We keep hearing “Relationships are Key”.
Without consistent-transparent communication, the relationships we need to lean on are absolutely impossible to create. My colleagues and I get a lot of “How To” questions when it comes to strength program building and I’ll continue to say that there’s not one perfect way. The letter below is an actual e-mail that was sent out to Coaches. It hopefully gives an example of how we could communicate, in order to answer questions, promote conversations, and solve problems.
Dear Coaches,
First, I want to thank you for your partnership and support in ensuring the success of our student athletes. We have made tremendous progress when compared to engagement and participation just one year ago. As we continue our In-Season programming I wanted to take some time to breakdown the differences from Off-Season that ensure zero-cost to performance during games.
Bottom Line Up Front: In-Season Training vs. Off-Season Training Parameters
20-40 minutes vs. 30-60+ minutes
Significant decrease in training volume
Moderate decrease/increase in training intensity (individualized)
Communication must be great for adequate modifications to be made (i.e. injuries)
2-3 times per week (consistency is still key)
We are not “MAXing” out In-Season
Back-up: A Deeper Dive
We have 2 primary workout designs; In-Season and Off-Season. The difference in these programs is mainly marked by changes in the Volume of work in each workout. Our Off-Season workouts typically have an increased number of Working-Sets. Our In-Season workouts, right now, have 1 working set per major movement/lift.
Our Working-Set is a set of reps defined by its’ relative intensity. Right now, our Working-Set is designed for a minimum dose response; meaning the minimum amount of work we need to perform in order to continue strength development at zero cost of performance.
For instance, one of our Working-Sets last week was written as 1 X 3-5+ @ 87-90%. That means the athlete is going to do 1 set of 3-5 reps (or more if they choose) at a weight that’s 87-90% of their Starting-Weight.
Their Starting-Weight is their estimated 1 Rep-Max. Some people call it a MAX or 1RM. We call it a Starting Weight. It’s the number they use to create all of their Training Weights.
Important In-Season Note: “Using our 90’s”
For our In-Season training, we use 90% of our Starting-Weight. We call it our “90”. If someone’s Starting-Weight is 300 lbs. for their Squat, they’re going to use 90% of that to create all of their Training-Weights. Instead of creating their Training-Weight percentages from 300 lbs., they’re going to use 270 lbs.
We do this for several reasons. It’s an efficient way to have our kids train with lighter weights In-Season. This is going to let us focus on our technique, bar speed, and it will certainly help minimize developmental plateaus.
In the example above with the Working-Set at 87-90%, the intensity would actually be 77-80%, because we’re using our 90’s. That’s a weight that our athletes may typically perform 3 sets of 5+ reps with. They’re now performing 1 set of 3-5+ reps with. They ultimately choose what’s individually appropriate. Due to their increased workload from their sport, it will be enough work to continue adaptations, but not too much to where they hinder growth.
We’re going to do our best to train year-round, consistently. The cumulative effects of consistent training, both emotionally and physically, are incredibly beneficial to the overall development of our student athletes.
The overall volume of work during our In-Season strength training in substantially less than our off-season program. There isn’t a workout that happens, where we don’t have modifications made for individual cases. If modifications do need to be made, we’re asking our kids to be at workouts with enough time to discuss these before we begin.
Planning Ahead (when possible)
Complete the Presence/Attendance Sheets
PM training starts no later than 5PM (We can train later if there’s communication about it)
I want to be prepared for the kids when they come in to train and it will help greatly if I know at the beginning of the week (preferably the Friday before or Monday morning), when they’ll be coming in to train. Some teams are scheduled consistently. If there’s a variable schedule from week to week, please let me know.
There’s a Spring Sport Presence/Attendance sheet that each of our athletes is responsible for checking off each time they train.
I hope this helps explain some questions that we’ve received over the past couple weeks and please contact me with questions or concerns.
Have an awesome day!
Coach Adam
One of my best friends is a Strength Coach right up the road from us, and we have the same goals for our kids. Our weekly catch-up conversations are riddled with the different paths we’re using to ultimately obtain the same results for our community. How he needs to communicate with his community may be slightly different than how I do. Something will always hold true though; we must consistently be transparent about our what-who-when-where-why-how…and whatever else we could imagine.
Have an awesome day Folks,
Adam Stoyanoff MS, CSCS
Director of Strength and Conditioning
Grand Rapids West Catholic High School