you to make choices on their “extra work.”

Allow athletes who have some time with you to make choices on their “extra work,” says @ExceedSPF. Share on X

We use “extra work” or “fun & guns” constantly. It makes for a better environment and gives the kids a little say in what they do. Sometimes we give a little more direction like “anterior core choice,” and sometimes we leave it completely open for interpretation. They appreciate it, and it saves me time trying to come up with the 28th bicep movement of the month.

21. Balancing “Push vs. Pull” Is Not Just Sets and Reps

There is a lot more to consider when dealing with balancing your push versus pull or posterior versus anterior. I think it’s much more important to consider the total tonnage and understand the imbalance most people have between the two opposites. For example, if you can bench 400 pounds and do 5×5 at 335, you would need 40+ reps using 100-pound DBs in a row pattern to simply match the tonnage. If you did 5×5 to even things out, or even 3×10, you probably wouldn’t do it justice. I tend to program more reps—significantly so—for pulling patterns to account for the discrepancy in pressing dominance for most people.

Nothing’s Written in Stone

This has been a blueprint of my views on training, and how we at Exceed Sports Performance & Fitness go about our day-to-day. I don’t assume everyone’s situation is the same as mine, so it is unlikely that we will all agree on each point, but I think there is something in here for everyone. There’s a chance some of my assertions will change over time, but I feel fairly confident that almost all of what I wrote will not.

As always, I am up for a chat or a comment to help me reconsider anything I write or believe, so reach out if you are inclined. A few of the points probably deserve a little more depth and time, so I’m hoping I can elaborate more on them in 2021, and maybe you can help reshape how I think of them. Happy New Year!

Since you’re here…
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Throughout my career, I’ve received numerous phone calls and had many discussions with strength and conditioning professionals and sport coaches who have inquired how to initiate training their post-rehabilitated shoulder athlete and the exercise modifications, if any, that are necessary to incorporate into the weight room program design. I have worked diligently over the past two decades to address this concern. These inquiries and discussions have led to this article, which provides some of the weight room strategies that have been successfully utilized over the years to assist in the post-rehabilitation athlete’s training to return to optimal athletic performance.

Participation in athletics requires a proficiency in both the physical qualities and sport skills for the achievement of the desired success. Unfortunately, participating in athletics also presents the risk of physical injury due to the requirements of repetitive high-velocity movement, physical contact, and other unexpected circumstances that may arise during the athlete’s training, sport practice sessions, and game day competition. No anatomical structure is immune from this threat of injury, as the consequences of athletic participation encompass the entire body from head (concussions, facial lacerations, etc.) to toe (sprained ankles, jones fractures, etc.).

Numerous athletic injuries may also include concomitant anatomical structures such as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear with a corresponding meniscal tear of the knee or a rotator cuff tear with an associated labral tear of the shoulder. Many of these injuries will require surgical intervention, and many will not. However, in each of these scenarios, the healing continuum of the body will lead to the formation of collagen fibers to produce strong scar tissue, which may subsequently lead to a reduction in joint range of motion (ROM). With specific regard to the shoulder, the joint topic of this discussion, some surgeons may elect to create a “tighter” shoulder at the time of surgery to reestablish strong joint integrity as well as an intentional loss of some end range of shoulder motion. This loss of shoulder ROM is executed to avoid the vulnerable extreme ROM positions of possible injury.

At the time of the athlete’s shoulder injury and possible corrective surgery, it is likely that they will participate in a sports rehabilitation program. At the conclusion of their rehabilitation, they will likely return to their performance enhancement training to prepare for their next competitive sport season. Many of these post-rehabilitated shoulder conditions will initially (and possibly permanently) have weight room contraindications or postoperative restrictions in their ROM requiring exercise modifications during the athlete’s training. These shoulder exercise modifications are implemented to protect the shoulder surgery, avoid an exacerbation of the athlete’s shoulder condition, and ensure optimal weight room outcomes.

This article will present some weight room modifications for the S&C professional and sport coach to consider when establishing the post-rehabilitation shoulder athlete’s training program design.

Prerequisites for the Athlete’s Weight Room Participation

Significant requirements for the post-rehab shoulder athlete are shoulder range of motion, scapulohumeral rhythm, the deltoid-rotator cuff force couple, and work capacity. Share on X

There are various physical prerequisites that athletes must achieve and demonstrate during their shoulder rehabilitation prior to their approved participation in a formal weight room training environment. For the purpose of this discussion, four of these significant requirements are:

1. Shoulder Range of Motion – Full shoulder ROM in all planes of motion, including rotations, should be achieved unless shoulder ROM was purposely restricted during surgery. Attention is made to attain the required shoulder ROM that correlates specifically to the sport of participation. As an example, the throwing athlete does not have to demonstrate symmetrical internal and external ROM but is required to display a symmetrical total rotational arc of motion¹.

The post-rehabilitated shoulder athlete will be expected to perform overhead resistance and conditioning exercises such as the bench press, overhead press, push press, jerks, med ball tempo, etc. during their training. Therefore, athletes without surgical ROM restrictions must achieve both passive and active full overhead arm elevation (figures 1a and 1b), which is confirmed by the olecranon of the elbow aligning with the ear. A lack of overhead shoulder ROM will result in increased stress to the shoulder and spinal compensatory extension during overhead exercise execution², while comparative upper extremity elevated (shoulder flexion) deficits of as little as 5 degrees will increase the risk of elbow injury in throwers by almost threefold³.

2. Scapulohumeral Rhythm – The scapulohumeral rhythm of the shoulder is the ratio of glenohumeral to scapulothoracic motion that transpires during arm elevation. This ratio is determined by dividing the total amount of shoulder elevation (glenohumeral) by the scapular upward rotation (scapulothoracic). This ratio is 2:1 in unloaded shoulder elevation but adjusts to approximately 4.5:1 when lifting heavy loads overhead⁴. An athlete must display a reestablished unloaded scapulohumeral rhythm of 2:1 prior to attempting to lift weights overhead.
3. The Deltoid-Rotator Cuff Force Couple – A joint force couple transpires when two equal but opposite directed forces act simultaneously on opposite sides of an axis to produce a rotation. During arm elevation, a glenohumeral force couple arises when the deltoid muscle group produces a superiorly directed force as the rotator cuff musculature produces both compressive (joint reaction force) and inferiorly directed forces (figure 2). The recommended rotator cuff strength would require the external rotators to be approximately 66% to 75% of the strength of the internal rotators to help ensure a suitable force couple.

4. Work Capacity – An appropriate work capacity ensures that strength, as well as the additional physical qualities established during the rehabilitation/training process, is produced repetitively over time, avoiding the onset of excessive shoulder complex and total body fatigue. With specific regard to the shoulder complex, a fatigued rotator cuff will be unable to offset the force produced by the deltoid muscle group, thereby disrupting the deltoid-rotator cuff force couple. This altered force couple results in a consequential superior and inferior migration of the humeral head in the glenoid fossa during arm elevation and with the arm resting at the side, respectively.

It is recognized that an attempted arm elevation with a fatigued rotator cuff mimics the same superior migration of the humeral head in the glenoid fossa that transpires during an attempted arm elevation with a torn rotator cuff. Shen-Kai⁵ has reported that induced fatigue in the rotator cuff musculature results in average increases in superior humeral head migration of 2.5 millimeters during arm elevation and average increases in inferior humeral head migration of 1.2 mm with the arm resting at the side (figure 3). It is also reported that at 0 degrees of shoulder abduction (arm at the side), the available subacromial space for rotator cuff “clearance” is approximately 11 mm, 5.7 mm at 90 degrees of abduction, and 4.8 mm at 120 degrees of abduction⁶. The fatigue factor of a 2.5 mm increase in superior humeral head migration potentially decreases the subacromial space by up to 52% at 120 degrees of arm elevation or higher.

The scapula musculature also presents with concerns as a result of the shoulder complex muscle fatigue. During arm elevation with fatigued scapula musculature, the scapula will have a decreased poster tilt (or increased anterior tilt), increased protraction, and increased upward rotation with corresponding decreased lower trapezius muscle activity. This altered repositioning of the scapula also decreases the subacromial space. The altered combination of humeral head migration and scapula repositioning reduces the subacromial space of the shoulder, setting the stage for possible impingement pathology during repetitive overhead exercise performance. The consequential effect of fatigue on joint kinematics reinforces the significance of an appropriate training program design for the prevention of excessive muscle fatigue to ensure optimal training performance and provide ideal athlete recovery prior to their next training session.

The foundation for our modification of upper extremity weight room exercises was published in an article more than two decades ago by my good friends Tony Decker and Marty Fees⁷. These exercise modifications are still relevant to this day, as we have continued to advance and adapt them over the years in both the clinical and weight room settings. I present some of these exercise modifications and their justification below.

Bench Press Modifications for the Rotator Cuff and Impingement

A common question asked by the athlete during their shoulder rehabilitation is “When can I start bench pressing?” It is also common to hear many high school athletes ask, “How much can you bench?” when comparing their strength levels to their peers. The bench press is a very popularly employed upper extremity strength exercise in the athlete’s training program design.

The traditional flat bench press involves a combination of motions in the sagittal (flexion/extension), coronal (abduction/adduction), and transverse (horizontal adduction/abduction) planes of the body. The bench press exercise places high levels of repetitive stress on the rotator cuff and the long head of the biceps, as well as compressive forces at the distal clavicle that can lead to the condition of osteolysis of the shoulder.

Post-rehabilitated shoulder athletes treated for rotator cuff and impingement pathology should limit their barbell hand spacing to no wider than 1.5x their bi-acromial width. Share on X

Post-rehabilitated shoulder athletes treated for rotator cuff and impingement pathology are prescribed specific barbell hand spacing and, if necessary, grip modifications for bench pressing. For these shoulder conditions, the athlete should limit their hand spacing to no wider than 1.5 times their bi-acromial width (figures 4a and 4b).

This narrow barbell hand spacing reduces rotator cuff and biceps tendon complex requirements for humeral head stabilization. This hand spacing also maintains shoulder abduction and extension at less than 45 degrees and 15 degrees, respectively, (figure 5) while aligning the clavicular border of the pectoralis major and the biceps muscles to a mechanically advantageous position to assist in shoulder flexion, decrease stress upon the long head of the biceps, and reduce compressive forces at the distal clavicle. This hand spacing also allows for a more superior barbell touch point to the xiphoid process, thus decreasing the net torque placed upon the shoulder.

The barbell grip selection also influences the stresses placed upon the shoulder. The overhand grip of full pronation (figure 6a) and underhand grip of full supination (figure 6b) affect the biceps and supraspinatus musculotendon portion of the rotator cuff, respectively.

The overhand grip moves the biceps tendon from under the acromion via the internal rotation of the shoulder. However, this full pronation grip positions the supraspinatus muscle of the rotator cuff beneath the acromion. The underhand grip rotates the supraspinatus posteriorly away from the undersurface of the acromion, while the long head of the biceps is now positioned beneath the acromion.

For those athletes who present with supraspinatus pathology, initial flat bench press training with a supinated grip is a recommended consideration. As the athlete is monitored over time without reported exacerbation of their shoulder condition, you may then employ the traditional overhand grip during training.

Bench Press Modifications for Anterior Shoulder Instability and SLAP Lesions

When executing the flat bench press exercise, a mandatory training partner-assisted “liftoff” of the barbell from the supporting barbell stanchions should occur at all times. This will avoid the overhead shoulder flexion, abduction, and external rotation or “high five” shoulder and arm position that is very vulnerable to injury. The previously described 1.5 times or less bi-acromial barbell hand spacing maintains a shoulder position below 90 degrees of shoulder flexion and 45 degrees of shoulder abduction.

The athlete should avoid incline bench pressing for these shoulder conditions, as this exercise mimics the overhead “high five” vulnerable shoulder position. This is especially true for athletes who present with anterior and/or anteroinferior shoulder instability, as well as those who are post anterior-stabilization surgery. If you desire an alternative bench press exercise for a training variation, you can incorporate the decline bench press into this shoulder pathology classification program design.

SLAP is an acronym for superior labrum anterior posterior, as these lesions occur at the glenoid labrum of the shoulder. The long head of the biceps attaches to the glenoid labrum at the 12 o’clock position (figure 7). SLAP lesion classifications include various levels of involvement of the long head of the biceps tendon, from fraying to various labral disorders with or without biceps anchor detachment.

It is recommended that athletes alternate the overhand and underhand grip variations on bench press training days to limit the accumulative microtrauma stress placed upon the long head of the biceps. I should note that a paradox exists with the use of these two barbell grips with regard to SLAP tears. The overhand grip removes the biceps from under the acromion; however, due to the grip’s full forearm pronation, the exercise performance stresses the attachment of the long head of the biceps. The underhand grip of full supination positions the long head of the biceps tendon under the acromion but decreases the stress on the biceps tendon during exercise performance.

Utilizing both the overhand and underhand barbell grip variations in the same training session is not recommended. Share on X

You may use the overhand and underhand barbell grip variations, along with the varying of programmed weight intensity (periodization), for training variety on alternate bench press training days. Utilizing both barbell grip variations in the same training session is not recommended.

Bench Press Modifications for Posterior Shoulder Instability

Posterior shoulder instability usually presents in athletes such as football offensive linemen. During the skill of pass blocking, high-velocity impact stresses are received by narrowly spaced and extended arms that transfer these forces to the posterior aspect of the shoulder. The previously described 1.5x bi-acromial (or less) barbell hand spacing is now contraindicated, as this hand spacing will increase the stress directly applied to the posterior aspect of the shoulder with the arms fully extended. Athletes presenting with or who have a history of posterior shoulder instability require a barbell hand spacing of greater than two times their bi-acromial width.

This wider hand spacing increases shoulder torque by 1.5 times compared to the narrower hand spacing; however, this wider hand spacing allows for a better structural approximation of the humeral head toward the center of the glenoid fossa. This improved shoulder joint structural approximation results in decreased strain upon the soft tissue structures at the posterior aspect of the shoulder (figure 8a). This increased barbell hand width position results in shoulder abduction at greater than 80 degrees (figure 8b), and horizontal abduction is greater than 15 degrees (figure 8c) at the initiation of the concentric phase of the lift. Shoulder horizontal adduction is less than 20 degrees (figure 8d) at the conclusion of the concentric phase of the exercise performance.

Bench Press Modifications for Pectoralis Muscle Tears

Pectoralis muscle tears occur in the weight room, during athletic competition, and during daily activity, with more than 200 reported cases in the literature. The pectoralis muscle consists of two heads, the clavicular and the sternocostal. Some authors continue to separate the sternocostal portion of the pectoralis muscle into a superior segment and an inferior segment (figure 9).

During the descent (eccentric contraction) of a heavy loaded barbell, the touch point position of shoulder extension, abduction, and external rotation can become the mechanism of pectoralis muscle injury. The clavicular and superior sternocostal segments of the pectorals are unipennate parallel muscle fibers, while the muscle fibers of the inferior sternocostal segment are multipennate. These multipennate fibers twist 180 degrees at their insertion on the humerus, placing this pectoral segment at a distinct mechanical disadvantage. This disadvantage results in a disproportionate lengthening of the inferior sternocostal muscle fibers at 30 degrees of shoulder extension, the final portion of the eccentric phase at the barbell touch point. The heavy loaded eccentric phase at touch point maximally stretches these muscle fibers, subjecting them to the “plastic range” on the stress-strain curve of musculotendinous soft tissue and exposing them to possible rupture/injury.

At the time of the post-rehabilitated pectoralis tear/surgical repair and the athlete’s reintroduction to the bench press exercise, a narrow barbell hand spacing of a bi-acromial width of 1.5x or less is recommended. You should incorporate rack starts (figure 10a), board presses (figure 10b), and floor presses to limit the athlete’s shoulder extension to 0 degrees (neutral) at the barbell touch point upon the chest. By limiting shoulder extension to 0 degrees, the sternocostal musculotendinous soft tissue avoids the plastic range on the stress-strain curve. When prescribing the board press modification, we prefer the use of a foam cushion (figure 10b) versus wooden boards to prohibit the athlete from relaxing and thus maintaining muscle “tension” during the barbell transition from the eccentric descent to touch point to concentric ascent.

A rack start is a bench press exercise modification where the barbell is placed on squat rack stanchions or power rack steel pins at or as close as possible to a pain-free and comfortable chest touch point position (figure 10a). The advantage of a rack start is the bench press exercise starts from or close to the barbell touch point, the most vulnerable position for pectoral injury. If the athlete feels pain or discomfort when initially attempting to raise the barbell from the rack position, the exercise immediately stops, as the barbell is safely supported.

During the traditional flat bench press exercise performance, once a successful barbell liftoff transpires, the athlete now “owns” the weight. If there is pain or discomfort during the eccentric descent or at the barbell touch point, it places the athlete in a very precarious position for injury, as they are now likely unable to return the barbell to the starting extended arm position.

The post-rehabilitation athlete who has had their pectoralis tear surgically repaired has likely not bench pressed in quite some time. Therefore, their previous personal best bench press performance and workout program weights should not be the standard for their returning program design. The athlete should not attempt to bench press prior to their six-month post-surgery date and without their surgeon and rehabilitation professional’s approval. When the athlete returns to their weight room training, the S&C professional will likely have to make a “guesstimate” of the athlete’s bench press abilities. Figure 11 presents postsurgical pectoralis repair bench press guidelines.

Unloading the Barbell Intensity at the Bench Press Touch Point

Regardless of the athlete’s present or past condition or surgery, a very high level of stress is applied to the shoulder at the bench press barbell touch point. Therefore, it is certainly feasible to unload this barbell position at the time the athlete returns to training. Our preference for this unloading process is the application of chains versus rubber bands to the barbell.

It is certainly feasible to unload the bench press barbell position when the athlete returns to training. For this unloading process, we prefer applying chains versus rubber bands to the barbell. Share on X

The rubber bands apply resistance via their attachment to either the bench or the floor, possibly affecting the barbell pathway during the bench press performance. Since chains are only attached to the barbell, the barbell pathway is determined by the exercising athlete. As the attached chain makes contact with the ground surface, the barbell weight intensity is progressively reduced until the time of the barbell touch point. During the barbell ascent, the chains “reload” the barbell, resulting in a gradual increase in the exercise weight intensity until the arms are fully extended. Our preferred method to apply chain resistance to the bench press exercise is with the use of leader chains.

Leader chains (figure 12a) allow for accuracy in determining specific loads at the initiation and touch point portions of the bench press exercise. The weight of the leader chains and the weight of the chains they support are added to the weight of the loaded barbell, providing the total weight of the exercise performance at barbell liftoff. During the barbell descent, the weight intensity progressively decreases until reaching the touch point on the athlete’s chest.

At this vulnerable barbell position for both the shoulder and pectorals, an accurate weight intensity is accounted for, since the previously measured barbell and leader chain weights apply resistance as the additional weighted chains have been unloaded and rest on the floor (figure 12b). This loading process is quite different when compared to the technique of simply hanging chains in the absence of leader chains, where the accurate weight of the barbell when achieving the touch point position is relatively unknown.

The initial program design for the post-rehabilitation shoulder and pectoral athlete should be conservative in nature. An athlete, S&C professional, or sport coach who is too aggressive in their program design will increase the risk of rotator cuff, biceps, and pectoralis tendinitis and possible reinjury. The onset of a tendinitis will not only regress the athlete’s training, but it is a condition that may require an extended period of time to resolve.

The Shoulder Press

When appropriate, I am an advocate of the shoulder press exercise, and I previously wrote an article supporting overhead exercise performance on SimpliFaster. This article emphasized the overhead exercise performance with the barbell positioned in front of the neck with an exercise pathway in the plane of the scapula. The front-of-the-neck barbell position is the preferred overhead exercise if the post-rehabilitated athlete has met all of the physical prerequisites prior to attempting this exercise. This is especially true of the post-rehabilitated pectoral tear athlete, as it is highly unlikely that a subsequent injury or rupture of a pectoral muscle will transpire when lifting weights overhead.

An alternative overhead shoulder exercise is the behind-the-neck press. When prescribing exercises for athletes with present or past shoulder pathology, exercise caution with this barbell position. The behind-the-neck press involves motion in both the sagittal and coronal planes of the body. The starting exercise position places the barbell on the upper trapezius muscles at the level of the first thoracic vertebrae. This starting barbell position places the arms in abduction, and very often an external rotation of greater than 90 degrees (figure 13), as the scapula position also adjusts via retraction from the plane of the scapula to the coronal plane.

This repositioning of the scapula also adjusts the length-tension of the rotator cuff, resulting in a less-than-optimal force production from these muscles during exercise execution. The behind-the-neck shoulder dynamic external rotation range of motion has often been reported as greater than passive measurements², thus increasing the risk of possible shoulder injury. Passive shoulder external rotation should match or exceed the dynamic external rotation exercise requirements prior to performing the behind-the-neck press barbell exercise.

Behind-the-neck exercise performance is required for athletes participating in Olympic weightlifting or who utilize the Olympic lifts or accessory exercises of the Olympic lifts during their performance enhancement training. Loaded shoulder abduction, external rotation, and high-five positions place stress upon the rotator cuff, inferior glenohumeral ligaments, anterior soft tissue and labral structures, SLAP lesions, and those athletes who present with shoulder impingement and anterior glenohumeral instability. When appropriately prescribed, it is recommended to initiate behind-the-neck exercises from a higher barbell position at the base of the skull at ear level. This higher barbell position will reduce the exercise range of motion and stress to the anterior and anteroinferior soft tissues structures of the shoulder.

The Clean and Power Clean

The clean and the power clean are commonly programmed exercises for the enhancement of the athlete’s power, rate of force production, and applied impulse. Both the clean and the power clean are total body exercises that require motions in both the sagittal and coronal planes of the body. The post-rehabilitation concerns that arise with these exercises, especially the clean, are with regard to anterior/anteroinferior soft tissue structures, and more specifically the biceps-labral complex, and SLAP lesions.

Large shoulder distraction forces are placed upon the biceps-labral complex, especially during the first pull, and then followed by the acceleration phase of these exercises. Therefore, the clean exercise is not recommended in the initial programming for the post-rehabilitated SLAP shoulder athlete due to the prolonged distraction forces that occur via the initiation of the exercise from the floor. For this reason, the power clean exercise performed from blocks is the preferred choice in this post-rehabilitation athletic population.

Additionally, the catching of the barbell requires both shoulder and elbow flexion, which applies stress to the biceps tendon. If the athlete reports discomfort with the catching of the barbell, the catch should be avoided and revisited after a period of training. Although various exercise adjustments may be necessary, along with the monitoring of an athlete’s tolerance to exercise performance, some specific modification guidelines are recommended for the post-rehabilitated SLAP athlete. These guidelines include the following:

• Initiate the power clean execution from blocks, thus eliminating the support of the weight of the barbell (distraction forces at the shoulder) with the arms extended.
• Prescribe initial exercise execution with the barbell positioned at approximately above the knee to mid-thigh (figure 14a). The exercise may be appropriately advanced to an elevated barbell position at approximately the mid-thigh to the hips (figure 14b).
• If the athlete reports shoulder discomfort during the catching of the barbell, clean pulls should replace the power clean in the athlete’s program design.
• Utilize bumper weight plates, if available, during the exercise performance. This will allow the athlete to freely return (drop) the barbell to the blocks upon completion of each exercise repetition to avoid high distraction forces at the shoulder.
• Initial exercise programming should include a velocity-based training philosophy utilizing lighter weight intensities executed at higher barbell velocities.






The Squat

The squat exercise is a total body strength exercise incorporating both the lower and upper extremities. Athletes traditionally perform the exercise with the barbell across the back, so it is therefore known as the back squat. During the execution of the back squat, the upper extremities are involved in a combination of motions in the transverse (external rotation) and coronal (abduction) planes of the body. The concerns for loading an abducted and externally rotated shoulder have been previously described in the behind-the-neck press exercise section of this discussion. These same shoulder position concerns advocate for squat exercise modifications for the post-rehabilitated shoulder athlete’s program design.

The first exercise modification includes the use of a safety squat bar during the athlete’s exercise performance. The safety squat bar places the shoulder in a less stressful position of shoulder flexion, adduction (adduction neutral), and internal rotation. When utilizing the safety squat bar, the athlete has the option to hold onto the bar or to incorporate a bilateral hand support technique with the squat rack.

When opting for a bilateral hand support exercise technique, a “holding surface” on the squat rack at an initial height level equaling 60 degrees to 80 degrees of shoulder flexion is advised. Too low a holding height level may promote an increase in spinal flexion at the initiation and perhaps throughout the athlete’s squat exercise performance. At the conclusion of the squat descent, shoulder elevation should not exceed approximately 95 degrees to 100 degrees, the same shoulder ROM that occurs at the extended arm position during the bench press exercise. While the arms increase in elevation during the squat descent, the athlete should remain erect throughout the exercise performance.

When using this technique, the hand placement occurs with the palms open to maintain balance yet prohibit pulling on the holding surface. The inability to pull on the holding surface will omit shoulder distraction forces that may transpire during the exercise execution with a closed hand grip. If at any time the athlete struggles during this open-handed bilateral support technique, they can quickly grasp the holding surface, as hand contact is always maintained to ensure a safe exercise performance. Lighter weight intensities are recommended until the time the athlete comfortably adapts to this exercise technique.

Another option for the back squat is the utilization of the buffalo barbell (figure 15). The curved nature of the buffalo barbell allows for a wider hand placement at the lower curved barbell ends, which decreases the amount of required shoulder abduction and external rotation during the squat exercise performance.





If a safety squat bar and buffalo barbell are not available for the athlete’s training, a third modification/option is the front squat. The execution of the front squat exercise still stresses the lower extremity and hip muscles, as the barbell is now supported mainly by the anterior deltoids and balanced with the hands. The front squat positions the shoulder at 80 degrees to 90 degrees of flexion, less than 15 degrees of external rotation, and neutral abduction, a position preferred for the shoulder athlete’s squat exercise performance. If the athlete lacks the wrist, hand, and elbow flexibility to maintain the barbell during the front squat exercise, straps may be inverted and attached to the barbell (figure 16a) to assist in the front squat exercise execution (figure 16b).





Initial programming of the front squat exercise intensity should be at levels of 50% to 60% of the athlete’s back squat capabilities. The S&C professional may increase the exercise intensity over time (up to approximately 80% of back squat capabilities) while they monitor and receive feedback from the athlete. The modified back squat and front squat may be alternated during the athlete’s training days. Additional lower extremity strength training options include the use of belt squats and the kBox flywheel with a harness. The belt squat and kBox flywheel allow for lower extremity strength enhancement with the exclusion of the upper extremities during the exercise performance.

Summary

The shoulder is the most mobile joint of the body when compared to the osseous stability and protection provided at the hip joint, the other ball and socket joint of the body. This mobility contributes to the shoulder’s vulnerability to injury. The athlete who presents with a shoulder injury may or may not require surgery; however, after injury/surgery rehabilitation followed by post-rehabilitation, performance enhancement training will likely occur.

The shoulder is the most mobile joint of the body… This mobility contributes to the shoulder’s vulnerability to injury. Share on X

This article has provided the S&C professional, as well as the sport coach, with a few exercise modifications for consideration in the weight room training of the post-rehabilitated shoulder athlete. These exercise modifications may be utilized during the athlete’s initial training and eventually discontinued as the athlete physically adapts over the course of their training. These exercise modifications may also play a permanent role in the athlete’s training due to prescribed shoulder exercise contraindications as well as intended postoperative ROM restrictions. The S&C professional should also maintain communication with their rehabilitation professionals, team physicians, and surgeons to determine the best post-shoulder rehabilitation training program design and program design progressions for their athlete.



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…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. Wilk KE, Macrina LC, Fleisig GS, et al. “Correlation of Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit and Total Rotational Motion to shoulder Injuries in Professional Baseball Pitchers.” American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2011;39(2):329-335.

2. McKean MR and Burkett BJ. “Overhead shoulder press – In-front of the head or behind the head?” Journal of Sport and Health Science. 2015;4(3):250-257.

3. Wilk KE, Macrina LC, Fleisig GS, et al. “Deficits in glenohumeral passive range of motion increase risk of elbow injury in professional baseball pitchers: a prospective study.” American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2014;42(9):2075-2081.

4. McQuade KJ and Smidt GL. “Dynamic scapulohumeral rhythm: The effects of an external resistance during elevation of the arm in the scapula plane.” Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 1998;27:125-133.

5. Shen-Kai C, Simonian PT, Wickiewicz TL, Otis JC, and Warren RF. “Radiographic evaluation of glenohumeral kinematics: A muscle fatigue model.” Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. 1999;8(1):49-52.

6. Soslowsky LJ, Flatow EL, Bigliani LU, and Mow VC. “Articular geometry of the glenohumeral joint.” Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 1992;(285):181–190.

7. Fees M, Decker T, Snyder-Mackler L, and Axe MJ. “Upper Extremity Weight-Training Modifications for the Injured Athlete.” American Journal of Sports Medicine. 1998;26(5):732-742.

Early in my coaching career, I made an observation: The best coaches seemed to be those who talked the least while still getting what they wanted out of a group of athletes. These coaches acted like facilitators, guiding athletes through a well-thought-out session plan while allowing room for exploration and mistakes to happen. This is in stark contrast to the brand of coaches who make themselves heard throughout the entirety of a session or attempt to correct every possible movement error with extensive dialogue.

…the best coaches acted like facilitators, guiding athletes through a well-thought-out session plan while allowing room for exploration and mistakes to happen, says @CoachGies. Share on X

Some of these coaches I observed didn’t necessarily have the most detailed knowledge of sport science, possess an endless library of drills to choose from, or concoct fabulously detailed technical explanations for every movement problem—but their athletes seemed to be very engaged, moved well, and succeeded in their sport. I soon realized that simply knowing all of the technical models and fixes to every drill or being the most vocal—while obviously useful at certain moments—is only one piece of a larger puzzle for improving athletic performance.

Based on my experience shadowing these coaches, I understood that I needed to learn how to engage athletes and improve their athletic abilities, while keeping my coaching feedback to the minimum necessary to push them forward.

From Beginner to Expert: How Do Athletes Become Great?

The ALTIS Virtual Apprentice Coach Program this past June was a fantastic learning experience. There were many great presenters, but Stu McMillan’s presentation on the “Art and Science of Speed for Team Sport” was particularly enlightening. He reminded me of some key models in motor learning that I had forgotten and introduced me to a few new ones. Some of these concepts included the Yerkes-Dodson Law, Newell’s three stages of learning, the challenge point framework, and how motor learning is embedded into our physical world. (For the sake of brevity, I will not dive into an explanation of each. However, I would encourage you to further explore these concepts.)

Now, in order for my simple brain to make sense of these concepts, I needed to come up with a straightforward way to view them. In essence, the previously mentioned motor learning models highlight what needs to happen as an athlete navigates the road toward expertise, or as I have conceptualized it, the Beginner-Expert Development Pathway (figure 1).

When learning a new skill, there need to be periods of stability to teach and solidify previous learning, as well as periods of chaos and uncertainty to challenge and expand learning. Share on X

When learning a new skill, there need to be periods of stability to teach and solidify previous learning, as well as periods of chaos and uncertainty to challenge and expand learning. As an athlete’s skill set improves (moving toward expertise), the relative challenge of training elements should increase to stretch their abilities, while slightly reducing the frequency of stable and predictive elements, as the stimulus they provide diminishes as an athlete improves. A novice or developmental athlete needs to constantly navigate between stability and chaos to develop the physical, technical, tactical, and mental capacities necessary to successfully execute a specific task in a given environment.

The following are five key pillars that must occur to ensure an athlete moves along this pathway successfully:

• Pillar 1. If a drill is too comfortable, the athlete will become disengaged and no learning will take place. Conversely, if a drill is too challenging for their current abilities, the athlete will revert to what they are comfortable with and no exploration will take place. An optimal level of stimulation is needed so an athlete remains engaged while exploring new movement solutions.
• Pillar 2. The athlete needs enough time and exposure with a movement skill before it becomes automated.
• Pillar 3. Periodic manipulation of environmental constraints must occur to cause an athlete to adaptively detect and generate correct movement solutions.
• Pillar 4. The appropriate difficulty for a beginner would be inappropriate for an expert, and vice versa.
• Pillar 5. As an athlete gets better at perception-action (more stable), the task difficulty needs to increase (more chaotic).

My belief is that coaches who can implement these ideas effectively will be able to develop more skilled athletes in a wide variety of contexts…not just athletes proficient at a specific drill in training. These athletes will be able to successfully adapt and move in a wide variety of environments, which is ultimately what we want. However, I feel something gets lost in our profession among all of the articles and videos on new variations of drills, programming, and exercise selection: How do we actually coach an athlete through this process?

Coaching stable and predictable drills and exercises is fairly straightforward (notice I didn’t say easy!). Coaching the more chaotic elements while getting real development out of athletes, on the other hand, can be more difficult. This is what the coaches I was talking about at the beginning of this article did the best.

Fun and Games

In a previous article, I argued that a games-based approach (GBA) can be an effective tool in an S&C coach’s arsenal and explained how athletic development not only includes physical abilities, but tactical, technical, and mental components as well (i.e., the Four Coactive Model of Player Preparation from Dr. Fergus Connolly and Cameron Josse). The question now is: How the heck can I, an S&C coach, implement games to effectively drive athletic development? I don’t just want kids playing random games; I’ve got movement patterns to teach! And isn’t all that fluffy stuff the job of the sports coach?

Understanding the Utility of GBAs

In traditional models of coaching,¹ technique mastery is emphasized prior to game play. There is an emphasis on skill work in overly simplistic, pre-planned, and unpressurized situations that do not mimic the demands seen in a real game (sounds like some agility videos that go viral on social media). This will ultimately create a separation between technique and tactical knowledge, causing a disconnect between training and the game where players are not able to respond to relevant stimuli.

Video 1. “Partner Tag”: The pair needs to work together to get into position and pass the ball to get close enough to tag another player. (See Appendix below for full game rules.)

On the other hand, GBAs are an alternative means to contextualize learning within game-like activities (not to be confused with “free play,” although that can still be useful in certain instances). They were originally created to help PE teachers develop students’ tactical awareness to ultimately improve game performance. The coach acts more like a facilitator, using questions to promote player dialogue and reflection to guide the learning process….which was exactly what I saw in the best coaches I’ve observed!

The four common features of GBAs are:

1. Design and manipulation of practice games/activities (emphasis added).
2. Use of questioning.
3. Opportunities of player dialogue.
4. Building a supportive socio-moral environment.

The literature is also quite convincing in favor of GBAs, as highlighted by Kinnerk et al.’s review.¹ It shows that in team sport environments, GBAs can improve tactical awareness and decision-making, while also increasing players’ affective domain development (the mental stuff, like emotions, feelings, and attitudes). If you’ve ever watched these types of games in action, you can see qualities such as anticipation, timing of runs, scanning, communication, energy system development, various starting positions, and short and long accelerations.

GBAs are fantastic opportunities to tie in multiple training elements for athletes to problem-solve, while increasing the transfer of your training programs to the sport itself.

Coaching GBAs

As we look at how to incorporate GBAs in an S&C setting, we should ask the question: What are we actually trying to achieve with our athletes?

In my opinion, we as performance coaches are trying to develop skilled athletes who can rapidly read and react to environmental triggers with the correct movement solution. We are looking to improve not only physical capacities, but the technical, tactical, and mental pieces that allow an athlete’s physical abilities to be used to full effect.

When deciding which games work best, there really are no hard and fast rules. There are endless possibilities, and I’d encourage you to just sit and think about tweaking classic games to incorporate specific skills you are trying to target. I try to come up with a new game, or at least slight rule changes to my favorite games, almost every week with my athletes. I am always assessing where my athletes are on the Beginner-Expert Development Pathway and determining whether I need to increase chaos or increase stability.

I’d encourage you to just sit and think about tweaking classic games to incorporate specific skills you are trying to target, says @CoachGies. Share on X

Variations of tag or ball games, with added twists or rule changes to target specific developmental areas, often produce the best results. These can be included at the beginning or end of sessions in 10-minute blocks as a fun warm-up or a way to tie in the technical components of the session. You can also use GBAs as a conditioning component or use a game as the entire training session…the possibilities are limitless.

Some examples of ways to alter traditional games include:

• Team captains. When introducing a new game, designate team captains who are the only players you tell the rules to, and they then have to relay that information back to their respective teams. You can assess how good the athletes’ communication and listening skills are based on how well the teams are playing. If it isn’t very good, you can stop the game and chat about the importance of listening to instructions and then re-explain the rules to the captains. Usually the players are much more engaged the second time.
• Limit who can speak. Sometimes I only allow certain players to speak during the game (or else risk a point deduction). If there is an athlete who you want to see develop their communication skills or get more involved, this one works great. Conversely, if you have a particularly disruptive athlete, getting them not to talk and focus on body language works wonders.
• Unexpected points. As a game is being played, you can randomly award extra points for specific moves or skills, thereby causing kids to try those movements over and over. For example, three points instead of one if you score with your non-dominant leg during a small-sided soccer game.
• Players choosing rules. Get an athlete to come up with a rule. This can be loads of fun because it even surprises you and can get the kids to really buy in because they are involved with the session on a deeper level.
• Keeping track of your team’s points. This is a great one to make sure all players on a team are paying attention. A few minutes into a game, I’ll stop everyone and say “Everyone on Team A, shout out your score in 3, 2, 1!” and do the same for Team B. Often, several people won’t say anything (because they don’t know) or a few athletes will say different scores. Unless everyone on the team shouts the same score, I make them go back to zero. This gets the kids instantly tuned in because what kid wants to be the person costing the team all their points? As the game continues, players make sure they yell out the score and that their teammates are paying attention, and when I stop the game to ask the score again, they are discussing amongst themselves to ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Superpowers. Give a particular player an extra ability during a game. This could be extra points if they score, they are the only person who can run or shoot, or something wildly different. This is a fantastic option for a quieter player to get them more involved, or for a new athlete to the group, because it gets them involved straight away and others need to engage and talk with them. It will also get the players creating strategies on the fly around that player’s superpower.
• Special Bonuses. These are used as rewards to entice players to try new things. If they successfully execute a skill, they get a short-term bonus (e.g., point multiplier, run with the ball, etc.). You can also have it where if the team gets a certain number of points or passes, they get a particular superpower for a limited time (e.g., 20 seconds) before they lose it again. You can also use it for when an athlete successfully executes a particularly hard skill, the team gets a large amount of points or an automatic win (e.g., cross field kick in a rugby-style game).
• Multiple Levels. For each game you implement, have progressions and regressions. Once athletes master a particular level (or at least improve their consistency), add a new layer that pushes them along the Beginner-Expert Development Pathway.
  
  • For example, if you are playing some sort of small-sided soccer game, you can add a level where if a player turns a ball over to the other team, they need to sprint 20 meters off the playing area to a randomly placed cone before they can enter the game again. This results in a few things: a momentary advantage for the other team to capitalize on, speed and fitness development for the player running to the cone and back (because they want to get back into the action), and more mental pressure on each player because they don’t want to turn the ball over so they need to improve their defensive skills and tactical abilities.

Notice how none of these examples center around how the athlete moves. Of course, you can address this when needed, but it is great to see athletes improve the way they move simply by changing the environmental constraints rather than through specific and direct coaching feedback. However, don’t simply add rules and leave it at that—to get the full effect from GBAs, we need to act as facilitators and use questioning and promote player dialogue. You need to ensure you step in at the right time and guide athletes to learn for themselves, while also stepping back and letting the athletes get on with it if you recognize they are being challenged appropriately.

It is great to see athletes improve the way they move simply by changing the environmental constraints rather than through specific and direct coaching feedback, says @CoachGies. Share on X

Similarly, you don’t need to over-coach and make the execution of the game “perfect,” as that could stunt the learning process. I try to stay as silent as possible (besides general encouragement) to see how athletes perform without constant coaching feedback. You’d be surprised how quickly an athlete improves simply through trial and error.

Video 2. “Cone Scramble” game. The player with the ball cannot step on a cone if another player is touching it. As they run around looking for free cones, the other players must work to cover up the cones. (See Appendix below for full game rules.)

When a rule is added, or you notice players struggling with a concept or skill, bring them in to talk about it. The key is to use open-ended questions and get players to guide their own learning process.

• “Ok, what’s going well/what’s going wrong?”

• “What do you think you could do differently to get a better result?”

• “What if you tried this? Do you think that would help? What else could you try?”

• “Johnny, you seemed to be getting frustrated. What’s the problem and what can we/you do about it?” 

• “Jimmy, what are your thoughts/what do you think?”

• “Did you notice what happened when you implemented X? That was great! What else can we do to improve that result?”

By making players part of the problem-solving process, you will get more engagement, and the athletes will get better at working together. Often, I don’t even give a solution or correct them when they come up with something themselves—we just go with it and re-assess. Sometimes you will have to help them along a little more, especially with younger or more developmental athletes, but kids tend to be cleverer than we think. You can then see which athletes are more natural leaders and which ones might need more help in this area. Similarly, you can see which kids get overly frustrated or take it out on other players—then, you can have a private word or encourage them to be a better teammate and search for a solution rather than complaining.

When working with a group, I often implement the idea of “Start fast, finish fast”…similar to the concept of Play-Practice-Play. I tend to start a training session with a fast-paced GBA to get kids dialed in right away, spend the middle portion working on more traditional training (drills, linear sprints/jumps), and finish with another fast-paced GBA to contextualize the technical components while making sure kids leave excited and beg their parents to come back next week. Based on the intended outcomes of the session or the needs of the particular athlete(s), the activities and games I select will help me create the environment needed to develop those particular goals. During the middle of a session, I can spend time doing drills and more technical pieces to reinforce what I want out of the games, but this is much easier to do when the kids are excited and having fun throughout the session because of a fast start.

The possibilities are endless in terms of the games you can implement, and the key is guiding your athletes along the Beginner-Expert Development Pathway, with the game as a tool to achieve this. Now that I’ve (hopefully) justified the utility of GBAs in an S&C context, I’d like to share a particularly fun game I use regularly.

Chesty Ball

I often come up with silly names for the games we play. The city I’m based out of, Chestermere (Alberta, Canada), is the inspiration for the name Chesty Ball. It is a variation of basketball and can be played either full court or half court (or even smaller), but it is especially good when played on the mini courts at middle schools. We play with a volleyball, but any ball will do.

There are several levels for scoring points:

• One point for hitting any portion of the backboard
• Two points for getting it in the net.
• Five points for kicking it off the backboard.
• Minus one point for hitting just the rim or missing the backboard completely.

We introduce this game initially with no running with the ball (just pivoting) and turnovers only if the ball is intercepted or goes out of bounds. Once athletes understand the basics, we introduce running with the ball and other rules to speed up decision-making and gameplay. This scoring system allows players of all abilities the chance to score and contribute to the team’s success, as well as offering high-reward scoring options, but the point penalty for missing ensures players will still be strategic and not just try to kick the ball endlessly. Awesome game, especially when you add new scoring options and other rules.

As you can see, this game incorporates physical (fitness, linear and multidirectional accelerations, jumping), technical (passing, catching, throwing, body control), tactical (coming up with game plan, reacting to your own players and opponents, responding to new rule changes), and mental elements (composure, communication). More importantly, you don’t need to coach any particular element too much. You set the parameters of the game, implement various rules, and let the athletes go. You then facilitate learning through targeted questioning to ensure the goals of the session are being achieved. To me, this seems like the optimal environment to develop actual athletes, not just kids who can perform in the weight room or repeat a drill.

Final Questions to Ask Yourself

This article is not an attack on current coaching practices. My goal is to have you reflect on your own session plans and coaching behaviors during those sessions and ask:

• Do I include elements of GBAs?
• Do I spend periods of time being silent and simply watching?
• How often do I act as a facilitator?

Of course, you need to spend time breaking down skills and developing specific movement patterns in a controlled and stable environment. But by understanding the motor development process and how an athlete moves from a beginner to a skilled performer, you will understand the need for chaotic elements that challenge and stretch an athlete’s learning ability.

GBAs allow a coach to incorporate multiple components of athletic development while contextualizing learning into more realistic scenarios, says @CoachGies. Share on X

GBAs allow a coach to incorporate multiple components of athletic development while contextualizing learning into more realistic scenarios. By acting as a facilitator, you will foster reflection and learning on a deeper level, while creating a fun and enjoyable experience for your athletes.

Appendix: Game Rules & Setup

1. Partner Tag

• In a small box (8-10 meters per side), two players are working as a team to tag the rest of the players.
• To get someone out, one tagger must touch a player with a ball (ball needs to be in hands and not thrown); however, the tagger is not allowed to run with the ball.
• The pair needs to work together to get into position and pass the ball to get close enough to tag another player.
• Benefits of Game
  • Communication and teamwork between the two taggers.
  • Evasion (less constrained than Spider’s Web).
  • Tactical abilities to target and home in on a player.
  • Hand-eye coordination, throwing accuracy to moving target, catching ability.
  • Scanning and awareness of surroundings.
  • Change of direction and short accelerations.
  • Anaerobic conditioning.

2. Cone Scramble

• This works best with a minimum of six players.
• Randomly scatter cones down 1-3 meters apart (have one more cone laid down than the total number of people involved).
• Place two pylons down, one 10 meters away from the playing area, and the other one 15 meters away from the playing area (more on this shortly).
• Have the players circled up in the middle of the cones passing the ball quickly amongst themselves.
• When the coach shouts “GO!”, the player holding the balls runs around the 15-meter cone, and the rest of the players run around the 10-meter cone.
• The goal for the player with the ball is to step on two separate cones; the goal for the other players is to work as a team and prevent the player from stepping on two cones for as long as possible.
• The player with the ball cannot step on a cone if another player is touching it. As they run around looking for free cones, the other players must work to cover up the cones.
• Keeping a player from touching two cones for more than 30 seconds is incredibly challenging.
• Benefits of Game
  • Communication between players to ensure cones are being covered (cannot cherry-pick a cone or else the player with the ball will win very quickly).
  • Scanning and awareness of surroundings.
  • Change of direction and short accelerations.

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

Kinnerk, P., Harvey, S., MacDonncha, C., and Lyons, M. “A review of the game-based approaches to coaching literature in competitive team sport settings.” Quest. 2018;70(4):401-418.

Track is back! After 300+ days away, starting pistols are once again firing at track facilities across the country. In the weeks prior, student-athletes and teams alike were consumed with returns to campus, uniform/gear disbursement, and the always-anticipated media days. There is something special about putting on your school’s uniform for the first time and making a final mirror check before going in front of the camera (more to come on this).

Recently on “Jeopardy,” there was a question that sent the track Twitterverse into a tizzy. The question asked for the metric race that is “just a bit shorter” than the mile. The three contestants answered with: the 10,000m, 10m, and 500m. Twitter outrage from the track community brewed as the 1500m race is the obvious answer. My reply on Twitter was “not going to lie, non-track folks who don’t use the metric system have no reason to know this…don’t be outraged track community.” Although these answers didn’t bug me as much as it did others, there are issues out there in the track and field world that do collectively frustrate.

All sports have their own set of quirks, yet track and field seems to be the quirkiest of them all, says @ChrisParno. Share on X

All sports have their own set of quirks—long sleeves under a basketball jersey, futbol (soccer) players dramatically falling at the touch of a finger, fist fights in hockey, and NFL scouts hand-timing 40’s—yet track and field seems to be the quirkiest of them all. The following repetitive and cliché characteristics turn into recurring annoyances that encompass our coaching lives:

1. Always requesting the clap in the horizontal jumps.
2. The monster phenomenon.
3. Hurdle hoarding in the warm-up area.
4. Embellished seed times.
5. Embellished meet day warm-ups.
6. Hamstrings as the scapegoat.
7. Same arm same leg syndrome (SASLS).

We’ll take some time to unpack the first six and then spend a bit more time on the SASLS, as it has more recently been sweeping the nation.

1. Requesting the Clap

I love the horizontal jumps. In championship scenarios, the horizontal jumps can bring dramatic shifts as athletes repeatedly barrel down the runway. The lead can change numerous times within a round, and the encompassing energy can be infectious. As the jumper prepares for their path down the runway, they ready their stance and wonder, “Should I start the clap?”

As a rational sprints coach, I value the clap. We don’t need to talk about the times I have caught myself yelling cliché sprint coach lines such as “MOOOOVE, GET OUT, PUSH,” but for this section we are talking about the jumps. I value the importance of the clap, as it can truly heighten the mood and the readiness of the athlete in a championship scenario. The opposite side of this is completely anticlimactic… So jumpers, I implore you—if you call for it, you better back it up!

Follow me here. You (the coach) are down by the blocks watching a sprinter work on a beautiful meet day block start. Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you see a jumper on the runway signaling for “the clap.” These jumpers may signal by yelling out “oh yeah!” while they start their clap pattern or “come on” as they signal toward the crowd (or lack thereof in COVID-19 times). There is no going back at this point, as the expectation is that something special is about to happen.

As the clap initiates, the crowd gets excited, and the jumper eagerly progresses down the runway and hits the board perfectly, to the roar of the watching crowd. This is the perfect scenario that is far too often interrupted by another pet peeve to come.

Where the pet peeve portion of the clap comes into play is when the jumper’s effort is light years away from the heightened atmosphere of the initiated clap. Picture this—the clap starts, the athlete sprints down the runway, the crowd noise gains steam, and the athlete runs through the board, shaking their head. As a clap participant, this athlete moves to my “no clap list” and remains there for the indefinite future with no appeals.

As a spectator, it can be tough at times to know when to join in on the clap. Are we equal opportunity clappers? Does your clap follow the principles of a meritocracy? The following examples are when a spectator should steer clear of the clap:

1. If the selected clap pattern is more complicated than the blueprints of the facility. In the jumper’s mind, it sounds great, but by the time they are halfway down the runway, the crowd has managed to turn it into a sound resembling hail hitting a metal roof.
2. If the athlete is again calling for the clap after running through the board on the previous attempt (see above).
3. If the athlete is calling for the clap and is not in the top five spots of the competition.

It is not hard to know when the clap is coming. If an athlete in the competition is wearing sunglasses indoors, a reversed generic Nike hat, tall socks (long jump only), and/or excessive amounts of jewelry/chains, etc., it’s coming. These athletes are large advocates for the clap, so be advised, folks.

2. The Monster Phenomenon (MP)

As a 6,100-point decathlete, I didn’t need imagination to know my long jump PR was completely average at 6.14 meters. I’d say a majority of my jumps were within a bandwidth of 30 centimeters, with a season average of 6 meters. After 11 years of coaching, I’ve discovered a horizontal jump phenomenon that would have instantly increased my street cred. This can be described as the “Monster Phenomenon.”

I had my fair share of fouls in my multi-event career. Knowing what I know now, I should have told others I was jumping monster 6.50-meter jumps all day but just could not get on the board. The illusion would then be in place that I was better than what I have put down for years leading up to those monsters left in the pit.

As a coach in the facility, you may overhear the MP played out in the following four ways:

• Athlete says, “Well, I went 6.80 meters, but I fouled two MONSTER jumps over 7 meters.”
• Coach holds up their thumb and pointer finger, showing how much their athlete fouled by, while saying “Get the foot down, you’ve got a monster in you!”
• Athlete says, “I didn’t make the final, but I left some monster jumps in the pit…easily over 7 meters.”
• Athlete says, “Coach couldn’t get me on the board, but all my jumps were over 7 meters.”

As seen by the above quotes, this phenomenon is more prevalent in male populations…many times, by the same sunglass-wearing, clap-initiating groups as in the previous section.

This has roots within the ego of the mind that finds embarrassment for some reason in not hitting the board. A consistent runway approach is a skill and needs to be practiced and rehearsed; fouling a jump every once in a while is part of a jumper’s life. The only other explanation is some sort of threshold response that initiates when a foul occurs, and the athlete’s body propels them multiple feet past their current PR, knowing it will never be measured and will be referred to as “the one that got away.”

Many times, coaches want these “monster” jumps measured as if the athlete’s entire shoe length foul doesn’t factor into the equation, says @ChrisParno. Share on X

Many times, coaches want these jumps measured as if the athlete’s entire shoe length foul doesn’t factor into the equation. At a meet, if you hear the words “measure it” being yelled from the horizontal jump area—you know a monster just got away.

3. Hurdle Hoarding in the Warm-Up Area

There are certainties in life: The sun rises each morning, and it sets every evening, and there will only be eight hurdles in the warm-up area of an NCAA championship. This may be an inclusion strategy by the host site, but it forces the hands of hurdles coaches across the nation. Do we send athletes into the warm-up area to stack their bags by a rack of hurdles? Move three hurdles by our athletic training table? Travel with school-owned hurdles to the meet?

There are certainties in life: The sun rises each morning, it sets every evening, and there will only be eight hurdles in the warm-up area of an NCAA championship, says @ChrisParno. Share on X

Our program started bringing foldable scissor hurdles to all big championships meets. This allows us flexibility and autonomy within the warm-up area and provides guaranteed equipment. Now, I am an equal opportunity hurdle warm-up type of coach; I have no issues setting up some basic one- and three-step drill patterns and allowing other athletes through before setting up for starts.

The hoarding-style hurdle coach (may be seen with Bluetooth earpiece) will undoubtedly be in the warm-up area the moment the facility opens; you may even see them running to the warm-up area. They will take at least four of the eight hurdles and squat on them like a bird on an egg.

These coaches’ athletes won’t actually warm up with these hurdles beforehand; they most likely will wait until everyone else is in the warm-up area before going through an obscure set of drills no one has ever seen before that involves a lot of grunting. These drills are set up purposely with spacing that allows for no other participants and delays the warm-up process. Throughout the warm-up time, other athletes will ask to use the hurdles, and these types of coaches will point toward their Bluetooth earpiece or wireless headphones and say they are on a call.

If this scenario happens in an outdoor warm-up space, good luck—the 8-10 provided hurdles will be in all different corners of the area. If these hurdles are within 8-10 feet of the school’s tent, there is an aura/forcefield that doesn’t allow for other schools to come use them.

In a world that calls for unity, hurdle coaches are not to be forgotten.

4. Seed Times

The meet entry process resembles a Black Friday TV sale, with limited units (lanes in fast heats) and a hoard of people (coaches) trying to secure these units/spots. The creation of the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) website centralized results. With this, Direct Athletics’ entry system syncs previously performed results, simplifying the entry process. This new technology makes it difficult to enter a time outside of a current or recent performance. Many meets enforce marks from the current season for entry purposes and may not allow any sort of manually entered time.

Before this technological revolution, the entry process resembled the Wild West. In the early 2010s, we hosted a lot of meets using an online entry system that forced manual entry for all marks. No preloaded marks forced most coaches to open a separate browser to reference TFRRS or refer back to previous meet results (pre-TFRRS).

Undoubtedly, this opened the door for unbelievable/fake seed times. As a young coach, I was pulled in! Shoot, enter an outdoor PR here, a projected PR there, and man we are loading up the fast heats! Fast results rarely ever followed with these creative seed times, and I smartened up. In current times, embellished seed times come in three forms:

1. Sneaking in outdoor PRs for indoor races.
2. Older/postcollegiate athletes entering PRs that are 10-15 years removed from when they were attained.
3. The “get better competition” entry that subsequently leads to intense gapping as the gun fires.

Heat sheets are gold in the coaching community. After 11 years of full-time coaching, I hold to our team motto from the 2015 season, “TFRRS, only results matter.” In the social media world, trends come and go, but the TFRRS time stamp is forever. If you want to be in a faster section, put yourself there by attaining a faster time!

5. Meet Day Warm-Ups

During fall training at Minnesota State, our sprint/hurdle program has 4-5 different styles of warm-ups based on the theme of that day. Acceleration days bring warm-up exercises that have more horizontal projection qualities, while recovery days involve more dynamic stretches and relaxation.

On meet day, the theme is competition. The warm-up should reflect ascending intensities that lead into the race or event. It doesn’t take long in the warm-up area to realize this is not always the case. At times, the stress/excitement around competition reprograms the brain of the athlete and tells them they need all sorts of new and never-done exercises.

Collegiate athletes spend roughly 15 weeks in the fall performing coach-led warm-ups every day, only to forget them all the moment a meet starts. When you don’t know what to do, improvise. A standard B skip turns in to a series of large swooping front kicks, preparing the athlete to repeatedly kick down a door. A basic walking calf stretch turns into something resembling rolling up a rug as fast as possible, and athletes start to do weird short bursts of explosive high knees like they are playing track and field on the original Nintendo (NES) track pad.

Collegiate athletes spend roughly 15 weeks in the fall performing coach-led warm-ups every day, only to forget them all the moment a meet starts, says @ChrisParno. Share on X

No one is safe from this odd meet day warm-up occurrence, but it can turn into a detriment, as excessive warm-ups eventually bring diminished returns. A watchful eye and consistent communication on the goal of warm-ups can help rid the track community of this pet peeve.

6. Hand on the Hamstring

There is nothing worse than a race/attempt not going as planned. The hand on the hamstring coincides many times with the excessive seed time information from above.

We’ve all seen it happen: The gun goes off in the 200m, and in a flash the stagger is made up on an athlete and you can see the shift begin. The poor soul who had the stagger made up on them fights for a bit, but inevitably shifts down into cruise mode. As they come down the home stretch with about 30 meters to go, the athlete starts grabbing at their hamstring as if it has whispered to them “I got you.” The athlete’s running gait doesn’t change, and there is zero initial wincing, but when the athlete crosses the line (sometimes to the gentle clap of the crowd), they connect eyes with the athletic trainer (definitely not their coach) and most likely say something like “It went” or “I heard a pop.”

This isn’t to say injuries don’t happen, but deep down every sprint coach knows what happens next. The athlete gingerly walks over to the athletic trainer’s table and, as the gun goes off for the next race, their hamstring miraculously improves. The athlete is off the hook as the crowd turns their focus to the next crop of athletes. The AT will usually say they don’t feel any abnormalities or see a difference in range of motion and the mood lightens. With a 10-pound bag of ice wrapped around their leg, the athlete walks over to the coach, says they are fine, and asks, “What do we have for practice tomorrow?”

This can also be seen in the horizontal jumps with those athletes who request the clap and run through the board. As they walk back from the pit, they gingerly grab at their hamstring as if to say, “My bad, guys. Hammy flared up,” then walk right back and request the clap on the next jump attempt.

Injuries can be a part of track, and hamstrings do pull, but I’m sure the hammy is tired of being the scapegoat.

7. Same Arm Same Leg Syndrome (SASLS)

The last and final pet peeve covered here hits close to home, as its prevalence is getting out of control.

Let’s use the example of an athlete coming back from an ACL injury. During the rehabilitation process, walking on the injured leg without crutches will be a milestone. When asked to walk in rehab, subconsciously the athlete steps forward and subsequently swing the opposite arm to balance the movement. This movement pattern would repeat as if it’s been rehearsed for years. If the next exercise was for the athlete to walk using the leg and arm on the same side of the body, there would probably be a slight pause as the athlete consciously steps forward with both the right arm and right leg or vice versa. It an awkward movement that takes volitional effort to perform repeatedly.

All track events involving sprinting (excluding the pole vault and javelin) will display the athletes’ arms and legs working in opposition; the patterning is subconscious and learned during the early stages of life. When college media day hits, the fancy backdrops, bright lights, and thrill of wearing the uniform before ever racing clouds this ability. The photographer instructs the athlete to jump in the air and hit a “runner pose,” and boom…the right leg drives forward as well as the right arm. The athlete has unknowingly been hit with same arm same leg syndrome. After the photo session, do these athletes leave the media day by taking a step and swinging the same side’s arm? Odds are they don’t, which complicates our understanding of the syndrome.

Orsippus of Megara was a famous Greek athlete who competed in foot races in the 15th Olympics (720 B.C.E). He’s most known for running these foot races without clothes, but early images of him show that SASL syndrome may have ancient roots. Orsippus is depicted on old ceramic pots and others of the sort running with the same arm/same leg combo. The artist most likely misrepresented what they saw while Orsippus actually ran with limbs in opposition, but those pots may be the first known case of the syndrome that still plagues use today.

Other known sources of the syndrome:

1. Three-point starts: No matter what part of the season or level of sprint group, there will always be an athlete who routinely starts with the wrong hand down in a three-point stance. The syndrome clouds the hundreds of previous repetitions and the athletes often proclaim that the syndrome reps felt “weird.”
2. Races without blocks: This is by no means an indictment of all distance runners, as there are plenty of thoughts going through their minds before toeing a waterfall start. With that being said, next time you’re at a meet, take a picture of the waterfall start after the starter yells “runners to your marks” and you’ll see the syndrome on full display.
3. Non-track models doing photoshoots for various clothing lines or programs: Active wear advertisements are everywhere, with the goal clearly being to advertise the garments—not to be biomechanically correct. Whether its full plantar flexion at the height of a stride, extreme casting of the lower leg, or full-on SASLS syndrome, it’s hard at times to even see what company is doing the advertising when the syndrome is so noticeable. Even in the sport’s most prominent timing program, the syndrome is on full display.

There would never be promotional photos released on social media of a quarterback throwing the ball underhand, a tennis player in an athletic stance holding the racquet from the rim, or a swimmer pushing off the starting block backward…so why post these same arm/same leg syndrome photos for track and field?

There would never be promotional photos released on social media of a quarterback throwing the ball underhand, so why post same arm/same leg syndrome photos for track & field? Share on X

We can chalk it up to the media day atmosphere or some sort of odd camera inversion, but it’s safe to say a coach needs to be present at the media days and patrol their program’s social media posts. It’s contagious, but with diligent effort we can prevent it from being passed to future generations.

Part Funny, Part Not

Although I jest, this article is intended to showcase some of the pet peeves in our sport, help you correct them if you currently coach athletes, or at least give you a chuckle at your next track meet when you see something that I referenced here.

Each sport has its quirks, but track and field seems to take the cake, and you can likely make a list of your own on top of the seven presented above. All we can do as coaches, spectators, and fans is educate ourselves and not help embellish those quirks in the future!

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

Not long ago, I put a poll on Twitter asking if injuries were always preventable or if, at some point, no matter how much caution and how many interventions are in place, injuries will occur in competitive athletes. The overwhelming opinion appeared to be that as a competitive sportsperson, injuries are likely par for the course and at some point, you have to accept you will probably have to deal with an injury of some magnitude. That being said, I believe we, as coaches and athletes, need to take a large degree of responsibility for mitigating the risk of injury with sensible programming and sound mechanics.

Due to the volume of injuries I have had to manage throughout my time as a competitive athlete, I have likely never been able to realize my full potential. While some of those injuries were less avoidable than others, for the most part, a large degree of the responsibility rested on my shoulders. I am sure there are other athletes and coaches that share the same frustration that I do with regards to injuries disrupting progress.

There is a saying that the best ability is availability, which is something that has resonated with me on a deeper level as I have gotten older and gained experience. Phillip Bennett, a master’s athlete from North Carolina, recently tweeted that he received the advice that it is better to go into a competition 70% “ready” but 100% healthy. This led me to consider programming decisions and the concept that if you cannot remain healthy on the ‘perfect program’ then it is not the perfect program.

More recently, I have come around to the idea that performance and injury are two sides of the same coin. Vern Gambetta often speaks about the misguided concept of having a separate rehabilitation and prehabilitation program, and that any well-rounded training set up should have these features built in; this is something I agree with. I am fairly vocal on social media about the need for a holistic approach when developing sprinters. This is another example where I see the need for an integrated approach, with all stakeholders working together in unison to prepare the athlete for the demands of the competition.

With all of the above in mind, if you want to maximize your athletic potential, it is likely that you will face an injury at some point or another. I will share my experiences regarding some of the injuries I have faced, what I was doing at the time they occurred, some of my ideas as to the cause, some of the strategies I used to get back to full training, and how long that took.

If you want to maximize your athletic potential, it is likely that you will face an injury at some point or another, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

I have a better understanding of some injuries more than others, so the degree of detail I am able to provide will vary greatly from injury to injury. This writing is by no means intended to be exhaustive, and there are subtle variations in the types of injuries that can occur in similar parts of the body, as well as different approaches in returning to play that may be more or less appropriate for different individuals and their circumstances.

Finally, as a disclaimer, I am not a medical professional, and anything I have written is not intended to be specific advice for somebody who believes they are experiencing a similar issue. It is merely a recount of some of the injury issues I have had and how I have gone about managing them, and in some cases, some of the things I would do differently should the issue arise again.

Achilles Tendinopathy

I’ll start with my Achilles, as this is something that in recent years has caused the most disruption to my training—coaches such as Dan Pfaff and Brendan Thompson have probably gotten tired of hearing me whine about it. In early 2012, I completed a block session with no problem, but when I was cooling down by completing some easy strides, I became aware of a discomfort in my right Achilles tendon.

I discontinued the strides and went home without thinking too much about it, as the pain was minimal. However, I returned to the track a couple of days later with some mild discomfort still present and at my first attempt of performing a stride, the tendon felt weak, like I was unable to apply much force through it. I continued to rest off the track and looked into strategies to manage the issue so that I could hopefully return to sprinting as soon as possible.

I noticed that the pain and discomfort improved in the presence of heat therapy. I had a pack that could be heated in the microwave, which I would apply a couple of times a day, and in the shower each morning I would place the shower head directly over my Achilles whilst running the water as hot as I could tolerate. The theory behind this is that tendons themselves have low capillary density. This means that the blood supply to the area is poor, and therefore it takes longer and is more challenging to remove waste products and supply fresh, nutrient-rich blood to the area, both of which can promote healing.

Heating an area causes blood vessels to dilate, increasing them in diameter, which allows a greater volume of blood to pass through, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

Heating an area causes blood vessels to dilate, increasing them in diameter, which allows a greater volume of blood to pass through. Therefore, by heating my Achilles I could promote blood flow to the area, hopefully stimulating the healing process. Additionally, one of the reasons we warm up is to encourage the tissues to become more pliable for the stress we are about to place on it. Heating the Achilles could potentially acutely increase the suppleness of the tissues, improving sensations of discomfort for the short term.

Heating the Achilles could potentially acutely increase the suppleness of the tissues, improving sensations of discomfort for the short term, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

I also saw a therapist, Liam George, based in Luton, England, who performed a cross friction technique which seemed to significantly help the issue. It has been suggested to me that this may have helped in reducing tendon thickness by stimulating the nerves in and around the area.

I was initially able to return to full training within about two months, but it is an issue I have had to manage ever since, and I have had to be careful regarding exercise selection in order to minimize the risk of subsequent flare ups. I found that activities that promoted repetitive or slow foot contacts aggravated my Achilles, therefore I opted against things such as jogging or slow tempo, and even short accelerations (my basis being the ground contacts were longer than they were in upright running).

My main choice of exercise, once able to return to running, was fly runs with an adjusted gait during early acceleration to decrease ground contact time whilst I transitioned into a more upright posture. With these, I gave myself ample recovery, so I was able to maintain good mechanics and crisp contacts whilst progressing in rep distances and volumes. Adjusting acceleration mechanics in this way may not be ideal in the long term, but in my opinion, it served its purpose by allowing me to perform sprints in some capacity and conditioning it by placing specific stress upon the tissue.

In May 2019, my Achilles issue returned, by which point I was living in the U.S. and had access to the U.S. healthcare system, and therefore sought the advice of a doctor who suggested that dry needling, in combination with prolotherapy, may be a viable strategy to get me back on the track. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and this is not an approach I would use again.

By the time I had the procedure, the tendon had already begun to improve slightly, but having already gotten the wheels in motion for the injection and needling, and with the hope it could prevent a return of future Achilles issues, I went ahead with the intervention. After the injection and needling, I was told not to jog for three weeks and by the time those three weeks had passed, there was no chance I would have been able to jog.

Four months post-procedure, I tried to jog but the discomfort was considerable and by the summer of 2020, having tried various anti-inflammatories, collagen, cold laser therapy, self-massage, rolling, and isometrics, I was able to return to the track. I am far from certain as to how much benefit any of these interventions provided and it is still an issue I need to be cognizant of, as I certainly do not want to have to take another year off from running to nurse another Achilles tendon issue.

Calves

Very possibly related to my Achilles, over the past few years I have had some issues with my calves. I use the term “calves” to encompass my gastrocnemius, soleus, and tibialis posterior. In mid-2015, I was running a 150-meter run at high intensity, and without warning I felt a sharp pain in the lower part of my left leg, forcing me to end the session early. The pain began to subside fairly quickly, and through some dry needling, which was extremely painful as the time, with a lot of twitching, the issue was resolved quickly and I was back into full training in about four weeks.

The most debilitating of these issues has been with the medial head of my right gastrocnemius. In late 2017, I was running a relatively fast 250-meter run, and after about 150 meters I felt a sudden sharp pain, again forcing me to stop and end the training session there. After resting for a couple of weeks and a session of dry needling, it felt like it had returned close to normal with just a little residual tightness. However, during a session of easy strides, I again felt a sudden pain and was forced to stop.

The aspect that I found most challenging with this issue is that I would not feel any real sensation to suggest there was a problem, yet running or drills would cause a reaction, so it required me to exercise more caution than had been necessary for most of my prior injuries. Through therapy, massage, and the way the tissue reacted to needling, it appeared the area was chronically tight, which took a while (four to five months) to dissipate to a point where I was able to return to consistent, high-intensity running.

Throughout returning to play I was extremely patient (not something I found easy as it is not a strength of mine) and progressive. Initially, I tried to get on the grass whenever possible, though because I was living in Dubai at the time, often I was not allowed to use it, so I substituted in artificial turf and performed short, sub-maximal accelerations in training flats.

An example would be two sets of four 30-meter runs with a walk back recovery between repetitions and four to five minutes between sets. I gradually increased the intensity of these and then the distance and volume of the runs, before moving to the track and performing similar sessions, then finally transitioning back into spikes as the distances stretched out far enough to be considered maximum velocity work.

One of the things I noticed since the onset of this issue was that it took a long time (several weeks of regular sprint training) before my calves appeared to be conditioned and resilient to the stress placed upon them—which could potentially be related to my age, as I was 35 at the time. During this period, each morning, particularly after I had run, I had a lot of soreness in my calves and for the first few minutes after waking. I would walk very flat footed, which really emphasized to me the concept of “use it or lose it.” With respect to managing and rehabbing these issues, I had to pay close attention to how my Achilles felt, as some activities recommended to prepare my calves for high intensity stress (such as jogging, skipping, and calf raises) had irritated that area in the past.

Hamstrings

It’s very likely that, when speaking to a sprinter about injuries, hamstrings will come up in the conversation. Throughout my twenties, if I had an injury it was usually related to my hamstrings. There was more than one occasion where I had felt in good shape and was performing at close to personal-best levels, when a hamstring issue would arise in training or in competition which would prevent me from running for a few weeks.

It’s very likely that, when speaking to a sprinter about injuries, hamstrings will come up in the conversation, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

Typically, any hamstring issue would occur during a maximum velocity or speed maintenance phase of running, as opposed to early acceleration. The occasion that stands out was in 2006 when I was 80 meters into a 200-meter race, having run personal best times over 100 and 200 meters three weeks earlier. Hamstring injuries are perhaps more likely to occur in maximum velocity mechanics due to the more compromising positions the hamstring can be placed in throughout this cycle.

The hamstring muscle group serves two purposes: operating as hip extensors and as knee flexors. At a point in the cycle of a stride, the hamstring is required to both extend the hip and to eccentrically control the opening of the knee, placing it under large magnitudes of stress with both these actions occurring nearly simultaneously with high forces and velocities.

The hamstring muscle group serves two purposes: operating as hip extensors and as knee flexors, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

It is worth considering that pain in hamstring issues, as often discussed and perhaps bastardised, may originate elsewhere in some cases. Therefore, ensuring that the tissue is moving freely elsewhere in the chain may help relieve some of the tension, and in my experience, manual therapy or use of a lacrosse ball around the lower back and gluteal muscles has offset some of the discomfort in my hamstrings, occasionally with an immediate and noticeable benefit.

For example, there are some suggestions that in most of the population the sciatic nerve passes underneath the piriformis muscle, but that in a small percentage of the population, the nerve passes through the muscle. If this were the case, then should the piriformis become excessively tight, then it could theoretically impinge upon the nerve causing a referred sensation further down the leg, and by releasing the piriformis, hamstring pain or tightness could be relieved.

A typical recovery timeline from this kind of issue was about six to eight weeks, but again it is imperative to avoid too much stress too early as I found the risk of re-injury to be significant. This meant that it could take up to twelve weeks before I was able to return to consistent, full sprinting. When returning to play I followed some of the protocols outlined in the Charlie Francis literature, with a very progressive ‘short to long’ approach to acceleration and speed work, starting with runs as short as five meters while also integrating some bike work and jogging as tolerated to help retain some of the more general fitness qualities.

My feelings are that when training, mitigating the risk of hamstring issues can generally be tackled from two perspectives. Firstly, sound mechanics can reduce the magnitude of undue stress placed upon the muscle group. By landing close to a point under the center of mass, the degree of ‘pulling’ throughout initial ground contact can be reduced, offsetting the load placed upon the hip extensors. To assist in making contact with the ground at a suitable location with respect to the hips, avoiding an excessively plantarflexed ankle and landing flat can reduce the extent of what may be termed a “pawing” action.

Secondly, as mentioned briefly in the introduction, appropriate management of the volumes, intensities, and densities of training, with sensible programming decisions, can help to offset the risk of hamstring issues (as it does with most or all other issues). Excessive volumes and frequencies of high intensity sprinting serve to increase the risk of injury and while there are guidelines of what is appropriate in terms of dosage, learning to understand your body or the bodies of your athletes can allow for a more targeted approach to managing these variables.

Appropriate management of the volumes, intensities, and densities of training, with sensible programming decisions, can help to offset the risk of hamstring issues, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

Back

In the summer of 2005, I was performing some relatively light cleans when I felt a strange popping sensation in my lower back. At the time, my father lived in Western Australia and I was flying out to visit him, and I remember that the movement in my back had become so restricted that I had to crawl out of the car on all fours when my mother dropped me at the airport. I was not looking forward to the next 20 hours sitting on a plane!

After returning from Australia (using heat patches throughout the flights) I had a couple of sessions of sports massage which did not seem to provide too much benefit, but I got back into training and was introduced to the concept of a chiropractic adjustment, which brought about an immediate and noticeable benefit. In the subsequent, similar issues in either the lumbar or thoracic regions, I have found that waiting a few days after the onset of the issue before seeing a chiropractor or osteopath has led to better results—perhaps because it allows the muscles in the area that may have spasmed to relax.

If a positive thing about an injury exists, it may be that in this case, the fix is relatively quick and easy, and a return to full training can be within a week or so. Chiropractic care is surrounded by some controversy as there is little evidence to suggest that an adjustment can move bones, and I have heard theories ranging from adjustments releasing pain-relieving hormones to a placebo effect explaining the mechanisms behind this kind of treatment. However, as an athlete, I am personally less interested in the reasons why we feel better than I am in the fact that we simply do feel better.

I am personally less interested in the reasons *why* we feel better than I am in the fact that we simply *do* feel better, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

There have been several occasions where I felt this type of treatment has benefitted me, so it is therefore something I have continued to use despite some of the negative perceptions surrounding it. Those with the negative opinions of adjustments can easily make the claim that, if they were that beneficial, I would not have repeat issues nor would I have to continue with this type of treatment. However, this is where I accept some of the responsibility for my injuries and appreciate that I may need to change some of my habits to avoid recurring injuries to the same area.

In order to reduce the incidence of these issues, I have modified and vastly reduced the volume of lifting I do, as I alluded to in my last article, “Training Volume, Intensity, and Density in a Masters Sprinter”, and I have noticed a significant improvement in how my back feels on a daily basis. As with anything, a risk versus reward analysis is required when deciding upon how to approach a resistance training program, and staying healthy and consistent in my training outweighs the potential performance increase I may get from performing regular heavy lifting.

In addition, I have increased my focus on simple back mobility exercises, rolling my back regularly, and have paid more attention to my sleeping position. In the past I often slept on my stomach and found that this seemed to compound any tightness in my back, while making a concerted effort to sleep on my side has left me waking up feeling more mobile early in the mornings.

In the past I often slept on my stomach and found that this seemed to compound any tightness in my back, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

Shoulder

In early 2003, I was very new to resistance training and was using a Pec Deck machine when the weights returned to the stack with enough violence it caused the pad of the machine to forcefully return to its resting position, partially dislocating my right shoulder. The ball felt like it was out of the socket for a split second before relocating itself and was painful for a week or two before I was able to stress the joint again in training.

Over the next few years, similar incidents would occur: once when squatting; once when performing punches whilst doing some boxing pad drills in a circuit training session; and most recently during a fall when doing hurdle hops. With each subsequent occasion, it appeared to take longer for the shoulder to relocate and the pain would last longer afterwards. For example, the most recent incident in 2015 (after the hurdle hop fail), the shoulder was dislocated for around 45 minutes and I was not comfortable maximally stressing the joint for five to six weeks afterwards.

In 2005, I had a shoulder arthroscopy which I was told found no abnormalities within the shoulder joint, but I have been aware for a long time that my shoulder strength and mobility appears to be poor—but perhaps within acceptable ranges. Fortunate for sprinters, there is little requirement to stress the shoulder joint with high loads, which perhaps raises an entirely different question about the need to perform certain actions in the weight room that are often staple exercises in many sprinters’ training programs. (Including my own! Perhaps a case of “we’ve always done it this way”?) Regardless, it meant that while I could not directly load the shoulder joint, I was able to run at fairly high intensities within a couple of weeks of hurting my shoulder.

My approach to overcoming and trying to prevent these events from recurring was to use light loads and perform movements whereby the shoulder joint would travel through a full range of motion. Rotation exercises using a TheraBand and dumbbell exercises that targeted the deltoids were my starting point in the progression, before building up to dips and heavier presses, always ensuring full ranges of movement.

Concluding Remarks

When injuries arise, my advice would be to seek professional help if you are in any way uncertain about how to approach returning to play. I am by no means qualified to advise you, nor am I attempting to, on what you should and should not do in the event that you do become injured. My own personal experience has taught me that injuries need to be respected and adequate time is required before starting on a progression, and adequate time is required throughout each stage of a progression.

When injuries arise, my advice would be to seek professional help if you are in any way uncertain about how to approach returning to play, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

In Ryan Banta’s new podcast, he interviewed Dan Pfaff in the first episode and something that resonated with me was a comment Dan made about the “rule of ten days,” essentially pointing out that time heals most ailments and things will start to feel better given adequate rest. This fell in line with a thought process I have had in the past regarding healing and the fact that perhaps it’s an arrogant mindset to believe that we know better than Mother Nature and can shortcut recovery processes that have been put in place over the course of thousands of years of evolution.

Time heals most ailments and things will start to feel better given adequate rest, says @davidmaris958. Share on X

Therefore, despite the fact that some injuries may be unpreventable, perhaps the most meaningful impact we can have, with regards to injury management, is having sound practices that help prevent their onset in the first place. Despite injuries being part and parcel of competitive sport, through appropriate loading and programming, and via optimizing mechanics, the risk can be mitigated.

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

In 2014, my mind was made up: I was going to be a basketball strength and conditioning coach. It was my favorite sport, and I had played through high school as well as club in college, so it was a no-brainer. Up until this point, I had followed that path and carefully planned every step to achieve my goal. Then, in the spring of 2017, my head strength and conditioning coach took another position at a different university and I was asked to take over our college’s soccer teams.

As strength and conditioning coaches, we pride ourselves on being able to work with virtually any sport, team, or individual. With court sports, I was in my element—tracking jumps, heart rates, GPS metrics, all of it. I was able to account for the rigors of practice and multiple factors and adjust the physical training program accordingly. Soccer, though, was a different game. I had been around field sports and assisted with them in the past, but now I was THE GUY.

Many performance coaches are in a situation where they may only be in charge of the weight room, while the sport coach takes care of the conditioning work—that, however, didn’t seem to be the best approach for me. I wanted it all. I wanted to seamlessly integrate the on-field work with the weight room work and be an extension of the coaching staff in the way that performance coaches operate at the pro level. My problem? I was in a mid-major Division I school with few resources—and even less time—to devote to the soccer programs in addition to my other teams.

I needed help.

I reached out to some generous and skilled coaches and was able to connect with Charles Burdick of the Portland Timbers, Damian Roden (then with the Seattle Sounders), Josh McAllister (then with Minnesota United), John Cone from Fit for 90, and Tony Jouaux with the New York Red Bulls. Through conversations with these coaches, as well as reading Raymond Verheijen’s work, I was able to learn about tactical periodization and a few of the different methods for implementing it in a soccer program.

Background: On the Pitch and in the Gym

The planning of soccer training ranges from highly complex and esoteric systems to far more simplistic (and outdated) approaches, and it most commonly falls between the two ends of the spectrum. For most universities, soccer is not a revenue-earning sport and therefore does not get the focused attention it deserves.

Typically, training programs have been separated into the “on-field practice” and the “in the weight room” development period. In fact, many soccer coaches cease all weight training during the season in order to maximize practice and recovery time while trying not to make the players “sore.” Although this outlook has some merit (the focus of soccer is to play better soccer, not to lift heavier weights), the implementation is largely flawed. If we spend a large portion of the off-season developing physical qualities in the weight room—such as strength, power, elasticity, etc.—then the qualities will last for the pre-season and perhaps at most for the early part of the regular season, based on what we know about the residuals of each of these training effects.

During the in-season phase, while we want to maintain the focus on actual play, we cannot neglect physical development and maintenance. Often, coaches will see sharp play with the team performing very well and then a notable drop-off that correlates to the cessation of weight training. At that point, injuries start to increase and resilience decreases, leaving the coach looking for someone to blame…with the strength coach often the scapegoat.

Enter Tactical Periodization

While most performance coaches have been at least exposed to the term “tactical periodization” and a great many have likely implemented a version of it, this article serves to lay out one particularly effective way to implement the concept. Essentially, tactical periodization is the preparation of team sport PLAYERS. This is an important distinction, because we are not solely working on athleticism—we are trying to develop players in relation to the game.

The focus of tactical periodization is on four moments: offense, transition to defense, defense, and transition to offense, says @JuanCTPerez. Share on X

The focus of tactical periodization is on four moments: offense, transition to defense, defense, and transition to offense. The whole training scheme is then organized around these qualities, but it also takes into account the physical qualities necessary to play at a high level by harmoniously combining the physical preparation with the technical and tactical qualities needed for in-game performance.

Organization of Training

When planning for optimal performance in sport, coaches should start with the destination in mind and work backward. For soccer programming, you will often see the equation match day +/-(x), with x being a number from 1-6. This is simply a way to plan out how many days there are before game day. For example, if the match is on Sunday and it is now Monday, it is match day -6. In the same circumstance, Tuesday would be match day -5 and so on until the actual day that the match day is played, which is match day 0. (The day after the match can also be referred to as match day +1, and so on.)

The goal of training, as always, is to be as rested as possible for game day, while still keeping the necessary training load. From my coaching experience working with men’s soccer, for example, the day after a match was a movement day. This allowed us to flush out the muscles and promote blood flow to help recovery, with the following day being the designated off day.

Moving forward through the week, we rotated technical and tactical days, with the tactical work being more of a difficult day and the technical day being more of a lighter day. We also matched that up with our physical training schedule, so our tactical (or harder) days were our weight training days. Our technical days during the season were more of a recovery day, where we could apply a stimulus such as some quality sprint work, but we decreased overall volume to a level that left the players feeling fresh. This doesn’t always work, but in a setting where everyone is on board, it provides for heavy loading when necessary but also optimizes on-field work and helps to promote readiness for match day.

Characteristics of Soccer Performance

During this planning phase, it is important to keep in mind the four moments, which can be condensed into three categories: attacking, transition, and defending. We take these categories into account by focusing on the “characteristics” of the sport, which are:

• Performing better actions.
• Performing more actions.
• Maintaining good actions.
• Maintaining many actions.

Better in this context means sharper/more explosive actions. What’s nice about this system is that you can almost tie these categories directly to certain physiological adaptations. For example, if you want better actions, then that will correlate with explosive training (more on that later).

Activation

Whether activation, pillar prep, or whatever else you would like to call it, this time is almost a “pre warm-up.” While it may sound redundant, splitting your prep time into activation and then warm-up can help keep your team much more organized, as well as provide for opportunities of leadership among the team itself.

For example, in our activation time, we would start on the ground with foam rolling and soft tissue prep. We would then move to prone, supine, and quadruped hip mobility and core stability, and conclude with some standing band activation work. Having this time when players could dial in on problem areas flowed into a smoother warm-up and duly served as a time to mentally prepare for the activity to come. Additionally, this was a sequence that the team could do on their own, so as to use their time wisely instead of standing around.

While there were many similarities between our activation and that of other sports, we spent a good portion of time focused on the musculature surrounding the hips, knees, and ankles. Additionally, one of the main differentiators that was almost a bridge movement right into our warm-up was how we trained the vestibular system and balance. In soccer there are many instances where a player may find themselves on the ground and have to reorient and reestablish their position. We aimed to focus in on this by incorporating starts from the ground (laying on chest or back) and rolling variations (front roll, back roll) into a run.

The Warm-Up

While warm-ups are often overlooked as a necessary evil, you can also program them thoughtfully to assist your training session and overall training load. By implementing key components into the warm-up, coaches can provide more exposure over time to that stimulus. Another point to keep in mind is that players CAN reach a point of diminishing returns with a warm-up, so it is helpful to adapt certain aspects over time.

When I say this, I don’t only mean physically—although this too is a factor—but more so mentally. When you implement different movements into the warm-up at key points (though never before a game, as you don’t want the player uselessly spending their mental resources at this point), engagement instantly increases, as the players are mentally stimulated by the change. By periodically progressing the warm-up, just as you would progress an exercise in the weight room, it will directly benefit the work that follows.

By periodically progressing the warm-up, just as you would progress an exercise in the weight room, it will directly benefit the work that follows, says @JuanCTPerez. Share on X

The focus of the warm-up can change with the focus of the week, in accordance with the characteristics. For example, in the pre-season, my weekly focus was on accumulating volume (perform more actions)—so in my warm-up, I implemented extensive endurance. To adapt my warm-up to this focus, I increased the distance of warm-up activities as compared to the intensive warm-up, which included more short burst and higher-intensity drills (perform better actions). If your focus is intensive endurance, you could include more repeated short sprint efforts (maintain good/more actions).

While the focus of the week may change, when working with team sport, we know that there will always be some sort of short burst included. One way I accounted for this was by including acceleration runs over shorter distances. We implemented this right before the main work was done, and at times it even preceded the on-field ball work during our extensive endurance weeks.

Another category I included in our warm-up was extensive interval training. To implement this, I used longer timed intervals, but also included longer timed rest.

If this is confusing to follow, a quick rule of thumb when categorizing is as follows:

• Extensive endurance—incomplete rest, longer distance (perform more actions).
• Intensive endurance—incomplete rest, shorter distance (perform more actions).
• Extensive interval training—complete rest, longer intervals (time) (maintain more/better actions).
• Longer acceleration runs (maintain better/more actions).
• Repeat short sprint ability (maintain better actions).
• Shorter acceleration runs (perform better actions).

*Keep in mind that this is how I correlated the runs to the characteristics. Additionally, I manipulated the characteristic I was targeting based on the rest. As you can see, I categorized some of the runs we did under multiple characteristics. This may look different for you.

In conjunction, we laid out the on-field work to go in a cycle of larger spaces to smaller spaces. This parallels our physical preparation and ensures that each quality gets the necessary stimulus to adapt.

We laid out the on-field work to go in a cycle of larger to smaller spaces. This parallels our physical preparation and ensures that each quality gets the necessary stimulus to adapt. Share on X

In practice, this would look like the first two weeks with larger spaces (think full field), whereas the next two weeks would be moderate-sized spaces (partial field), and the last two weeks would be even smaller spaces/small-sided games. With this implementation, the practice goes from longer, slower movements to much more fast-paced/rapid movements and sharpness of play.

While it may seem counterintuitive to have larger spaces for slower movements, it works very well—the reason for this is that in the larger spaces there are more players, so much more passing is involved. This decreases the number of shorter bursts, quick cuts, and eccentric load you may see when one player challenges another for possession in the smaller spaces. Though the players may reach a higher velocity in certain scenarios in bigger spaces, this is mitigated over time and by the conditioning level of each player. (Early on, players will likely not be in as good shape, so coaches can specifically encourage more of a passing game.)

You can keep the cycles for as long as you’d like, but from my own implementation, the two-week phase allows for more positive adaptation to the stimulus.

The Cooldown/Postgame

This part of the training program is often overlooked, maybe more so than the warm-up. Post game, it is HIGHLY important to:

1. Refuel the player with proper nutrition.
2. Help restore proper blood flow to the extremities.
3. Jumpstart recovery: The team that recovers faster will naturally be in a better position to train during the week and play come next match day.

*A Note on Bench Players

While these steps are imperative for players in the regular rotation, players on the bench need a different approach. These traditionally overlooked players have essentially lost a training day, and so they NEED a stimulus to help maintain their readiness. This can be determined in different ways depending on your means (whether or not you have access to GPS or metrics), but the most essential part is that the player is exposed to some high-intensity intervals of some sort, much like they would be in the game. This too will fall under the characteristics of soccer performance I wanted to target, so for me, the stimulus changed depending on the week.

Results

There are many different approaches you can implement to be successful, and this is by no means the only way, but the results speak for themselves. That year I began, the team was comfortably over .500 through the regular season and earned a first-round bye in the Sunbelt Conference Tournament (this after ranking in the bottom of the conference and averaging more losses than wins just two seasons before). Most of the credit belongs with the phenomenal coaching, as well as a good job recruiting talented players. Having said that, though, most of our starting 11 consisted of returning players, so let that be food for thought.

After that season, my career took me in a different direction, so I didn’t spend as much time as I would have liked with the team—and shortly after my departure, the university unfortunately cut the program as a varsity sport. To truly confirm these results, I would have liked to work with the team for two to three more years, but I will forever value the time I had, and the results of the approach still shine through.

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