This article is essential for all strength coaches to understand. Thanks Coach Bauer for sharing such urgent information. This is a read and re-read article. Maybe even one that you print out and post on your office wall.
in·teg·ri·ty
noun
1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2. the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3. a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship’s hull.
The repetition is the most basic unit of function that the Strength and Conditioning Coach has to build and forge his Athletes. No different than a nail is to a carpenter, the repetition is critical to developing a strong structure to your Strength and Conditioning program. Only after hundreds of sets and thousands of reps will the Athlete begin to notice a change in size and strength. Poor reps put the Athlete at risk for injury. With this being said, it is imperative that you adhere to the principal of the repetition. Strength and Conditioning Coaches allow poor repetitions to happen, the athlete is not the one to blame. Correct it or allow it to happen. If half or three quarter reps are allowed to happen every day, every week and every month then the accumulation of those missed inches will be very large, hence cheating the Athlete out of possible gains. Oppositely, if every rep is coached to its maximum range every set, every week and every month, the Athlete will then have fulfilled their potential gains. As a Strength Coach you must develop a sense for what separates a great rep from a good rep and an average rep from a bad rep. The greatest Strength Coaches in the country are the ones that understand the importance of Rep Integrity and they pursue its perfection daily. Could you imagine buying a house that was built by a carpenter that didn’t pound in every nail.
Rep Integrity will differentiate between exercises and the goal of the exercise. The Strength Coach must stick to the proper way to do the Repetition. Basic Guidelines follow:
1) Coach all Athlete’s Reps, regardless of status.
2) Be consistent
3) Train through a full range of motion on strength movements, pause at the top to allow for full contraction and control movement down during eccentric portion.
4) Spot Athletes through difficult reps, force reps when necessary.
5) Coach technique first, then coach effort.