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Being a coach in Calgary, Alberta, my year-round training options are at the mercy of the weather. Long winters, frigid temperatures, and endless snow keep us captive indoors many months of the year. We do not have the luxury of being outside on a field or on the track to properly train speed in a year-round fashion, particularly maximum velocity. Granted, Calgary is much warmer than the place I grew up three hours further north (lovingly called Deadmonton), but the winter conditions can seriously impact the long-term speed development of many athletes.

Comparably, with the recent worldwide pandemic, many athletes are relegated to their homes and must train in basements or small spaces. This means many promising and high-level athletes are not training properly (if at all), and speed training is surely the most neglected quality.

Where space and weather are limiting factors, tools that can help develop and build speed qualities are greatly needed. Luckily, one such option exists, and it can be extremely valuable in the pursuit of speed: tethered running.

What Is Tethered Running?

I am a pirate; meaning I rarely create anything of value myself, but instead steal ideas and tools from all the great coaches out there doing great things. Tethered running—which I stole from fellow Canadian Derek Hansen, and which he started experimenting with circa 2000—is simply putting a rope or band around your hips and anchoring it to something sturdy (or held by a partner). This then allows the athlete to do a multitude of training options indoors and without much more than a few square meters.

The placement of the rope allows for a much more natural feel than simply doing the same exercise in place without the tether. The little bit of resistance provided by the rope (my personal preference is my 1-inch purple resistance band) affords the athlete the ability to lean in slightly and strike the ground in a manner more akin to upright running, creating a more realistic muscle sequencing pattern. The external resistance also means the athlete has to maintain good postural control and develop body awareness. Tethered running is also a great option when you have a bit more space and a partner handy, because they can hold the band and slowly walk forward, allowing the athlete to get more posterior chain involvement.

The little bit of resistance provided by the rope allows the athlete to lean in slightly and strike the ground in a manner more akin to upright running, says @CoachGies. Share on X

Is tethered running a substitute for actual sprint training? A resounding NO! But as a tool to develop (some) speed qualities when weather and space eliminate any possibility of performing quality sprint work? Absolutely.

Think of it this way: If an athlete can’t run but still wants to train, what are they going to do? Likely weight training and bodyweight circuits training, which are fine and definitely have their place, but on their own will not develop the neurological or stiffness qualities required for sprinting. If an athlete is sitting around (like during quarantine…) then they are essentially detraining. If they are training but not doing speed-related work, they are detraining speed! This can lead to poor performances and an increased risk of soft tissue injuries once they ramp back up their training volumes (i.e., better weather or no more quarantine). Tethered running is a great adjunct to get quality speed training when the situation calls for it.

Here is an incomplete list of many of the capacities and physical qualities needed for efficient sprinting. Properly implemented tethered run training can also focus on, maintain, and even develop these areas:

• Posture
• Coordination/patterning (developing front side mechanics)
• Arm mechanics
• Rhythm, relaxation, and timing
• Frequency
• Elasticity/reactivity of the lower leg/foot
• Leg and trunk stiffness (vertical displacement of center of mass)
• Contact time
• Specific strength (hips, ankle, etc.)
• Foot/calf conditioning
• Vertical force development

Will these capacities get developed better than with sprinting? Unlikely. Will they be developed to a higher degree than if not sprinting at all? Yes!

In that effort, we’ll focus on three primary applications: speed development, extensive tempo running, and return to play.

1. Speed Development

To get fast, you need to sprint. However, tethered running is a fantastic means to work on various sprint drills, low-intensity plyometrics, and other coordination drills. If you subscribe to the “Feed the Cats” training style, these could also be great additions to the X-Factor days.

Tethered running is a fantastic means to work on various sprint drills, low-intensity plyometrics, and other coordination drills, says @CoachGies. Share on X

Sprint Drills

Even though a sprint drill doesn’t necessarily make someone fast, it creates context for an athlete and can develop specific postural strength, rhythm, and relaxation. When used in a tethered fashion (as opposed to in-place with no tether), the athlete can use the resistance of the band to adopt a more leaned-in body angle. This much more natural feeling position will also cause the athlete to strike the ground in a more favorable manner (under the hips) as they try to push away from the anchor point. This increases posterior chain involvement and improves foot placement.

The “Big 3” to start with are marches, skips, and runs (See Video 1 below). The sets/reps can be either repetition-based or time-based. For example, with the Tethered March you can do 2-5 sets for 10-30 seconds with 20-50 foot contacts. I’ve found multiple sets of lower repetitions for these drills work best to keep fatigue at bay and movement quality high.

Video 1. Marches, skips, and runs are a great introduction to tethered running and lay the foundation for other variations.

Other drills include (see Video 2):

• In and Out Skips
• Unilateral Skips
• Ankle/Skin/Knee Dribbles
• Booms
• Multi Boom series
• Arm Action Drills
• Power Skips
• Scissor Runs
• Snowball Runs

Video 2. In addition to these tethered running drill variations, you can try whatever your imagination comes up with!

You can also increase the intensity of each drill by altering arm position (i.e., overhead holding a dowel) or introducing some light external resistance, like a medicine ball, as the second half of Video 1 shows. This introduces novelty, movement variability/challenge, and overload without needing to design a new drill.

Low-Intensity Plyometrics

Pogo Hops, or Stiffness Jumps, are a great tool to develop elastic-reactive qualities of the lower leg, preactivation (i.e., dorsiflexion), and leg stiffness. When space is limited, adding the tether is a fantastic way to get more work out of these drills.

With the athlete now getting resistance from the tether, the recruitment strategy is different compared to simply jumping vertically on the same spot. It requires more calf involvement, and the ground reaction force will be angled slightly forward rather than straight up. Similarly, you can increase the intensity with light external resistance in front or to the side of the body (i.e., medicine ball). Repetitions would be anywhere from 8-20 seconds depending on whether you want to emphasize contact time or power or 20-45 seconds for more of a conditioning effect. Sets can range from 1-6 reps.

Great options include (see Video 3):

• 2-Foot Pogo
• 3 Mini + 1 Big (Different Amplitudes)
• Single-Leg Pogo
• Shuffles
• Mummy Shuffle
• Astride Jumps

Video 3. Tethered low-intensity plyometrics, including Pogo Hops and Shuffles.

Max Effort Drills

Obviously, the neuromuscular component of sprinting can’t be matched without actually hitting the track, and we don’t want to solely perform submax drills and jumps. We will still need to address the CNS component even if we are confined to our homes. A variety of max-effort drills can be performed with the tether. These should generally be done in short bursts (around 6-8 seconds or 3-5 reps, depending on drill) to ensure maximal outputs and high movement quality. Some of these drills take some getting used to in terms of feel and coordination, but what are you going to do…not train speed?

Drills include (see Video 4):

• Sprint Arms
• High Knees/Power Runs
• 2-Point, 3-Point, 4-Point Starts
• Kneeling Start
• Broad Jumps
• SL Jump to DL Landing

Video 4. Tethered max effort drills include arm movements and resisted jumps.

2. Extensive Tempo Running

Used by many great sprint coaches, tempo running is a fantastic tool in a coach’s toolbox. Particularly if you subscribe to the high/low model of structuring weekly training, it is a great way to get a lower intensity session to improve aerobic qualities and overall blood flow without the impact or CNS load. Increasing chronic running volumes and improving the efficiency of the aerobic engine will make the athlete more robust and able to handle higher training loads year after year, thus improving the quality of training and reducing injury risk.^1,2 With limited space or limited access to quality facilities, this could be a massive component missed by athletes.

Fear not, tethered running is here to help.

Hunter Charneski wrote a great article detailing tethered tempo runs. To perform them, you run in place against the tether for a designated period of time, in an interval fashion. In terms of the sets and reps, I believe Carl Valle summarizes it nicely in this article: “The density of work has to be high enough that the body is in a constant state of deficit but not too hard that the aerobic strain can be felt at the muscular and tendon level.”

The aerobic system needs to be challenged and should be the limiting factor, not the tissues. Tempos are typically performed around 70% intensity. So, during tethered tempos, it should be a steady pace where you feel you are working, but never to the point you need to slow down due to fatigue—though you will get sweaty and your calves/hip flexors will be tired the first few times!

There are endless combinations, but I tend to defer to 25-45 seconds of work, with a 1:1-1.5 work-to-rest ratio (the athletes’ fitness levels will determine the ratios). Similar to other forms of tempo, the level of intensity is not the key, but the total volume. Thus, you should default to lengthening the duration of the run, shortening the rest periods, or increasing sets/reps rather than making the athlete move quicker. In Charneski’s article, he details approximate sets/reps to correspond with actual track distances, and session volumes for various sports and positions (refer to that article for more detail).

True, you could do this in-place without a tether, but the more natural position afforded by the band makes it much more enjoyable and easy to maintain a steady rhythm. I should note that due to the limitations of tethered running compared to running over the track or grass, I find the hip flexors get more fatigued. So, you may need to modify sets/reps/rest for particular athletes.

You could do tempo running in-place without a tether, but the more natural position afforded by the band makes it much more enjoyable, and easy to maintain a steady rhythm, says @CoachGies. Share on X

In terms of technique, I find a slightly lower knee lift, somewhere around one-third to one-half of max knee height, works well. This way you can still work on rhythm, arm action, crisp foot contacts, and relaxed shoulders. You can even perform this on a thin exercise mat for a more compliant surface to dissipate some of the forces going through the lower leg.

Another great way to extend the aerobic challenge—without adding more running—is to incorporate medicine ball exercises, flexibility circuits, or low-volume calisthenics before, during, or after the workout. This would be more than adequate as a low-intensity session for an athlete at home or in a small facility during the Canadian winter.

A great initial session I do with athletes, either on a lower intensity day or for an at-home session, is the following:

• 30” on/30” rest x 4-5 reps x 2 sets
• **1-3 minutes between sets depending on athlete fitness levels

Here is an example of a pyramid tempo workout:

• 30”+30”++
• 45”+45”++
• 60”+60”++
• 45”+45”++
• 30”+30”
• + = 30” rest

And an adapted tethered workout based off Charlie Francis’s “Big Circuit”:

• 30”+30”+30”++
• 30”+30”+45”+30”++
• 30”+45”+45”+30”++
• 30”+45”+30”+30”++
• 30”+30”+30”
• + = 30” rest

3. Return to Play (RTP)

The applications for tethered running aren’t just performance-based, as tethered running also has a very real place in rehabilitation because it increases tissue tolerance in RTP scenarios. After an acute or chronic overuse injury, part of the RTP process is to gradually reintroduce graded training stimuli to improve tissue remodeling and tolerance without exacerbating symptoms. This generally begins with low-intensity/low-volume interventions, and then gradually both of those criteria are increased based on athlete tolerance, until the athlete can handle full training.

Tethered running also has a very real place in rehabilitation because it increases tissue tolerance in return-to-play scenarios, says @CoachGies. Share on X

In the case of a sprinter or field sport athlete RTP scenario, this generally means progressing to some sort of full-effort running. Not exposing an athlete to the types of speed and external forces that they will experience in their sport during the RTP process is a surefire way to increase the likelihood of flare-ups and reinjury. Additionally, specificity is key, so for athletes who need to run, intelligently designed running progressions will provide an adequate means for progressing tissue tolerance and specific strength.

Tethered running is a great way to recondition an athlete’s lower half after an acute injury (e.g., ankle roll, hip flexor strain, pulled hamstring) or overuse injury (e.g., shin splints, plantar fasciitis), or for other injured body parts that can’t handle the load of full-effort sprints (e.g., strained erectors, rotator cuff surgery). This modality can even be useful when adequate space is available, but a modification in volume and intensity is required during the rehab process.

Let’s take an acute ankle sprain as an example. Once preliminary examinations/imaging are performed, initial therapies to restore functional ranges of motion and strength are incorporated, and the athlete is more or less able to bear weight (though full weight-bearing is not required to begin), then we can introduce tethered rehab strategies. Like any rehab situation, you will want to find an “entry point” where the athlete can perform some amount of training without substantially increasing symptoms (i.e., pain, swelling, inappropriate movement strategies, etc.). In the case of an acute ankle sprain, this entry point would likely be the standard March Drill.

The following flowchart shows how a coach can increase the training demands over time, thus improving adaptation, by progressing the dynamic effort, external load, or volume of the drill.

Notes:

• Ensure athlete demonstrates proper dorsiflexion and pre-activation before advancing a drill.
• Sets/reps can be anywhere from 1-4+ sets depending on severity of the injury.
• Allow full recovery periods to prevent fatigue from being the limiting factor in technical execution.
• Can be partner-assisted to allow the athlete to travel forward at a slow pace.

A safe way to progress each drill is to start with what the athlete can handle. For example, use the March Drill for two sets of 10 seconds, then increase the sets to three and then to four sets of 10 seconds. If the athlete responds well, drop the sets back down to three and increase the duration to 20 seconds and progress back to four sets. When the athlete is accustomed to this workload, drop back down to three sets of 20 seconds, but introduce external resistance like a medicine ball, and similarly build up to four sets. Once this is not an issue, you would then introduce the next most dynamic drill (i.e., Low Skip), start at a low volume, and progress in a similar fashion.

Whichever route you take will depend on what the athlete can handle and how they respond, but ultimately you will want them performing the most difficult drills prior to clearing them to resume regular training (or at least reincorporate portions of regular training).

This logical progression of low intensity/low volume to high intensity/moderate volume will improve muscular strength, tendon/ligament stiffness, proprioception, and endurance qualities of the lower leg, which would surely have regressed during the initial stages of rehab. Additionally, the athlete’s tolerance to training will be somewhat reinstated, allowing them to handle higher volumes of sport-specific training sooner than if no run training had been performed. Similarly, they will have developed overall coordination, rhythm, relaxation, and fitness qualities, allowing for a more global training effect—rather than simply focusing on the ankle—and leading to a more optimal RTP scenario.

Not a Replacement, but a Good Addition

In terms of true speed development, if the training modality isn’t flat-out linear sprinting, then there will obviously be limitations and drawbacks. Though tethered running has many benefits, especially for our confined athletes, it is not a replacement. It will not replicate the ground reaction forces or vertical force development seen in upright running. It will not produce as much tension or load through the posterior chain, particularly the hamstrings. It will not reproduce identical motor patterns (i.e., foot strike, heel recovery), flight times, or stride lengths. It will also not replicate the neural drive seen at higher speeds.

Though tethered running has many benefits, especially for confined athletes, it is not a replacement for flat-out linear sprinting. But it’s a good adjunct to proper sprint training, says @CoachGies. Share on X

However, this should not discourage its use as an adjunct to proper sprint training, especially if the other option is to do no form of sprint training at all.

Moving Onward

My hope with this article was, first, to inspire coaches in similar situations as myself, who may not have adequate facilities to sprint year-round or who are relegated to coaching in small spaces for many months due to poor weather. Secondly, my goal was to shine a light on the many useful applications tethered running can have, especially because it is a low-cost and easily accessible form of training. It can be a useful means to develop (or at least maintain) several speed qualities through specific sprint drills and low-intensity plyometrics, and aerobic qualities through tempo running, and it can be a valuable training tool in RTP protocols.

Now grab a band and get moving!

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

Malone S., Roe M., Doran D.A., Gabbett T.J., and Collins K.D. “Protection Against Spikes in Workload with Aerobic Fitness and Playing Experience: The Role of the Acute:Chronic Workload Ratio on Injury Risk in Elite Gaelic Football.” International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2017;12(3):393–401.

Malone S., Owen A., Mendes B., Hughes B., Collins K., and Gabbett T.J. “High-Speed Running and Sprinting as an Injury Risk Factor in Soccer: Can Well-Developed Physical Qualities Reduce the Risk?” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 2018;21(3):257–262.

It’s one of the most helpless feelings in weightlifting—when the mind is willing, but the body won’t respond. Fatigue has set in and, all of a sudden, a weight that seconds ago seemed manageable is now immovable. In this case, the lifter hopes their spotter is paying attention and can save them from getting pinned under the weight of the loaded bar. It’s one of those scary moments of pure dependency on the spotter.

Everyone who has lifted weights has been in this position (or will be soon enough). Getting pinned or stuck under a barbell doesn’t only happen to inexperienced lifters. Even the most skilled lifters have to face the reality that, when lifting a loaded barbell suspended in the air, a lot can go wrong—fast. Fatigue, muscle cramps, loss of balance, or the bar slipping out of the lifter’s hands are always part of the inherent risks. Even though skilled and experienced spotters are present and fully focused on assisting the athlete at the right time, things can happen so fast that human reaction times can’t save the lifter from a loaded bar falling uncontrollably and putting them in harm’s way.

This experience can result in either a scary (but short-lived) injury or a potentially life-threatening injury. In some extreme cases, fatalities have occurred when the bar fell on a lifter surrounded by skilled and focused spotters. To fully understand what can go wrong when lifting with free weights, run a Google or YouTube search for “Gym Fails.” Sure, many of the clips show very inexperienced or reckless lifters who put themselves in vulnerable positions. But there are also many cases of very skilled and experienced lifters who end up falling victim to the dangers and risks of weightlifting (as you can see in the example here, viewer warning).

The Intimidation Factor

No matter how much risk tolerance a lifter has, anyone who places themselves under a loaded bar is subject to inherent risks. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), operated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, provided data over 18 years (1990-2007) relating to injuries that occurred while lifting weights. Researchers then used this information in a study to shed light on how truly risky or dangerous weightlifting is. It showed that during the 18 years, almost one million people were injured seriously enough to be taken to hospital emergency departments. Of those weightlifting-related injuries:

• 65% were due to the weights dropping on a person

• Ages 13-24 had the highest amount of cases of injury than any other age group

• Only 2% of those injuries required hospitalization

• There were 114 fatalities

Suffice it to say, free weightlifting isn’t an activity where we’re putting our lives on the line every time we get under a loaded bar. However, there is enough of a possibility of something going terribly wrong that it does detrimentally affect us—even without consciously realizing it.

When we go under the bar, there's enough chance of something going terribly wrong that it detrimentally affects us without consciously knowing it, says @BradyPoppinga. Share on X

While acknowledging the risk of injury while lifting, it is healthy for a lifter to feel differing degrees of intimidation—you can call it respect—for the loaded bar. Hence, the standard operating procedure is always to have a spotter present. And even with a spotter, giving up control when fatigue sets in and one can no longer lift the bar only intensifies the intimidation factor. It’s like flying in a plane or riding on a bus: many people feel uneasy because they’re not the one driving. They have to give up control and trust that the pilot or driver will pay attention and is skilled enough to get them safely from point A to point B. The same goes for a lifter who gives control of their wellbeing to a spotter.

Although this state of mind is healthy, it can be limiting in the context of weight training. Muscle adaptations affecting such things as strength, speed, power, and hypertrophy are some of the main objectives of weight lifting. The way by which muscles adapt is through placement under strategic stressors relative to the desired effect. If the muscles aren’t stressed enough, they don’t adapt. And if they don’t adapt, the desired result is unattainable.

Knowing the risks of weight training can trigger subconscious efforts to hold back in critical moments of stressing the muscles for adaptation, says @BradyPoppinga. Share on X

Weight training with a clear understanding of its risks can trigger a subconscious effort to “hold back” in critical moments of stressing the muscles for adaptation. This includes the willingness to do one more rep or place more weight on the bar or how much effort to give in moving the bar with speed and power.

Our instinctive, self-preservation mechanism is wonderful at keeping us healthy and out of harm’s way. Still, it can have a limiting influence on pushing our muscles to new states of adaptation. This leads to training plateaus and can limit the payoff from the effort invested in the weight room.

Benefits of Using a Self-Spotter

Think of some of the most adventurous and extreme activities that bring an intense adrenaline rush that’s almost like being high on a drug (or so I’m told): skydiving, heli-skiing, bungee jumping, base jumping, cliff diving, and jumping the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle. What if we could almost eliminate the risk and downside of these activities but preserve the rush? Would you be willing to try them? I would imagine there would be a lot more people who would participate if this were the case. I know I would.

Lifting weights with a self-spotting mechanism is like that. All the upside of free weight lifting without the same level of risk. When I say “self-spotting mechanism,” a Smith machine that has a fixed linear path isn’t what I have in mind. The self-spotter connects to a bar that swivels in unlimited planes. It has to be actively stabilized by the lifter, which gives the muscles the same feel as a traditional free bar would but without the risks. The best one I’ve come across is the XPT Trainer. Here are how it works and its advantages.

Advantage 1. Lifter Has Full Control of the Bar at All Times

The self-spotting mechanism on the XPT puts the lifter in the driver’s seat. The athlete has full control over when to start and stop the bar at any time (see Image 1 for how it works). Having complete control of the bar empowers the lifter to lift more weight, attempt more reps, and fight fatigue longer. It doesn’t take a genius to predict that, if one lifts more weight and tries more reps, they will experience more frequent and consistent muscle adaptations.

Having full control of the bar is very convenient in the following ways:

1. When doing cluster sets, there’s no need to rack the bar on and off hooks after each cluster set, which saves energy the lifter can focus on training.
2. It’s easy to work from varying points along the range of motion, such as doing lockout benches (see Video 1) and ¾ squats.
3. It’s seamless starting and finishing a lift from the hole.
4. Changing from squats to bench and bench back to squats is effortless. There’s no need to detach and reattach hooks and safety spotters. It’s also perfect for super setting or lifting with a partner who’s doing a different lift or has a different starting point.

Video 1. Lifting with the XPT Trainer lets the athlete work from various points along a lift’s range of motion. In this video, the athlete performs bench press lockouts.

Advantage 2. Failing Safely When It Is Unexpected

Failing when lifting weights is very common—and necessary—to see results. Ideally, the lifter can anticipate when they’re reaching the max level of fatigue and on the verge of failing. At this point, preparations can be made to protect the lifter so they’re not crushed or pinned under the bar. But what happens in moments of failure that are unexpected, such as the bar slipping out of the lifter’s hand while bench pressing? Or debilitating muscle cramps? Or fainting due to lack of oxygen to the brain?

The beauty of using a self-spotter is that the lifter will fail safely in unexpected moments of failure, says @BradyPoppinga. Share on X

All are very dangerous situations since the lifter is unable to brace themselves and is extremely vulnerable to serious injury. The beauty of using a self-spotter even in these unexpected moments of failure is that the lifter will fail safely. The spotting mechanism is controlled by two brake-lever handles that work like a motorcycle clutch—the bar is free to move only when the lifter clamps down the handles. As soon as an athlete releases just one of the two levers, the spotting mechanism engages and stops the bar. Take the scenario where the bar slips out of the hands during a bench press—the bar will stop completely as soon as it leaves the lifter’s hands. The same thing happens if the athlete faints, falls, or just lets go of the levers altogether—the bar will safely stop where the levers were released.

Advantage 3. Trainers Can Be Full-Time Trainers

Many performance coaches—along with personal trainers—have spent years studying and acquiring knowledge about the science behind training. Unfortunately, they have to divide their time in the field between training and spotting. The problem with this is the ideal spotting position (usually behind the lifter) isn’t an optimal place to observe and evaluate proper technique and form. Trying to split time between training and spotting limits the trainer from using the valuable knowledge gained over time to most benefit the athlete or client.

With a self-spotting mechanism, the trainer can position themselves in an ideal spot to assess technique and form properly, says @BradyPoppinga. Share on X

With a self-spotting mechanism, the trainer can move around and position themselves in an ideal position to assess technique and form properly. Moving out from behind the lifter also eliminates the lifter’s temptation to rely too heavily on the spotter. With the safety spotter, if the athlete reaches a sticking point, they can fight through it without the spotter intervening. Or, they can rack the bar exactly at that sticking point, take a 10- to 20-second rest, and finish out the rep themselves, essentially converting that last rep into two cluster sets.

Video 2. If the bar slips out of the lifter’s hand, the self-spotters engage, saving the athlete from a free-falling bar.

Conclusion

Feeling uneasy, intimidated, or wasting mental energy wondering if we’re safe and protected will always work against achieving optimal results. Lifting weights is no different. The efficiency of energy transfer through the body has such a small margin of error that a tiny “leakage” of that energy could be the difference between having enough grit stored to perform one more rep despite fatigue or missing the rep because the fatigue was too much.

Clearing the clutter and tunneling all of the mind, body, and spirit’s focus and energy on moving the loaded bar will lead to top-notch results. Using a safety spotter puts the mind at ease and gives the lifter full control over when to start or stop the bar, resulting in feeling empowered to take chances while going for one more rep or attempting to place more weight on the bar. It also doesn’t hurt that the safety spotter will enhance the effect of the strength coach’s or trainer’s influence, giving them the ideal vantage points to evaluate proper form and to provide real-time and relevant coaching points. At the very least, a self-spotter will make weightlifting safer without taking away its fantastic upside.

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 athlete has different needs and areas they can improve, and using key performance indicators will give you an easy guide for how you need to train your athletes. Here at Varsity House Gym—given the different sports, ages, and ability levels of the athletes who come to us—we have established different KPIs or testing standards that we track for each age group. These allow us to establish where an athlete is and help guide us on what they can improve on going forward.

Working closely with high school football players, many of whom have been with us for some time now, making sure they are still improving requires us to be more detailed in our tracking of their training progress. By establishing a base of qualities to focus on improving—factors I know will transfer on the field—I can then design a program that improves upon those abilities. If my KPIs are accurate and they improve, I can say with confidence that the athlete is getting better as well. But the process does not stop here, you can dive even deeper into selecting performance indicators based off of individual athletes as well.

By establishing a base of qualities to focus on improving—factors I know will transfer on the field—I can then design a program that improves upon those abilities. Share on X

In this article, we will break down the what, how, and why of using key performance indicators in your performance program.

What is a KPI?

A “Key Performance Indicator” is a concept taken from the field of finance, where it is simply a metric used to decide the effectiveness of a strategy. What does that look like in the context of strength and conditioning? Simple—any combine test can be considered a KPI (but we all know not all combine tests transfer to the sport they are designed for). So our goal here is to find a better way to evaluate what will transfer from the training space to the field of play.

Understand Your Athlete

For strength and conditioning coaches, the starting point is understanding the sport each athlete plays. Here is a list of questions that need to be answered to begin the process of identifying good KPIs for your athletes:

1. What energy system does the athlete primarily use?
2. How much recovery time does the athlete get between bouts?
3. Does the athlete need to change direction? How frequently?
4. What speeds does the athlete work at? Acceleration? Top speed? If it is a blend, which does the athlete need to improve more?
5. Does the athlete physically engage with other athletes or objects? Do they need to be more physically dominant? How frequently?
6. What systems/space do you have at your disposal to test and track efficiently?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can see what you need to focus on to help your athletes get better. You can start by breaking things down into segments: if your athlete needs to be maximally strong, you may need to implement a performance indicator for maximal strength. Does your athlete change direction constantly, like a tennis player? You may need to look at a lateral shuttle test to track their progress.

Recognizing what your athlete needs in their sport and then selecting a few testable movements to track throughout their training will dramatically improve the focus of your training.

In my time as a strength and conditioning coach, I have worked with many defensive backs in football and have developed my own KPIs that I use to track and test my athletes. Most of the guys I work with are not strangers to hard-work, so guiding them on where to focus to help them improve the most is a big part of what I do. Having KPIs to give them a focus point helps tremendously in guiding their work ethic.  Note that these are what work for me with the space and equipment I have to effectively and efficiently track and test my guys. What you use may differ depending on what you are able to facilitate in your space, based on equipment, space, and a range of factors.

How to Integrate and Use your KPIs

Once KPIs are established, we need to use them and apply them to the athletes. No, a pre-test and post-test are not enough to say “We used these KPIs and look at our results.” If you have acknowledged that these things are needed to improve the athlete, they need to be at the forefront of training at all times. This means that we need to be working on improving at least one KPI per training session throughout the week. At Varsity House, we have up to 5 training days for our HS athletes: Upper Lift, Linear Speed, Lower Lift, Change of Direction, and Recovery days to ensure each athlete is touching on each part of their training needs.

If you have acknowledged that these things are needed to improve the athlete, they need to be at the forefront of training at all times. Share on X

My approach is a 3 step process to take each KPI and decide what weight room movement will translate and how to implement that movement. I personally like seeing examples, so I am going to use an example of improving the vertical jump (from the above chart of KPIs) and take you through the process of programming for that KPI.

Step 1: KPI to Main Lift/Movement

The first thing to establish once you have identified your KPIs is what weight room movements will transfer to each KPI. The main thing I would look to mimic here would be the force-vector of the KPI—obviously, with a vertical jump, we would need to apply force in a vertical direction. Deciding what vector your KPI is in and then selecting a main lift or movement that matches that to some extent is a good way to get started on what movements to use.

If the force-vector does not narrow it down enough, from there I would look at the muscular demands of the movement—what muscles are the main movers? A sprint may fall in this category of hard-to-define vectors, so you would identify your main muscular demands. Using the KPI table for defensive backs, a movement I may do to improve vertical jump ability could be a front squat.

After you have identified the main movement, you would identify the muscular demands of that movement and the KPI to help select any supplemental work. Using that knowledge, you need to then identify any weak points your athlete may have within those movements and select a supplemental lift accordingly. For example, if I have an athlete that has weak glutes and struggles getting out of the hole, I may put him with a weighted hip thrust as a supplement to work on that. As you can see, this allows you to personalize the program for each athlete you work with.

Step 2: Force-Velocity Curve

Next, we need to identify where on the force-velocity curve the KPI ranks and how we can stimulate a similar response with our strength movement. Continuing with the example above, we know with a vertical jump that the velocity will be upwards of 1m/s and be on the “speed-strength” end of the spectrum. With that being said, we also know what we need to improve with our strength movement. Ideally this would be done with some form of bar velocity tracker to guide us, even if it is just a phone app.

One thing to note: since I may want to get an athlete to perform at a certain percentage at a certain velocity—again to work backwards—obviously improving absolute ability/strength will also help us get there. But, keeping in mind my KPIs, I may not want to stray too far down that rabbit hole depending on where that athlete falls in their training age. I may want to improve a novice athlete’s absolute strength; contrarily, with an intermediate or advanced athlete, I may want to improve power output instead.

Step 3: Energy Systems & Volume

To recap, we have established what movements we will use and what velocities we need to work at and improve upon. Now, our next step is energy system development—which can be worked on both in the weight room and on the field. Knowing the average length of a play for a defensive back is 7-10 seconds, and that they will get anywhere from 30-45 seconds rest between plays, I have my layout for my reps and rest laid out for me already.

How do we decide volume? Personally, I have had a lot of success using Prilepin’s chart to guide my volume parameters for the main lifts (which you can find a copy of HERE). If you look at the chart, you can estimate that 7-10 seconds of work can be 3-5 reps per set, and I know my percentages from my velocity curve so it is now simple plug and play.

I tend to look at the 70-75% and 75-80% ranges as the main ranges you will be working in for my main lifts. So to add to our example, I may program:

• Front Squat 5×3@75% with 45s Rest

I am hitting my velocity requirements, my percentage requirements, and finally my energy system requirements to help improve the performance indicator and energy system development.

As a bonus, HERE is a chart of metabolic pathways to use to help you decide what may be best for your athletes. By observing the athlete’s sport, you can see how long a bout may be and then time how long their rest is to find out where on the chart they fall.

One thing to note: I am not ignoring the fact that athletes can benefit from different conditioning/metabolic abilities, I am simply focusing on the main metabolic component of a specific sport and/or position. I have found that training in this manner helps athletes improve in the specific metabolic pathway of their sport and position.

Why KPIs?

The number one reason I would suggest using a KPI for your athletes is it allows for you to train specifically for a general adaptation. To use our example from throughout this article, if I know that I want to improve an athlete’s vertical jump because that will transfer on the field, I know what movements and percentages to work at. If I know the energy system my athlete will be playing in, I can decide what work-to-rest ratio they should be working in.

If I know the energy system my athlete will be playing in, I can decide what work-to-rest ratio they should be working in. Share on X

In addition to using KPIs to guide programming decisions, as strength and conditioning coaches, creating buy-in from our athletes is one of the most important pieces of running a successful program. We need to make sure we are delivering on everything we say we are—if you preach results, you must get results. In order to show those results to your athletes, you must have a system in place to identify how you are going to deliver the goods. In closing I will leave you with a quote from Maya Angelou that I think best sums up why KPIs are essential:

“If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.” — Maya Angelou

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

Recovery practices are a necessity in any well-planned program, but coaching them can often be incredibly hard. Sprinters want to get out and race, distance runners always have more gas in the tank, jumpers want one more jump, and throwers want to best their previous mark. As coaches, we have to admire their love for training. But we also have to be the person to say that’s enough, practice is over.

Coaches have a responsibility to educate their athletes on the importance of recovery. High intensity or high volume practices days before a competition do not prepare athletes for great performances. Without adequate recovery from their toughest workouts, athletes will continue to fall short of expectations. Athletic programming must create time and space for the central nervous system to recover after high intensity or high volume work.

From a coaching standpoint, I find recovery workouts challenging, too, because their reputation precedes them: the sessions are known for being either too easy or too short. If they’re too easy, athletes often disengage or give less effort than required. If they’re too short, athletes may not even bother to show up. The next day they might reconcile this decision by telling you that they had a lot of homework, and this may even be true—but it does not excuse skipping a recovery practice.

Before you judge young athletes for their values, it might be a worthier pursuit to first reflect on your practice designs.

Turning Less into More

If you expect athletes to do what you say because you’re their coach, I suggest taking a step back and rethinking your approach. Athletes are complex, multidimensional individuals—not just warm bodies. When you treat them as complex individuals, coaching gets easier, not harder. Coaching has always included your ability to develop athlete buy-in in addition to cultivating great performances. If you want to read more about how to develop buy-in from multidimensional athletes, Brett Bartholomew’s book Conscious Coaching is a good place to start. It was the first coaching book that challenged me to consider my own attitude, tone, and expectations.

Any coach can design an easier workout. That doesn’t mean their athletes will understand the value of reduction. To the young athlete, fewer drills, slower speed, or fewer attempts sound like worthless practice. We know that recovery isn’t worthless, but athletes may not understand our motivations or reasoning. When they ask for the first time, just tell them they won’t want to miss out. When they get really inquisitive, you can explain why doing less work on one day produces better results and higher quality on another. Coaching is and always has been an obligation to education—for athletes, for their families, and for ourselves.

With less work to get done in a recovery session, there's more opportunity to embed fun into training. Share on X

I don’t view recovery as a limitation but instead as a liberation. With less work to get done, there’s more opportunity to embed fun into training. Whether your recovery session encompasses technique, flexibility, or fitness, you’ll never overcome too easy or too short unless your session is fun.

Here are ten engaging recovery workouts that I use.

1. Throw & Go!

For sprint recovery, instead of 6x200m at 75% pace, play Throw & Go on your school track. Give a pair of athletes a harmless foam ball. Instruct them to take turns throwing the ball and sprinting to retrieve it. Then they can throw for their partner, repeat the sprint. This is a great activity on a very windy day because lightweight balls will roll all over the place. Just remember to wear proper clothing for a windy day, and don’t let the throwers practice that day! Sprints should be paced appropriately for recovery.

2. Calisthenics Hide & Seek

Why not embed a calisthenics strength circuit into a game of walking Hide & Seek within your school building? It’s different and oddly fun. Split your team into halves. Seekers should complete two circuits while their teammates hide; when found, all athletes complete two more circuits and the roles switch. You can iron out the finer details based on the space available or create your own variations. You can use isometric or plyometric exercises for the circuit as well.

3. Shotty Hoopla

For a thrower’s technical recovery session, spread hula hoops on the ground at moderate distances and assign point values to each hoop. Let your throwers compete for points, not the farthest throw. This game will support their coordination and reduce stress. I suggest limiting the number of throws taken in a single round. Again, you can change the rules however you think meets the needs of your athletes—just be mindful that your hula hoops will get a bit beat up.

4. Formation Running

Formation running is a great way to support your distance runners with strategy for a cross country race or the 3k. Identify a few shapes, like an arrow, circle, or square, and have your distance runners make these formations while they go on a long slow run. Silly formations are welcome, too. Coordinated formations are a great way to box out the best opponents in the early part of a race. If it can be done at slower paces, it should be possible at race pace as well. Formation running has both aerobic and strategic value.

5. Normal Yoga or Silly Yoga

Host a yoga session—you can find plenty of instructional videos on YouTube, or maybe your school has a certified instructor on staff. Use whatever resources are available. Yoga de-stresses and offers athletes an opportunity to test their limits safely. If you want to make it more interesting, do yoga with funny faces. Adolescent athletes will inevitably laugh at their own inflexibility. Let the first athlete who laughs take over leading the session until the next person laughs. For silly yoga, I suggest establishing the rules ahead of time; otherwise, it might seem punitive, which is not the intention.

6. Cycle TV

If you have the space and the equipment, put everyone on a 20-minute easy bike ride in your fitness center and show them your favorite distance race from a previous World Championships or Olympic Games. Show your athletes any of your favorite athletic performances.

7. Isometric Connect Four

Play Connect Four with isometric holds, like wall-sits, planks, or kettlebell carries. Split your athletes up into two teams and set the time to 60 seconds initially. For kettlebell carries, begin with 30 meters. Add time or distance for each subsequent set. If someone loses their hold or drops the weight, they do not place a piece on the Connect Four board. Play until one team wins!

8. Tag (or any variation)

For a sprint recovery practice, play tag or any of its variations. I like Everybody’s It or walking tag. We always forget how fun tag is until we play it again, and you only need 10-15 minutes total.

9. Cone-Flipping Game

Scatter plastic cones across an open space, like a multi-purpose classroom or a field. Turn half of them upside-down. Assign upside-down to one athlete and right-side-up to another athlete. Give them three minutes to see who can orient more cones according to their assignment. You can do this with as few as two or as many as six athletes. Be careful to avoid knocking heads.

10. Bridges Run

Send your athletes on a long, slow run. They can’t return until they’ve crossed ten bridges in the local area. If that’s too challenging, then reduce the number of bridges, or change the task. Collect a leaf from five different tree species, get a drink from five public water fountains in the park where you run, etc. Whatever task you assign, make sure they can do it in a reasonable amount of time.

Every Sport Requires Recovery

These workouts apply to other sports, too. I’ve seen too many basketball and soccer teams flop on the big day—my own soccer team included—because they didn’t know how to back off and plan rest into their schedule. Recovery workouts provide an opportunity for athletes to access techniques without burning out their CNS or surpassing their minimum effective volume.

By now, I hope it’s clear how many possibilities are available to increase engagement among your athletes on the days that used to be a drag. Whether your recovery session encompasses technique, flexibility, or fitness, you’ll never overcome too easy or too short unless your session is fun. Track and Field, though we love it, isn’t always the most exciting day to day. Fun practices build buy-in and keep athletes on the path to better performances.

Fun recovery practices build buy-in and keep athletes on the path to better performances. Share on X

In “Fun and Games? Myths Surrounding the Role of Youth Sports in Developing Olympic Champions,” Daniel Gould and Sarah Carson state that “children need coaches who are trained to be positive and encouraging” because “young athletes who play for such positive and encouraging coaches” demonstrate “higher motivation, enhanced self-esteem, lower anxiety, and lower dropout rates than children who play for coaches without these qualities.” As our training theories emerge from the dark ages of pushing through fatigue, we must adapt our practices to emphasize the athlete’s experience. Gould and Carson make our mandate pretty clear. The greatest thing a coach can transfer to their athletes is not success in performance: it is love of sport. Everything else falls out of that.

My new programmatic feature for recovery day is fun. What’s yours?

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

Daniel Gould and Sarah Carson, “Fun and Games? Myths Surrounding the Role of Youth Sports in Developing Olympic Champions,” Youth Studies Australia 23, no.1 (2004).

Speed, strength, power, and performance—these facets of sports are the foundation and root of athletic development. As a strength and conditioning coach, my goal is not only to make our athletes bigger, faster, and stronger, but to also make them better movers in time and space.

With many of the high school athletes I work with—predominantly football players—a common trend I see in sprint mechanics is the inability to reach triple extension during the acceleration phase. In order to become better movers, athletes need to learn and understand their own bodies: how what feels good and what does not will respond with their bodies. This concept was further emphasized in a podcast with a coach I respect, Cam Davidson (Director of Performance Enhancement at Penn State). He and Mark Watts from EliteFTS were discussing how Davidson’s approach to training athletes is based off making the athlete “feel” everything, such as feeling that weight at the bottom of a 3-second pause squat or feeling the eccentric load on a bench press.

In some capacity, we all coach our athletes to have a feel for the game. I believe we can apply that same concept in weightlifting that Davidson demonstrates in his training methodology.

In some capacity, we all coach our athletes to have a *feel for the game.* I believe we can apply that same concept in weightlifting, says @debadJuJu. Share on X

Transfer to Performance

Whether jumping repeatedly for a rebound in basketball or taking that penultimate step into a spike in volleyball, athletes across different sports need to be explosive. The question becomes: what is the most effective way to train explosiveness in the weight room? The answer must keep in mind that what we do in the weight room also needs to translate to the athlete’s specific sport.

For high school athletes, many coaches use sprints, jumps, and throws to build explosiveness. While jumping, sprinting and throwing are all vital movements, I would argue that—done correctly—Olympic lifts can also play an effective role in improving a high school athlete’s peak force, rate of force production, and explosiveness.

Most young athletes do not begin Olympic Lifting until college, but the benefits are incomparable. At West Point, Coach Tim Caron (also co-founder of Allegiate Gym in Redondo Beach, CA) was my first collegiate Head Strength Coach. Coach Caron’s summer manual for incoming athletes at West Point included basic Olympic lifting movements, such as snatch pulls and block cleans. In 2013, the first time I saw Coach Caron’s manual, I told myself if you want to be great, you need to hone these skills.

In line with that affirmation, many of us on the Army football team who were great lifters also understood how to translate that power to the field. We had players snatch 250+ and clean 300+ with great form and technique, and I eventually became one of them. Coach Caron’s ability to create a self-correcting environment every time we hit the platform bred a team culture where we all continued to refine our lifting technique, which in turn made me a better Olympic lifter.

Relative to sport, Olympic lifting has the ability to train bracing ability and force development, while at the same time promoting neurological adaptations and creating novelty in programming, says @debadJuJu. Share on X

Relative to sport, Olympic lifting has the ability to train bracing ability and force development, while at the same time promoting neurological adaptations and creating novelty in programming. All of these are avenues worth pursuing in developing high school athletes.

Bracing Ability

Bracing is one of the most important skills to hone in athletics. Knowing when to brace and when to relax through a lift or in sprint builds coordination within the body. Diaphragmic breathing is key when learning how to brace. The ability to fill the diaphragm and create tension within the body will stabilize it when handling heavy loads.

On the set up of a clean, for example, an athlete creates tension on the bar by filling their belly with air. Performing a clean requires the athlete to:

• Move from a tight position
• Gradually increase speed on the bar
• Explode and catch the bar in a front rack position

From the floor to the moment before the athlete performs the clean, the athlete is constantly tight while keeping tension within their body and contracting their muscles. The moment the athlete cleans, their body cannot be completely rigid and in a contracted state on the catch because the athlete:

1. Will not have enough relaxation to catch the weight with heavier loads
2. Will lose bar whip on preparation for the jerk

This is where, at the split-second the clean occurs, the athlete has to allow the body to relax in order to allow the body to give on the catch in the front squat position and then contract again when performing the front squat. The catch portion of the clean is where bracing development occurs, because the body has to be in a strong position to receive the weight of the barbell. The timing of the back and forth between contraction and relaxation during the clean makes those neurological connections of when to brace and when to relax.

The ability to rapidly undergo extension and flexion will allow athletes to improve their agility  (which can be defined as the ability to accelerate and decelerate constantly). Athletes in cutting sports, such as football and basketball, often need to run to a spot at full speed and decelerate quickly to then move to the next spot. The same concept can be applied in a clean and a snatch. The transition from accelerating the bar from the floor to decelerating the bar on the catch, to then accelerating the bar on a jerk demands coordination from the brain to the body and the muscles needed to complete the lift. This coordination also emphasizes where exercises performed in the weight room translate to their actual athletic performance.

Force Development

Force is a factor in every sport, such as the amount of force an athlete can produce to hit another player on a football field or how much force they can produce to smack a baseball out of the park. One of the seven power development factors is rate of force development (RFD), which, according to Owen Walker, is a measure of explosive strength and how fast an athlete can produce force.

The ability to create force under load at rapid speeds allows for the athlete to improve the other abilities needed in their sport, says @debadJuJu. Share on X

The ability to create force under load at rapid speeds allows for the athlete to improve the other abilities needed in their sport. Most well-trained athletes that incorporate Olympic lifting into their programming yield better results on their jumps, sprints, and throws. Olympic lifting tends to create more explosive force in comparison to other bilateral lifts, such as a back squat or a deadlift due to the ballistic speed on the bar.

Now, as strength and conditioning coaches, we all know that building the perfect athlete is near impossible. It is our role to evaluate our athletes and then strengthen their strengths and correct their weaknesses so that they have the abilities needed to perform at a high level.

As an example of this process, I am going to use one of my athletes and some of the factors I considered to determine whether or not he was ready to learn how to snatch. Aidan is a 5’11”, 170 pound, 16-year-old soccer player at Don Bosco Prep. One of the first steps for his evaluation to see if he’s ready to snatch or clean is based off the same evaluation test USA Weightlifting uses, which is the ability to:

• Front Squat
• Overhead Squat
• Snatch Deadlift
• Overhead Press

When I first started training the athlete, he had little to no thoracic mobility in his upper back, which I knew would be an issue. Aiden did, however, naturally understand a skill that I believe is one of the most difficult patterns to teach a high school athlete: how to hinge. Hinging in the snatch is key to ensure not only explosiveness throughout the lift, but safety from injury. At first, I was not inclined to train him in Olympic lifting, but after doing specific work and corrective exercises to free his upper back, I slowly began teaching him how to snatch.

After an 8-week progression of snatching (along with other compound lifts), Aidan was able to comfortably power snatch 95 pounds without failure. That he can snatch is an accomplishment in itself, but more importantly, his sport coaches have noticed an increase in his burst and explosion during sprints. His ability to put force in the ground has directly translated from the platform to the soccer field.

The force-velocity curve is a physical representation of the inverse relationship between force and velocity, and how both factors intertwine. When evaluating Olympic lifting and programming for high school athletes, the goal is to complement their movements with the exercise done in the weight room. For an outside linebacker in football, my mindset would be to program upwards on the strength-speed spectrum, whereas for a triple jumper I would program more with speed-strength in mind.

Neurological Adaptations Through Timing

As I briefly mentioned earlier, the timing and technique portion of Olympic lifting requires a cognitive connection from the brain to the applied muscle groups. According to Joel Smith, the qualities of a fast athlete are to be strong, elastic, coordinated, twitchy, extensible, and fast-twitch dominant.

To build upon this, Olympic lifting allows for the development of powerful rhythm, which correlates to acceleration or jumping. In order to build the rhythm necessary to jump, sprint, or lift, athletes need to make the neurological connections within their body to allow for optimal performance. The ability to escalate force is critical in performing smooth, coordinated lifting movements. The timing built into performing a clean builds upon the aspect of developing the brain from the first pull, to the second pull, to the catch.

The timing built into performing a clean builds upon the aspect of developing the brain from the first pull, to the second pull, to the catch, says @debadJuJu. Share on X

One of my football athletes, Leo, began cleaning prior to when I started training him. The biggest issue Leo had was exploding from the hips and into the catch. Because his hip contact was too low, the bar would move away from him and he was not able to perform heavier cleans. To correct his timing issues, I had to go back to refine his technique by performing high hang clean pulls. By emphasizing the pulls, I was able to ingrain in Leo’s mind when to make contact with the bar to properly perform a clean. Once again, my goal is to translate weight room qualities to the field. Leo’s ability to refine his timing on a clean has helped him be more explosive as a defensive lineman, allowing him to explode through the hips and drive more force into the ground for a more powerful push versus his opponents.

What is the Point?

A lot of science, technical terms, and concepts have been thrown at you, and perhaps you are asking yourself what’s the point? Most high school athletes have never seen the inside of a weight room prior to their freshman year. They are at a very young training age, and to me, that is an amazing opportunity to develop good training habits to build upon.

I want to reiterate, I am not saying that Olympic lifting is the end all, be all and I truly believe in jumping, sprinting, and throwing. However, my case is that adding Olympic lifts into the training programs for high school athletes will improve their sports performance on the field.

Furthermore, I believe that exposure creates experience and to not shy away from the inevitable. Most high school athletes that move to the next level in their sport will, more likely than not, have to Olympic lift. Why not coach and train those movements and patterns at a young training age over the course of four years in high school to provide the best movements in our athletes? As coaches, we need to stop using the excuse that “it’s too time consuming” and “it’s too technical to teach” as pivotal points for not coaching Olympic lifts. We are strength and conditioning coaches, in this field by choice, and if there is a consideration to improve our athletes at the high school level, then we need to exercise that autonomy and use our knowledge to complement their programming by adding Olympic lifts.

Teaching a young athlete how to clean or snatch demonstrates your ability as a strength and conditioning coach to actually coach rather than be a drill coach and put your athletes through cone drills.

Final Thoughts

High school sports are arguably the best time in an athlete’s career to build proper habits. It makes sense to me as a coach to provide my athletes with the tools needed so that they are capable of being better movers on the field. I want to provide the athletes I coach with programs that build upon the basic levels of movement for their given sport, whether that is sprinting a 100m dash or breaking a cut for a touchdown. Athletes that incorporate a new stimulus and variety of lifting (Olympic lifting) will be able to build their athletic base to propel them for better performance in their jumps, sprints, and throws, which in turn will increase their overall performance.

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

Ratelle, Will. “A Case for Training Olympic Lifts in College Athletics.” SimpliFaster.

Walker, Owen. “Olympic Weightlifting.” Science For Sport.

Smith, Joel. Speed Strength.

Larsen, Amber. “The Neurological Benefits of Clean and Snatch Complexes.” Breaking Muscle.

Barbell training matters more than ever.

When gyms reopen and things go back to “normal,” the barbell will summarily return to prominence. A steady diet of bodyweight workouts, 5K runs, and anything that can be done with a kettlebell or dumbbell that’s appropriate in a confined living space will have athletes and the general population running back to the rack. Why? Because athletes need stress to grow, and we haven’t found better ways to apply stress. If we had, we’d be using them by now.

It’s easy to promote research about how training cessation of two, four, and nine weeks don’t affect maximum strength levels. But this is a simple, small-world comparison. Strength, while important, is not wholly about decelerative qualities, coordination, and tissue robustness. I’ve found cessation of training and the subsequent detraining to be a rather idiosyncratic process. Some athletes seem marginally unaffected, while others see pretty rapid decreases in only a short space of time. What this current time off from training means to athletes varies on a case by case basis.

I recall Dan John writing, “Off the top of my head, I would suggest that a hard training individual take about six weeks off a year. And, I mean off: no basketball tournaments, no aerobics classes, nothing. Now, the sad thing is this, basically, those of you who do not train hard just decided to take the next six weeks off. Those who train hard will take those six weeks off when they are dead. I never understood taking time off until far too late in my career. ”

The inability to train is a nightmarish ordeal for most athletes. They will want to lift, so what is the plan or the strategy, asks @WSWayland. Share on X

For most athletes, the idea of training cessation is a nightmarish ordeal when one’s identity is wrapped up in being an athlete. Having research that tells them they won’t get “much” weaker is little solace when facing something emotive like training status. Athletes will want to lift, so what is the plan or the strategy? Well, prudence tells us one thing. It’s better to underestimate an athlete’s physical preparedness by a lot than overestimate by a little (Mladen Jovanovic).

Prudence tells us one thing: it's better to underestimate an athlete's physical preparedness by a lot than overestimate by a little, says @WSWayland. Share on X

The payoff is not symmetrical. To paraphrase Kier Wenham Flatt, those who go in hard at week one will probably end up sipping on “sappucinos” the rest of the season. We know sudden spikes in training load increase injury risk, and that chronic dosing protects against it. It’s equivalent to a fighter feeling out his opponent rather than rushing in and catching a flying knee. We need to get athletes to a point where they can do the dance of training once more.

There will be an understandable situation of potential weight room stratification between the haves and have nots of the home training world. We’ve seen plenty of social media evidence that some athletes have beautiful home gym set-ups. This is all well and good for a multimillionaire athlete, but not much help to an amateur Olympian living in a central city apartment. In individual sports like golf and combat sports, I deal with athletes on a case by case basis. When my local rugby team steps back into the facility, I know it will be better to take Mladen’s overcautious approach.

Methods to Get Athletes Back in the Rack

I was going to write an article covering my general physical preparation (GPP) approach, but Jacob James of Crusader Strength posted an article that’s pretty close to my own Cal Dietz-inspired twist on this set-up. Also worth checking out is Rachel Hayes’ post covering the intent of GPP even in specialized athletes. My aim is not to write another GPP article. Athletes will want to resume barbell work, especially those who trust it and understand its value in their efforts to return to strength.

Athletes will want to resume barbell work, especially those who understand its value in their efforts to return to strength, says @WSWayland. Share on X

The first step will be to get the measure of the individual. It’s simple to assume weakness, but surely a better approach is to measure it. I suggest two key strategies that I plan to employ. First is some sort of max strength testing with nearly no technical overhead. Something simple like an isometric mid-thigh pull belt squat iso that Carl Valle has demonstrated on Twitter would be ideal. If we can get the measure of an athlete in a time-efficient manner, we can plan accordingly. This test, however, is somewhat redundant if you don’t have decent pre-training cessation measures, but it will still act as a baseline.

Second, use VBT to monitor submaximal testing of some variety on your preferred KPIs. The beauty of this approach is that velocities dictate loading rather than using loading alone as a performance measure. You can then keep using VBT measures over the acute introduction to training into the chronic training phase.

Stimulate—Do Not Annihilate

I plan to employ the GPP Sandwich, which involves working to an everyday maximum (EDM). What is EDM, and what is it not?

Competition Maximum (CM) is a level of performance achieved under a major arousal of the competition. For some athletes this arousal might be too much, so the CM can be lower than Training Maximum. But generally, CM is the highest level of performance, in this case 1RM.

Training Maximum (TM) is a level of performance that can be achieved in training conditions. It still needs some arousal, but not as much as in competition. This is the level of performance when you put your favorite death metal track, ask for assistance and cheering from your lifting partners, ask for hot chicks to watch and slap yourself few times. It is “balls to wall” as it can be achieved in training conditions.

Every Day Maximum (EDM) is a level of performance that you can achieve without any major arousal, music or hot girls in the gym. Something you can lift by just walking to the gym, and listening to Mozart. Hence the name “every day maximum.”—Mladen Jovanovic

EDM speaks to the idea of “raising the floor”—that most of the progress you make will come from submaximal training at submaximal intensities rather than aiming for regular training spikes. How do we apply this in a gym setting? Simply get the athlete to work a single maximum on any KPI lift. There should be no arousal intensification strategies, no triple espresso, no thrash metal, and no back-slapping. The athlete then moves on to whatever GPP strategy you had planned.

The everyday maximum approach gives athletes the freedom to show they can push themselves and be constrained, says @WSWayland. Share on X

The strategy has two purposes: safe working maximums to give you something to work off and something the athlete can chew on that isn’t just GPP. Making athletes feel strong is a useful tool in training resumption. The key is keeping athletes on a tight leash while treating them like grownups. Much of the conversation that’s surrounded athletes’ return to sport treats them like training automatons. The EDM approach gives them the freedom to show they can push themselves and be constrained.

Finishing sessions with extended yielding isometrics is a great way to encourage muscle growth and tendon health. I took this method from Christian Thibadeau: “2-3 sets of 45-75 seconds at the position where you can create the most tension in the target muscle. Don’t just hold the weight, flex the muscle as hard as you can.” The mixture of loaded stretching and yielding isometrics at the end of a session leave the trainee feeling worked but with minimal blowback. The mechanisms Christian suggests are:

• It’s effective at activating mTOR, which triggers protein synthesis.
• It’s (with occlusion training) the best way to increase the release of local growth factors because it combines muscle hypoxia (lack of oxygen) due to the constant tension and stretch (both reduce blood flow and oxygen entry into the muscle) and large lactate accumulation.
• When used for the proper duration (45-75 seconds) or at the end of a set, it creates significant muscle fiber fatigue.

Hand-Supported Squatting

You would not expect an article from me without mention of hand-supported movements. Submaximal hand-supported squatting is one of the return to play (RTP) protocols I use with injured athletes, and it definitely fits the bill here. Cam Josse once described it as “a great way to feel strong again.” Generally, the hand-supported squat tacks at about 120-125% of your back squat maximum. The RTP protocol I use is to program hand-supported maximum the same as 100% of the back squat. The athlete gets to move load and train in what feels like a normal loading arrangement. We get lower loading in real terms, but we get to groove the squat pattern, allowing the athlete to “feel” load for a few weeks before moving on to conventional barbell work.

Hand-supported squats let athletes groove the squat pattern & *feel* load for a few weeks before resuming conventional barbell work, says @WSWayland. Share on X

Hand-supported squats also reintroduce compressive forces that may have been missing for a while—something you won’t find doing bodyweight squats or overhead squats with a mop. Another approach is a volume and range method. Use moderate loads, usually 50-60% of HSS max, and perform 15-20 reps of full range of motion squats allowing for full hand assist on the way up and down.

EDM and Walk Away

Another acute approach I like after a training break is building volume into the EDM concept. Linearity gets a bad rap—for acute training, it can serve as a smooth slide into conventional training. The athlete performs an EDM single and, on subsequent days, builds volume via back-off sets. In subsequent sessions, you perform back-off sets from your EDM, taking off 10-20% and perform a double and linearly build volume over just two weeks before moving to a more conventional approach. This somewhat borrows from an old Dan John approach I once used performing 1-2 sets of double on my front squat at 80% for two weeks.

Also, try front squatting at the start of EVERY workout for a week or two. Nothing crazy, maybe two sets of two, with around 80%, then a single at some higher weight. Some of us need the “Nervous System Stimulation.” I just invented that, but it seems to help. The way to learn a language is to immerse yourself into it, perhaps you need to immerse yourself in your legs.—Dan John

Nervous system stimulation is right, as the idea is to groove the squat at reasonable load but without exhaustive levels of loading. We can apply the same principle to any lift. The ethos running behind this is: stimulate do not annihilate. I suggest building up to no more than 3-4 sets in the 2 weeks. Alternatively, use a velocity measure to track drop off on the back-off sets—something like a 5-10% threshold should do it, using the best rep as the baseline.

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References

1. Fabio Sarto, et al., “Impact of potential physiological changes due to COVID-19 home confinement on athlete health protection in elite sports: a call for awareness in sports programming,” SportRxiv Preprints, April 22, 2020.

2. Dan John, “The Front Squat,” (blog).