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Imagine hoisting a 16-pound bowling ball to your shoulders and, with one arm, heaving it 77 feet, 2 inches. Then attach a 3-foot, 2-inch wire to it, swing it around a few times, and heave it 284 feet. Now take a dinner serving plate that weighs 4.4 pounds and toss it 243 feet. Those numbers represent the men’s world records in the shot put, hammer throw, and discus—that’s power!

As a weightlifter and weightlifting coach, I’ve always been interested in throwers because they often perform weightlifting movements, and a few go on to become elite weightlifters. I lived in Northern California in the 1970s and early 80s, and among the most remarkable dual-sport power athletes here were Ken Patera, Bruce Wilhelm, and Al Feuerbach.

Patera and Wilhelm trained at the Sports Palace Gym in San Francisco under Coach Jim Schmitz. Schmitz, my first and only coach, was a three-time Olympic Games coach and had a knack for getting the most out of big men. Patera placed sixth in the shot put in the 1968 Olympic Trials and had a best of 64-7 (19.7m) when the world record was 69-2 (21m).

As a weightlifter and weightlifting coach, I’ve always been interested in throwers because they often perform weightlifting movements, and a few go on to become elite weightlifters, says Kim Goss. Share on X

Patera moved on from track to compete in the 1972 Olympics in weightlifting, was the first American to clean and jerk 500 pounds, and was the only American to Olympic press 500 pounds. Although Russia’s Vasily Alexeev was the first to clean and jerk 500 pounds in 1970, six months before that historic lift, Patera cleaned 500 but missed the jerk when the platform collapsed.

Wilhelm placed fifth in the shot put in the 1972 Olympic Trials, fifth in weightlifting in the 1976 Olympics, and became the first American to snatch 400 pounds. Wilhelm’s best official shot put was 66-1.4 (20.12m), and he unofficially hit 68-9 (21m).

Feuerbach trained at the San Jose YMCA in San Jose, California, where I worked as a Nautilus instructor (yeah, I know). A three-time Olympian (counting the boycotted 1980 Games), Feuerbach established a world record shot put of 71-7 (21.82m). He made this historic mark on May 5, 1973, during the San Jose Invitational at San Jose State College. Five weeks later, Feuerbach placed second in the Senior National Weightlifting Championships in the 242-pound bodyweight class. He won the meet the following year, snatching 341 pounds and clean and jerking 418.

There were many other elite throwers in Northern California who could have excelled in weightlifting competitions. For example, I often trained at the Iron Works Gym in San Jose, where I saw Olympians Mac Wilkins and Brian Oldfield train. Wilkins was the 1976 Olympic champion and broke the official world record in the discus four times. Oldfield put the shot a world record of 75 feet (22.86m) as a professional. Wilkins and Oldfield were physically impressive and as strong as they looked.

In one workout, I saw Wilkins easily snatch 308 pounds (I heard his best was 330), and the May 1973 issue of Strength and Health magazine has an early photo of Oldfield clean and jerking 350 pounds in competition. I asked Oldfield what he thought the best lift was for the shot put. His answer was the Olympic press, which was dropped from weightlifting competitions after the 1972 Olympics. Oldfield practiced what he preached and became exceptionally powerful in overhead movements—he reportedly could push press over 400 pounds.

Having watched several elite throwers train and coached a few who competed at the collegiate and post-collegiate levels over the past four decades, I’d like to share six key points I’ve discovered.

1. Mass vs. Class

Except for a few phenoms, such as Feuerbach, who stood 6-1, elite throwers tend to be exceptionally tall. Consider the heights of the 2024 gold medal winners in the Olympics:

If there is an exception to the “taller is better” rule, it would be the hammer throw. The current world record in this event is held by two-time Olympic Champion Yuriy Sedykh, who threw 284-6 3/4 (86.74m) in 1986. He stands 6-1. The US record is held by three-time Olympian Rudy Winkler at 271-4 (82.71m). Winkler is 6-2. On the women’s side, Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland holds the world record at 272-2 3/4 (82.98m). Wlodarczyzk is a three-time Olympic gold medalist and is considered the greatest female hammer thrower ever. She is 5-9.

While this discussion primarily focuses on male throwers, I would like to share my thoughts on training female throwers.

2. The Fabulous Females

My weightlifting background enabled me to coach several remarkable female throwers in the 80s and 90s. What I want you to consider is that a large increase in body mass may not be necessary to achieve optimal performance, at least for female throwers.

My weightlifting background enabled me to coach several remarkable female throwers. I want you to consider that a large increase in body mass may not be necessary to optimal performance, at least for female throwers, says Kim Goss. Share on X

Okay, storytime—after serving a four-year Air Force tour (1978-82), I returned to Northern California to finish my undergraduate degree at California State University, Hayward. While there, I enrolled in Dr. Don Chu’s weight training class. Dr. Chu is best known for his work in plyometrics, but his resume as a jump coach includes 45 All-Americans and 17 national champions. As a result, his PE class attracted several high-level track and field athletes. One was Glenda Ford, a discus thrower and shot putter.

Ford was already an exceptional powerlifter, having done a 358-pound squat in competition (credit to Gary Hunnicutt for coaching her in this lift). Thanks to her coach, Dr. Harmon Brown, she also had exceptional throwing technique. When I met her, Ford had set an NCAA Division II record with a winning throw of 162-1 (49.4m) at the 1983 national championships. At this time, I introduced Ford to the full lifts.

Ford improved to 181-7 (55.2m) the following year, which is especially impressive considering her relatively light bodyweight. “She was the best discus thrower in the country for her size,” says Brown. Ford was also, pound-for-pound, an excellent weightlifter.

Ford competed in the 148-pound bodyweight class and broke an unofficial world record in the snatch at the 1985 Senior National Weightlifting Championships. She also placed fourth in the World Weightlifting Championships.

Another powerful athlete I coached, but only after she retired from throwing, was Lindsey Spencer. She had represented Utah State, and her PRs include 178-9 (54.48m) in the discus, 203-4 (61.99m) in the hammer, and 48-11.75 (14.93m) in the shot put. About ten years ago, Spencer moved to Rhode Island to work with me on the Olympic lifts (see video 1).

Spencer’s athleticism and explosiveness remind us that throwers are athletes, and this athleticism transfers to the lifting platform. After just four months of training, she officially broke the New England record in the clean and jerk, lifting 223 pounds in the clean and jerk at the 2014 Arnold Championships. From there, Spencer competed at an elite level in raw powerlifting (squat 419.9 pounds, bench 248, deadlift 440.9 at a bodyweight of 185 pounds) and went to battle in the octagon in MMA.

Video 1. Lindsey Spencer was an elite college thrower who went on to compete at a high level in weightlifting, powerlifting, and MMA.

At a world-class level, I want to mention two more female throwers: Carol Cady and Suzy Powell-Roos. Both broke American records in the discus and used weightlifting as their primary method of strength training.

Cady broke the American record in the discus with 216-8 (66.1m) and unofficial American records in the hammer throw (as it was not an official event at the time). Cady then broke all the American weightlifting records in the 181-pound bodyweight class and competed in the World Weightlifting Championships.

As for Suzy Powell-Roos, I did a feature on her for the Summer 2000 issue of BFS magazine when she was pursuing Cady’s American record. Her strength coach at the time was John McBride of the University of the Pacific.

“He [McBride] gave me my first real introduction to weightlifting,” says Powell-Roos. “He showed me how to do cleans and snatches.” The result? Powell-Roos competed in the 1996, 2000, and 2008 Olympics. In 2007, she threw 222 (67.67m) to break Cady’s long-standing record, and in 2007 hit 227-82 (69.44m). She competed at a bodyweight of 174 pounds.

All these athletes mentioned so far, both male and female, were relatively lean. Could they have thrown farther if they had increased their bodyweight, even if the additional mass was not muscle?

Except for a few phenoms, such as Feuerbach, who stood 6-1, elite throwers tend to be exceptionally tall. If there is an exception to the ‘taller is better’ rule, it would be the hammer throw, says Kim Goss. Share on X

3. You Can’t Flex Fat

In the 1970s, I trained and worked at Bob’s Health Club in Fremont, California (being paid with tubs of protein powder—seriously). I saw the owner, Bob Perata, take a member’s arm measurements with his arm held straight down, which I thought was odd. When I asked my boss why he didn’t have the member flex his biceps to take the measurement, he repeated a motto Arnold Schwarzenegger made popular, “Because you can’t flex fat!” Likewise, throwers must question the value of adding fat mass for the sake of adding fat mass.

Although the data from this study on high-level throwers is from the 70s and 80s, it’s interesting that the researchers concluded, “On average, male throwers had a body fat of 15.9 percent, while females had a percent body fat of 25.4 percent.” These numbers are far below the averages of most Americans, not that the average bodyfat levels of most Americans are optimal. That said, being healthy is one thing, and achieving peak performance is another.

I haven’t found any studies on how adding fat mass directly affects throwing performance. However, we can infer some conclusions from observing weightlifters who move up bodyweight classes and become less efficient. In the following example, I selected weightlifters over powerlifters beyond just having a single set of standardized rules for competition. Let me explain.

Yes, powerlifters are strong, with 1,000-pound squats and deadlifts becoming commonplace. However, speed is a component of the power equation. In powerlifting (PL), power output decreases significantly with heavier weights because movement speed decreases. “Thus, there is an inverse relationship between power output and performance in competitive PL,” says biomechanics researcher Dr. John Garhammer. Let me share a real-world example of why weightlifting is better than powerlifting, at least at the higher performance levels.

I met Grace Apiafi from Nigeria in Colorado Springs in 1987. She had put the shot 43-4 (13.24m) in the 1979 African Championships and then retired. About six months before the 1988 Olympics, Apiafi told me she wanted to make the Olympic team. Besides being detrained from a strength training perspective, her primary fitness training for the previous three years was teaching aerobic dance to school children. Further, in her competitive days, the power lifts were her primary method of strength training.

After such a long layoff and having a few months to get her ready for her Olympic Trials, it would be difficult to get Apiafi’s strength back to her previous levels in the powerlifts. Instead, I had her focus on weightlifting, and she even competed in a weightlifting meet we held at the Air Force Academy. Apiafi not only made the Olympic team but also set a personal record in the shot at 49-4 (15.06m), a six-foot improvement. Success leaves clues.

Getting back to my bodyfat example, consider that in 1984, Russia’s Anatoly Pisarenko clean and jerked 584.2 pounds, an absolute world record. In 2021, Georgia’s Lasha Talakhadze clean and jerked 588.6 pounds, the current world record. Crunching the numbers, it took 37 years to increase the record by 4.4 pounds. A victory is a victory, but at what cost?

Pisarenko’s bodyweight was about 271 pounds. Talakhadze has weighed as much as 403 pounds, a difference of 132 pounds. Was that much additional bodyweight, much of it in the form of fat, necessary for Talakhadze to lift the all-time record—or are we looking at a dramatic case of diminishing returns?

Based on a paper he published in 2002, Russian sports scientist Igor Abramovsky would say Talakhadze’s additional fat mass may have been unnecessary “because the weightlifter has to lift this excess weight during the execution of the weightlifting exercises; second, the sportsman’s speed deteriorates.” Further, in a 1985 medical symposium, researchers estimated that a bodyweight over 308 pounds results in a point of diminishing returns for a weightlifter. There is also the issue of the added mass adversely affecting lifting technique.

According to weightlifting sports scientist Bud Charniga, “The combined girth of the belly and thighs of the biggest athletes conspire to force the athlete to fix the weight higher, i.e., creating a less stable center of mass of athlete – barbell unit.” Expanding on Charniga’s statement, more weight can be lifted to a lower height, so having to catch the barbell in a higher position reduces how much a weightlifter can lift. Excessive fat mass is especially problematic for women.

According to Charniga, compared to male lifters, female lifters “have smaller bones, comparatively less muscle mass and proportionally greater fat mass than their male counterparts. Consequently, with the rise in bodyweight in excess of the now 90 kg (198 pounds) border, females will tend to add more fat mass relative to the increase in muscle mass.”

How can you tell when enough muscle mass and total bodyweight is enough for a shot putter, discus thrower, or hammer thrower? And how should strength training workouts for throwers be designed? I have some ideas.

4. The Switch to Fast Twitch

You will hear bodybuilding writers use terms such as muscle maturity, muscle fullness, muscle density, and muscle hardness—I have no idea what they are talking about. What I do know is that throwers should be most concerned with how their muscles perform, not how they look.

Consider the following conclusion from a 2022 study published in the International Journal of Exercise Science: “Shot put performance depends on the development of maximal force in minimal time.” So, a better question is not how much muscle a thrower needs to pack on their frame, but “Which muscle fibers produce the most powerful muscular contractions?”

There are two basic types of muscle fibers: Type I (slow twitch) and Type II (fast twitch). Type I fibers are less powerful than Type II fibers but have greater endurance. Bodybuilders primarily use submaximal weights and higher repetitions, which develops the Type I fibers more than the Type II. These lower-intensity workouts also increase the development of non-contractile substances and fluid, further increasing overall muscle size. This explains why bodybuilders are strong but seldom as powerful as weightlifters or throwers.

I should mention here that although some throwers used plyometrics to develop fast twitch muscles, they often avoid the more intense forms of these exercises, particularly depth jumps. And as with adding body mass, there is also the matter of diminishing returns.

Anatoliy Bondarchuk won Olympic gold in the hammer throw and has coached many champions, including Yuri Sedykh. Bondarchuk saw significant decreases in the correlation between jumping ability (long jump, triple jump, vertical jump) as hammer throwers increased their results. Although plyometrics may have value for beginners, advanced throwers may not benefit as much. Risk of injury is another issue.

While coaching at Brown University, one of my athletes was Kaela Brenner, a cross-country athlete. Her father was John Brenner, who broke the American record shot put with 73 feet, 10-1/2 inches (22.52m), and won a bronze medal in the 1987 World Championships. Brenner said his training was going well, and he told a Los Angeles Times reporter he expected “to go 74, or 75 feet in a meet.” On a visit to Brown University to visit his daughter, Brenner told me he missed the 1988 Olympics when he attempted a depth jump at the UCLA weight room, tearing his patella tendon on his left knee.

One practical way to determine whether a thrower is on the right track with their training is to test athletes with the Lewis Formula, a power index based on vertical jump and body weight. The vertical jump is the X axis, and the athlete’s bodyweight is the Y. The point where they intersect represents power.

As long as a thrower’s Lewis Formula increases, we can “assume” that the athlete can continue increasing their bodyweight (although, preferably, with lean muscle mass). If their power index is not improving, the athlete and their coaches must find ways to increase their vertical jump or decrease their body mass without losing strength, such as by reducing body fat.

I haven’t found any studies on how adding fat mass directly affects throwing performance. However, we can infer some conclusions from observing weightlifters who move up bodyweight classes and become less efficient, says Kim Goss. Share on X

Of the three types of throwers discussed here, my understanding of the work of Olympic Games hammer throw champion Anatoliy Bondarchuk is that the vertical jump has the highest correlation to the shot put and the lowest correlation to the hammer throw. (For an extensive review of this topic, I highly recommend Bondarchuk’s classic textbook, Transfer of Training in Sports. I would also recommend attending seminars by Derek Woodske, a strength coach I worked with for several years in Rhode Island. Woodske threw the hammer 242-09 (73.79m) and has an extensive understanding of Bondarchuk’s work.)

I’ve also talked to track and field coaches who found that some of their throwers could vertical jump higher than their high jumpers (due to the type of stretch-shortening cycles that occur in the two sports). Just how high can shot putters jump? Here are a few impressive examples:

By the way, Nelson claims to have push jerked 440 for two reps. I recall early work by biomechanics researcher Dr. John Garhammer, who said the power outputs of the push jerk were as high as the highest power outputs of the clean. Perhaps Nelson’s emphasis on this lift contributed to his remarkable jumping ability.

Besides developing a foundation of strength with the powerlifts and explosiveness with weightlifting movements, throwers often perform specific exercises that improve rotational power. Before addressing this issue, it would be wise to consider what’s going on with the feet.

5. Foundations of Power

A house needs to be built on a solid foundation, and likewise, a thrower must have a stable foundation from which to produce rotational force. Let’s begin with some definitions.

“Valgus and varus feet are conditions where the ankle bones do not rest directly above the foot,” says Posturologist and Strength Coach Paul Gagné. He says a valgus foot is characterized by the foot collapsing inward (pronation), causing the ankle bones to rotate internally. There are three levels of the valgus foot, with level three fulfilling the definition of flat feet.

A varus foot, in contrast, causes the foot to collapse outward (supination), causing the ankle bones to rotate externally. “Excessive valgus and varus feet increase the stress on the ligaments of the ankle, knees, and lower back,” says Gagné. “Regardless of how many stretches and corrective strength exercises you do, they will have little effect on improving posture if your feet are not structurally sound.”

Another important foot condition is disharmonic feet, where one foot is valgus and the other is varus (Image 6). “Disharmonic feet shift the pelvis, increasing the shearing force on the spine,” says Gagné. “As it relates to throwing, an athlete with disharmonic feet will carry more weight on one leg, and this shift in balance will affect their ability to generate force in a rotational direction.”

Although beyond the scope of this article, Gagné says that valgus, varus, and disharmonic feet can be improved with special eye exercises and corrective exercises that reform the foot arch. He says the extensor hallucis longus and the flexor hallucis longus are among the most important muscles to strengthen. Image 6 shows an exercise Gagné prescribes to athletes that aligns the knee with the big toe and creates lateral tension on the feet to lift the arch and help correct valgus feet.

Two elite throwers who benefited from corrective exercises are Adam Nelson and four-time Olympian Jud Logan, a hammer thrower. Both athletes worked with Canadian strength coach Charles R. Poliquin.

When I interviewed Nelson in 2004 for BFS magazine, he said Poliquin corrected muscle imbalances that contributed to his shoulder problems, whereas Poliquin wrote that he was able to resolve Logan’s chronic knee pain by correcting muscle imbalances in his quadriceps muscles.

6. Twist and Shout

In contrast to general exercises that develop overall strength or power, such as the squat and the snatch, there are special exercises that overload the muscles in movement patterns similar to those produced in the sport. However, we must be careful about our terminology.

Many strength coaches say that sports-specific training does not exist. Yes and no. Duplicating a technical movement in a sport exactly with resistance may do more harm than good by affecting the timing of the sporting movement. Examples include throwing a weighted football (which can be pretty harsh on the shoulders) or swinging a weighted tennis racket.

A house needs to be built on a solid foundation, and likewise, a thrower must have a stable foundation from which to produce rotational force. Let’s begin with some definitions, says Kim Goss. Share on X

A better approach is to practice movements similar to an athlete’s movements in sports but not exactly specific. The popular term for these exercises is “special strength” training. Pushing or pulling a sled could be considered special strength training for a sprinter. Dr. Yuri Verkoshansky, a Russian jump coach, and his Russian colleague Bondarchuk have written extensively about special strength training. Bondarchuk, for example, looked at the correlation between the squat and throwing ability of elite hammer throwers.

Bondarchuk found that the “correlation coefficient” between the squat and hammer throw decreased as athletes achieved higher levels of throwing ability. For the 60-65m throwers, the squat correlation was .437 but decreased to .196 for athletes throwing 75-80m. In contrast, the 10-kilo hammer correlation went from .542 for the 60-65m throwers to .824 for the 75-80m throwers. The takeaway is that after developing a foundation of power with weightlifting movements, throwers often add “special strength” exercises that strengthen rotational strength and power.

When determining which special strength exercises to perform, consider the anatomy of the oblique abdominal muscles. These muscles are called oblique because of their position relative to the spine; they are oblique to the spine. Further, most oblique fibers are arranged and positioned diagonally rather than transversely (perpendicular) to the spine (Image 7). According to Gagné, this diagonal alignment makes the obliques ineffective in producing force horizontally.

“The gastrocnemius has fibers arranged longitudinally,” says Gagné. “You would not work the calves by pulling your legs across your body, rather, use an exercise such as a standing calf raise to apply resistance longitudinally. Likewise, you should not train your obliques by rotating your spine horizontally on a single axis, such as with the torso machines you find in many commercial gyms. This horizontal movement is not natural and creates large shearing forces on the spine, particularly when seated.”

Image 7. The oblique muscles run diagonally rather than transversely (perpendicular) to the spine (Image via Wikipedia Commons. Source. Creative Commons License here).

“Because the oblique fibers are aligned diagonally to the spine, they are best suited to produce positive and negative torsion,” says Gagné. “Negative torsion is rotation coupled with extension, such as when a thrower releases the discus. Positive torsion is rotation coupled with flexion, such as when a golfer brings their club down to hit the ball.” Image 8 shows two woodchop exercises performed with a cable machine that creates positive and negative torsion.

There are many ways to produce special rotational strength, including cables, flywheel devices, medicine balls, and kettlebells (as the handles allow for easy release). John Powell supplemented his discus training by throwing the hammer, which could be considered a form of special strength training. (Fun Fact: Powell’s strength coach was Richard Marks, a shot putter with a best of 62-27 (18.98m). I saw Marks snatch 363 pounds in a local meet in 1976 when the American record was about 380.)

When it comes to program design, counter-rotation must be considered. Neuroscientist J. P. Roll found that strengthening one side of the body will neurologically “code” the strength training effect of the other side. Further, the ability to produce rotation in one direction is influenced by how well that individual can produce rotation in the opposite direction.

“In working with professional golfers, we found we can increase the ability of a right-handed golfer to generate club speed by having them work with a left-handed club,” notes Gagné. I’ve also heard about one former world record holder in the javelin, Tom Petranoff, who occasionally threw with the opposite arm to prevent injuries.

Besides special strength exercises, Gagné says the overhead squat is an excellent exercise for developing rotation because it involves considerable counter-rotation to maintain proper alignment. Further, the exercise can determine if an imbalance is present. Canadian strength coach Charles Poliquin often used the overhead squat to assess his athletes and taught it in seminars. The assessment was also used in a corrective exercise class I took while working on my master’s degree at A.T. Still University.

There are many variables associated with achieving the highest results in throwers. Yes, elite shot putters, hammer throwers, and discus throwers tend to be significantly taller and larger than other track and field athletes, but much bigger is not always much better. Also, rather than training harder, the focus should be on training smarter with dynamic exercises that develop explosiveness and special strength exercises that target the muscles that produce rotation. It’s a question of balance.

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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

Davis, Dave. “Move Over World…Here Comes Brian Oldfield.” Strength and Health. May 1973.

Glenda Ford, Pioneer Athletics Hall of Fame.

Goss, Kim. “Suzy Powell: A Date with Destiny.” BFS magazine. Summer 2000.

Dangel, Donald R; Dengel, Olivia H. “Body Composition—Methods and Importance for Performance and Health.” Techniques Magazine. Reprinted July 7, 2016, in coachesinsider.com.

Garhammer, John. “A Review of Power Output Studies of Olympic and Powerlifting: Methodology, Performance Predication, and Evaluation Tests. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 1993, 7(2): 76-89.

Charniga, Andrew, Jr. “Scaling of Body Mass in Weightlifting: What Can Happen to the World’s Strongest Weightlifters.” Sportivnypress.com. June 18, 2018.

Abramovsky, Igor. “A Weightlifter’s Excess Bodyweight and Sport Results.” Sportivnypress.com, Bud Charniga Translation: May 2, 2014 (Originally published in 2002).

Meranzov, C; Spasov, Sinclair; et al. “Trends in the evolution of sports results during the 1973 -1983 period,” IWF Coaching – Refereeing – Medical Symposium, Bad Blakenburg (GDR). May 28 – 30:1985:29-34.

Caughey, RM, and Thomas C. “Variables Associated with High School Shot Put Performance.” International Journal of Exercise Science. October 1, 2022: 15(6):1357-1365.

Nuckols, Greg. “Sarcoplasmic Hypertropy: The Bros Were Probably Right.” Stronger by Science. ND

Scottish Athletics. “Lessons From Bondarchuk.” HMMR Media. September 2017.

Florence, Mal. “Brenner to Miss Olympics Again After Tearing Tendon.” Los Angeles Times, June 21, 1988.

Bondarchuk, Anatoliy P. Transfer of Training in Sports. Ultimate Athlete Concepts. 2007: 97-125.

Gagné, Paul, Personal Conversation, September 6, 2024.

Goss, Kim. “Adam Nelson, The Giant Killer.” BFS magazine. Summer 2004.

“Javelin Throwers Weak Side Training Logic.” Javelin Throw Magazine.

Chapman J, Henneberg M. “Switching the handedness of adults: Results of 10 weeks training of the non-preferred hand.” Perspectives in Human Biology. 1999; 4 (1), 211–217.

The following is an expanded article that contains both new ideas as well as fragments originally appearing in a prior article by Jesse McMeekin. This is why you may hear me reference a concept, perspective, model, or quote using the words, “I,” “me,” “my,” and similar terminology.

Those of you familiar with my model have no doubt heard me theorize that the single biggest driving factor in the sports injury epidemic is one and the same as that for society’s declining health—both ultimately symptomatic of modernity. In other words, the modern maladaptive environment turns us into something like a slow burn version of fish outside the tank. Only, instead of flopping around for a bit before it’s curtains, we undergo a slower, more drawn-out process by which degeneration slowly but surely takes root and manifests in various ways.

This is the core theoretical model I explored in my book—Adaptive Nutrition—before pivoting into the applied side. Specifically, how one can improve their health and performance through creating a more nourishing, generative lifestyle within the context of the modern world. The end goal being to not just survive—but to thrive.

This sets the stage for what’s known as the Jacksonian Dissolution—named after its creator, John Hughlings Jackson, and introduced to us by Dr. Pat Davidson. The idea is more fully elucidated in a distilled form in The Polyvagal Theory. This concept isn’t the whole show, but is a fundamental component of my structure-function-energetics model of health and performance.

In essence, the core concept states that as a system or organism evolves, it becomes at once more flexible, more complex, and—due to this complexity—more fragile. When exposed to stress, the usually complex and flexible system devolves to simpler states, sacrificing complexity for survival.
The core concept states that as a system or organism evolves, it becomes at once more flexible, more complex, and—due to this complexity—more fragile, says @rewirehp. Share on X

How Does This Show Up In Health and Performance?

At some level, this is less complex than it sounds and you’ve no doubt seen it in action. A great example is that under fatigue, movement gets sloppier. There are, however, more telltale signs and interplay with other biological systems working under the athlete’s hood, and various ways in which this can then manifest. By better understanding these concepts, you’ll be able to have a more organized and structured framework from which to assess and address stress with your athletes.

In application, what the theory is really describing is how complex systems, such as biological organisms, respond to stress and adversity. In the context of training or sport performance, it suggests that as a system (e.g., the body on the whole, a motor output, or a specific physiological pathway) becomes more complex and flexible, it also becomes more fragile and prone to break down under stress.

We as coaches should do what we can in order to understand environmental stress that cumulatively piles on as allostatic overload, says @rewirehp. Share on X
If you don’t read anything beyond this point, here’s the key takeaway: we as coaches should do what we can in order to understand environmental stress that cumulatively piles on as allostatic overload. From here, we pull whatever levers we can from the perspectives of program design and load management while also educating athletes on ideal lifestyle inputs that can help them minimize the stress of playing, training, traveling, life, and more.

Stress-Reduced Regression in Action

Stress-reduced regression refers to the idea that—as stress accumulates—the system devolves to simpler, more primitive states, sacrificing complexity for survival. This is evident in examples such as:

• Energy Systems: As the body’s three primary energy systems (alactic, lactic, and aerobic) evolved, they became increasingly complex—the electron transport chain and the Krebs cycle—and increasingly flexible in their use of substrates as fuel, and increasingly susceptible to being derailed by environmental factors.

If you subject a resting body to sufficient stress, it will shift its energy production from predominantly aerobic to more anaerobic (lactic). And if the stress is of sufficient intensity, the body shifts all the way back down to the prehistoric alactic system. Surely one can picture the energy systems of an athlete subjected to acute (or chronic) stress downgrading, limiting performance, and potentially opening them up to injury.

• Planes of Motion and Movement Patterns: When it comes to planes of motion, the sagittal plane is the foundation for the frontal plane. The transverse plane is built from and upon both the sagittal and frontal planes. With limited stress, we move freely through all three. But we regress as stress accumulates; normally smooth, fluid gait patterns becoming the staggering waddle of a drunk (or someone after leg day) as we lose control of all but the simplest expressions of movement—flexion and extension.

In “Rethinking the Big Patterns,” Dr. Pat Davidson cites how devolutions in human posture and movement closely mimic our closest ape ancestors (for helpful background context). A quite literal trip down the evolutionary ladder. In essence, as stress accumulates, the body may regress from complex, fluid movements to simpler, more primitive patterns. This is exemplified in the example of a person’s static posture or gait pattern changing from smooth and aligned to projected forward or stumbling under fatigue.

• Henneman’s Size Principle: This states that motor units are recruited in order, from smallest to largest. The upshot is that the first muscle fibers called upon are the low-force, high-endurance, slow-twitch fibers (type I). The body’s-high force, low-endurance fibers (type II) aren’t recruited unless either increased force or power is required (heavy weight or fast movement)—or as fatigue of the type I fibers sets in. Among the practical benefits of the body’s strategy is the ability to limit fatigue by relying on mitochondria-rich type I muscle fibers.

Examined through the lens of Jacksonian Dissolution, we see a tendency for stress to break down yet another system with concurrent costs and benefits shifting in order to complete a given task. Heavy weight (high stress) reduces us to a more basic, more durable, but less efficient state.

• Motor Control: The higher the level of systemic stress, the greater the loss of motor control abilities. This can happen in both an acute setting (e.g., an NBA player changing time zones, disturbing sleep rhythms) as well as in a chronic capacity (e.g., energetic mismatches from high demands of sport and life relative to energetic intake from diet and environment). We’ve all experienced moments where our nervous system is shot and unable to manage the intricacies of more complex, coordinated, demanding movement tasks under the stress of fatigue.

We’ve all experienced moments where our nervous system is shot and unable to manage the intricacies of more complex, coordinated, demanding movement tasks under the stress of fatigue, says @rewirehp. Share on X

• Cognitive Abilities and Emotional Regulation: Yes, J.D. can also manifest itself in both how we take in—and show up in—the world. Neuroscientist David Eagleman likes to say “our reality depends on what our biology is up to.” That’s a pretty solid way to describe this phenomenon. This is also a particularly helpful area as it can tip off trainers and health practitioners to potential chronic or acute disruptions in physiology that may first be more obvious in how someone presents. Similarly, cognitive functions can exhibit Jacksonian Dissolution. Under stress or fatigue, individuals may revert to more primitive, automatic responses, such as swearing out of frustration or emotional outbursts, as their normally refined language processing abilities are overwhelmed. The same can be said of information gathering abilities.

The Stress Response: Implications for Training, Load Management, and Program Design

Stress management is the first implication to keep in mind. Recognize that training is a stress-management process. Aim to apply stress in a targeted, controlled manner to drive desired adaptations. McMeekin points out in his initial article on this subject that it can also be helpful to look at individual training sessions as a singular dissolving event. You’re probably looking at wanting to save movement tasks with greater energetic requirements prior to plugging in simpler, more guttural things—such as sled drags—that sap energy and are fairly safe to accomplish in a more fatigued state.

As far as stress on the whole, Coach Kyle Dobbs notes that effective training essentially comes down to stress management. That’s a pretty succinct summary of any intelligent training model, and Jacksonian Dissolution is simply a way of understanding what happens as we apply stress to various bodily systems. The aim of applying stress is to temporarily degrade or dissolve a system; following training you are slower, weaker, and less coordinated than you were beforehand. But stress drives change, and the temporary degradation in abilities ultimately leads to lasting improvement.

Having a foundational understanding of systems biology and the bioregulatory processes that govern health and performance—including the interplay of these systems—is key.

• Consider the interplay between various bodily systems when designing training programs.
• Avoid overwhelming individual systems, as this can lead to devolution and reduced effectiveness.

In addition to acknowledging the performance physiology that supports athletic endeavors, coaches must understand the stress response. By better understanding what’s going on under the hood, we can make more informed coaching and lifestyle decisions. Ultimately, the stress response and all its requisite components—glucagon, epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine, cortisol, growth hormone, etc.—are some of the human body’s most adaptive and beneficial mechanisms. Stress—in the right doses and with adequate recovery—is tremendously good for us! And Jacksonian Dissolution can serve as a window into our stress response.

Stress—in the right doses and with adequate recovery—is tremendously good for us! And Jacksonian Dissolution can serve as a window into our stress response, says @rewirehp. Share on X

There are also implications for basic concepts we’re all familiar with as coaches, like progressive overload. Gradually increase stress (load) to allow for adaptation and avoid sudden, catastrophic failures. Meet athletes where they’re at, in other words.

Additionally, generalized stress isn‘t enough for an efficient training stimulus. Stress should be a sniper rifle, not a shotgun, and a workout that leaves you panting and nauseated may or may not be driving the change you’re looking for. Jacksonian Dissolution looks at individual systems, not entire organisms. While there’s sure to be some overlap, say, between muscular fatigue, energy system recruitment, and elements of how we present in life (e.g., language use and processing), it’s important not to seek stress for its own sake. Wham, bam, beat-em-up training could have its place, but seeking difficulty for difficulty’s sake is not the move.

Recovery is another quality with implications we can take from Jacksonian Dissolution. Ensure adequate recovery time as well as positive environmental inputs in the form of diet, sleep, light diet, and beyond in order to allow for rebuilding and refinement of complex (and other) systems.

Applied: 5 Interventions Coaches Can Use to Manage Allostatic Load

1. Educate clients on the importance of sleep

This should more or less go without saying, but educating athletes so they can dial in their sleep hygiene may be the most effective stress management lever we can pull. Research shows that injury potential increases by as much as 70% following disruptions in sleep quality.

Rather than obsessing over wearable metrics, the focus should be on getting clients more in tune with how they feel and teaching them to listen to their bodies by checking in with themselves more effectively. Aiming for 8.5 hours of sleep (but at least over 7) is good practice for most. Exposure to natural light during the day, morning, and evening likely helps tune our circadian biology, as well. Reduction strategies for blue light can be effective here, too. A nutrition intervention specific to sleep would be glucose in the evening before bed (e.g., milk and honey) as insulin opposes stress hormones like cortisol in the system—effectively helping athletes silence the stress response and prime their nervous system before rest and restoration.

2. Be flexible by keeping a regulatory or adaptive program design model to meet athletes where they’re at physically

Just because something is written down on paper, doesn’t mean we have to do it. Plan A should be flexible if athletes are in an acute or chronically fatigued state. Omegawave’s Windows of Trainability and athlete readiness concepts are useful to keep in mind here.

3. Consider educating athletes on mindfulness installations

Living a more balanced life in general—meditation, mindfulness strategies, time spent doing nothing, time outdoors, and more—are all potential inputs that can improve our responses to stress. Mike Franco—a mental skills coach in the NBA—is a great example who shows how integrating mindfulness into sports can be done successfully.

4. Don’t neglect nutrition

Diet is another one of the giant levers here. Injuries and degradations in performance often occur because of an energetic mismatch between an athlete’s outputs and their environment. In addition to the other inputs like sleep, we should be educating athletes to improve their energetic state through diet so they can “bite off” more of the stress that training, playing, and life have to offer.

The obvious first boxes to check would be mitigating junk food and unwanted ingredients while also ensuring there’s not a big caloric or macro deficiency. I give more targeted recommendations in the book, but in general we want to stay away from diet dogmas that may actually plunge athletes into more of a survival state (e.g., extreme diets like plant-based, low-carb, carnivore, keto, chronic fasting). Instead, the goal should be to select foods that are high in energy yield relative to energy lost from digestive obligations and from managing inflammation. This can simplify the process of how to build one’s base of food substantially.

5. Inspect what you expect; have informed tests you use with athletes if it’s feasible

Paying attention to clients and meeting them where they’re at is the most important measure here. That said, looking at deteriorating output-based metrics can also be incredibly helpful. Whether it’s reflex tests, tap tests, or something more quantitative like CMJs (we use Hawkin Dynamics force plates for this), numbers in the gym may all be useful here.

If one has the ability, use temperature and pulse rate (with disturbances in both over a multi-day period potentially serving as a canary in the coalmine for systemic stress) as a “check engine light” for metabolic stress/state.

There are other useful measurements here, such as integrating quality stress measurement devices, like Omegawave, and well-done HRV.

Paying attention to clients and meeting them where they’re at is the most important measure here. That said, looking at deteriorating output-based metrics can also be incredibly helpful, says @rewirehp. Share on X

Parting Shots

If we accept that training is at some level stress management, Jacksonian Dissolution is at once a measure of the stress being applied, a way to understand the effect(s) of that stress upon a given system, and a framework for how to apply that stress in a safe, effective manner.

As a measure of stress: I’ll be as clear as I can be—and will close with the same thought for good measure—effective training should be terrifyingly hard at points. I want people reduced to their baser selves, far removed from the niceties of our sedentary society. And it’s a rare person who will go there voluntarily, who signs up for what at times amounts to near-torture. In these moments, part of my role is to ensure that things are as hard as they need to be, and Jacksonian Dissolution offers a fairly robust way to examine your response to stress. Your posture, body language, the way you breathe, word choice, movement quality, the length of your sentences… all of it is a source of feedback, and I need to see at least some of it deteriorate.

Your posture, body language, the way you breathe, word choice, movement quality, the length of your sentences… all of it is a source of feedback, and I need to see at least some of it deteriorate, says @rewirehp. Share on X

Training can’t stay pretty all the time.

Having hopefully argued convincingly in favor of applying real, meaningful levels of stress via training, it is every bit as important that we consider both the allostatic load—total stress—an individual is under as well as their strategies to manage that stress. Are their nutritional, sleep, and leisure activities conducive to high or low applications of stress? Do they have a social system they can lean on for support, or one that requires support from them at the moment? Don’t shy away from stress, but be aware that we are almost literally playing with fire; we want to toast the marshmallow rather than set it on fire, so to speak.

As a way of understanding the effects of stress: Perhaps the simplest way of understanding a system under stress is via the particular model of Jacksonian Dissolution. Under sufficient stress, a system will revert to simpler, more primitive alternatives.

As a guide for stress application: In designing a training program, coaches should consider what kind of stress is best suited to the person, the movement, and the degree of fatigue they’re experiencing (early vs. late in the workout, for example). Our big, sagittal movements lend themselves nicely to heavy loads and high fatigue. I can deadlift, squat, press, and row through enormous fatigue.

In designing a training program, coaches should consider what kind of stress is best suited to the person, the movement, and the degree of fatigue they're experiencing, says @rewirehp. Share on X

But that becomes a different story for more complex movement tasks. As movements become less stable or more complex, stress needs to be applied in a different way. The nervous system already perceives the body’s position as an elevated source of threat, and heaping on too much additional stress can end badly. In these cases, additional stress—in the form of too much load, too little rest, and the like—can actually detract from the intended training effect by allocating resources to the wrong stressor. Dr. Pat Davidson talks about the need for additional “ground” (external support and neurological references) as an ideal starting place for newcomers as well as those in fatigued states (e.g., an NBA player in-season).

When we introduce speed and power into the mix, things get even dicier as fatigue sets in. Box jumps are a terrific, low-intensity way to develop explosive power, but done as a “finisher” or as part of a circuit—particularly with an athlete jumping back off of the box—the injury risk they pose may not be worth the reward. In addition to the potential for injury, the effect of the stress may again be misplaced. Stress is specific; if the intent is to develop power and explosiveness, the fatigue the body is under will limit the amount of power being expressed and, therefore, developed.

How you fit the puzzle pieces together will vary tremendously—we haven’t even considered the athlete/client, their goals, ability level, and the like—but certain overriding principles can and should guide our choices regardless of who we’re working with. Stress drives adaptation, but stress is system-specific. A hard workout may not be an effective one.

Ultimately, by acknowledging Jacksonian Dissolution in the training environment, coaches and trainers can better understand the dynamic interactions between bodily systems and design more effective, adaptive training programs.

I suppose I’ll leave you with this. We need stress. It shapes us. Both in sport and fitness, as well as growing in life on the whole. And stress is ugly, messy, frightening, and primitive. Stress is savage, and at times you need to meet it head on. Think about how and when you apply stress, but when it’s time to get to work, be a savage.

Jesse McMeekin is a trainer, educator and coach. You can find him at his website www.adapt-performance.com.

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

It’s not uncommon for high school or college coaches to schedule a team conditioning workout around in-season practices or games and find the weight room already overcrowded or in use by another team. Whenever it happens, there’s no reason to walk away and reschedule a session. Make medicine balls your go-to choice for athletes and teams—especially when the weight room is inaccessible. But, they’re also an effective training alternative even when the weight room is available for your team!

Coaches can convince athl­etes that they can derive equal if not greater training benefits by performing sports-relevant multidirectional/multiplanar forward, reverse, lateral, twisting/turning movements, and balance-boosting exercises with medicine balls in the hallway, auxiliary gym, or outdoors. Athletes can do these in place of what they might have done in the weight room that day, such as conventional, one-dimensional standing, seated or supine barbell, dumbbell, or machine exercises.

Using... medicine balls can promote prized sports performance gains like strength, size, power, endurance, and core- strengthening—all in one workout, says Jim Carpentier. Share on X

How? Using light, moderately-heavy, and heavy medicine balls (depending on each athlete’s strength level) can promote prized sports performance gains like, size, power, endurance, and core- strengthening—all in one workout—such as doing compound (multi-joint) and multiplanar combination side lunges and ball twists, or forward lunges and overhead ball presses to simultaneously build upper and lower body size and strength; reducing rest time between sets of different exercises to enhance endurance; and doing single-leg balancing exercises.

Balance is underestimated in sports, yet frequently required during practice and game situations (e.g., keeping feet in bounds when catching a football or passing a basketball to a teammate).

Bonus: Athletes will even have more fun performing the medicine ball exercises when partnering up with their teammates!

Other Med Ball Advantages

• Their portability makes them a convenient conditioning element for workouts outside the weight room, such as school hallways, basketball gyms, or outdoors (as previously mentioned).
• For coaches and athletes scheduling workouts around practices and games, med balls are time efficient (a workout time-saver without spending added time changing weight plates or adjusting resistance with dumbbells, barbells, weight machines, or cables between sets). And with less time spent changing resistance, med balls thereby can enhance endurance going from set to set, or exercise to exercise with minimal rest—simulating the continuous action with brief rest periods in sports like football, hockey, basketball, hockey, tennis, wrestling, and lacrosse.

Med balls’ portability makes them a convenient conditioning element for workouts outside the weight room, such as school hallways, basketball gyms, or outdoors. Share on X

The Only Plan-B Workout Equipment Your Athletes Will Need

Have your athletes bring the right sized balls either into the hallway, to a more spacious area such as the gymnasium, or outdoors when the weather is conducive. The balls are the only equipment needed to perform the following two anywhere, anytime, brief-but-intense 30-minute full-body workouts!

During my years as a high school strength and conditioning coach and YMCA personal and group trainer, medicine balls were my go-to option.

Overall Guidelines

• Ensure the athletes have water bottles and hydrate before, during, and after workouts.
• Have them do a dynamic upper and lower body warm-up (e.g., arm circles/lateral or forward walking lunges).
• Finish with cool-down upper and lower body stretches promoting flexibility.
• Sets/Reps: 1 x 10.
• Rest 30-60 seconds between exercises to enhance size/strength for athletes using heavy balls.
• If the goal is building endurance, use lighter balls with less rest between each exercise (15-30 seconds).
• Have your team perform the med ball workout every other week or every few weeks for a refreshing change from doing standard weight room exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses—either in-season or during off-season conditioning.

8 Medball Exercises to Include in the Workout

1. Partner Squat and Ball Press-Out. Begin in an athletic stance (knees slightly bent, hips back, feet shoulder-width apart) facing each other about five feet apart. Hold the ball close to the chest. Slowly lower to a squat, pause two seconds, and rapidly rise while explosively pressing the ball out to the teammate. The teammate performs the same technique and throws the ball back to their partner. That’s one rep. Repeat nine more times before each does the next exercise.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: An effective upper and lower body combo muscle-building exercise—especially in sports using pushing movements (e.g., blocking in football, quickly passing a basketball across court, pushing away a hockey opponent to get to the puck, or pushing off a wrestling foe during the match).

2. Single Leg Bent Over Row. Have your athlete hold the ball below their waist with arms extended. Next, lean forward with one knee bent and the opposite foot off the ground. Pull the ball to the waist, pause two seconds, and slowly lower to start position, and continue until 10 reps. Rest and do 10 reps with the other foot off the ground.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: This is an excellent balance-enhancing exercise that also strengthens back, arm, leg and hip muscles while continuously maintaining balancing with one foot off the ground for an extended time before switching with the other foot off the ground. The exercise transcends to a football game—picture a wide receiver pulling in a pass low to the ground, then trying to stay on both feet while trying to escape a tackler whose arms are grabbing the receiver’s leg.

During my years as a high school strength and conditioning coach and YMCA personal and group trainer, medicine balls were my go-to option, says Jim Carpentier. Share on X

3. Foot Elevated Ball Push-Up. Assume a push-up position with both hands grasping the sides of the ball—palms facing each other, arms extended, and one foot airborne. Slowly descend a few inches from the ball, pause, and explosively press back up to the starting position, and repeat nine more times.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: Athletes will find this is a tough exercise requiring core strength and stability, while taxing chest, back, shoulder, and arm muscles. Whether you’re a strength coach or a team coach, always stress the importance of equally building strong core muscles (abdominal, back, groin, hips) besides focusing on upper and lower body strength. Any athlete who falls to the ground wants to quickly push up and become upright as play continues. Example: A baseball or softball outfielder dives to catch the ball and needs to rapidly rise and throw to the infield to prevent a baserunner from tagging up and advancing to the next base.

4. Partner Side Lunge, Ball Twist and Pass. Both athletes should be spaced about five feet laterally apart. Teammate A: Assume an athletic stance while holding the ball with arms extended at chest level and lunge laterally left while simultaneously rotating the body with the ball to the left and passing it to Teammate B. Teammate B then lunges and twists laterally right and passes back to Teammate A. That’s one rep. Continue for nine more reps. Then switch positions as Teammate A now lunges/twists/passes the ball laterally right and Teammate B is now lunging/twisting/passing left—each doing 10 more reps.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: This upper and lower body combo exercise especially targets abdominal muscles and builds core strength with the ball twists—so it’s applicable for sports that require twisting/turning like swinging a bat in baseball or softball, turning around to catch a football or basketball pass, lunging right or left to hit a tennis ball, or a lacrosse player turning and passing the ball sideways to a teammate. The exercise also transcends to sports such as baseball/softball, football, and basketball that require athletes to rotate left or right to toss the ball to a teammate. Examples: A quarterback turning sideways and passing the ball laterally to a running back; a shortstop fielding a groundball, turning, and tossing the ball to the second baseman to force out an advancing runner; a basketball guard lunging right or left, turning and passing the ball to an open teammate for a three-point shot in the corner.

5. Walking Forward Lunge and Ball Raise. Hold the ball at waist level with arms extended. Lunge forward with your right leg and simultaneously raise the ball overhead. Bring the ball down to the start position while still in a lunge position. Lunge forward with your left leg and raise the ball overhead. That’s two reps. Continue for 10 reps, alternating right/left lunges and ball raises.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: Builds leg, hip, arm, and shoulder muscles and mimics a basketball center lunging for a rebound and raising the ball overhead away from an opponent.

6. Partner Ball Rolls From Push-Up Position. Both athletes begin in a push-up position—spaced about two feet laterally apart from each other—with their back straight, core tight, and preventing hips and the lower back from sagging during the exercise. Teammate A: With the right hand atop the ball, left hand on floor, roll it sideways to the right to Teammate B. Teammate B then places left hand on the ball, right hand on the floor, and laterally rolls it back to Teammate A (one rep for each athlete). Continue for 10 reps, switch positions, and Teammate A now rolls the ball with the left hand to Teammate B/Teammate B rolls the ball back with the right hand.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: The exercise thoroughly works core, arm, chest, shoulder, and back muscles and simulates underhand lateral passing the ball motions in sports such as baseball/softball, football, and basketball.

7. Alternating Ball Chop and Squat. From an athletic stance and ball held overhead, drive the ball down and across your body toward the right ankle while lowering into a squat. Rise and bring the ball back overhead; then, quickly bring the ball down toward the left ankle as you’re squatting. That’s one alternating ball chop. Do nine more and rest.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: The core, upper body, and lower body muscles are all engaged during the movement. If you’re a baseball or softball coach, tell players—particularly infielders—that this is a terrific exercise that mimics reaching overhead to catch the ball and quickly bringing the glove down to tag a baserunner.

8. Single Leg Overhead Press. Hold the ball in front at shoulder level, bend the right knee with the left foot off the floor, and press the ball overhead, back to start position, and overhead for 10 reps. Rest; then, switch with the right foot off the floor and press overhead 10 reps.

• Sports-Specific Benefits: While enhancing balance and core stability, this exercise also engages the lower body muscles (leg and hip) when one foot is off the floor, while building arm, chest, and shoulder muscles, and mimics a basketball player balancing on one foot while shooting the ball before the shot clock expires, for example, or a volleyball player off balance and passing the ball overhead to a teammate for a spike.

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

Every Saturday and Sunday you will find dozens of families lined up on grass fields, cheering for kids in brightly colored jerseys. No matter the sport, off in a shaded corner of the sports complex, you will see a lone parent surrounded by others begging for answers. One by one they lift up shirts, raise pantlegs, and stick out their tongues, all hoping to get a quick curbside diagnosis of what ails them (or their kid). After all, it’s not serious enough to make an appointment, but annoying enough to seize the opportunity to consult that medical professional—even if it’s at a 6U soccer game.

My old college strength coach would yell at my teammates who were struggling to complete a basic power clean: “DO LESS.” You heard it here. Doing less is sometimes better than doing more, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

If you’ve been writing workouts as long as I have, you’ll realize that your desired expertise is quite parallel to that of the doctor. No, I don’t mean that you will be respected and honored, but rather, people will conveniently come to you with their fitness infirmaries. The strength and conditioning parallel occurs when a former friend asks for workouts, a local coach sends you their “program” asking for pointers and corrections—or, my favorite, an incoming college freshman shows you their Teambuildr workout and asks what a “seal-krock-IR-Row-Press” is and how are they supposed to do that to max for 15 reps?

When you become the beacon of exercise knowledge to many, you find yourself diagnosing diseased workouts when you should be relaxing and enjoying a ballgame.

Checking Your Trumpet Oil

In a world where so much training knowledge is at your fingertips (i.e., right here), we have to wonder why things are getting so blurry when our vision should be 20/20. The phrase that comes to mind is one that my old college strength coach would yell at my teammates who were struggling to complete a basic power clean: “DO LESS.” Yes, you heard it here, doing less is sometimes better than doing more. But the thought of doing less while trying to accomplish something difficult is a bit confusing. Power cleans, for example, require many consecutive and coordinated events to achieve a successful lift. We don’t want to miss any steps that could result in a failed rep—but, therein lies the problem.

We sometimes overemphasize the wrong thing and miss a much more important step. Therefore, doing less can help you maximize what really gets the job done. Less fluff, if you will.

In 2019, I won a local business award and at the ceremony, an unassuming guest speaker took the stage—there was nothing about him that looked impressive. From his shoes, to his tie, and even his haircut, he just looked like the kind of person you’d give a head nod too while standing in line at the bank. And yet, on the projector behind him were a pair of numbers: 293 and 216. Under his leadership, his company had grown 293% in three years and made $216 million dollars that year alone.

We’ve learned that using a weighted bat prior to stepping in the box SIGNIFICANTLY reduces swing velocity and accuracy. Batters reported that it felt better, but the weights did not improve performance, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

Those stats hooked my attention and I listened to what this Average-Joe-Business-Genius had to say. After all of these years, I still remember the phrase “trumpet oil.” He told us a story of a giant musical instrument company that had fallen on hard times and needed more cash flow. They had decided that since every trumpet needed trumpet oil, they would save the ship by selling an essential product. After a year, sales results were looking even worse than before. The problem wasn’t that they couldn’t sell trumpet oil—after all, they sold one with almost every instrument—it was that the profit margin on the oil was less than a dollar, whereas a high level trumpet could bring in thousands. Luckily, the speaker said, they began diversifying the kind of trumpets they offered and the company survived to tell their tale.

Periodically, I ask myself: what is the trumpet oil of my business or training? I always think it will be obvious, but it turns out I have to dig deeper and ask myself a series of questions before the light bulb goes off. As a coach, you might have limited resources or time with your athletes, and wasting any of it can hold you and your team back.

So, grab your stethoscope—or clipboard—and join me as we diagnose what is keeping your program from achieving the results you want in the time that you have.

#1. Is It Complex or Constructive?

Creativity can be a weapon for strength coaches to push and advance the field; however, just as some modern art pieces look like a toddler splattered paint on a canvas, so can our exercise inclusions. Too often I will see a video on social media of a coach showing a complex, 11-step drill to teach a young athlete how to “learn” a skill better.

Creativity can be a weapon for strength coaches to push and advance the field; however, just as some modern art pieces look like a toddler splattered paint on a canvas, so can our exercise inclusions, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

If you know Westside Barbell, you probably also know of the late great Louie Simmons, who revolutionized the art of powerlifting through creativity and invention. However, a video of him in 2013 coaching Olympic lifters created some controversy and got some laughs. In the video he had attached bands to a bar (as usual) and had his lifters perform their very technical lifts with the bands pulling them every which way.

The problem was not the accommodating resistance, but rather the lifters struggling to maintain their bar path with bands creating non-traditional vectors of “pull.” In the video, many of the lifters politely did as he said while smirking at the drills. In a similar fashion, I have seen videos of kids practicing their jump shots with bands attached to their wrists, ankles, knees, and elbows. The issue in these situations is that the athletes are unable to perform their normal skill patterns due to the “awkward” resistance and therefore could be building worse skill.

A classic medical line when treating a patient is “DO NO HARM,” but like Dr. Frankenstein, we are tempted to stitch things together in the hopes of creating something amazing—but it often turns out to be a monster. A great example of removing complexity is found in Major League Baseball. Comparing the early 2000s to today’s game, there are two major differences: smaller biceps and almost nobody warms up with a weighted bat. The reason is that we’ve learned that using a weighted bat prior to stepping in the box SIGNIFICANTLY reduces swing velocity and accuracy. Although batters reported that it felt better, the complexity of the weights did not improve the athletes’ performance.¹

What some coaches do not realize is that even our WORDS can complicate what an athlete is trying to achieve in the weight room. If we encourage our athletes by saying too many cues or even if we cue the wrong thing, we can reduce their skill and performance. Researchers are showing that by cueing internally (flex harder) rather than externally (push harder) reduces neuromuscular performance!² In many cases, the more we say in the heat of battle, the more complicated we can make it, and the less constructive it winds up being.

While developing a program or making a business decision, I always try and make sure that I’m not adding steps to achieve the exact same goal—or worse, take away from the desired outcome.

#2. Where Does It End?

Whenever you open Maps on your phone, it will sync to your current location and ask for your destination—the system cannot pick the best path without knowing exactly where you want to go. Many times, as strength coaches, we do the same for a program’s desired goals—bigger, faster, stronger, healthier, etc, etc. But then we implement exercises and drills with an open-ended philosophy of let’s see where this goes.

As athletes become masters of simpler movements, we might be tempted to add unnecessary steps that burn more calories but don’t build better athletes, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

If I don’t know the peak or end of an exercise’s progression, I can fall victim to the faults of Question #1. As athletes become masters of simpler movements, we might be tempted to add unnecessary steps that burn more calories but don’t build better athletes. For example, if I have 24 weeks of medball throw progressions, I make sure that each step builds the next one up in some way as we work towards the more challenging movement in the end.

If I simply started with an ambiguous throw and then changed it based on my whim, I could find myself in a never-ending storm of guesswork. I’ve found it’s always best to know my destination before I plan the trip, and my goal is the fastest and safest route. I know this can be hard for many coaches, because the temptation to find unique and new exercises is high—especially with so many people putting out such good content on social media.

When they learn about disease diagnoses in medical school, there is a phrase taught to practitioners: “when you hear hoof beats, think horse not zebra.” This is because it is tempting to see a common side effect and think of a less common disease! If you choose zebra as your destination, you might create a lot of work for the wrong answer. So, I’ve taken the philosophy of simplification—I am looking for horses and setting my maps to that destination. I am not saying you shouldn’t have flexibility within your plan; after all, I utilize autoregulation in all my training. But I am saying you should have an idea of where everything you choose will end up.

#3. Can It Be Reduced?

There is a product that every single American uses that costs us over twice as much as it should—yet, we pay the price hike without a second thought. Every week, when you do a load of laundry and you pour a capful of liquid detergent over your clothes, you could be spending FIVE TIMES as much as you would if you simply got a concentrated powder form. You can go online right now and get 9 kilograms of detergent powder for roughly the same price as a half-gallon of the liquid. This is because the transportation and plastic use of the diluted product costs more, and that cost is passed on to us, the consumers.

Unfortunately, as a society, we have become accustomed to liquid detergent and yes, sigh, even I still use the more expensive form. In the field of medicine, doctors work hard at concentrating certain drugs so that they can be better absorbed at the site of administration. Sometimes, in training and business, we keep a diluted product around because it is what we are used to. But massive change can be had if we figure out how to reduce it to its most crucial components.

By doing less in the weight room, we can see progress with better recovery, get higher-quality reps from reduced fatigue, and find more time for coaching, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

A great example is what we do in the weight room. I have had many high school and college athletes come and tell me about their workouts and how they couldn’t even get half of it done in their time window. Some of these workouts prescribed four sets of eight reps for 10 different exercises, all of which had high intensity percentages. Those poor kids don’t stand a chance. Some of them could barely complete their primary lift of the day.

My question is whether that much work is needed to yield a positive result. For years, my athletes and I have seen fantastic results with as few as three total sets of an exercise, including warm ups. Some research shows that even with one-third the volume as other groups, similar strength gains are found.^3,4 Even with more complex lifts, such as cleans and snatches, training with a moderate amount of volume seems to produce better results when compared to nearly double the workload, according to a growing amount of research.⁵

The same is true when running a business—it might be nice to have a receptionist, a shake maker, and a cleaning person. But when all three of them have hours of down time each day, it might be smart to reduce your staff and hand out more responsibilities. I learned a long time ago that none of these reductions should be looked at as a bad thing. By doing less in the weight room, we can see progress with better recovery, get higher-quality reps from reduced fatigue, and find more time for coaching. In business, if I have fewer employees, I can pay each person more while still saving money from the reduction. In most instances, we can concentrate our efforts to produce better results with less waste.

#4. What Is the Impact-to-Effort Ratio?

Every year, almost 66,000 Americans flip open their laptops and attempt to become day traders. For those who might not know, day trading involves buying and selling securities on the same day, often online, based on small, short-term price fluctuations. The promise of becoming rich in a single day by mastering the fluctuations of the market is so promising that many quit their jobs to give it a try.

Unfortunately, research shows that only 3% of traders have made any of their money back in two years, with less than 1% making enough to live on. From the outside, it looks like day traders are putting in countless hours of hard work, but according to the statistics, they’re basically playing the lottery—just with a lot more effort.⁶

There are many instances where coaches implement difficult and technical training modalities that simply add a whole lot of sweat for a small amount of success. Depending on who you talk to, some coaches believe that Olympic weightlifting is one of the biggest wastes of time for athletes. Rather than spend countless hours mastering the second pull, some would rather perform similar power exercises with lower barriers to entry. I’m not going to say the juice isn’t worth the squeeze, but there might be situations where doing less means getting more in the time frame you have. When I coached in college, we’d be lucky to have the men’s basketball team show up to one weight room day a week. We could have spent that precious time teaching them how to catch a power clean in the perfect front rack position; or we could have spent that time getting better results with simpler tools.

The same is true in business. We’ve all been to restaurants that seem to have an endless number of options on their menu, and let’s be honest, none of them are that great. Behind the scenes, that eatery is creating larger costs to purchase, store, and possibly throw away the large diversity in food items. That is why some stores like Chic-fil-A sell 25% the number of products as compared to their peers, usually only offering a whopping 12 items. By cutting out waste, they actually have one of the highest profit margins of all fast-food chains. When I audit my business or training, I’m looking at things that cost a lot of time and energy without bringing in the bucks.

#5. Is This Just to Feed the Machine?

My facility has expanded three times over its lifespan, from 800 to 5,000 to its current 12,000 square feet. Each of these growth phases were essential in seeing more athletes and doing safer, higher-quality work.

While at my second location, I began working with an old cowboy whose back could not handle the rodeo scene like it used to: in his words, he was “one bad weekend away from having surgery and hanging up his spurs.” Luckily for him, a friend at his old gym told him about how we helped his son return to play after getting hurt at school. He gave me a call and we got him back on the horse, literally. A year later, he VOLUNTEERED to be my general contractor for my third facility, saving me some major headaches and finances.

I tell this story because not only was he a hard working “son of a gun,” he was also a great business man. One of the best pieces of advice he ever gave me was “are you feeding your family or are you feeding the machine.” In his roofing and contracting years, he took his business from a two-man situation to a giant, multi-million-dollar-a-year business with dozens of employees. From the outside looking in, you would assume he was killing it doing giant million-dollar projects with a fleet of trucks and workers. However, he let me know that with larger projects comes more expensive insurance, bonds that must be won, and payroll that can sink a ship if you have a lull in work. At the end of the day, he was bringing home the same amount of profit with 50 employees as he was with five, he just had a lot more headaches during tax season.

As a business owner, I am always tempted to expand and take on a new project—for example, pickle ball. With the rapid growth in popularity, everyone and their dog has advised me to get in the game. Unfortunately, to do this, I would need to spend nearly six figures to get courts, cover, equipment, AC, check-in systems, bathrooms, and you name it. Not to mention the additional employee costs. If I take out a loan, I might see a profit of 1-3% every year—or, worse, a loss. All of that money, mental effort, and sweat would mostly go to feeding the machine.

In training, I find myself being tempted to do the same thing. Whether it is a new gadget, complex training strategy, or time-consuming drill, I have to remind myself that we might do all of this work just to feed the machine and not reap much reward. As a coach at a school, your AD might want to see non-stop action and exhausted kids, but you have to ask—“does this feed the machine (ego) or feed my family (team).”

Bigger is not always better.

Performing Your Own Audit

A good five-step audit normally helps me refocus and realize what needs to happen in my business and my training. Like a doctor running a battery of tests, you can find that some symptoms are not what you thought—and treating them with the wrong medicine will not do much good. Unlike the 2004-2012 TV series House, your mistakes will not be as complicated as the diseases he treated—but it is important to take a good look at the rash… I mean your program… and try to treat it before a bigger problem arises.

In many instances, I have been able to course correct with only one of these questions, but there have been times that after asking all five I still have to scratch my head to find the issue. So, whether you’re the doctor at the sports field getting asked to check out everyone’s minor maladies, or you’re the coach who falls into the trap of prescribing seal-krock-IR-Row-Presses for a 15-rep max, the situation can always be treated with a quick five question diagnosis.

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. Montoya BS, Brown LE, Coburn JW, Zinder SM. Effect of warm-up with different weighted bats on normal baseball bat velocity. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Aug;23(5):1566-9. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181a3929e. PMID: 19593220. Otsuji T, Abe M, Kinoshita H. After-effects of using a weighted bat on subsequent swing velocity and batters’ perceptions of swing velocity and heaviness. Percept Mot Skills. 2002 Feb;94(1):119-26. doi: 10.2466/pms.2002.94.1.119. PMID: 11883550.

2. Lohse KR, Sherwood DE. Thinking about muscles: the neuromuscular effects of attentional focus on accuracy and fatigue. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2012 Jul;140(3):236-45. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2012.05.009. Epub 2012 Jun 7. PMID: 22683497.

3. Ostrowski K, Wilson GJ, Weatherby R, Murphy PW, Little AD. The effect of weight training volume on hormonal output and muscular size and function. J Strength Cond Res. 1997;11:149–54.)

4. Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Krieger J, Grgic J, Delcastillo K, Belliard R, Alto A. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 Jan;51(1):94-103. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764. PMID: 30153194; PMCID: PMC6303131.)

5. González-Badillo JJ, Gorostiaga EM, Arellano R, Izquierdo M. Moderate resistance training volume produces more favorable strength gains than high or low volumes during a short-term training cycle. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Aug;19(3):689-97. doi: 10.1519/R-15574.1. PMID: 16095427.)

6. What’sthebigdata.com. What Percentage of Day Traders Make Money – Statistics 2024.

Our job as sports performance coaches is to improve the physical qualities of our athletes, hopefully unlocking greater success in their sport. Almost all sports come down to scoring more than the other team in competition; and, those moments when points are scored or deterred are determined by spacing. Did the player have enough space to perform the sporting action that allows them to score?

Cam Josse and Fergus Connolly talk about the concepts of space creation and space muting in their book “The Process” (Connolly & Josse 2019). In field sports, this can be broken down into an offensive-minded player creating space to move through various actions in hopes of scoring. Opposite to that, a defensive-minded player will try to cover enough space to impede that offensive player. Both players are looking for an advantage by finding an opening or closing one. Advantages come from a variety of sources, but can be simplified into three categories:

1. Tactical advantages.
2. Technical advantages.
3. Athletic advantages.

Almost all sports come down to scoring more than the other team in competition; and, those moments when points are scored or deterred are determined by spacing, says @Torinshanahan42. Share on X

Athletes will leverage all three areas to find advantages to make plays that help their teams win. Tactical and technical advantages are taught by their sport coaches, while athletic advantages are based on genetic athletic potential and how that potential is enhanced through training by the strength and conditioning staff. Any extra space created by any one of these areas can be the key to success on the field.

Using football as an example, if we have an outside receiver running a comeback route, this receiver has multiple paths to successfully get open and make the catch for the first down. Using his tactical understanding of the play call, along with pre-snap reads of the defensive coverage, it appears they will be in Cover 3. His route will attack the space outside between the deep 3rd defender and the underneath flat defender. This receiver knows the defender lined up across from him has a deep 3rd responsibility—meaning the defender can’t let him get by him. If he uses a burst of speed and body language that communicates a deep threat down field, the defender will have to open his hips to run with him to cover his area.

Once the DB has opened his hips, the receiver now has the advantage on the comeback.

This receiver can also use his technical understanding of route running to create an advantage. As he runs down field, the DB will likely play with outside leverage and the receiver can attack this leverage and get on the DB’s toes, pressing him to open his hips and run to keep the receiver in front. Once the DB has opened his hips, the receiver also has a movement advantage.

Now let’s say the receiver fails to execute on either of the above possible ways to get open: we have a relatively even situation at the top of the route. The DB is one yard north of the receiver and still in his backpedal as they come up on the breakpoint. The receiver has to stop his momentum, cut, and turn 135 degrees to his right backward to the sideline and look for the ball. The DB is still in his backpedal and will see the receiver’s hips drop into his break and can also break on the ball. The ball was thrown on time and is already in the air—at this point, who has the advantage?

Advantages come from a variety of sources, but can be simplified into three categories: tactical advantages, technical advantages, and athletic advantages, says @Torinshanahan42. Share on X

It comes down to change of direction ability. Who can stop their momentum first? Who can break or cut first? Who can sprint to the intersection point between their paths and the ball first? This is where an athletic advantage comes into play—can you be a better athlete than the player across from you and make the play when you both know what you are about to do? The faster you stop, the faster you can cut, and then the faster you can accelerate out—deceleration is a trainable factor that can give your athletes a movement advantage.

Deceleration is a critical component to success in many sports and can be defined as the act of reducing an object’s velocity. Training an athletes’ brakes is an important part of the training program for maximizing an athlete’s potential and placing the most prepared team on the field for every competition.

Principles of Training Deceleration

All athlete training is dictated by physiology. There are set core principles of training that must be followed for positive adaptation to occur. These principles are working at or above training stimulus thresholds, progressive overload, and specific adaptations to imposed demands (SAID Principle). Providing a training stimulus is very important because it’s the only way the body knows it needs to adapt. If you are not challenging your athletes, you are not changing your athletes.

Over time, this threshold will rise as the athlete improves. You need to keep challenging athletes by providing more demanding tasks. Lastly, this training stimulus needs to be specific. Any exercise or drill where you are chasing deceleration adaptations must stimulate the biomechanical and physiological systems that operate during deceleration tasks. Applying these principles to deceleration training:

• The drills or exercise must have enough intensity to challenge the athlete’s physical and movement qualities.
• That challenge must be progressed.
• The challenge needs to specifically challenge biomechanical and neurological systems used in declaration.

Looking back at our receiver running his comeback route—the initial get off the line, the acceleration—tasks his body with producing large horizontally-vectored impulses to drive his body forward. Ground contact time is long and force is relatively low. As our receiver comes into his break, he will experience deceleration, which has a unique signature. Braking can be characterized by very rapid and very large ground reaction force profiles, with those specific forces being related to the current velocity of the athlete.

Our receiver has built up some speed as he runs down field—when he goes to stop, his body can experience peak forces up to 5.9x bodyweight (Harper et al 2022). These forces are significantly larger than many other tasks our receiver—or any athlete—will perform, specifically being 2.7x greater than an equally intense acceleration (Harper et al 2022). According to Damien Harper, one of the world leaders on deceleration and founder of Human Braking Performance, these decelerations are also 37% greater physical load per meter than equal accelerations. He states that they can also be 65% greater load per meter than most other typical sporting actions (Harper & Kiely 2018). With greater peak forces and a significantly higher physical cost in load per meter than accelerations, decelerations need to be specifically trained and accounted for in their cost on the body.

The faster you stop, the faster you can cut, and then the faster you can accelerate out—deceleration is a trainable factor that can give your athletes a movement advantage, says @Torinshanahan42. Share on X

These types of forces are not easy to effectively manage—it’s no surprise that many athletes lack game speed stemming from poor deceleration. With this in mind, the scope of impact on an athlete’s deceleration capabilities becomes apparent. In my previous role as the Director of Football Sports Performance at Georgetown University, my staff and I leveraged the living laboratory we had at our disposal to find ways to better prepare athletes for success on the field and to keep them on the field playing the sport they love. Below, I will share specific changes we made to our football training program based on conversations around our understanding of human performance and the data we collected on the training we implemented with the team. We sought to create specific adaptation in deceleration capability by training in a manner that creates a deceleration specific stimulus, follows progressive overload, and was intense enough to create change.

Weight Room Progression

The weight room is a common theme throughout the entire year in college athletics, where field-based training time comes and goes with the seasons. Having the capability to train multiple different qualities is important for a well-rounded training program and deterring detraining in the qualities you and the athletes worked so hard to develop. The two core training modalities we used in the weight room are depth drops and isometric tempos. Both of these are trained at high intensities for a stimulus, the stimulus is specific to deceleration, and both can be progressively overloaded.

Depth Drops

In my last role, we mainly utilized the depth drop progression in the weight room because it was logistically easier and we could attempt to accommodate individualized box heights. Depth drops are an exercise where the athletes step-off and land from an elevated surface. Athletes must effectively manage the large forces applied during landing. Depth drops enact vertical deceleration, where forces can be equal to or greater than that of horizontal deceleration. The height of the box can manipulate the intensity and progressions can be made by including various types of jumps that are performed after the landing.

Utilizing depth drops for deceleration specifically meant needing to replicate deceleration-specific forces. While the vector is different, the muscles utilized are similar, so we sought to find what box heights could replicate those forces and then overload them.

Deceleration is a critical component to success in many sports and can be defined as the act of reducing an object’s velocity, says @Torinshanahan42. Share on X

In this search, we had multiple athletes perform depth drops from various heights. We picked heights of 24, 30, 36, and 42 inches but converted those heights to a percentage of the athlete’s countermovement jump height on the force plate. What we found was there is a lot of variability between individuals, as multiple factors go into eccentric force production. To account for individual differences, we used individual regression models to evaluate what height each individual would need to create peak landing forces at or above our goal of at least 5.9 Newtons per kilogram from Damien Harper’s research. We found this required 143% of an individual’s countermovement jump height. Using 143% of an athlete’s CMJ as the foundation; progressions can be made through height to create larger forces to develop maximal eccentric strength that can be used on the field.

Isometric Training for Eccentric Actions

Eccentric muscle actions are typically most associated with deceleration and isometrics are associated with amortization. When digging into the details of how the muscle actions operate in combination with tendons to create human locomotion, I found that isometrics can be a powerful tool to train an athlete’s brakes. Deceleration is normally thought of as lengthening through flexion of joints to absorb energy, which results in the velocity reduction of an object. Eccentric muscle actions are associated with lengthening joints where force applied to the joint structure is greater than that applied by the musculotendinous unit resulting in the outside force creating movement at the joint.

Isometrics are also associated with static joint positions where force is equal inside the musculotendinous unit and the force applied to the joint system, resulting in the static movement. Eccentric muscle actions are normally synonymous with deceleration because of joint flexion and muscle lengthening while force is absorbed by the body. However, I will explain below how on the macro and micro levels isometrics are a training tool for deceleration.

Macro Level

When doing any exercise with an isometric tempo included in the exercise, the lifter must move the weight eccentrically before stopping at a desired point to hold the isometric position that is desired. The key point is that the athletes must stop by decelerating themselves. Eccentric tempos do require a stop and reversal, but the focus is on the lower without additional pressure applied to the stop. Isometrics provide an additional focus for the lifter to stop and apply tension to create this isometric hold. Digging deeper, with stato-dynamic reps where athletes must pause at multiple positions within the rep, at each pause the athlete must decelerate the load to stop it for the hold. This exposes the athlete to braking forces at multiple positions. In eccentric actions, the force of the muscle is lower than the external load creating the lengthening action. In isometrics, the force is equal. Put on a continuum, to create a braking force to stop a bar being lowered, more force must be applied to decelerate the bar until the velocity is equal to zero where an equal and opposite force must be continuously applied. Simply, isometric tempos on dynamic compound exercises require athletes to apply braking forces that stop moving external loads to train their brakes.

Video 1. Stato-dynamic Squat.

Micro Level

Let’s explore how our bodies accomplish deceleration. Original research by Robert Griffiths, a research professor at the University of Calgary, shows that the lengthening of the musculotendinous unit included lengthening of the tendon while the muscle fascicles actually shortened while the muscle was activated (Griffiths 1991). This was an in vitro study on anesthetized cat muscles, showing that while the entire joint structure was undergoing lengthening—which is typically associated with eccentric muscle actions—the muscle itself was shortening. Later researches from Manchester Metropolitan University, Neil Reeves and Macro Narici followed up on Griffiths’ research and sought in vivo answers with human subjects. They found similar results, as the elasticity of the tendon allows for lengthening of the entire musculotendinous unit while the muscle behaves isometrically (Reeves and Narici 2003).

The tendon buffers rapid stretching and large eccentric muscle forces by rapidly stretching while the muscles actively create quasi-isometric forces. The force is then transferred from the tendon to the muscle as the muscle is better at dissipating force while the tendon is effective at buffering force. Specifically, the muscle’s job in rapid lengthening and high force lengthening situations is to create a solid structure on the opposite end of the bone for the tendon to lengthen between. The tendon elongates and stores the rapid onset of large amounts of energy that could be too great for the muscle to attenuate; while this appears to be an effective strategy to protect tissues, too rapid of a stretch or too forceful of an eccentric action can cause simultaneous stretching of the tendon and muscle. I would speculate this may be when soft tissue injuries occur, establishing a need for improving force-attenuation capabilities of the entire musculotendinous unit.

We can derive from these findings that deceleration forces can be absorbed through the tendon in a protective and buffering manner. Our goal with isometric training is to develop isometric strength, but also improve the biomechanical coordination to buffer as efficiently as possible. Athletes practice developing braking while improving attenuation strategies to allow athletes to create high-force application in maximal deceleration tasks.

Field Progression

Specificity of field work

When doing field work, we must remember the principle of training above the threshold that provides an adaptation stimulus. Any drill or exercise needs to be intense enough in the deceleration aspects to create a stimulus. Nevado-Garrosa et al. showcases the need for intensity above threshold—they had one control group, one group playing small-sided, and a weight room-based, eccentric overload training group (Nevado-Garrosa et al. 2021). The eccentric training group improved their maximal deceleration rate, maximal acceleration rate, the number of high-intensity decelerations, and the number of high-intensity accelerations in game. Training to be explosive allowed them to be more explosive.

Providing a training stimulus is very important because it’s the only way the body knows it needs to adapt. If you are not challenging your athletes, you are not changing your athletes, says @Torinshanahan42. Share on X

The small-sided training group—while they actually were performing many acceleration and decelerations during the small-sided games—ended up decreasing or were stagnant in all the same areas. The eccentric overload group was not performing decelerations on the field, they were performing decelerations having to stop a flywheel during training. The main difference was that they were performing maximal to near maximal decelerations with every rep, while the small-sided games group was performing mainly submaximal decelerations. Performing a deceleration at a high intensity is needed where the task is specific to using deceleration to create a training stimulus.

We understand that the human body is resistant to change. To create change, we need to apply enough stress to destabilize the homeostasis that the body is chasing, and that this stress needs to specifically overload the biomechanical, kinesthetic, and bioenergetic tissues or systems that you wish to create adaptation in.

Sprint-to-Decel Drills

During my first spring ball with Georgetown, we had a rash of hamstring injuries and tightness. At one point, our entire DB room was either out or had been in the training room for significant tightness (or at least it felt like the entire room). Naturally, the questions came to me and so I sought an answer.

During my first spring ball with Georgetown, we had a rash of hamstring injuries and tightness… Naturally, the questions came to me and so I sought an answer, says @Torinshanahan42. Share on X

In looking through our data, the DB room specifically had been exposed to one or two high-intensity decelerations during winter training and mat drills (<-4.0 m/s²). Once we started spring ball, they were exposed to 8-10 per practice. Their average distances, player load, and high-speed distances (yards at >70% of MSS) per session were not that different from winter training. I hypothesized that pre-exposing athletes to practice demand of deceleration could be a part of the health equation.

Talking with others and looking around the field through social media to find the way to pre-expose athletes to decelerations, we found Sprint-to-Decel drills. These drills involved giving athletes a set distance to sprint through before maximally decelerating. The intensity of decelaration is predicated on the velocity of the athlete—therefore, manipulations to distance change the intensity of the drill. Other factors can also manipulate the intensity, but the distance is the easiest and main manipulation.

Going through our progressions, we found that using a medball reduces entry velocity but helps to reinforce deceleration positioning as a teaching tool–similar to that of chain or sled sprints for acceleration. The medball increases overall mass, reducing the athlete’s ability to accelerate—and, in a set distance, results in slower speeds. The medball being hugged in front of the athlete positions their center of mass further ahead than normal. When they go to decelerate with this forward center of mass, they must accommodate by sitting back more upright with their posture. This helps reinforce the posture necessary to create braking impulses.

To progress, we cycle medball and free unrestricted variations by performing the medball variant at a set entry distance before progressing the next week to the free variant. For distances, we found that athletes need about 15 yards or more to reliably hit peak deceleration rates of games and practices. This usually occurs with about 68% of their top speed at the end of the drill and can reliably trigger a high-intensity deceleration event. Increasing distances past 15 yards can progressively overload maximal deceleration.

Video 2. Medball Decels.

Conclusion

Applying the base concepts of training to deceleration, we can find multiple ways to provide our athletes with the tools to better decelerate on the field to gain a space advantage. In the weight room, progressions utilizing isometric tempos with compound exercises train athletes to create braking forces under external load and are specific to the muscular actions that operate during rapid deceleration moments. Depth drops at 143% of an athlete’s countermovement jump or greater can be utilized to develop the force output required during horizontal deceleration tasks. Exposure to greater peak force events can develop improved force buffering capability of the musculotendinous units, especially under rapid force application environments. All together, athletes should be given the tools to stop on a dime so they gain an advantage on the field.

While we had a lot of success with these changes, it should be noted that evidence for its efficacy should be taken with a grain of salt. We made significant changes to the weight room training program and the practice structure all in hopes of placing our athletes in a better position to be successful, creating some noise in the efficacy of deceleration training. We had a 60% reduction in the number of soft-tissue injuries over the course of the season, while dropping the overall injury rate by 20%. Over one off-season training block, utilizing the above concepts, we improved team average eccentric peak force per kilogram by 0.8% in the countermovement jump and eccentric mean force in the drop jump by 6.1%. The data showed that our athletes were able to produce more force during eccentric-deceleration phases of jumping tasks and had greater resilience to the demands of practice and games.

How well greater athletic capabilities specifically translates to the field is more complicated and requires more data collection. However, the origin story was centered around injury risk reduction: A problem that we were able to improve upon with specific, intense, and progressively overloaded deceleration training.

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

Issurin, Vladimir, and Michael Yessis. Block Periodization: Breakthrough in Sport Training. Ultimate Athlete Concepts, 2008.

Griffiths RI. Shortening of muscle fibres during stretch of the active cat medial gastrocnemius muscle: the role of tendon compliance. J Physiol. 1991 May;436:219-36. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1991.sp018547. PMID: 2061831; PMCID: PMC1181502.

Reeves, N. D., & Narici, M. V. (2003). Behavior of human muscle fascicles during shortening and lengthening contractions in vivo. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 95(3), 1090–1096.

Reeves, M. Narici. Behavior of human muscle fascicles during shortening and lengthening contractions in vivo.

Harper DJ, Kiely J. Damaging nature of decelerations: Do we adequately prepare players?. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine 2018;4:e000379. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2018-000379

Harper, Damian & McBurnie, Alistair & Dos’Santos, Thomas & Eriksrud, Ola & Evans, Martin & Cohen, Daniel & Rhodes, David & Carling, Christopher & Kiely, John. (2022). Biomechanical and Neuromuscular Performance Requirements of Horizontal Deceleration: A Review with Implications for Random Intermittent Multi-Directional Sports. Sports Medicine. 52. 10.1007/s40279-022-01693-0.

Nevado, Fabio & Torreblanca Martínez, Víctor & Paredes-Hernández, Víctor & Campo-Vecino, J. & Balsalobre-Fernández, Carlos. (2021). Effect of an eccentric overload and small-side games training in training accelerations and decelerations. Journal of Physical Education and Sport. 21. 3244-3251. 10.7752/jpes.2021.s6431.

Connolly, F., & Josse, C. (2019). The process: The methodology, philosophy & principles of coaching winning teams (Vol. 1).

Coaches of all levels, from high school to college to pro, recognize that athletes in this generation and upcoming generations gravitate towards technology. That technology should be used to enhance performance, not detract from it. Coaches are investing in devices with high innovation potential that will last for a long time and keep athletes motivated, healthy, and safe in the weight room.

Non-invasive measurement tools have revolutionized the way coaches approach training. They offer a way to monitor and analyze performance metrics without cumbersome equipment or intrusive procedures (like muscle biopsies, etc). In the weight room, this means athletes can focus entirely on their lifts and overall training while still benefiting from precise data collection. The result? More efficient training sessions, where every rep counts and every movement is optimized.

Technology needs to blend into the background and be an additive to training, not a deterrent: devices like 3D camera systems, wearables, and more are designed to be unobtrusive. They collect data quietly, allowing athletes to maintain their concentration and coaches to coach without interference. This seamless integration ensures that the primary goals of the training session (i.e., building strength, improving technique, and enhancing performance) are not compromised by the tools intended to support them.

Devices like 3D camera systems, wearables, and more are designed to be unobtrusive… collect data quietly, allowing athletes to maintain their concentration and coaches to coach without interference, says @NikaOuellette. Share on X

In this article, we will cover the different types of measurement for velocity-based training (VBT), the importance of noninvasive forms of measurement while training, the Perch Toolkit for VBT (and more), and how to use the system in a crowded weight room setting.

Different Types of Measurement for Velocity-Based Training

The technology used in VBT includes linear position transducers, accelerometer-based devices, and various software applications. These devices are used to measure the velocity of movement, which provides immediate feedback to the athlete and coach, enabling them to adjust the training load on the spot. From those two pieces of information, many more metrics can be calculated to inform overall weight room performance and paint a clear picture of progress.

• 3D cameras: These produce images with pixels. However, instead of each pixel having an associated color, each pixel has an associated depth. The depth is simply how far away that object is from the camera. This is the only non-contact form of measurement, which reduces wear and tear and potential damage to equipment, along with potential distraction to a training session.
• Linear position transducers (LPTs): These are the original velocity-based training devices. They have been around for decades due to their simplicity, intuitive user experience, and the minimal processing power needed to sample the data. A string is attached to the object of interest, usually a barbell. The string is wrapped around a pulley, which is connected to an encoder. When the string is pulled, the pulley spins, and the encoder measures the rotational displacement over time. From this information, linear velocity can be determined.
• Accelerometers: These are wearables you attach to yourself or a barbell. This type of technology (IMU or Inertial Measurement Unit) can be found in many consumer electronic devices. This is one of the many electronic components a FitBit uses to count steps, and it is how a phone determines its orientation. These same chips can be put on a barbell or on an athlete to measure velocity. An accelerometer is basically a series of tiny springs put on a chip. When the accelerometer accelerates, these springs feel a force proportional to the acceleration. This force is measured and the acceleration can be calculated.

These are all methods of implementing velocity-based training. Given your facility, number of athletes, number of coaches, and need, any one of these might be appropriate for your use case. It’s up to you to determine what suits you best, and there are many options out there!

The Perch Tool Kit

Perch is more than just velocity-based training—it is a complete weight room performance tool.

1. Perch PLAN enables programming to pre-assign exercises, sets, reps, and goals.

2. Perch EVALUATE is a jump testing tool designed to assess readiness and monitor fatigue with status reports and scores.

3. Perch TRAIN is a load management tool built on the foundation of velocity-based training with 11 metrics and bar and movement path, able to track barbell and non-barbell movements.

Together, these three products enable complete weight room performance monitoring. The Perch Dashboard is cloud-based and all data is stored longitudinally for the athletes to understand performance improvements over time. Perch even has automatic load velocity profiles along with estimated 1 rep maxes, visualized power curves, and more data insights.

Perch is designed to maximize ease of use both through the hardware and software. The camera-based system straps to the top of a weight rack with rugged velcro straps. It connects via Bluetooth or USB to a tablet (Android or iOS) and can be powered using wall or magnetic battery power (12 hours of life and fully rechargeable in 3-4 hours).

Perch is designed to maximize ease of use both through the hardware and software. The camera-based system straps to the top of a weight rack with rugged velcro straps, says @NikaOuellette. Share on X

The tablet is where athletes will log in, see their program and be moved through it as they complete set after set. If they are using Perch EVALUATE, a screen with a blue value in the middle of it will be visible (see images below for details). If they are using Perch TRAIN, a screen with an empty bar graph with individual bars representing individual reps will be displayed. If reps are in the programmed zone, they will appear blue and you will hear an audible ding indicating you are in the zone. If it is above the zone, you’ll see a gold rep. Below the zone, you’ll see a red rep and hear an error noise.

How Does Perch Actually Work?

The system serves as a one-stop shop so coaches can save time and improve athlete performance with no interruption to weight room workflow. Perch mounts to a weight rack up and out of the way of athletes. They benefit from no broken strings, no wearables, and no hassle. The camera connects to a tablet. The tablet is where athletes will log in, lift, and see immediate feedback.

All data is stored in the Perch dashboard:

• Write programs
• Assess readiness
• Manage load

The dashboard provides immediate, objective feedback. Perch tracks over a dozen metrics, provides insights, stores data, and visualizes performance over time. It also outputs technique and bar path visuals to validate the coach’s eye. The results? Motivated athletes. Bought-in coaching staffs. And safe training.

All integrated seamlessly, housed under one system, and with zero interruption to weight room workflow.

Perhaps most importantly, Perch is both valid and reliable as compared to a 3D Motion Capture Vicon—the gold standard of motion capture analysis.

How to Use Perch With Large Groups of Athletes

Perch is designed for the weight room. Noninvasive data collection is the name of the game. There are no strings or wearables that need to be attached to a bar or an athlete. The athlete simply walks up, starts lifting, and gets immediate and objective data related to their performance. Perch is used across athletes and sports, from professional teams, to college teams, to high school teams, and even sports performance facilities and in the military. Perch is used across the spectrum because it is a versatile, easy tool.

Perch is designed for the weight room. Noninvasive data collection is the name of the game. There are no strings or wearables that need to be attached to a bar or an athlete, says @NikaOuellette. Share on X

Coach Spencer Arnold of Hebron Christian Academy said it best: “I can set a camera up above and out of their reach, away from them breaking it, I don’t have any strings attached to my bar, there’s no devices on my bar. It is relatively seamless for the athlete. But at the same time, we get really accurate objective data on more than just the velocity of the bar.”

Coach Arnold has hundreds of athletes each day in his weight room. But so do a lot of schools. And in the high school space, being able to manage a lot of athletes with few coaches is an art and a science—at McHenry High School Coach, John Beerbower has 700 athletes come through his room on a daily basis. With that immense volume, he needs his room to function incredibly efficiently. In his words: “As soon as I saw Perch, I fell in love with it. Our kids loved it—seeing how they interact with it, I knew it was something,” Coach Beerbower then went on to add “at a school, at an educational institution, we should be looking for ways to innovate.”

Ultimately, technology shouldn’t hinder moving athletes through a weight room. So what makes Perch so efficient? The best weight room workflow in the game! Pre-program workouts and assign them to athletes. As many athletes as you want can be logged into a single tablet. The athlete highlighted in blue is the person who is “up” and whose profile the data will save to. If you’re using Perch PLAN, it will automatically move athletes through the training with Auto Mode on and eliminate the need for tablet touches. Athletes will see the data and be motivated but not distracted. It’s the sweet spot, and Perch has managed to create it.

Perch works with professional programs in the NFL, MLS, MLB, NBA, and NHL, and we also have a growing number of international rugby and soccer teams as customers. Perch works with every level of college program from Power 5 to mid major DI schools to DII and DIII programs across the country.

Video 1. Tim Crowley of Monteverde Academy demonstrates how he applies Perch in training.

High school teams make up a significant portion of our customer base, both public and private schools across the country and world. Everyone who has a weight room and lots of athletes flowing through it can benefit from this type of unobtrusive technology.

How to Use Perch with Athletes of Varying Training Ages and Abilities

Let’s start with high school athletes. Because of the young training age, a lot of initial adaptations for high school athletes are neuromuscular (meaning they may not initially be getting “stronger.” They may just be increasing the efficiency of their neuromuscular movement patterns.) This process is enhanced by greater volume (and practicing those patterns), not by greater load. Instead of arbitrarily assigning volume, using Perch with a velocity threshold can be applied to ensure appropriate adaptations.

Without using velocity to inform the intent of the athlete’s pattern, we’re guessing if the volume is enough to initiate the desired adaptations. Velocity-based training is autoregulatory, the volume is therefore autoregulatory, and assuming maximal intent, an athlete will stop when the volume truly is enough—which will be dictated by movement speed and thresholds. If a younger athlete can use VBT to regulate total volume and load, and increase efficiency of their movement patterns, and do so with sound data at a faster rate than previously possible, greater improvements can be made much quicker. 

For college athletes? Never mind the stress of school, practice, film, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, game travel, and social pressure. Those are huge in and of themselves. Now consider the needs analysis of the individual athlete and the role they play on their team. In most cases, this will involve some combination of skill, strength, speed, and power. Athletes may need to be stronger, or faster, or both! And without understanding the athlete load velocity profile, we don’t know at what speeds or loads we should be training them.

VBT in a collegiate setting can help regulate load and volume, and also account for stress that happens outside of the weight room. This ensures appropriate load management to keep the athlete healthy and performing optimally in the weight room and on the field of play.

Finally, professional athletes. Professional athletes are a different breed. They have to deal with contracts and job security, travel, family, financial planning, and the stress of training and maintaining their ability over the duration of a long season. While their job may be to play and compete and win, a lot of external factors play a role—and accounting for that stress with an objective data point from Perch is immensely important. With the chaotic game and practice schedules, athletes have limited time to train in the weight room. And this means they need to take advantage of every second in the weight room to optimize performance. Efficiency is paramount, and a tool that works and that athletes buy into is important. Moreover, Perch packs down into a carrying case to take on the road.

The Importance of Noninvasive Technology

One of the most significant advantages and additives of non-invasive measurement tools is their ability to provide real-time, actionable insights. Traditional methods of performance analysis often require setup times, calibration, and post-session data processing. In contrast, today’s options for weight room technology offer instantaneous feedback, enabling coaches and athletes to make informed decisions on the fly. This immediacy transforms the training environment, making it more dynamic and responsive to the needs of the moment.

Time is a precious commodity in any training environment. Non-invasive measurement tools are designed to be time-saving additives to the training process. They eliminate the need for lengthy setups and minimize downtime, allowing athletes to maintain a steady training rhythm. This efficiency not only maximizes the use of available training time but also helps in reducing fatigue and preventing overtraining by ensuring that every session is both productive and sustainable.

Non-invasive measurement tools are designed to be time-saving additives to the training process. They eliminate the need for lengthy setups and minimize downtime, allowing athletes to maintain a steady training rhythm. Share on X

As technology continues to evolve, the future of performance training lies in the seamless integration of non-invasive measurement tools. These innovations are set to become indispensable parts of the athletic training landscape. They offer new ways to enhance performance without compromising the training session’s integrity. The key is to embrace technology that respects the workout’s flow, providing insights that elevate performance while keeping the focus firmly on athlete goals.

Weight room technology isn’t just the future of training, it is the now as well. It’s paramount to ensure that technology is noninvasive and unobtrusive. Perch exists to eliminate pain points in the weight room, improve performance, motivate athletes, and monitor progress, all with a single tool. From high school to college to professional athletes and coaches, a simple seamless tool can ensure consistency and reliability in the weight room to enhance performance on the field of play.

Learn more about Perch here.

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

Strength and conditioning are cornerstones of athletic performance, and professionals play a critical role in shaping athletes’ physical capabilities. For a strength and conditioning coach, the transition from the NBA to a Power 5 college basketball program marks a significant and multifaceted career shift.

I have a unique perspective, starting at the NBA level and now working with elite college basketball players. My journey from the NBA to college has encompassed many challenges and opportunities, demanding adaptability, a strategic approach, and a deep passion for athlete development. In this article, I will explore the nuances of this transition and—most importantly—highlight the adjustments and strategies needed to pave the way for success.

My journey from the NBA to college has encompassed many challenges and opportunities, demanding adaptability, a strategic approach, and a deep passion for athlete development, says @cspillercscs. Share on X

The NBA Experience

For many strength and conditioning professionals, working in the NBA represents the pinnacle of professional sports. The league is renowned for its elite talent, cutting-edge training facilities, progressive and innovative incentives, and demanding competition schedules.

NBA strength and conditioning coaches are tasked with optimizing the performance of athletes already at the peak of their physical abilities. In-season training during the NBA season primarily focuses on maintaining high performance, managing workloads, preventing injuries, and enhancing specific aspects of athleticism required for high-stakes professional basketball games.

The individual needs of NBA players are vital for strength and conditioning coaches. These coaches work with athletes at various stages of their careers, from rookies to seasoned veterans. Programming can range from teaching basics to rookies with little training experience to working with veterans who know their bodies well and have established routines. Motivation also plays a crucial role, especially for players in contract years or those with limited playing time. Additionally, coaches need to consider the impact of back-to-back games on players’ conditioning and adjust their programs accordingly.

Critical Elements of the NBA Environment:

1. Elite Talent Pool: NBA players possess extraordinary physical and technical skills, demanding highly specialized and individualized training programs. Coaches meticulously craft these programs to enhance players’ agility, strength, endurance, and basketball-specific skills. The NBA Draft Combine is a crucial event where aspiring players showcase their talents to scouts, coaches, and executives from all 30 NBA teams.

The talent pool is now more significant than ever, with domestic and international talent growing exponentially. Excluding two-way players, there are currently 450 players in the NBA. As of February 2022, 5,510 Division I men’s college basketball players were on the rosters of 358 schools. According to NCAA statistics, only about 1.2% of all college men’s basketball players get drafted by an NBA team. The habits of elite-level NBA players set them apart from others. Many young players don’t realize the work, discipline, and dedication required to be a professional basketball player.

Simply scoring lots of points or having natural talent is no longer enough to secure a spot on an NBA roster. While potential can open doors, what are you doing to maximize your potential and stay on top? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you arriving early for treatment and maintenance work before workouts? Are you focused on your nutrition, eating meals with the proper nutrients to perform at your best? I refer to these as “Professional Habits” with my athletes to remind them that professionalism extends beyond on-court performance. It encompasses the little things off the court that contribute to a long, successful career. The possibilities are endless once young athletes grasp this concept, along with talent and work ethic.

2. Advanced Facilities: Over the last ten years, NBA franchises have started to build state-of-the-art training facilities equipped with the latest technology and equipment to support comprehensive performance analysis, targeted conditioning, and enhanced recovery efforts. State-of-the-art facilities can play a role in the potential for big-name free agents to join the franchise.

3. Intense Competition Schedule: The NBA’s rigorous schedule necessitates meticulous load management to ensure players are primed for performance while minimizing the risk of injury. Training post-game has been a strategy most teams and players have adopted in recent years. Post-game lifts help match the stress from the game load and maintain strength and conditioning. This strategy is usually implemented after back-to-backs or long road trips to ensure the players can take the following day off without a drop-off in performance.
4. Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Strength and conditioning coaches work closely with sports scientists, nutritionists, medical staff, and other coaches to create holistic, cohesive training programs. These staff usually meet every morning before players arrive to discuss player status, injury updates, practice training load recommendations, daily training, and weight room schedules and plans.

Transitioning to Power 5 College Basketball

Moving from the NBA to a Power 5 college basketball program introduces a dramatically different landscape. While exceptionally talented, college athletes are in a critical developmental stage of their careers. The strength and conditioning coach’s roles include performance enhancement, foundational physical development, education, and mentorship. 

With the introduction of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), college athletes have opportunities to profit from their likeness. But it's important to remember that they are students first and foremost, says @cspillercscs. Share on X

Critical Adjustments and Strategies:

1. Developmental Focus

• Physical Development: College athletes are still maturing physically. I soon realized how much more physical development college basketball players need, especially incoming first-year students. In my first year, we had more of a veteran group with a couple of fifth-year seniors. This group had a great foundation, and I could incorporate more of my movement-based strength approach with my manual therapy skillset. This group achieved excellent results.

The following year, to help our first-year students transition to the physical demands of college basketball, our program focused more on hypertrophy and strength while blending movement-based strength. My experience working in the NBA and now in college basketball has helped me realize that longevity, availability, and development are the keys to success for high-level performers. To create a robust athletic foundation and prevent injuries, emphasis should be placed on developing overall strength. The integral components in building strength include progressive overload, functional training in multiplanar movements, and isometrics and tendon loading. Other important developmental pieces include power, speed, agility, and endurance.

• Education: Educating athletes about sleep, nutrition, recovery techniques, and consistent training habits is vital. This component helps athletes, especially those from specific socioeconomic backgrounds, understand how their choices impact performance and longevity, instilling habits that benefit them throughout their careers. Part of our job is to help them know that prioritizing sleep and recovery is crucial for college basketball players. Aim for 8-10 hours of sleep to enhance cognitive function and physical recovery. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule in a relaxed, dark, and quiet environment. Many incoming freshmen, athletes who have transferred from mid-major or JUCO, may lack the knowledge or resources. Educating early and often on what practical recovery efforts look like is essential. Effective recovery includes light activities like stretching, proper hydration and nutrition, and techniques such as ice baths and massages. Focusing on these areas maximizes performance and health.

2. Program Design:

• Periodization: Unlike the NBA’s year-round competition, college basketball has distinct off-season, pre-season, and in-season phases. Effective periodization ensures athletes build during the off-season, peaking at critical times and maintaining performance while managing fatigue and injuries.
• Individualization: Each athlete’s developmental stage, physical attributes, and specific needs vary widely. Individualized training programs help address individual strengths, weaknesses, and imbalances, promoting a balanced and holistic athletic development program.

3. Resource Management:

• Facilities: Power 5 programs, known for their robust athletic departments, often boast impressive facilities. However, these facilities may still fall short of the cutting-edge resources available in the NBA. My transition to my current Power 5 basketball program was made seamless because of early exposure to various athletic performance and sports science technology during my time in the NBA.

Power 5 programs, known for their robust athletic departments, often boast impressive facilities. However, these facilities may still fall short of the cutting-edge resources available in the NBA., says @cspillercscs. Share on X

Before arriving in Oregon, I was already proficient in using and analyzing force plates and force frames (a system that tests and assesses hip/groin strength) data, using various blood flow restriction devices for training for strength and recovery, wearable GPS player tracking systems, various types of athlete management software, and a Delos postural proprioception system. The Delos system tests and assesses balance and proprioception to mitigate lower extremity injuries, and because of my experience in the NBA, U of O is one of the few Men’s College basketball programs to possess this device.

High-performance models are slowly making their way to college athletics. To bridge this gap and enhance training effectiveness, these programs must creatively utilize their existing equipment and facilities. Over the years, success in the NCAA Tournament has spurred several Power 5 conference schools to invest in upgrading or building new, world-class, practice facilities. These state-of-the-art venues improve training conditions and serve as a significant draw in recruiting top talent.

• Staff and Support: College programs may have fewer support staff than NBA teams. College programs typically have multiple athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches assigned to various teams. Most Power 5 programs have one athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach assigned to men’s basketball. Those staff members might occasionally have one other sport they’re responsible for.

On the contrary, the number of members of an NBA performance staff has grown within the last ten years. An NBA team’s average strength and conditioning/performance staff consists of five members, excluding the medical staff. Most hierarchies are structured as Director of Performance, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach; some teams will have two, and Head G-League Strength and Conditioning Coach. This necessitates a more hands-on approach and strong collaboration with athletic trainers, sports nutritionists, and medical personnel to ensure comprehensive athlete care.

4. Athlete Management:

• Academic Demands: College athletes manage demanding academic schedules alongside their athletic commitments. Understanding and accommodating these demands is crucial when creating effective, manageable training programs. With the introduction of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), college athletes have a new opportunity to profit from their likeness. However, it’s important to remember that they are students first and foremost.
• Mentorship: College athletes often require more guidance and mentorship than their NBA counterparts. These athletes are in their formative years and can be easily influenced. College athletes don’t know what they don’t know. Most think by committing to a top-notch program, it’s a ticket to the NBA. In most cases, they don’t realize how hard they have to work to reach that level.

I’ve found that sharing stories about who the hardest worker I’ve been around is, what an NBA practice day looks like, and how often they are in the gym has created a level of buy-in, which ultimately produces results and helps me gain the athletes’ trust. However, the adage remains true, “they don’t care what you know until you show them that you care.” No matter the level, coaches should build genuine relationships, provide support on and off the court/field, and foster a positive, growth-oriented environment. Those three elements provide value to the person and the overall program.

The ‘Professional Approach’ Within College Basketball

As I transitioned from the NBA to college, I noticed how significant the influence of front-office roles are in contrast to athletic directors’ roles and responsibilities. Front offices in the NBA considerably impact team management and player development. In the NBA, front-office structures have always been necessary for managing rosters, contracts, and player acquisitions. On the other hand, in college basketball, the coaching staff has traditionally been the driving force. The head coach often acts as the owner and general manager. However, with the introduction of the transfer portal, which has led to increased player mobility, Power 5 programs have started to take a more professional approach.

Many programs now have a “general manager” or similar role to help with recruiting and roster management. This shows a move towards a more organized, strategic approach to building competitive teams. As a result, college strength coaches are now working more closely with agents and trainers, mirroring the complex front-office operations in the NBA. This collaboration is necessary, because player transactions and strategic planning are crucial for long-term success. In the following bullet points, I will highlight my experience working with various front offices and trainers during my time in the NBA and how it prepared me for this new era of college basketball.

Front Office Coordination:

• Clear Communication: Establishing transparent and regular communication with the front office is essential to aligning goals and expectations for athlete physical development. Some front offices may ask strength and conditioning personnel to contact college strength and conditioning coaches to gather intel on prospective draft prospects.
• Feedback Loop: Regular updates on player progress, training plans, and any concerns help ensure everyone is on the same page and can adjust strategies as needed.

Organizing Off-Season Workouts:

The off-season in college basketball and the NBA are different. NBA players usually have workout plans with their trainers, focusing on improving their skills, recovery, and staying in the game for the long run. On the other hand, college basketball teams usually focus on team training led by the coaching staff.

But, things are changing in college basketball with NIL deals, agents getting involved, and more personalized training plans. College athletes are starting to work with outside trainers and agents, like what we see in the NBA. This shift blurs the lines between amateur and professional off-season prep, making college basketball more structured and pro.

• Customized Plans: Develop individualized off-season training programs tailored to each player’s needs and goals. Off-season training programs should be collaborative efforts between the front office, coaching staff, performance staff, and players. They should balance skill development, physical conditioning, strength, recovery, and rehabilitation exercises.
• Player Visits: Arrange for visits to players out of the market to check in, monitor their progress, and adjust their training programs as necessary.
• Personal Trainer Coordination: Maintain open lines of communication with the players’ trainers to ensure consistency in training approaches and address any discrepancies. Collaboration provides a unified approach to the player’s development. Both professionals should take an athletic-centered approach to program design and communication.

Embracing the College Environment

The college environment offers a uniquely rewarding experience for strength and conditioning professionals. The opportunity to shape young athletes’ futures, both on and off the court, is immensely fulfilling. During my time at Oregon, I have witnessed my athletes consistently challenging themselves and each other in the weight room. I have worked step by step with incoming first-year students, helping them transition into responsible adults. Watching a shy sophomore develop into a confident senior has been extremely satisfying.

Guiding future leaders on and off the court has motivated me to use my professional experience to instill the necessary professional habits for their success, regardless of their career paths. Being involved in college sports, especially in Power 5 programs, has provided a strong sense of community, pride, and camaraderie in a vibrant and inspiring environment.

Benefits of the College Setting:

1. Impact on Athlete Development: Strength and conditioning coaches in college have the chance to impact athletes profoundly during a formative period in their lives. The skills, habits, and mindset instilled at this stage can shape their future careers, especially those who pursue careers outside of basketball.
2. Community and Camaraderie: College sports foster a strong sense of community and pride. For most cities in the United States, college or university could drive economic growth and jobs! Being part of a close-knit team and contributing to the overall success of the athletic program creates a fulfilling and enriching experience.
3. Diverse Role: The role of a strength and conditioning coach in college is multifaceted, encompassing physical training, education, mentorship, and support. This diversity makes the job dynamic and engaging.

Conclusion

Transitioning from the NBA to Power 5 college basketball is a journey that requires adaptability, a comprehensive understanding of athlete development, and a passion for mentorshp. Any strength and conditioning professionals making this move must embrace the differences and challenges, leveraging their NBA experience to enhance collegiate programs.

Transitioning from NBA to Power 5 college basketball requires adaptability, a comprehensive understanding of athlete development, and a passion for mentorship, says @cspillercscs. Share on X

Ultimately, the opportunity to shape young athletes’ lives and careers makes this transition a rewarding endeavor for any dedicated strength and conditioning coach. By fostering a supportive, development-focused environment, coaches can leave a lasting legacy on the athletes they mentor, setting them up for success both on and off the court.

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